This Saturday, 13 July, will mark the fourth anniversary of the disappearance in Portugal of Jean Tighe. Jean is a member of a very highly regarded family who have been friends of mine over many years. Very understandably, Jean's loving family are distraught and have been at their wits' end over her disappearance. Those concerns are shared by their many friends in the community in Cavan and neighbouring areas.

To put it mildly, the investigation into Jean's disappearance has been totally inadequate. It is simply just not good enough. I have been raising this very important issue constantly with the Tánaiste and with the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Justice. As Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar raised the case directly with his Portuguese counterpart. The Tighe family has got no response whatsoever as to why the Portuguese police authorities did not use modern investigative and search tools to trace Jean. Has there been any response to Deputy Varadkar's questions to the Portuguese authorities, which I hope focused on the importance of accessing Jean's entire digital footprint and DNA screening? The family is very patiently awaiting results but sadly they have had no substantive updates from any authorities. The Government and our authorities must be robust and demanding in their ongoing contact with the Portuguese authorities to get an update on what has been done and what has not.

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this issue. None of us can comprehend the agony the Tighe family must be experiencing since Jean went missing in Portugal on 17 July 2020. She was reported missing, I think, by her boyfriend at the time. The family had not been contacted regarding her disappearance and in March 2021 they lodged a missing persons report with An Garda Síochána. I understand that Portuguese police have been investigating her disappearance but that sadly no strong leads have materialised as of yet. A member of An Garda Síochána in Portugal, the Irish Embassy in Lisbon and the ambassador have engaged with Portuguese police a number of times. The Tighe family has also been working with a family liaison officer. In August of last year, An Garda Síochána and the Portuguese police met via video conference and Ms Tighe's photo and profile was added to the Portuguese police's missing persons website. As the Deputy has said, my predecessor raised the matter with the then Prime Minister of Portugal. I will now directly seek an update myself. I say to the Tighe family that I am very happy to raise the matter with my counterpart in Portugal and to come back to Deputy Smith directly.