Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our visitors for their presentations. Mr. Gormally referred to the British Government being open to full disclosure to the HIU. I hope he is correct and it turns out that way. I would not be overly optimistic about this.

On the subject of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, a number of us had an opportunity to contribute to debates and vote in the Dáil on two occasions, in July 2008 and May 2011, when there were all-party motions unanimously calling on the British Government to give access to an independent international legal person to the papers on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The response of the British Government to date has been abysmal and I know that successive taoisigh and foreign affairs Ministers, as well as Deputy Micheál Martin on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, have met the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the British Labour Party spokespersons on Northern Ireland. It is one of the issues we continually raise with them. We have also raised with the British ambassador the need to respond to the request for meetings with the Justice for the Forgotten group. The response has been most disappointing and I sincerely hope there will be a different attitude from the British Government and its agencies to disclosures to the historical investigations unit.

Am I correct in thinking the personnel attached to the historical enquiries team are former police officers from England, not former RUC or PSNI officers? I have read Anne Cadwallader's book, Lethal Allies, which is based on the work of the Justice for the Forgotten group. A lot of the facts outlined in the book are based on the work of the historical enquiries team and it is a shame its work was not continued. We know of terrible atrocities and that 120 lives were lost because of collusion between British and Northern Ireland state forces and murderous gangs in Northern Ireland over a few short years. It is absolutely essential that the historical investigations unit be independent and that the personnel who carry out the work be at a remove from the situation in Northern Ireland in the past. We will not make any progress unless we have that basic modus operandi.

Mr. Devas made a point about informal truth recovery, which has huge merit. If there are formal truth recovery processes but people do not want to co-operate or choose one route over another, can they avoid making a contribution? Can they take the informal route if their co-operation is needed for the formal process? I can see merit in having a formal route, but we would want to think it through very clearly.