Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too want to stand with Aimee Foley, along with my colleagues here. She is a very brave woman and I hope that we can see something good come out of this.

Yesterday, I spoke about the death of Caitríona Lucas in County Clare and the appalling fact that that woman’s family has been waiting six years for an inquest, which is completely unacceptable. Evidence has now come to me which suggests that the lifejackets in use in the Coast Guard at that time were faulty. There is documentary evidence that the faults in the lifejackets had been reported from 2015, where they failed miserably to turn a person on his or her back.

Furthermore, there is a suggestion that the lifejacket which Ms Lucas was wearing was removed from the scene and has not been seen since. The Health and Safety Authority is the appropriate authority to investigate this and I believe it must move immediately to establish what reports were made from 2015 to 2018, and precisely who reported them. I am aware of tests that were done in Crosshaven, Cork, in Kerry, in Mayo and in Donegal, and in all cases the lifejacket failed or injured the wearer of the lifejacket by inflating so violently or only inflated on one side. I have the documentary evidence. The Health and Safety Authority should have the documentary evidence and if it is true that the lifejacket was faulty and that the one Ms Lucas was wearing turned her on her face rather than on her back, then I believe there is a case for criminal negligence on somebody’s part. A woman has lost her life, a family have lost a mother, and we are six years waiting for an inquest. The evidence of what happened on that day must be brought to the inquest. Somebody, somewhere has to start answering questions very quickly. I ask the Leader’s office to engage with the Health and Safety Authority to have this matter investigated.

In my remaining few seconds of speaking time, I note there has been a great deal of talk about unfortunate asylum seekers who arrive in this country through Dublin Airport without a passport. It is my understanding that one cannot board an aircraft without a passport. If someone arrives in Dublin Airport from an aircraft without a passport then, I believe, they are trying to dupe the system and should be returned to the country of origin, to wherever the aircraft took off from. This country has open arms for those who seek asylum but those who try to dupe the system should not be facilitated in any way. I thank the Acting Chairman.