Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

General de Chastelain's full team from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning was present during the meeting I had with him last week. At that meeting, he reiterated what is in his statement — that he is quite satisfied about all of the decommissioning issues and that the decommissioning is in line with the estimates given by security sources. It was not the Government that gave the commission the details of what was considered to be held by the IRA. The estimates were made by the Army and the Garda. The agreement on all of that, as it is set out, is that at the end of the period, when decommissioning is finished and General de Chastelain and his team have fulfilled their role, those issues will be clarified. They are on the security records.

I do not make any distinction between the types of meetings mentioned by Deputy Kenny. I often meet people to discuss Northern Ireland outside the glare of publicity, because that is more convenient. The message does not change on such occasions. Like my predecessors, I have always held such meetings with all kinds of people from Northern Ireland. The president of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams, is one of the people I meet in such circumstances, but he is certainly not the only one. People from Northern Ireland often agree to meet me only if the meetings are not publicised. There are many reasons for that. I have met people who represent all kinds of interests and groups, including the UDA, the UVF and the Red Hand Commandos, in such circumstances. Such people do not want to be photographed with me and at times I do not want to be photographed with them. The basis of the meetings does not change. I have met representatives of many other organisations and groups in Northern Ireland, but the message never changes. The messages I communicate at the meetings are always kept on the record of my Department, in so far as they are relevant. The message I communicated at my meetings this year with Sinn Féin, which was mentioned by Deputy Kenny, was exactly as I have outlined. I spoke about the need for decommissioning, an end to criminality and an end to paramilitarism. That message never changes.

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