Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

According to the report, it was not in the air at the relevant time. With all due respect, it was not much use early in the morning or late in the evening.

The issue of what prior knowledge existed is also relevant. According to the Taoiseach the dogs in the street in his constituency knew that a riot was being prepared. There is ample evidence available of an organised effort. There must be a stringent analysis of what took place and why it took place. While it is helpful to have the report from senior management of the Garda Síochána, it is not sufficient. We must learn lessons from what happened. We must learn what steps were taken and if they were adequate. What was the situation with intelligence? What risk assessment was made of that intelligence? We must plan for the future and, with parades scheduled for St. Patrick's Day, May day and on other occasions, we must ensure these events will not be open to being hijacked by subversive and criminal elements.

I have a proposal which the Minister might consider. If we take the view that we must learn from what happened and try to prevent it happening again, the right approach is to establish a small independent group to examine what occurred last Saturday. I do not intend that this group should assign blame to anybody, even the Minister — I am not trying to make politics of this matter. I would like a small independent group to examine the matter to isolate problems and suggest solutions which would be useful for the future. The group I have in mind would be composed of three persons, perhaps the Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, some senior political figure who is not now involved in the political arena, such as Alan Dukes or Nora Owen, who have past experience in the Department of Justice——

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