Vol. 379 No. 6
asked the Minister for Justice in relation to the Garda inquiry into the death of Aidan McAnespie, whether or not the Government have received Deputy Commissioner Crowley's report or any interim report that indicates the cause of death; and if it is intended to make the Garda findings in the case available to the RUC.
14.
asked the Minister for Justice if the State pathologist has reported to the Government on the possible cause of death of Aidan McAnespie; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
21.
asked the Minister for Justice in relation to the Garda inquiry into the death of Aidan McAnespie, whether his guidance was sought by the Garda authorities as to the desirability or otherwise of the inquiry receiving a deputation of Sinn Féin public representatives; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
41.
asked the Minister for Justice if the Deputy Garda Commissioner, Eugene Crowley, has completed the special inquiry into the shooting of Aidan McAnespie at Aughnacloy; and, if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 14, 21 and 41 together.
At the request of the Government, the Garda Commissioner appointed Deputy Commissioner Eugene Crowley to institute an inquiry into the fatal shooting of Aidan McAnespie at Aughnacloy on 21 February, and the circumstances surrounding the fatality.
I have received a report on the findings of the inquiry from the Garda Commissioner together with the report on the post mortem examination carried out by the State Pathologist on the body of Mr. McAnespie. I propose to submit both reports to the Government at the earliest opportunity for consideration and to decide on any action that is necessary. Pending consideration of the reports by the Government, I do not propose to comment in any way on what they contain.
The question of guidance being sought by the Garda authorities in the conduct of the inquiry did not arise. The Government statement establishing the inquiry made it clear that the Deputy Commissioner would take statements and obtain information from all persons able and willing to assist, so no question arose of excluding from the scope of the inquiry any person who, in the judgment of the senior and experienced officer in charge, could be of assistance or provide information.
I would like to conclude by reminding the House that the subject of the investigation is sub judice in a neighbouring jurisdiction and I would ask Deputies to keep in mind that nothing should be said here which might prejudice a fair trial in that jurisdiction.
How long has the Minister had this report and does the report indicate the possible cause of death?
I have the report since 8 April and I propose to submit it to the Government as a matter of urgency. Until such time as the Government are aware of what is in the report, as I said in reply to the original question, I do not propose to comment on what it contains.
Will the Minister be recommending to the Government that this report should be made available to the RUC?
The Deputy should know from experience that I do not normally tell Members of the House what I do or do not recommend to the Government.
Can the Minister tell the House how many witnesses were interviewed by the Garda for this report and how many of those witnesses were located in the South and how many were located in Northern Ireland?
That question will be more appropriate when the report is being made available to the Government. I ask the Deputy to put down that question at that time and I will deal with it.
A final supplementary, Deputy Colley.
I would like to ask the Minister if it is in his mind to recommend to the Government that no action should be taken following the drawing up of this report.
It would be a very dangerous assumption to believe that I might or might not recommend anything. The Deputy will have to wait until such time as I have reported to the Government and any further questions will be dealt with.
Does that mean nothing will be recommended?
Rather than saying that nothing is possible or that everything is possible, the Deputies will just have to wait until such time as the Government——
When will that be?
Deputy Seán Barrett.
I said I would hope to have it with the Government in the reasonably near future.
May I ask the Minister if he considers that the carrying out of this investigation was worthwhile?
The answer to that, of course, is yes. Otherwise, the Government would not have asked for the investigation to be carried out.
The Minister has never made a mistake.
Do not assume anything.
If the Minister wants to be smart——
I am calling Question No. 12.
