Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The fifth report of the Independent Monitoring Commission on the continuing activities of paramilitary groups, submitted pursuant to Articles 4 and 7 of the international agreement establishing the IMC, was published last month. This report, as with previous reports, sets out, inter alia, an assessment of the current activities of paramilitary groups and details incidents of violence and exiling. Although most of the activities reported refer specifically to Northern Ireland, some do not and the general assessment of each group's status is broadly as valid to the south as to the north of the Border.

In the case of the Real IRA, the IMC states that it is the most active of the dissident republican groups and remains engaged in acts of terrorism and organised crime. The IMC goes on to state that RIRA has recruited and trained members in the use of firearms and has continued to improve its capacity in the use of explosives. The IMC believes this is the work of an organisation which is ruthless and committed to terrorism. I am pleased to note that the Special Criminal Court last week sentenced five members of RIRA to imprisonment on conviction for membership of an unlawful organisation. One of these members was described as the officer commanding of RIRA in Munster, with three of the others described as constituting an active service unit.

In respect of the Continuity IRA, the IMC states that it has continued to be sporadically active. CIRA has undertaken some re-organisation, particularly in its command structure, which the IMC believes may indicate an intention to increase its level of activity. CIRA continues to take on new members and to train, including in the use of rifles and explosives, and it is making efforts to improve its engineering capacity, particularly with regard to explosives, and its access to weapons. Two members of CIRA were arrested in this jurisdiction in January 2005 for possession of an under-car explosive device. The IMC goes on to state that CIRA has no interest in a ceasefire and believes that it plans to continue to engage in terrorism and other crimes, possibly more than in the recent past.

In the case of the INLA, the IMC states that its members remain very actively involved in organised crime, including drugs, although its level of activity is not as high as in previous reporting periods. The IMC adds that the threat of the organisation's more active engagement remains.

The IMC states that the Provisional IRA continues to maintain its medium term effectiveness. It continues to recruit and train new members, including in the use of firearms and explosives, and continues to gather intelligence. The IMC goes on to state that PIRA remains engaged in organised crime, including, for example, the smuggling of fuel and tobacco. Moreover, recent events have shown PIRA's sophisticated use of money laundering as a means of securing in the long term the proceeds of serious crime, such as the Northern Bank raid. The IMC concludes by noting that PIRA remains a highly active organisation which is at present determined to maintain its effectiveness in terms of organised crime and the potential for terrorism.

The Garda authorities assure me that the Garda Síochána has sufficient resources to deal with the terrorist and criminal activities of paramilitary groups. As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Síochána has never been better resourced. For example, the Government has increased the Garda budget by more than 90%, from €599 million in 1997 to €1.39 billion in 2005——

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