Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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287. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the timeline for the review and the publishing of the report into the Special Criminal Court. [56694/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I understand the Deputy's question to refer to the independent review of the Offences against the State Acts.

As the Deputy will be aware, in February last I established a Review Group chaired by Mr Justice Michael Peart, former Judge of the Court of Appeal.

The group comprises a number of experts in this field and is tasked with examining all aspects of the Offences Against the State Acts having regard to the current threat posed by domestic/international terrorism and organised crime, the duty to deliver a fair and effective criminal justice system to ensure the protection of communities and the security of the State and Ireland’s obligations in relation to Constitutional and ECHR rights and international law.

The Chair has indicated to me that there is a considerable body of work involved. The review requires a detailed analysis of a series of complex and inter-related legal provisions. Nevertheless I know the Review Group is conscious of the need to complete its work with as much expedition as is consistent with such a comprehensive task and I am grateful to all the members for their commitment.

The review group submitted its interim report in June and indicated that it is expected the final report will be completed by the end of April 2022 and will be published thereafter.