Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I welcome the fact the Taoiseach has raised some of these high-profile cases of injustice in a very public way, including the Pat Finucane case, the Ballymurphy case, and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I believe, however, that the Taoiseach's meeting with the British Prime Minister on 12 March was a missed opportunity to fundamentally rebalance the relationship between Ireland and Britain, and between the British and Irish Governments.

For a long time, the British Government has been able to dictate the pace on relationships between this island and Britain, but that needs to change. I accept it when the Taoiseach says he is disappointed by the British attitude, for example, on the Pat Finucane case. At the meeting he attended, however, both Governments recommitted to the Good Friday Agreement and related agreements, yet the British Government is in complete and total breach of one of those agreements. What are our diplomatic services doing about this? What are we doing through the Department of Foreign Affairs? What work is going on behind the scenes to try to show the British Government that this is not just a matter of the Taoiseach releasing a press statement or going public about his feelings?

As regards the Ballymurphy case, the Taoiseach will know that those people have been fighting a campaign for the last 40 years. He met them and had his photograph taken with them at an awards ceremony in Belfast, but there was not time for a meeting. When I asked him if he would have a meeting with them he said he would, but that he would wait until he went to Belfast.

The British Secretary of State and the British Government have been most unco-operative with these families. I have accompanied these families to meetings with successive British Secretaries of State and, by the way, it is an open and shut case. These were innocent civilians who were neighbours of mine. Some of them were friends of mine. They were shot by members of the parachute regiment who then went on to do what they did on Bloody Sunday. They then came back to Belfast and did the same in Springhill, on the Shankill Road and in Ardoyne.

These families are willing to travel to Dublin if the Taoiseach can give them an hour of his time. It would be a good act of solidarity and an important part of bringing a renewed focus to their campaign. I can tell the Taoiseach categorically that the British Government has no intention, at this time, of doing what those families are asking.

It is almost a year since there was a big focus on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, yet no progress has been made. I have consistently raised the issue of funding for the Justice for the Forgotten organisation. The campaign group survived on funding it used to get from the Remembrance Commission because its funding from the Department of Justice was withdrawn in July 2009. The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Good Friday Agreement made representations to the Taoiseach's office to have that funding restored, but it was not. We are talking about approximately €17,000 at a maximum to keep this campaign group going. It has had to move out of its offices and is currently working out of a portakabin. How seriously is the Government taking this unresolved issue, if that is the case?

I have met with that group probably more than anybody else here, but certainly as often. The British Government - whether it is Tory or Labour - is consistent in promoting the Union, although Labour may have a more benign view of all of this. However, we need to have an Irish Government which just as strongly, diplomatically and positively promotes the whole issue of Irish unity and the people of this island getting rid of partition, though having a cordial union between the people of the island.

I am proud to have represented West Belfast for a long time. People are suffering from the legacy of partition, which will take a long time to undo under the current configuration despite the good work being done by the Executive.

I therefore look to the Taoiseach to give the lead. When he goes to the North, he has seen that he is very welcome in Unionist as well as Nationalist neighbourhoods. People are glad to see him and they were glad to see other taoisigh. A time of change is coming and the Government needs to set the pace of that change, as opposed to letting mandarins in Whitehall do it.

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