The Government is open to listening to the families of those who died in the 2022 explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal, to see what can be done over and above the ongoing Garda inquiry, the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, has said.
She was speaking to reporters in the wake of a solicitor acting for a number of the affected families having written to her earlier this week asking for the establishment of a public inquiry.
There is an ongoing Garda inquiry and it is expected that a file will be presented to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms McEntee said.
“None of us want to do anything that would jeopardise that, but I am open, as is the Government, to looking to see what more perhaps may be needed, and I think that is the important thing here. What would an investigation or inquiry achieve, what is the intention behind it, what is it that families need to know, separate to the investigation that is taking place?”
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Four men, three women and three children, ranging in age from five to 59, died in the blast, which is it suspected was caused by a gas leak.
“I think there are two things,” the Minister said. “We need to allow the Garda investigation to take its course... Separate to that, we need to know what an investigation would do, what information it is the families need, and in that regard I absolutely believe the families need to be listened to.”
Ms McEntee was speaking to reporters on her way into the annual delegate conference of the Association of Garda Superintendents in Trim, Co Meath.
The Minister said she would like to see a “step change” in the rate at which new gardaí are being recruited. A new working group was looking at the issue, including whether training could take place at other locations as well as the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co Tipperary.
The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, speaking to reporters at the same event, said he did not see Templemore closing down, but it was necessary to look at the employment market, the skills that are needed for the force into the future, and the fact that the cohort of people now being sought as recruits includes people aged up to 49. “That in itself may drive how we train student gardaí.”
Mr Harris said the population was growing and the force also needed to grow, perhaps by 4,000 to 6,000 in the years to 2035 or 2040. The new recruitment regime might involve people with special skills, such as in the cyber area, being directly recruited, though not necessarily as sworn members of the force. “We are not ruling anything out.”
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