Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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690. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if there shall be no further extensions to the work being carried out by a judge into the death of a person (details supplied); and if the scoping inquiry will conclude on 29 January 2021. [45057/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As Deputy O’Callaghan 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 in November 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 from Judge Haughton that he provided a copy of this letter to the O'Farrell family and I also wrote 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. With regard to any further extensions, the Judge is of course completely independent in his work on this scoping exercise, and I cannot intervene in the process, nor can I place any restrictions on the Judge. My Department is providing all necessary assistance to the Judge to enable him to complete his report, and I look forward to receiving it in the near future.