Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister back to the House this afternoon to discuss the tragic and evolving story of the death of Shane O'Farrell who, as we all know, died as a result of a road traffic accident in County Monaghan in August 2011. He was killed in a hit-and-run by a man who had 42 previous convictions. The driver of the car was on bail in respect of several offences. He had breached the conditions of those bail bonds and had been serving suspended sentences that should have been activated, had the courts been informed of his convictions. In short, had the criminal justice system been functioning properly, the driver would not have been at liberty on the day he drove that car and was involved in that hit-and-run. The family, naturally, are devastated by their tragic loss.

A Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, investigation commenced in early 2012. It was, I am disappointed to say, a total failure. It dragged on for over seven years and left the family with no real answers. While it was one of the cases referred under the independent review mechanism to consider allegations of Garda misconduct or inadequacies in the investigation of such allegations, the independent review mechanism directed no further action because the matter was with GSOC. Clearly, there are still questions to be answered.

On 14 June 2018, the Dáil voted in favour of a motion calling on the Government to immediately establish a public inquiry into the death of Shane. On 5 February 2019, the Minister appointed Judge Haughton to conduct a scoping inquiry into matters surrounding Shane's death. The Minister sought to significantly curtail the terms of reference of that inquiry, as drafted by Judge Haughton, and in doing so has undermined the process of the scoping exercise and placed significant restrictions on Judge Haughton.