Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

At every opportunity and at the various levels of the meetings and strands we attend the Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and I raise these issues. The high levels of criminality and violence on the loyalist side continue to cause genuine concern. In its most recent report, the Independent Monitoring Commission noted that loyalists were responsible for 95% of shootings and 76% of assaults in the period under review, with the remainder being carried out by dissident republicans. Most cases of exiling were also carried out by loyalist paramilitaries. Tackling loyalist violence and criminality are, first and foremost, the responsibility of the criminal justice agencies in Northern Ireland, primarily the PSNI and the Assets Recovery Agency.

The two Governments have been absolutely clear on the need for loyalist paramilitary groups to move away definitely from violence and criminality and to engage with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning with a view to putting arms beyond use. At the previous meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 2 May last, the Governments again called on all those with influence in this regard to use it to that end. The Governments will continue their work in this respect.

We all have a serious responsibility in this area. We can conquer this problem together if there is mutual respect, dialogue, communication and collaboration within the structures at local community level or within the political system. We need to work assiduously within the structures which exist to create a permanent structure in Northern Ireland that will allow the affairs of the people who live there to be decided by their own representatives. We must all work to ensure that we meet this serious challenge.

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