Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

As the Deputy is aware this House unanimously passed a motion on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The terms of that motion were conveyed to the British Parliament and British Government. I have met representatives of Justice for the Forgotten. On several occasions we have raised with the British Government the motion that was passed unanimously, one of the terms of which was a call for the release of all the documents that relate to the bombings. As the Deputy knows, the British Government has not agreed to release some of those documents, but we have continued to press the case directly with it.

The Taoiseach has raised the issue directly with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron. I have raised it with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. Patterson, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary, Mr. Hague, and the British Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Clegg. It is something we continue to do on an ongoing basis. In addition to the issues of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and the Miami Showband killings, we have also been pursuing the issue of the killing of the solicitor, Mr. Pat Finucane - I have been in touch with the Finucane family in that regard. We have also discussed with the British Government the wider issue of the many atrocities that occurred and the grief that many families still feel. I assure the Deputy that we will continue to have that discussion with British Ministers with a view to arriving at a framework or a resolution that will give closure to the families concerned.

I will investigate the issue of the funding for the Dublin office of Justice for the Forgotten. I am not briefed on the issue but I will investigate what the Deputy has said on it.

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