Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has concerns about delays with the Smithwick Tribunal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45687/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Smithwick Tribunal of Inquiry was established by the Oireachtas in 2005 to inquire into suggestions of collusion by Members of the Garda Síochána or other employees of the State in the murder by the Provisional IRA of RUC Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and RUC Superintendent Bob Buchanan in March 1989. The Tribunal is chaired by Judge Peter Smithwick, former President of the District Court. The Tribunal was established arising from the Weston Park Talks in 2001 and in light of Judge Peter Cory’s subsequent report on the murder of the RUC officers in a desire to get at the truth of these suggestions of collusion both in the public interest and, importantly, in the interest of the families who were bereaved by this atrocity.

The Deputy will be aware that on 12 October the Clerk of the Dáil received a letter from the Tribunal Chairman requesting an extension of the deadline for the conclusion of the Tribunal’s work and setting out the reasons for his request. The Clerk of the Dáil laid that letter before both Houses. While it is clearly a matter of concern that a further delay would arise in the Tribunal’s progress towards conclusion at such a late stage in the Tribunal’s hearings, at this stage the matters arising are properly ones for the Tribunal Chairman to address. It would not be possible for me to comment on the matter without impinging on the ongoing work of the Tribunal. In response to the Tribunal Chairman’s request, the Government will propose amendments to the Tribunal’s terms of reference in the House tomorrow.