Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I pay tribute to the quality of the work of Mr. Justice Barron. He deserves enormous credit for the detailed report he has published on this occasion. It is in keeping with the painstaking manner in which he has discharged his obligations in terms of the prior reports referred to by the Taoiseach. We ought to consider some way we could appropriately mark his contribution. It has attracted surprisingly little scrutiny outside of the Oireachtas.

I am sure the Taoiseach agrees Mr. Justice Barron's findings are very grave, namely, that a loyalist group based somewhere in mid-Ulster was most likely responsible for this particular outrage, that there is strong circumstantial evidence of collusion with the security forces, that the Garda investigation was inadequate in many respects and that little consideration has ever been shown for the families directly involved. The Taoiseach made a passing reference to the lack of co-operation from the British authorities. Now that we have this report and since its receipt in July has he raised the matter with the British Prime Minister? Does the Taoiseach consider that raising the matter with the British Prime Minister is a waste of time?

Nobody has ever been held responsible for atrocities that were carried out in this jurisdiction, it is suspected, by loyalist paramilitaries. A historic inquiries team has been established in Northern Ireland to open these murder cases where nobody was ever charged. Perhaps the time has come in this jurisdiction for the Government to consider the establishment of a similar team that would reopen old cases which involve loyalist and republican paramilitaries where nobody was charged.

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