Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

In so far as it is possible, our first responsibility should be to the survivors and relatives of the victims of the Omagh bombing. We know how frustrated they are from events, even as recent as those of yesterday. Will the Minister re-examine the documentation in the Nally report and provide an extensive briefing — not a general briefing, as he has suggested — in addition to a document that would reflect what took place in the substance of the Nally report?

I have suggested that we should provide a forum in this House for the relatives of the victims and the survivors to tell their stories. It took us 30 years to provide such a forum for the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. A forum, such as I have suggested, could also invite the Northern Ireland ombudsman to attend. Since she has made a public statement in Northern Ireland about the Omagh bombing, there is no reason it cannot be stated before a committee of this House. We should also invite the Nally group to inquire about its methodology in dealing with the terms of reference and its conclusions. That would be a mechanism for moving the matter on, which would be in the public arena and would not interfere with the matters to which the Minister has referred, which could not be disclosed.

My final point concerns the PSNI and the RUC. If there was no record of the contact between the Garda Síochána and the RUC on the RUC side, and there was no memory of that contact, surely there is a problem of record taking, record keeping and communications. No matter what the Minister says about the goodwill that exists between both forces, if there is no mechanism or structure in place, I do not know where we are going. It harks back to the events of 30 years ago, about which we have heard the same description of communications.

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