Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government signed up to the Good Friday Agreement, an internationally recognised agreement, where people who took part in the conflict would be treated in a certain way. That should be binding. This is putting serious pressure on people who have been in the taxi industry for many years.

The fact the Minister of State is looking at this retrospectively is the problem. I understand the point about serious convictions but we are talking about a certain section of people and we have moved forward. What is the Minister of State trying to do? Does he want to turn the clock back and throw people out on the streets after they have signed up to an agreement, many of them doing so at great personal risk? On the basis of the Minister of State's remarks, I would not be in this House because I was involved in the conflict. There have been others, including in the Labour Party, in the same boat. It is unfair and I will give the Minister of State the legal advice I received on this.

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