Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I very much welcome the Taoiseach's stated commitment to the Narrow Water bridge, which was restated today. Will he give some detail on the next phase of this very important and necessary piece of infrastructure? It is crucial. It has been spoken about, planned and lobbied for over the past 40 years. That region is less than an hour from Belfast and Dublin airports, and the Government might reflect on that in deciding what to do about Aer Lingus. One can go from the Boyne Valley and Neolithic history right up the east coast from Cromwellian times with the walled city of Drogheda, to the Vikings in Annagassan, nodding at Queen Medb and Cúchulainn, looking across the Cooleys and up into Slieve Gullion and the Mournes. This is an area of very important scenic and tourist potential. Will the Taoiseach give us some sense of the next step on the long journey to get the bridge built across Narrow Water?

I will concentrate on three of my questions, specifically the Ballymurphy massacre and Pat Finucane case, as well as the hooded men. The Taoiseach might know that Terry Laverty, the brother of Mr. John Laverty, who was killed in the Ballymurphy massacre, had his conviction for riotous behaviour quashed just two weeks ago. In August 1971, Terry, who was only a young guy at the time, was detained, stripped, beaten and made to run barefoot over broken glass and through a gauntlet of British Army soldiers. He was told by one soldier that he had already killed one Irish bastard and another would not matter. According to Terry, this soldier put a weapon to Terry's head and pulled the trigger. What he did not tell Terry was that the other Irish bastard was his brother. This man has lived with that for the past 40 years and the quashing of his conviction is an important development, adding weight to the demand that this case needs to be investigated properly. For the record, I extend my condolences and sympathy to Terry as his wife, Lily, died at the weekend. She also lived through this and has campaigned for justice for those people killed in Ballymurphy.

Last year the Taoiseach volunteered to bring forward an all-party Oireachtas motion in support of the Ballymurphy families. Although we did not ask for it, I welcomed it very much. This was after the Taoiseach met those families, and he told me the motion would be produced in sufficient time for the families to be present here. Some time went by and I raised the matter again as the Taoiseach had not delivered on that promise. On 1 July, the Taoiseach indicated the Government was working on a comprehensive motion "which would be discussed with Deputies Martin and Adams shortly". Ní tharla rud ar bith ó shin. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, can be blamed for failing to respond properly to this matter, but in this instance, the Taoiseach's commitment, given gratuitously and in good spirit, was to introduce this all-party Oireachtas motion. Where is it?

We should remember that the families want this to be of value. They want to focus on condemnation of the inadequate investigative process followed by the RUC and British authorities after the killings. They want to welcome the decision in November 2011 by the Attorney General to direct the coroner to reopen the inquest. We should remember that with the Stormont House Agreement, the British Government tried to close down that process and only that Sinn Féin stood firmly with the victims' families, it would have got away with that. The families also seek support for the proposal for a Hillsborough-style independent panel that would examine all the documents relating to the context, circumstances and aftermath of the deaths. Sin ceist amháin. When will the all-party motion be brought before the Dáil?

I commend the decision by the Government to support the move by the campaigners for the hooded men and to request the European Court of Human Rights to revise its judgment in this case. That was the right decision and although the Government was a bit dilatory or hesitant at the beginning, it eventually came to the right decision. This is all a matter of the record due to the diligent work done by the Pat Finucane Centre. These men were tortured over seven days and consequently the British Government lied to the Irish Government of the day and the lawyers acting for the hooded men. It also lied to the European Court of Human Rights and failed to inform that court that this torture had been cleared by the then British Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington. It also claimed that it had banned these five techniques and pledged in 1978 not to use these techniques in the North or anywhere else again. We know that in Iraq in 2003, the five techniques were used by every British battle group. What is the current status of that case?

Last week, the Pat Finucane Centre revealed that the interrogations were taped. The Taoiseach may not have known that but I thought it interesting. This was uncovered in research at the British National Archives. The documents categorically state that the interrogation sessions of the men at Ballykelly, County Derry, were monitored and taped. There are 400 hours of these taped interrogations at the Joint Services School of Intelligence, where British Army officers were trained in interrogation methods. Personnel from the Pat Finucane Centre have informed the Attorney General of this. Therefore, will the Government seek access to these tapes?

We also know from the US Senate report on torture that these techniques were used by the CIA, which has really serious implications for the Government, given that it allowed US rendition flights to land in Shannon. On the back of the Senate report, this State is now publicly identified as one of the 54 countries that collaborated in various ways with CIA rendition, detention and interrogation. Has the issue been raised with the US Government?

I will finally raise the case of Mr. Pat Finucane. I know I have spoken for almost as long as the Fianna Fáil leader and I do not wish to test the Ceann Comhairle's patience. This is a very important case. The de Silva review revealed that 85% of the intelligence used by the Ulster Defence Regiment to target people for murder originated from British Army and police sources and Pat Finucane's killing was cleared at the very highest level. The issue of collusion was discussed extensively at Cabinet level and Ministers were clearly aware that agents were being run in this administrative practice. The director general of MI5 had raised this with the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. The de Silva report indicated that this was a wilful and abject failure by successive Governments to allow this to happen.

Will the Taoiseach provide an update on this? When I raised this with the British Prime Minister in the Taoiseach's presence, he remained silent and any inquiry was ruled out, although it is an obligation under the Weston Park Agreement to conduct such inquiries. Last week I asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if we could use our diplomatic services to raise the issue with our friends at the United Nations and the European Union or with the US Government in order that we can have the case dealt with.

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