Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

On behalf of the Labour Party, I join the Taoiseach in expressing our condolences to those families bereaved by the fire in Omagh, as well as to the town itself, which has suffered many different atrocities down the years.

I acknowledge the work of the Taoiseach and Tony Blair in respect of the time, effort and commitment they have given to ensure the successful restoration of the Executive and the Assembly. It is visible to all that the relationship between Sinn Féin and the DUP in the context of the Executive and the Assembly is working extremely well. However, is the Taoiseach concerned that to some extent, this has been at the expense of the SDLP and the UUP, which appear to be somewhat excluded? I also wish to raise the issue of the sole SDLP member of the Executive, namely, the Minister for Social Development, Margaret Ritchie, MLA. I refer to the decision she took to withhold funding under the conflict transformation initiative because of the failure of the UDA to deliver on promises on decommissioning. Does the Taoiseach agree she took the correct stance? I believe she did so.

The Taoiseach may have seen a report in the edition of The Irish Times published on 19 October in which the Minister, Ms Ritchie, claimed she had come under some pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs to ameliorate her stance. What did this involve? Was it simply part of normal discussions or was she advised by the powers that be in the Department of Foreign Affairs to alter her stance? Circumstances have certainly shown that her position was correct. Now that a general standing down has taken place in respect of more of the loyalist paramilitary organisations, her stance has been vindicated. The Taoiseach should comment on this matter.

What is the Taoiseach's take on the present position in respect of the activities of the Real IRA and others who may have left IRA organisations? He is probably aware that a couple of shootings at policemen, as well as the horrific murder of Paul Quinn, have taken place in recent weeks. That particular murder involved a degree of violence that most people had hoped had passed. On Monday, Mr. John Grieve, who is a member of the International Monitoring Commission, suggested that he believed that those who were involved in the attack included people who were members, former members or those who have associations with members or former members of the Provisional IRA. Is this consistent with the intelligence that is available to the Taoiseach and the Government?

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