Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The short answer to the first question on the IMC report is that this was always going to be an important report because while the last one was positive, there were a few areas which created concern. I highlighted those at the time and there was much focus on them. This report covers the period from the end of last year up to the first quarter and it has been a positive one across all the sectors. I do not want to go into any of the negative aspects of it, which do not relate to the Provisional IRA, but we must continue to focus on some of the loyalist paramilitary activity which is not too positive and on what has been said about dissident republicans, particularly the Continuity IRA. Some strong issues have been raised regarding that organisation and we are required to bear them in mind. On the central issue in the process, the Deputy stated correctly that the report is positive in light of what we are trying to do to get the institutions to work.

The Deputy asked me to outline plan B. On the day of the press conference, we outlined what we wanted to do for the next eight months. We obviously want to devote all our energy and effort to making plan A work. However, we must also be honest in that one cannot just leave a vacuum. While the focus of the two Governments is on making the Assembly and Executive work, any alternatives would clearly be second best. I consider this to be the case and have made this very clear for the people of Northern Ireland. No matter how good the alternative in terms of co-operation between the two Governments may be, one would be doing it in the absence of the political process in Northern Ireland. That would not be a good or healthy position. There is no doubt that a partnership arrangement dealing with all the issues could well be achieved but it is certainly not what I want to put in place.

In the event of a failure to form a power-sharing Executive on 24 November, we will have to examine the immediate implications of what we have called our "joint stewardship" of the process. We have obligations to people on both parts of the island under the Good Friday Agreement. In the absence of a power-sharing executive, we would have no choice but to bring forward alternative arrangements to ensure the implementation of all aspects of the Agreement other than those related to the institutions. We would have to do this to the maximum extent possible. The simple answer to the Deputy's question is that all the aspects of the Good Friday Agreement not concerning the Executive or Assembly would have to be dealt with in another way. We will do the detailed work on this. Plan B is very much a second-best option. The Good Friday Agreement envisages an inclusive cross-community process and this is what I want to achieve.

No information on the Denis Donaldson murder has been brought to my attention. There is a very active Garda investigation into the issue and obviously the Garda and PSNI will collaborate closely and share information on the case. Nothing of any substance has been reported to me since the murder.

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