Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank witnesses and members for their input. There was some discussion around the role of this committee. Deputy Wall summed it up well in pointing out that we are trying to reach out as best we can, which includes our visits to Belfast and Dungannon and to Derry in the new year. We intend to continue that engagement. We are absolutely delighted to be able to reach out to the witnesses today, and their attendance is a very good start to another branch of engagement. I thank Deputy Smith and Mr. McDonnell for their work with the clerk and other committee staff to facilitate this meeting. We are grateful to the witnesses for their engagement with us and for sharing their personal stories. We are all conscious of the famous observation, from whom I cannot recall, that if we do not learn from the mistakes of the past we are condemned to repeat them in the future. That is something of which we are very conscious.

We as a committee are very much focused on the next generation and on issues such as education, social policy, housing and so on. We are also acutely aware, however, of our responsibility to this generation and to people in similar situations to the witnesses. We have learnt a great deal time from our discussion today, particularly in terms of our responsibility not only to those bereaved during the conflict but also to those who suffered physical harm. That has come across loud and clear today.

Wording and jargon are always an issue when one is dealing with such sensitive legacy issues. It is helpful to hear that while the concept of closure is important for some people - certainly for many of the people to whom we have spoken - there are also people who are primarily concerned with accountability and other issues. I was brought up near a fishing village and still live on the coast and, as such, I am familiar with the consolation for families that comes from retrieving the bodies of loved ones after a tragic drowning. There is a correlation there with what Ms Morgan and Mr. Megraw are saying in terms of the seven bodies that have not been recovered. We as a committee are asking once again, in this public forum, that anybody who has any evidence or information which might help the families would come forward. We will continue to champion the witnesses' cause. At Government level, officials from the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of the Taoiseach will be listening to the contributions today. If there is anything we can do in terms of collaborating with the French Government, we will be happy to support Ms Morgan in that regard.

We are dealing with complex and multifaceted legacy issues. Mr. Richard Haass and his team have an important job to do and we certainly would not wish to interfere by telling them what they need to do. I hope, however, that the contributions of witnesses and members today will be of value to Mr. Haass in his deliberations. Everybody in this room, and everybody North and South and throughout the United Kingdom, wishes to see a better Northern Ireland. We sometimes have a tendency to dismiss the progress that has been made in the past 15 years. At the same time, however, there is much work that remains to be done. We look forward to working with the witnesses in the future. We try to operate as honest brokers and our door is open to everybody. We are delighted to have the witnesses in Dublin and will help them in any way we can, including in respect of the exhibition to which Deputy Wall referred.