Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I undertake to do so, as has been the case with all such reports. I will consult the representatives of the victims' groups and ensure they receive the report in due time. I am not privy to precisely what Mr. MacEntee will report on. I understand from my officials who met him yesterday that his investigative work is completed. He has received quite a lot of co-operation and has followed a lot of new lines. The information available to my officials is limited but he seems to have moved in both aspects of the report. His mission consisted of two issues: to examine the issue of policing and the missing files and equally important, to examine the issues of various people seen in different locations and the various leads that resulted from Mr. Justice Barron's report. I am informed by British sources and by the Secretary of State that there has been quite an engagement on these issues. It is probable there are many legal issues to do with how these matters are dealt with but this is a matter for Mr. MacEntee.

I also know, as I told the House many months ago, he is anxious, for his own reasons, to get this finished. He is not interested in extensions of other work from the committee to do with other cases. He wants to see this work through but is not interested in continuing on to other aspects of the Barron reports. He is working on this mainly on his own but with a small team. I was advised this morning that he will seek a further extension and I am due to receive that letter in the next few days.

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