Cost considerations would not prevent the holding of a trial for the murders of Mary Callinan and Sylvia Shiels, in Grangegorman, Dublin, in March 1997, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell said.
The criminal investigation remained open and a forensic cold case review was being conducted on exhibits and samples taken from the scene.
This might yield DNA and forensic evidence which would move the case on and make it possible for a prosecution to be brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions. "If the DPP becomes satisfied that there is reliable evidence that he can run a viable trial on, I have no doubt that he will proceed, regardless of the issue of costs."
The Minister was speaking on a motion to establish a Commission of Investigation into how Dean Lyons - since deceased - came to confess to the murders. The Garda Síochána subsequently accepted his confessions were false.
David Norris (Ind) said that the relatives of the murdered women hoped somebody would be brought to trial so that they could have closure. He added that Tony Kett (FF) had referred to the fact that a man was in custody who had made a confession which appeared to be more consistent with the facts.
Mr Norris said he believed that in the case involving Malcolm Macarthur where a conviction had been obtained on one count, other counts had not been proceeded with.
That type of approach left bereaved families in a certain kind of limbo which provided them with no closure. While he realised that there was a question of the expense of running a trial, surely it was wrong that the "fate" of people who had been murdered should be left in this kind of legal limbo when it was relatively clear who had perpetrated these acts. Brian Hayes, Fine Gael leader in the House, said this case was like those of the Guildford Four and the Birmingham Six, because Dean Lyons, a homeless young man caught up in a drugs situation, had been "stitched up".
One of the questions that had to be addressed was why detailed matters had appeared in his false statement which could have been known only to someone with prior knowledge of this case.
Mr Kett said a critical issue for the inquiry was how the statement, which had not been taped, could be so accurate in the precise details of the murder scene, the murder weapon and other aspects.