Dáil debates

Tuesday, 3 February 2004

2:30 pm

Photo of Caoimhghín Ó CaoláinCaoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

The Taoiseach will recall that, in his presence, my Sinn Féin colleagues and I used the opportunity of a meeting in Downing Street to apprise the British Prime Minister of the Barron report and its detail. He will recall that the British Prime Minister undertook to reply to me on the matters I raised with him on that occasion. I received a reply only last week from the Minister of State in the Northern Ireland Office, Jane Kennedy, of fewer than 200 words. Quite incredibly, she states in the letter that all relevant information from British files was passed on to Mr. Justice Barron. Does the Taoiseach agree with that extraordinary statement that all relevant documentation was passed on to Mr. Justice Barron, particularly given that we were advised that 68,000 files of possible relevance were in the hands of the Northern Ireland Office? Mr. Justice Barron indicated he did not get the level of co-operation and only received a ten-page missive, followed by a further missive. He received no original documentation. Has the Taoiseach pressed the British Prime Minister, even at this late stage, to undertake to release all the relevant information and not the reply offered to us by the Minister of State, Jane Kennedy?

I am not sure if the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence, Equality and Women's Rights intends inviting, in the widest context, people from the British side. Has the Taoiseach engaged with the British Prime Minister with regard to indicating to or, where appropriate, directing those from the British side to attend if they are invited, summoned or whatever is the case before the sub-committee considering the Barron report? That would be very important.

As regards the ongoing, unfolding events in the joint committee's sittings — I note today, again in terms of Mr. Justice Barron's attendance, the line of questioning — what steps were taken by the Taoiseach, his Department and the various Departments with responsibility to try to establish what happened to the missing files? I note from the engagement taking place in the committee shortly before the resumption of business in the House this afternoon that not only were these files missing in original form, the duplicates at another location were also missing, which is an incredible position. Were they stolen, deliberately lost or destroyed? What steps have been taken by the Government to try to discover the files' location?

If files relevant to any of the other tribunals or major investigative processes taking place in this State or to any former Member of the House or any other area of interest were missing, would it not be a national scandal? Is it not, therefore, a scandal that we have not been able to establish definitively what happened to the files which were in the care of Departments and other arms of the State?

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