Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The RTE documentary, with other BBC "Panorama" programmes and the recent book, Lethal Allies, confirm that collusion between security forces and paramilitaries was endemic during the Troubles. Our position is that the people responsible must be brought to justice. That is also the Labour Party's position. The families of the victims deserve nothing less. The family of Councillor Fullerton and all other families on both sides in the Troubles deserve nothing less. The Government has consistently called on the British Government to face up to its responsibilities in regard to what happened in the past.

The Deputy mentioned Weston Park which dates back to 2004. He knows the history of what has happened since. A framework for achieving what we are talking about is contained in the Stormont House Agreement. The leader of Sinn Féin and the Deputy First Minister were present at the Stormont House discussions and I believe that Agreement provides a framework for us. The Smithwick report dealt with issues of Garda collusion with the IRA, for example, in the deaths of two RUC officers. When that report was published, my predecessor, the then Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, took a leadership role in dealing with the past. We all need to be careful in making attempts to rewrite the past. The debate on collusion in the Assembly earlier this week and in these Houses on Tuesday shows that we need to look at this as a conflict which involved two sides and address what paramilitaries on both sides did. That is the reason I refer again to the Stormont House Agreement as offering a way forward takeing into account the needs of victims' families on both sides.

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