Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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31. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when she will implement the decision of Dáil Eireann of 14 February 2020 to establish a public enquiry into the circumstances of the death of a person (details supplied) and the subsequent actions of State agencies in this regard. [41636/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I once again offer my condolences to the family of the late Shane O'Farrell. As I said the last time I spoke on this issue, I understand that he was an exceptional young man and his death was a terrible tragedy.

As the Deputy will be aware, a retired Judge, Gerard Haughton, is currently conducting the scoping exercise into the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of the late Shane O'Farrell. 

Judge Haughton furnished an interim report to my predecessor last November and following consultations between the Judge, Shane's family and the Attorney General, the interim report was published on 17 December 2019.

In his interim report, the Judge stated that he would not restrict or limit Shane's family in their submissions to him or the nature and extent of the documentation they wished to furnish to him in his scoping exercise.

I can confirm that my Department recently received a letter from Judge Haughton updating the Department on his progress. In this correspondence, the Judge requested a further extension of the timeline to 29 January 2021 and set out a clear and detailed rationale for this extension.  I understand the Judge has also provided a copy of this letter to the O'Farrell family and I have written to the family to inform them of the extension.

While I genuinely regret this further delay I am also aware that the Judge is doing all that he can to ensure that the concerns which the family have raised with him during the process are followed through to the greatest extent possible and this requires additional time.

I can assure the Deputy that it is of course open to the Judge to make any recommendation he sees fit in his final report, including the establishment of any form of statutory or non-statutory inquiry. I hope the Deputy will appreciate that it is appropriate to await the recommendation of the final report of this scoping exercise before making any decision in relation to further inquiries into this matter.

I can confirm to the Deputy that it is my intention to publish the outcome of the scoping exercise, subject to the advice of the Attorney General.