Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I regret to hear that from the Minister. The intention behind the amendment is to provide victims and families and those seeking to access the truth with another layer of accountability and fairness and an opportunity to achieve their stated aims and objectives, that is, truth and justice for their loves ones.I acknowledge the technical points the Minister has made but I do not believe that there was no opportunity or scope to allow us to engage in respect of or refine some of those issues. That is the difficulty which presents itself in taking all of this in one go, as we are doing. Because I support this legislation and because I support the Minister in his endeavours to get it through this House today, I do not want to go into the political argument too deeply. However, the reality is that many of the issues faced by families, the concerns raised by the campaigns, the denials of truth and the injustices that have been inflicted arise from a lack of accountability and oversight. In the past, this allowed people to do things and fall into certain corners. I am not making any accusations in saying that. I am merely stating that this amendment would give us the opportunity to shine further light on the matter if necessary. It would add another layer of accountability and bring us closer to full truth and justice being available for families, rather than adding another layer bureaucracy. While I am disappointed to hear the Minister's stance, it is important that this amendment be put before the House given its importance to families and victims. I will be pushing it to a vote.