Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge and agree with what Deputy Martin said about the importance of the Weston Park Agreement. The 2001 Weston Park Agreement identified a number of cases where there was concern involving serious allegations of collusion by agents of the state - security forces in both jurisdictions. It clearly determined that those cases had to be examined. The particular case we had to examine in this jurisdiction was the murder of Chief Superintendent Breen and Superintendent Buchanan. That is why the Smithwick tribunal was established by a decision of the House in 2005. It has taken a long time. I again thank Judge Smithwick for the work he has done in that regard. It also shows that we need to see completion of all of the work that was committed to at Weston Park. I have already communicated previously to my counterpart in the UK Administration the unanimous wish of this House to see an inquiry into the Pat Finucane case. I have met with Geraldine Finucane and the family and discussed the issue with them. We will continue to pursue the Finucane case. The fact that the Smithwick tribunal has now concluded will, if anything, strengthen our position in relation to that.

There is the wider issue of dealing with the past. In that respect, the Government supports the cross-party discussions which were established in Northern Ireland chaired by Dr. Richard Haass. Dr. Haass has stated his intention to complete his work by the end of the year. I will meet with him next week and we will discuss the progress he has made to date. No doubt, I will discuss with him the outcome of the Smithwick tribunal. Probably by then, depending on when we make the arrangements for the debate in the House, I might well have the benefit of the discussion in the House to inform my discussions with Dr. Haass.

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