Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My first point is to note the Sinn Féin Seanad team’s disappointment at the manner in which our MEP, Mr. Chris MacManus, was invited to today’s debate on the future of Europe. As someone who was an MEP, I know how difficult it is to manage a calendar that sees one in three different countries every month and it was a disappointment that Mr. MacManus was put at a disadvantage to his constituency counterparts by those being contacted earlier. Sinn Féin, therefore, will not participate in today’s debate with the MEPs.

The key issue I want to raise today is once again - I cannot believe I am here saying this - the issue of funding for the inquest into the Stardust fire. From September 2020 to February 2021, the Department of Justice and the legal team representing 46 of the 48 families engaged in a six-month negotiation regarding how the costs should be covered. Despite the legal team continuously warning the Department of Justice that an inquest of this magnitude and this significance would require a bespoke arrangement the Department insisted that the legal aid route would be the route to use. The legal team proceeded in good faith and is now being told by the Legal Aid Board that it was not informed of this decision. This is despite a letter from the Minister and the Department of Justice saying that it is now up to the Legal Aid Board and the lawyers because it has agreed that the Legal Aid Board is the route that the families are going to take and that they will be paid a month in arrears. It now appears that the Department of Justice is trying to wash its hands of the fact that it gave that written confirmation to the legal team and the families it represents and is saying that it is up to the Legal Aid Board and the lawyers to once again negotiate and thrash this out. Is it seriously suggesting that having wasted six months on negotiating how this inquest was going to be funded, the Department now wants the lawyers to start that process all over again with the Legal Aid Board?

I also have very serious concerns about the statement by the Minister of State in the Dáil this morning on the costs and the funding that was allocated in the budget to help with the cost of the inquest. We had a commitment from the then Minister, Deputy Flanagan, at the time the inquest was granted that all adequate resources would be put in place. We had the Taoiseach talking about €8 million being allocated for the funding of the inquest and today we had a statement from the Minister of State that the Government will put in place €8 million to help cover the costs of the inquest. That is a significant move and shift in position from what we were told when the inquest was granted. I am absolutely disgusted by the senior Minister and the Department of Justice in how it has treated the families of the Stardust fire. I ask again why it is that the State continuously forces these families to go through the mill in order to get the answers as to what happened to their loved ones on that night in 1981.