Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach wrote to party leaders on notepaper with the Taoiseach's heading on it about the proposal to allow speaking rights to members of Sinn Féin not elected to this House in a Dáil committee. He did not make it clear that he was writing as the leader of Fianna Fáil as distinct from the Leader of the Government in his capacity as Taoiseach. In view of the response he received from Fine Gael and other parties, including his Government partners, the Progressive Democrats, can I assume that the Taoiseach's proposal has been withdrawn?

I wish to raise the issue of Community Restorative Justice, an organisation funded by the entrepreneur Chuck Feeney. The money allocated to it is running out and claims have been made to the British Government. In the Mourne Observer of 28 January 2004, a Sinn Féin public representative stated that this organisation was working well in Downpatrick and that Sinn Féin intended to set up similar initiatives throughout south Down to offer a viable alternative to the PSNI, which had proved ineffective and unacceptable to many communities. Community Restorative Justice's links to Sinn Féin are clear.

I took careful note of the remarks of Ms Eileen Calder of the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre concerning a serious case in Northern Ireland where a woman was raped, then intimidated to the point that it was perfectly clear that she should not attempt to report this and that if she did report it, other things might happen. Other instances of intimidation including threats from the IRA against individuals were brought by representatives of Community Restorative Justice. This is appalling. In another case, Eileen Calder described how a woman who was raped was brought face to face with the rapist in a room, which the victim described as worse than the rape itself.

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