Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 June 2013
359. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will recommend the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the Stardust tragedy of 1981 due to new information having come to light following recent research carried out on behalf of the families. [29304/13]
View answer399. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 749 of 11 June 2013 and a topical issue debate on the matter dated 27 March 2013, if he will reconsider his decision not to establish a Commission of Investigation into the Stardust disaster of 1981 in view of recent information which has to come to light that certain pieces of information were not considered by Paul Coffey SC in his report on the matter in 2009; and the reason behind his recent responses to questions on this matter which refer to Paul Coffey's findings regarding the cause of the fire when in fact the terms of reference of the Coffey report explicitly excluded Mr. Coffey from making findings as to the cause of the fire. [29303/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 359 and 399 together.
The position is that Mr. Coffey's terms of reference required him to consider the case made by the Victims Committee for a new inquiry. He concluded that the Committee had not identified any new or other evidence capable of establishing the cause of the fire and that to establish a new inquiry for that purpose, in the absence of any identified evidence, would not be in the public interest. No new information has been put forward which would warrant a departure from this conclusion.
