Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach did not respond to the question as to whether his party shared the view of some of his councillors about the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In recent days, we have heard some pious pronouncements from members of the Sinn Féin Party about republicanism and criminality. It has been suggested that Sinn Féin and its supporters have no part in any criminal activity. Such statements have been made by the same people who denied responsibility for the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, denied any involvement in the Northern Bank raid and refused to agree that the abduction and execution of Jean McConville was a crime.

I listened to the sisters of Robert McCartney, who was murdered in Belfast recently, speaking on RTE radio this morning. Their fundamental point was that comments made on radio and television and in newspapers by the leadership of Sinn Féin, principally that party's president, Mr. Gerry Adams, have no impact on the ground, because "that is the way they are". I listened yesterday to Deputy Ó Caoláin, who made a different kind of speech in the presence of the Tánaiste. Does the Taoiseach agree that if Deputy Ó Caoláin and his party, particularly his party's president, want to make hard decisions and to dissociate themselves from criminality, they could in the first instance speak to the IRA person in Belfast of republican leanings who issued the instruction to murder Robert McCartney, who was an innocent man? If Sinn Féin wants to demonstrate that it is serious about the ways of democracy and the path of peace, it should take the hard decision. Does the Taoiseach share the view that Sinn Féin should at least dissociate itself from the killers of Robert McCartney, for example by expelling them from the republican movement?

Will the Taoiseach confirm that a blind eye was turned to criminality in this jurisdiction in recent years, as the Minister for Defence stated the other night? Has that eye been opened and is it now fully focused? Will the full resources of the State, which are available to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Commissioner, be used to stamp out criminality in this jurisdiction, in all its forms? Fine Gael would support such action.

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