Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I raise the issue of the late Shane O'Farrell from county Monaghan. Everyone will know of him. His case was discussed many times in this House. It has been a long campaign for a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his death. Shane's parents, Lucia and Jim, and his four sisters will meet this afternoon with the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice. It is expected that they will go through aspects of the Judge Haughton report. I understand he completed his work on 1 June and that an advance copy has been made available to the O'Farrell family and will be discussed with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, this evening.

It is believed there are more than 400 pages in this report. It will be presented to Cabinet soon, so it has not yet been published. I respect that but I hope the Taoiseach, Deputy Michéal Martin, will honour and deliver on a number of the promises to Shane's family. The family is expecting that and are here in anticipation today. I know we have had a lot of discussion on it but I just want to wish the meeting well and hope there can be some light and some comfort for the O'Farrell family. When the Haughton report is published, I ask that it would be the subject of some debate in this House. This case has been brought up time and again in this House and, indeed, I think there was a motion passed in relation to it. It is worthy of debate at some point. Hopefully, there will be learnings from it.

I raise the issue of Deputy Patrick Costello's successful legal challenge to Ireland's proposed ratification of CETA. It was an honourable task for a Deputy. It was brave and courageous to bring the case to the courts. It is important we acknowledge that. I personally want to acknowledge it. The High Court had rejected his challenge to the constitutional aspect of this deal. However, last week the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution precludes the ratification of the deal, as Irish law stands. Therefore, it may be subject to some amendments or legislation of this House. The court also ruled unanimously that the ratification deal was not an obligation necessitated by membership of the EU. That was not always argued in these Houses and there were suggestions to the contrary. I acknowledge Deputies Patrick Costello and Neasa Hourigan and Senator Vincent P. Martin who expressed our strong reservations and who did something about it and took it to the courts. Deputy Patrick Costello is to be commended on his bravery and his courage against the system. I like to think that we, as politicians, would never fear challenging the system. I would like this House to be kept informed of what the Government's intentions are in relation to this Supreme Court judgment. It would be helpful to have a debate on the issue in this House.