Vol. 554 No. 5
888 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will report on the findings of the review by the Attorney General of the impact of the Abbeylara judgment and on possible future inquiries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15309/02]
905 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Health and Children when he expects the chairperson of the post mortem inquiry to present her report, as outlined in the terms of reference; the rationale behind the confidentiality undertaking which relatives are being asked to sign; if those who refuse to sign this undertaking will be excluded from having their cases investigated by the inquiry; the benefit for whom this undertaking exists; if there will be a second tier to this inquiry as originally proposed with statutory powers to compel witnesses to attend and to produce documentation; and when he expects the Attorney General to complete his review of the impact of the Supreme Court judgment in the Abbeylara incident on the proposed second tier of the post mortem inquiry which was to be conducted by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. [15421/02]
943 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the rationale behind the confidentiality undertaking which relatives are being asked to sign with regard to the post mortem inquiry; and if those who refuse to sign any such undertaking will be excluded from having their cases investigated by the inquiry. [15597/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 888, 905 and 943 together.
The work of the post mortem inquiry commenced in March 2001 under the chairmanship of Ms Anne Dunne, SC. It was envisaged at that time that its work would take approximately 18 months. This period expired in September and I have been advised by Ms Dunne that, while the work of the inquiry is proceeding apace, it will take a considerable time for the inquiry to complete its work. An interim progress report was provided to me last Thursday by Ms Dunne and this is being considered by my Department.
The inquiry is a non-statutory inquiry and it depends upon the voluntary co-operation of those involved in its work. The inquiry took the view from an early stage, that in these circumstances, it would be conducive to the success of its work if its proceedings were confidential and were not subject to dissemination publicly. Anyone contributing to the work of the inquiry is requested to enter into a written confidentiality agreement to treat as strictly private and confidential all information, given or received, relating to the work of the inquiry, whether written or oral. This undertaking is to ensure that the work of the inquiry will be totally private and confidential. The inquiry has advised me that it has received a satisfactory response to its request for this undertaking and has explained its reasons for seeking it to the persons concerned. The inquiry team does not believe that the undertaking would in any way limit or restrict the scope of the inquiry's work or its report.
