Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputy Perry.

I compliment the Acting Chairman, Deputy Penrose, on the production of his award-winning book which I hope is in the best sellers' list. He is the most substantial Acting Chairman we have had in the Chair for some time.

My contribution to this debate will be brief. Every man and woman who puts on the uniform of the Garda Síochána must understand they serve their country and the public to the highest levels of integrity, commitment and public service. I know the Minister shares that view and he speaks to young recruits and trainees in that fashion.

In a discussion of the Nally report and related matters, it must be remembered that the families of the 31 victims of the Omagh bomb in August 1998 must be central to all our thoughts. We can never forget the trauma and desperation of these innocent families and they are entitled to know the truths about the events that led to the brutal murder of their loved ones.

I have spoken on a previous occasion in this House about the Nally report to which I was given brief access by the Minister in 2004. While I fully recognise the competence and integrity of the members of the Nally group, I expressed some reservations previously about the nature of the task they were asked to undertake. The House will recall that the Nally investigation and report had its origins in a report which was prepared for the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Ms Nuala O'Loan, into various allegations made by Detective Sergeant John White. Some time later, I met with Ms O'Loan to discuss this matter and she informed me that she regarded those allegations so seriously that she travelled down to Dublin on the train to inform the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue. The Nally group was then asked to examine the subject matter of her report. While the report deals in some detail with that aspect of the original allegations, I am concerned that numbers of individuals who should have been interviewed by the group as part of their inquiry, were not contacted. For example, the investigators in the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland's office were never contacted by the Nally group nor were the PSNI investigators into the Omagh bombing. Given the high level of co-operation that exists and existed then between the RUC-PSNI and the Garda Síochána, such contacts should have been made as these people might have been able to help with the inquiry.

Of far more concern to me and I have referred to it obliquely in the House before, is the failure of the group to interview the Garda informant, Mr. Paddy Dixon, who was a central figure in the allegations made. Mr. Dixon was part of the Garda operation aimed at infiltrating the Real IRA. Despite the fact he was protected by the Government and under the witness protection programme at the time the Nally group was conducting its inquiries, the group never interviewed him based on legal advice. I found it incredible that a person being protected by the State at a high cost to the taxpayer could not have been contacted and given sufficient assurances that he could co-operate with the work of an inquiry into allegations to which he was centrally connected.

Mr. Dixon made contact with me more than a year ago. I met him on a dark street and had to ask him if he was armed. He replied he was not. I spoke to him at some length about his life and his involvement in certain activities. He made it perfectly clear he wished to have his story told. He wanted to have his side of life fully expressed in terms of his innocence and the work he was involved in. Subsequent to that meeting I informed a member of the Nally group that Mr. Dixon had contacted me and I had met him. I also contacted the Taoiseach privately on this matter.

I do not know whether the Nally group or the Government have made contact with Mr. Dixon since, or whether he has made contact with them. If I was in a position to speak to a central witness in this important matter concerning the Omagh bombing and its surrounds, I would have thought the Government would have been able to do so too. It is critical for the families of the Omagh victims, the Garda and others who were the subject of John White's allegations to reach a point where we can be absolutely sure the allegations have been thoroughly, conclusively and comprehensively examined. Ensuring such co-operation from everyone might bring final closure to an inquiry which is of such fundamental importance to the way we do our business in this State, to the persons working for the State, and ultimately in respect of the families of those who were so tragically and unfortunately bereaved at that time.

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