Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I spoke just a fortnight ago about the killing of Paul Quinn. He was killed by criminals who should be subject to due process. I appealed to anyone who has any information whatsoever to bring it forward. I also said that if anyone wanted to give information to me, I would pass it on to An Garda Síochána or the PSNI. I bring this up as an illustration of my point.

I also want to remind the House that while there is a different political jurisdiction in the North, there is no bar on Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Labour Party organising there. I listened to the crocodile tears about the people in west and east Belfast. The fact is that there is an election on 7 May and if Micheál Martin wants to put his name forward in Newry and Armagh or in West Belfast, that would be very good and very useful. If that is too soon, there is an Assembly election in 2016. It would be great to have Fianna Fáil people on the Executive, negotiating with the British and Irish Governments on various issues.

Regarding the Stormont House Agreement, myself, Martin McGuinness and others spent two years privately trying to get the Irish and British Governments to focus on the ongoing peace process. We did it privately and quietly; we picked up old contacts and talked to a range of people here and in the USA. While the Stormont House Agreement is not a comprehensive agreement, it was a positive outcome. However, for me, it is a defensive agreement. We were defending what had been gained for people and stopping the erosion of those gains. That is what our focus had to be.

On the issue of cuts, the British Government has cut £1.5 billion from the block grant, aside from what happened at Stormont and the recent discussions. Has the Irish Government or Fianna Fáil raised this? I understand that the Fianna Fáil leader met the British Secretary of State recently. Has he railed against the British Government's block grant cut? Has he put forward suggestions as to how these issues could be ameliorated for those citizens living in that part of the country? It is important to remember that the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade are all broadly in support of austerity.

When the talks commenced, the British Government only came in for one day. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, did their work over a long period. The total of what we negotiated with the British Government amounted to almost £2 billion, double what had been offered at the beginning of talks. We did not get it for 11 long days. It includes £650 million of new and additional funding, including £500 million over ten years to support shared and integrated education. There will be no reductions in welfare payments under the control of the Northern Ireland Executive. The new welfare protections are unique to the North and in sharp contrast to what happened in this State and in Britain. Anti-poverty measures will be retained in the North. In the previous budget, £64 million additional funding was provided for schools, early years provision and youth services. Perhaps Deputy Micheál Martin did not know this.

On the other issue, dealing with the past, parades and identity, the proposal is broadly in line with what was proposed by Richard Haass and Meghan O'Sullivan. It took us a year to get the other parties to agree. I welcome the publication of proposals for Acht na Gaeilge, which have been published recently by an tAire cultúir, Carál Ní Chuilín.

I did not mean to say all of that but I had to respond to the false accusations, which are not new to this Chamber. The Government needs to keep focused and needs to be working with the British Government. We should be working with the parties in the North. When Deputy Micheál Martin was Minister, and when Bertie Ahern or John Bruton was Taoiseach, I said that Ministers should be seen across the North as naturally as breathing. They will be welcomed in loyalist and Unionist and other communities. That is not being done enough. I welcome the periodic excursions of the leader of Fianna Fáil into that region but the task of this Government is to hold the British Government to account. The Government is not good at doing that. The Good Friday Agreement was voted on by citizens across the island and the Government is a co-equal guarantor. The mobile phone causing interference is not mine.

It is not just when it is a crisis, or when it comes to hothouse or crunch talks but it is a matter of diligently making good relationships with those who are in power in the Civil Service and who have responsibility for these issues. In the most fraternal way possible, I appeal to the Taoiseach to do that. The Stormont House agreement was agreed despite the Irish Government and despite the British Government. It was a result of the diligent work done by all the parties represented during those talks. When does the Taoiseach plan to meet the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister? The delivery of the agreement will be the proof of it. When can the Taoiseach give us an example of the British Government being held to account by this Government in delivering its responsibilities and obligations under the agreement?

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