Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The agreement is an historic landmark and an important development. I am delighted we reached such a pivotal point in what has been a long process. I would rather see the institutions being set up this week but having said that, the negotiations, agreements and understandings are even more important. Undoubtedly, it is a golden moment and an unprecedented hope. We all have to work to ensure it will happen. We can see the agreement was front page news yesterday on every continent. In the Middle East stations took an enormous interest and carried headlines throughout the day. It is a good message that a peace process can work and make progress. I know every peace process is different but at least it gives encouragement to many working on others.

Anyone with a sense of history of the Troubles will understand the meaning of all of this. There is no doubt that the meeting and agreement between Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams mark an historic juncture. For the first time all of the parties in Northern Ireland have agreed on a way forward together. It is hoped in the years to come this will prove to be unprecedented, very positive and welcome. It is important that we move on in an entirely new spirit to implement all aspects of the agreement. We have a few weeks to undertake a lot of preparatory work. I am glad the First Minister and Deputy First Minister elect will engage directly during this period. It is enormously important that no more time is lost. We have lost enough but will be positive that this can happen. I hope for a lot of early engagement and that everyone will agree that the delay is a price worth paying and that at least we can all sign up to it.

From the Government's perspective, I can confirm the work we have done on two fronts on North-South bodies. The staff of the North-South bodies and those involved in various Government agencies across the system are ready to move on issues which were held up and work on new ones on a North-South basis. This was always the dynamic of the Good Friday Agreement and I am totally committed to this work. We can make enormous progress in a range of areas without creating difficulties for anybody and are prepared to do so, as we showed during the interregnum period and through our support for Derry airport when major difficulties arose last year.

Deputy Ó Caoláin asked about the financial package. Last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced that Northern Ireland would benefit from an improved financial package on top of the measures announced on 1 November if the parties agreed to restore the Northern Ireland Executive. This package consists of a sum of £35 billion over the next four years and will provide support for an £18 billion capital investment strategy during the next ten years. The improved package also contains an additional sum of £1 billion, of which £400 million will comes from the Government to improve infrastructure and job prospects in Northern Ireland, specifically roads and infrastructure in the north west.

In January the national development plan identified key areas for North-South joint investment initiatives which included a list of new strategic projects. It is proposed to complete a high quality road network on the inter-urban routes linking the major population centres of Dublin, Belfast and the north west, including in particular the development of a dual carriageway standard road to Derry and Donegal. This will remove the single largest impediment to the future development of the entire north west and the Border counties. To make last week's announcement meaningful, we have provided additional resources which the Minister for Finance approved last week.

I understand the British Government signed a retail consortium agreement with major companies to provide additional jobs in Northern Ireland and that the financial package also contains a commitment to carry out a review of the differences in tax rates, North and South. This is an important initiative. I have been supportive of the various groups lobbying for it during the past 18 months.

Regarding the Finucane case, I met Geraldine Finucane in the United States. This year a resolution was passed in the US Senate which was another important step. There is great interest in the case, on which I reported at length at a meeting of the Friends of Ireland at which there was a large attendance, the biggest I have seen since 1998. I should add that in the recent election a number of new Friends of Ireland were elected, including a number of young members. This adds to our list of contacts for the future and I thank them for their engagement. I brought them through the Finucane case, of which they were well aware, the various initiatives taken in the past year, the difficulty with the inquiry and the Government's stand on it. Throughout the past year both the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and I raised the issue at every meeting with the British Prime Minister and other Ministers. I reported before on the difficulties and the position of the British Government so I will not repeat that. We will continue to do this.

It is not a question of having a separate meeting as every time we meet members of the British Government on this we put forward our strong views to Secretary of State Hain, other Ministers and the Prime Minister Blair, and we will continue to do so in trying to bring finality to these cases.

I have received the McEntee report and I am trying to work my way through it. I have not gone through it completely yet but there are a number of points on which I will have to seek legal advice from the Attorney General. I hope to give it to him so he can deal with it as soon as I have got through it — my officials have just about got through it. I will not delay and it is my intention, as soon as I receive the legal advice, to publish the report.

On the provisions of the committee of investigations, I may not have got this right the last time I answered a question by Deputy Rabbitte when I stated that we would redact the names, as we did with other reports, but on checking that, we cannot do so with the committee of investigations. I believed the case to be similar to the Barron and other reports, but one of my officials brought to my attention what I said so if I misled the House on the issue, I apologise.

I must publish the report as it is and I will have to get the legal requirements right, but there will be no redaction. The report will be published as it is given to me.

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