Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Mr. Justice Barron has two outstanding issues to complete in his work — the bombings in Castleblayney and Dundalk — and he will complete them in April. That will be the end of his work.

The answer to the question on the Garda Commissioner is "Yes" and I welcome the statement he made when he addressed this issue. The Garda has now established liaison arrangements with victims and those have improved a great deal from what they were, as we know from what we heard in the committee. A member of the force is available at Garda Headquarters to talk to families and this is a significant movement from the previous situation.

The proposal in Northern Ireland to appoint a victims commissioner is an interesting development and we are examining the consultation paper provided. It details the proposed role and responsibility of the commissioner. When Ken Bloomfield and John Wilson were working on this, we had set up a fund and argued that a similar position would be helpful in Northern Ireland. At that time we argued that any new initiative should be centred on victims and their families. At the time, John Wilson was very strong that it was what it should be about and that it should be directed to help the victims in a humane way when dealing with some of the welfare issues. We have made progress in recent years in addressing the needs of victims North and South. The memorial fund in Northern Ireland and the remembrance fund commission in this jurisdiction are up and running and I pay tribute to the work of those involved, including Ken Bloomfield and John Wilson, in setting it up. The Secretary of State announced plans last week, to which Deputy Rabbitte referred, for a broadly based consultation and involvement with individuals, victims groups and communities. I welcome these consultations to recognise the importance of cross-community support and the involvement for any future process.

We had a debate in 1997 and 1998, before and after the Good Friday Agreement, on whether we should have a truth commission. At that stage all sides had agreed that it was not the way to go. Deputy Sargent has continually raised this issue in recent years and I have given those views.

It is well worth looking at these proposals because, as Deputy Rabbitte is aware, an endless number of groups have been formed which are concerned with various atrocities. As time passes, instead of the healing process setting in, bitterness arises. I can understand that having met numerous groups of families. The more they see one case getting prominence, the more they feel they have not served their families' interest. I understand that and say it in the most respectful way because every death and atrocity from whatever side or quarter is enormous. If we were to find a way to deal with all these, cases we would still be here talking about them in 100 years' time. I do not think anybody wants that, not least the families.

It is useful to see if there is some way that people can lodge their submissions in these cases. I am certainly open to that; otherwise we will never get closure on issues. I do not know what is the best way to do it. The South African way proved to be an effective short means, but I do not know if it solved the problems for people. It certainly seems to have done so, but perhaps somebody will correct me some years from now and say that has not been the experience.

Something must happen. I have made the point to the Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, on a number of occasions and to the Northern Ireland Office that we must find some process. It is not a financial issue but one in which the fact that people know in their heart that something was never investigated means that it goes on to create an irritant. Like all these issues, when one looks at them in hindsight it is easy to ask how investigations could have closed so quickly or, in many cases, how investigations never started due to the sheer pressure of cases at the time. That is an issue we must examine and we are engaged in looking at the consultation paper.

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