Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I welcome this opportunity to reflect on recent developments and what remains to be done to achieve real political progress in Northern Ireland. Everybody who participated in the political process in the Republic of Ireland since the late 1960s and early 1970s can take some credit for having helped to put together the pieces of the jigsaw that has been completed by the decommissioning of arms by the Provisional IRA. The Taoiseach invested a great deal of time in this process, as did his counterpart in Britain, the Prime Minister, Mr. Blair. He, more than any other British Prime Minister in the past quarter century, is interested in seeing a final, peaceful conclusion to the difficulties of Northern Ireland.

The Fine Gael Party welcomes the confirmation this week by the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning that all the IRA arms have been put beyond use. I have no reason to doubt the veracity of the statement made by General John de Chastelain and the two independent witnesses, Father Reid and Reverend Good.

Some people have suggested that it is necessary to have photographic evidence of the event. General de Chastelain and the independent witnesses have devoted considerable time to this process and have acquired an integrity over the years that speaks for itself. I accept the statement of the general and the two independent religious persons concerned.

The important point is to know these arms are out of commission for good. People have questioned whether this is the full extent of the arms involved. The general and the clergymen can comment only on the governments' estimates of what the Provisional IRA held in storage units around the country. It might be useful for the Government in due course to publish the estimate it gave General de Chastelain. This would give us an idea of what the Government considered to be in the hands of the IRA. The general would not have to confirm that the list represented what he saw being decommissioned but the public would get an idea of the scale of what was involved in this act.

The achievement of decommissioning removes a considerable obstacle to real political progress and fulfils the clearly expressed democratic wish of the people when they voted North and South for this event. They voted in 1998 in the expectation that decommissioning would be complete within two years. Seven years later this has happened.

I know from speaking to people involved in, or on the fringes of, the Provisional IRA that this has created a problem for many of them. It is difficult for me to attempt to understand that mentality when one considers that these weapons were, or would have been, used for the destruction of human life, which is anathema to democratic politics.

The pressure is now on loyalist paramilitaries to respond in like fashion. I am glad that members of the Ulster Unionist Party and some members of the Democratic Unionist Party accept General de Chastelain's words and those of the independent clerics. I would like to think that the situation could swing around and that loyalist paramilitaries would decommission their stockpile of weapons. I urge those who have influence over Unionist politicians to persuade them to re-establish contact with General de Chastelain and the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning to ensure that decommissioning can take place in their community too.

The recent sectarian violence in Belfast is evidence of real frustration within the loyalist community. This was exacerbated by people who provoked young, vulnerable people to doing this. I travelled there in 2003 with the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and saw the frustration felt on the Shankill side of the peace line and the difficulties facing communities there. The people there saw that democratic politics could deliver to Nationalist communities facilities for young people in particular and so on. The issue is a boil that is difficult to lance but I urge those with influence on them to see that loyalist paramilitaries decommission their weapons.

While the completion of decommissioning is welcome, the Provisional movement has much to do before Sinn Féin can be fully regarded in the public consciousness as a truly democratic party. I hope the Independent Monitoring Commission will be in a position to report later this year or early next year that the Provisional movement's extensive involvement in crime and paramilitary activities is ending. The commission must be mandated to monitor that situation for the foreseeable future.

I hope that the cartoon featured in a Northern Irish newspaper today of P. O'Neill walking into the distance, throwing the last revolver over his shoulder, reflects the reality. I do not know whether there were any diesel runs last night, whether any lorries were driven across the Border today on smuggler routes or whether any drivers had to pay €500 to drive their lorries three or four miles with their cargoes on particular roads.

Now that the IRA has decommissioned its weapons it is necessary for the Government to see that the Criminal Assets Bureau and its counterpart in Northern Ireland are properly resourced to ensure that those who benefit from paramilitary criminality are stopped by the rule of law and put out of business, where that applies. It is hard to assume that because decommissioning, which was an obstacle to great progress, is out of the way as far as the IRA is concerned, those IRA members involved in criminal activities have suddenly ceased what became lucrative commercial activities for them.

I am not clear about the Taoiseach's attitude to Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin sharing power after the next general election. I noted his comment on the 6.30 p.m. news the other day when he was asked whether the fundamental obstacle to his or any other party entering Government with Sinn Féin had been removed. His reply was that it had been removed. That remark will obviously cause a great deal of concern to business in the country.

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