Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take questions Nos. 6 to 11, inclusive, together.

I thank the members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights for their work in preparing the final report on Mr. Justice Barron's report into the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, which has been published. I am grateful to the sub-committee for the timely way in which it prepared its report and for providing the bereaved families with an opportunity to make submissions to the sub-committee and to appear before it.

The Government will consider the recommendations of the joint committee in due course. I received a letter from the Prime Minister Mr. Blair regarding the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 and the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, which I passed to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, in view of the committee's deliberations on Mr. Justice Barron's report.

In that letter dated 10 January 2005, the Prime Minister said:

The Government welcomed the establishment of the Barron inquiry and cooperated with it as fully as possible, conducting a thorough search of all government records and, consistent with its responsibilities for protecting national security and the lives of individuals, ensuring that all potentially relevant information that was uncovered, including intelligence information, was shared with the investigation.

The Government notes Mr Justice Barron's conclusions that, while allegations of collusion between British security forces and the perpetrators of the bombing were not fanciful, he had not seen any evidence to corroborate it and it could not be inferred, even as a probability.

In the circumstances, the Government concludes that no further benefit to the public interest would accrue from the establishment of an inquiry, within the United Kingdom, to re-examine these allegations.

On the matter of British cooperation with Justice Barron's extended inquiry into the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973, it was our judgement at the time of Justice Barron's approach that, given our experience of the scale of the task in identifying relevant material in the Dublin-Monaghan and Dundalk bombings, it would not be possible to conduct another major search through our records for material relating to the 1972/73 bombings within the timescale of the inquiry.

Notwithstanding this response, I would like to see a mechanism that would allow for independent scrutiny and assessment of material and files held by the British authorities. I reiterated this view in London at my meeting with the Prime Minister Mr. Blair on 1 February and I raised the matter again at my meeting with the Prime Minister on Thursday last.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, also raised the issue of British co-operation with inquiries in this jurisdiction with the Secretary of State Mr. Murphy at last week's meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the Secretary of State said that a response would be forthcoming to the letter he received from the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights.

I have received Mr. Justice Barron's report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow and I expect that, following necessary consideration, the report will be forwarded to the Oireachtas in the coming weeks. My Department is making the necessary arrangements for the establishment of the commission of investigation into matters relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 1974 and I expect these to be finalised and the commission established in the coming weeks.

I understand that Mr. Justice Barron expects to complete his report on the Dundalk bombing of December 1975 and the Castleblaney bombing of 1976 and other incidents in April.

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