Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I know it is engaging fully in the Haass process. This Government will also engage with it. We need to deal with the past, comprehensively. We should see the Haass process through. A number of proposals have been put forward as to how to deal with the past and we should all engage conclusively with that. The most important point is that while we have to deal with the past, we should not lose sight of what we are about here, which is building a better future for all of the people on this island, North and South. We must deal with the very difficult legacy of the past and enable victims, in particular, to do so. When we talk about victim-centred processes, we must not forget that the people who are at the centre of the issue we are discussing now are the Breen and Buchanan families, who suffered such a grave loss. We should have a process that is victim-centred and hope that, arising from the Haass process and the cross-party talks that are now taking place, that we will be able to emerge with that.

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