Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Judging from what the Taoiseach has said, there is no ambiguity and no doubt about the clarity of the conclusions in the report of the Independent Monitoring Commission. I hear what the Taoiseach says about no sanctions and no penalties, but surely there must be consequences. It cannot be a case of business as usual, otherwise we will be back again in five or six months' time in a similar position. As regards exclusion and inclusion, the Labour Party agrees with the Taoiseach on an inclusive process but there is no room for threats in an inclusive process. In terms of exclusion, will care be taken on this occasion to ensure parties such as the SDLP, which was at the architectural stage of the peace process, will be included as well as the UUP, the Alliance and so on? I know the Taoiseach will say he met them but when the serious negotiations start, parties such as the SDLP which can claim more than the average share of authorship of the process will say they were excluded when the real business was being done and that what was in prospect of being signed off was, therefore, inferior.

I heard what the Taoiseach said about the release of the killers of Jerry McCabe in this new situation and I welcome that.

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