Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle giving me the opportunity to discuss this important issue, which I am raising again following a number of meetings that I have had with relatives of those innocent people who were victims of awful actions taken through the collusion of British state forces with terrorist organisations in Northern Ireland. There is a growing frustration among the relatives that they are being left in the dark about plans to review the horrific actions of those individuals and there is an increasing concern that the truth will never come to light.

My party and I understand that dealing with the past is an important part of the Stormont House Agreement and that the implementation of that agreement has stalled due to a failure to agree on certain welfare levels in Northern Ireland. However, l am asking the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to consider this issue with clear eyes. Failing to progress matters that go to the core of justice within Northern Ireland due to a dispute over welfare changes would strike anyone from these islands or beyond as inexcusable.

Having listened to the stories of many victims' relatives, I believe that it is time for both Governments and the parties to the Stormont House Agreement to re-engage in a meaningful way and seek the full implementation of that agreement. Certain parties' abdication of their responsibilities relating to their previous commitments made under the agreement is shocking. Victims and their families continue to be denied the truth and basic justice.

It is not acceptable that efforts to find out the truth about atrocities such as the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the murder of Pat Finucane, the murderous behaviour of the Glenanne gang and the activities of the Mount Vernon UVF gang are still being delayed. We have to realise that many families, both North and South, are continuing to suffer because of those atrocities and because they have been denied the basic truth.

When I raised this matter on the floor of the House recently, the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, assured me he would raise the reasonable demands contained in the all-party motions passed in this House in 2008 and 2011, which called for an independent international judicial figure to be given access to all material held by the British Government with regard to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I appreciate that the Minister has consistently raised that matter with the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers. My party leader, Deputy Martin, and I have also raised this issue in a number of meetings with Ms Villiers and the British ambassador. In his most recent response to me in this House, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade assured me that the Secretary of State is "actively considering" the matter. I would appreciate it if the Minister could give me an update on that. Has any progress been made in ensuring access to those papers is given to an independent eminent legal person?

The allegations surrounding the collusion of British state forces with loyalist paramilitaries need to be investigated fully. I ask the Government to continue to pursue this matter with the utmost urgency. Recent RTE and BBC programmes exposed the level of violence that was unleashed when the British state colluded with vicious paramilitary groups on this island. There is a duty on all agencies to ensure the murderers responsible for such heinous crimes are brought to justice. The full truth is needed in the interests of true reconciliation. The horror of the Troubles inflicted by the Provisional IRA and other so-called republican groups, loyalist paramilitaries and agents of the British security forces must be fully exposed.

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