Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, and on my own behalf, I send my condolences to the O'Farrell family, especially to Lucia who I met earlier and to her daughter Gemma, who I know personally in a work capacity. I have been aware of the case for a long time and I had never had the honour of meeting Lucia until today. We met in LH 2000 in a small room where she was able to give us a forensic analysis on the inadequacies and of the timeline around the case. I could not believe the number of failings she was able to point out. It was not just one or two; we are talking about hundreds of failings within the system. As other Members have pointed out, the only real way we can identify these failings, improve upon them and ensure they do not happen again is through the mechanism of a public inquiry. I am glad that the Lower House has passed a motion demanding a public inquiry with a significant majority of two to one. Clearly, this is the will of the people and it is incumbent on the Minister to listen to his colleagues in the Lower House. A public inquiry such as this needs to be set up immediately and without any delay. We saw unbelievable delays in the GSOC report and the family were waiting for six years but really still have nothing. GSOC is still waiting to see whether or not disciplinary sanctions should be brought against various members of the Garda. As a public representative it is very hard to accept this and it must be even harder for the family. It is very hard to understand why nobody is being brought to task for inadequacies or for wrongdoing.

We know that Shane O'Farrell died following a very tragic road accident in Monaghan. He was killed in a hit and run by Zigimantas Gridziuska. When Shane was killed Mr. Gridziuska was on bail for a number of offences and had breached the conditions of that bail. He was serving suspended sentences that should have been activated had the courts been informed of his convictions. This is the communications aspect of the case, which fell very short. There appears to have been absolutely no sharing of information between the Garda and the courts. This really has to change. We have to look at improving this mechanism, be it by improving the computer systems or by being more forthcoming to the courts. A public inquiry will be able to address this issue, isolate it and effect change properly.

Ultimately, we know that had Mr. Gridziuska been in prison, he would not have been at liberty that day and Shane O'Farrell would not have been tragically killed. I commend the family, who has courageously, and in a very dignified way, pursued justice for Shane. They have been unrelenting in their quest for justice and they have done so with the utmost honour to Shane's life.They have also done a serious service to other families around the country who have struggled with these failings but who may not have been able to voice them or be an advocate like Lucia has been. Lucia had the benefit of her own forensic skills but also the skills of her daughter, Gemma, and other family members who were able to club together. They had the energy, will and determination to keep going with this case to ensure that they had the answers they needed so they could finally put this to bed, grieve and know that they had done right by Shane and done everything they could to show that Shane's life was worthwhile and what had happened to him would not happen again to any other person or family in this country.

Shane's death was a great tragedy and it has highlighted so many inadequacies in our criminal justice system. I will not go through all of the inadequacies, many Members of the House have already done so, especially regarding the day in question when, unbelievably, Mr. Gridziuska's car was pulled over one hour before Shane was killed. The car did not have a valid NCT, passengers included known drug dealers and the car was in an awful state of repair. The fact that it was not taken off the road and an hour later Shane was killed does not bear thinking about. It is unbelievable that this occurred. I implore the Minister to accept the resolution that was passed in the Lower House and let us know what steps he is taking to set up a public inquiry without delay.