Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Yes, I had promised a debate on this and had tried to fit it in before Christmas, but there were just so many debates and so much pressure on time. However, I have asked the Government Whip to arrange for that debate at the beginning of February. My officials and I have continued, as has the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Ahern, to pursue all of the issues. We know the British Government's position on the Finucane case, and that has not altered with the change of Prime Ministers, I can assure the Deputy. The British have pressed for what they purport to be an independent investigation, and that is not a view that we share. We have continued to put forward the view in support of the family and in line with what the Corry report found. It was agreed many years ago, in the 2001 discussions, that these matters should be resolved on that basis. They have not pursued their proposed initiative because they know it has not received our support. Equally, they know this to be the situation as regards those cases that were part of the Weston Park agreement, in particular that the Irish position on this will not change. As officials and individuals have changed, we have continued to make our case trenchantly on this, consistently since the summer of 2001. While their Inquiries Bill was an advance, it was not in line with what the previous Attorney General, the Finucane family and various groups had sought. We have insisted on holding our position in this regard and continue to press it home. We will continue to fight our position. All that has happened because of that is that the British Government has not gone on with its basis. I have not pressed it to do that because it is not satisfactory.

On the other issues, we have had comprehensive reports and we made some progress. It is hard to see if we will make any more progress on that. Recently, I had the opportunity to meet the entire Eames-Bradley group who came to Dublin for a day. I met them for some time and my officials met them for a considerable amount of the day. They also met the Garda Síochána and others. We outlined to them our views on the matters they are investigating, where we can help and how we can try to engage constructively with them and we will continue to do so. I believe they must report by the early summer.

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