Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This week's RTE documentary, which I watched, presented a shocking account of allegations of collusion that spanned over three decades. In the first instance, my thoughts are with the families and relatives of those who were murdered in these events and for whom the documentary must have been deeply upsetting. The hurt caused by their loved ones being murdered in such vicious circumstances is compounded by the knowledge that elements of the British security forces colluded in the perpetration of such callous crimes. That collusion occurred during the Troubles between British State forces and paramilitaries is a matter of public record. However, concerns remain that the extent and scale of such collusion is not accepted.

Successive Irish Governments have raised the issue of collusion with the British Government; we continue to do so, including in regard to a number of individual cases of long-standing concern, such as the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and the case of the late solicitor Pat Finucane. I have raised both of these cases on a number of occasions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and have done so again since Ms Villiers, MP, was reappointed to that office a few weeks ago. I expect that these concerns will also be discussed when the Taoiseach meets Prime Minister Cameron in London tomorrow.

With regard to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Government continues to press the British Government to respond in a positive way to the reasonable demand of the all-party motions passed in this House in 2008 and 2011 that an independent international judicial figure be given access to all material held by the British Government on these terrible atrocities. The Secretary of State is actively considering this matter and I hope we will see some progress being made in this regard in the near future. In 2001, it was accepted by both governments at Weston Park that certain cases from the past remained a source of grave public concern, particularly those giving rise to serious allegations of collusion by the security forces in each of our jurisdictions.

Both governments at that time committed to undertake a thorough investigation of allegations of collusion in the cases of the murders of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen, Superintendent Bob Buchanan, Pat Finucane, Lord Justice and Lady Gibson, Robert Hamill, Rosemary Nelson and Billy Wright.

This remains a matter of serious concern to the Government and indeed more generally to the people. More than 3,500 people died during the Troubles. The suffering of their relatives and friends endures to this day. There is no hierarchy of loss or grief for all these families. As part of the Government's approach to finding a better way of dealing with the legacy of the past, we will continue to work on the implementation of a comprehensive framework for dealing with the legacy of the past, as envisaged in the Stormont House Agreement.

The full implementation of the provisions of the agreement relating to the setting up of the institutions of the past remains a priority for this Government. These institutions include an historical investigations unit to take forward investigations into Troubles related deaths as well as an independent commission on information retrieval to enable victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information about Troubles related deaths. A measure of good progress has been made on the setting up of these institutions which will assist all victims, including the victims of collusion, in their quest for truth and justice.

See this speech in context