Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry, I have the floor now. The Taoiseach has given his answer and I am now going to ask questions based on those answers.

The answers are very relevant to the point I am about to make. The first question I asked concerned dissident activity in Northern Ireland and the impact on the G8 summit. Question No. 5 asked the Taoiseach the way he commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. He did not answer that question because he wanted to bury it but I will return to the matter in a moment. I asked three other questions which had nothing to do with Northern Ireland. I asked whether the Taoiseach, at his meeting with Prime Minister Cameron, discussed bankers' bonuses, England's membership of the European Union or the forthcoming referendum in 2016. These are separate matters unrelated to Northern Ireland and they demand a distinct and separate reply. Question No. 11 asked whether the Taoiseach discussed the European response to the financial crisis with Prime Minister Cameron. Again, that was buried in the overall reply. I also asked about the bilateral loan, which the Taoiseach says he did not discuss, and a range of other issues that are not related to Northern Ireland.

It is unacceptable. When the Taoiseach first took office he reduced by one the number of days on which we take Taoiseach's Questions. In previous Dáileanna we took them on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Accountability to this House is being reduced in respect of the Taoiseach's areas of responsibility. In regard to the questions I have tabled on the issue of commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, it is disappointing that the Taoiseach and his Government decided not to mark the anniversary of what was a hugely important event by any yardstick. The failure to mark it in any meaningful way points to two emerging themes in this Government. The first is an alarming disengagement from what is happening in the North. I have spoken on this at some length over the course of the past year. An attitude seems to have taken root in the Irish and British Governments that the North is sorted and should be allowed to get on with things on its own. I believe that is a fundamental mistake because the increasingly fractious relationship between the DUP and Sinn Féin is creating a dangerous vacuum about which all of us should be concerned.

It is important for those of us who occupy positions of political leadership to have the generosity of spirit to acknowledge our shared and non-partisan history. The Taoiseach's failure to mark the Good Friday Agreement springs from an attitude and approach to Government which is very partisan. His leadership is of a partisan kind. I have raised this previously in the context the speech he gave last year at Béal na mBláth. There are occasions when he should step outside of his partisan base to acknowledge properly seminal and ground-breaking events in our history. Marking 15 years of the Good Friday Agreement could provide a launch pad to create energy for the next iteration of politics on this island and the relationship between Britain and Ireland. A number of issues remain to be addressed and attended to because a degree of stasis exists with the politics of the North, particularly on the Executive. There is a lack of legislation in the Assembly and the Executive in the North has not been working as effectively or optimally as it could be.

Did the Taoiseach speak to Prime Minister Cameron about extending the remit of the Parades Commission? Parading remains a major risk to civic stability in the North. There is considerable nervousness in the North about the upcoming parading season, particularly because of the flag violence we witnessed last Christmas. These events were particularly harmful for communities like the Short Strand enclave in east Belfast, which has effectively endured a continuous parading season. It is vital that the authority of the Parades Commission is underpinned by both Irish and British Governments. That has not been happening to the degree it should have, particularly since Christmas. It was agreed at the Hillsborough talks two years ago to commence a process which would get agreement among the various strands of opinion on an alternative structure, but no obvious progress has been made by the parties. In the absence of any alternative, the Parades Commission can only continue its vital work if it is clear to all that it has the support of the Irish Government and will not be second-guessed or undermined by any strand of political opinion simply because somebody does not like a decision it makes. The performance of First Minister, Peter Robinson, MLA, last summer, when he co-signed an open letter condemning the commission, was a major setback. It was exactly the opposite of what the families of Northern Ireland have a right to expect from their leaders. Was the Taoiseach aware of this and has he a view on the fact that Mr. Robinson co-signed a letter that fundamentally undermined the only authority designed to call it in terms of parades? These issues demand to be raised and discussed with the British Government.

Other issues arise in regard to policing and the PSNI. I support the PSNI but Sinn Féin picketed a PSNI office because it did not like who it arrested.

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