Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I rise to support Senator Doherty concerning the cynical move being perpetrated upon the victims of what happened in St. John Ambulance. I suggest that we invite the relevant committee to use this Chamber, along with the victims and trustees. We should let it be known that the trustees will be held to account and that they will be invited to attend a meeting here of the appropriate Oireachtas committee. We should make this Chamber available to that committee and the trustees so that the latter can answer questions. Releasing a report on the eve of St. Patrick's Day is the most cynical exercise, which has obviously been advised by experts as a way to avoid publicity. Such a move is done in the hope that some other story takes over the news cycle and thus make sure the story dies. The victims deserve better from us, as the Houses of the Oireachtas, to ensure that their story is heard. They also deserve better from those who commissioned and wrote the report and, most importantly, the trustees and people who had knowledge of what was happening for years but did nothing. We should invite them in here and hold them to account. I support Senator Doherty in her proposal.