Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that at a time of great sensitivity in respect of the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process, it is fundamentally important that the Government of which he is Taoiseach should speak with one voice on these matters. On two occasions in the recent past I asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform whether he was prepared to publish the names of the people he believed to be members of the provisional IRA army council. The Minister said that was not appropriate. However, last weekend on a Sunday morning chat show he chose to name three individuals as being members of the army council of the Provisional IRA. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Taoiseach did not go that far and said they did not have the extent of evidence available from security briefings that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has.

Does the Taoiseach share the view of a Fianna Fáil councillor who yesterday called for the resignation of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell? Is that Fianna Fáil policy? Is there now a split within the Government, which is essentially causing a sideshow and an unwarranted distraction from focusing on the main issue, which is the web of criminality recently exposed by Garda Commissioner Conroy and his gardaí, which seems to reach right to the inner sanctums of Irish business and which affects the economy and goes to the heart of our democratic system?

Does the Taoiseach believe it would be appropriate for him to be fully briefed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he speaks on issues such as this on behalf of Government? Does the Taoiseach not believe it is fundamental that the Government speaks with one voice? These matters have of course been denied by the Sinn Féin leadership, who seem to again follow the old Sinn Féin motto that those who know do not tell and those who tell do not know. What is the position of the Government in respect of this matter?

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