Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to ask the Minister some questions. I do not have access to all the information that is available to the Minister. A 300-page statement was made by the detective sergeant who made these allegations in the first instance. Two further reports have been produced by the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Why have the families of the victims never been interviewed about this matter? They can give evidence to me or anybody else about a man and a woman who entered shops in Omagh, on several separate occasions some time before the atrocity, to ask shopkeepers and persons who lost loved ones questions about how long one can park a car on the street without it being moved. None of these people was ever spoken to by the Nally group.

I would like the Minister to elaborate on the witness protection programme. I have spoken before of certain instances relating to the Gilligan trial. If the conditions of the programme, which I understand has cost over €1 million already, are set by the State and legal advice is given to the informant, I do not see why some mechanism cannot be put in place to receive information provided by that person. I ask the Minister to respond to this suggestion. Does he feel that something similar to the Cory report would be beneficial?

The Taoiseach said yesterday that we will never let up on our investigations. I understand from the PSNI investigative team that a DNA profile can be made available within 72 hours, or within 48 hours if required urgently. I understand that a request was made by the investigative team last June for two DNA profiles, but they have not yet been supplied. If that is the case, it contradicts completely the notion that there is greater co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda. Perhaps the Minister will clarify the matter. If the PSNI investigative team requested DNA profiles in two particular cases of importance in the ongoing criminal investigation, but did not receive them, surely the claim that there is greater co-operation is contradicted. Is the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform happy that the level of co-operation that is supposed to exist between the PSNI and the Garda exists? There appears to be contradictory evidence in that regard. I would like to think that the Minister and his counterpart will ensure that information flows freely between each side.

I appreciate the gravity of the Minister's comment this morning that the group which perpetrated the Omagh slaughter "plans to strike again". The Minister can be assured that his efforts to ensure that the security of citizens, North and South, is protected will receive the wholehearted support of this side of the House.

See this speech in context