Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the three Deputies for raising this matter. I know from our engagement on the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, which included Deputies Crowe and Smith, we tackled all legacy issues and I think we all know the complexities involved. I am certainly aware that time skips by and time is not a commodity that is of any use to people seeking justice. As Deputy Smith pointed out, they have the truth but they do not have the justice. We have to keep focus on that.

The fresh start agreement and the Stormont House agreement make a commitment to include an historical investigations unit. Independence has to be paramount to take forward investigations into Troubles-related deaths and we need an independent commission on information retrieval to enable victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information about Troubles-related deaths.

During our work on the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement we met all the groups. Different groups seek different things but, ultimately, it is the quest for justice and to find out as much truth as possible. It will not change things for them in terms of bringing loved ones back but with the Saville inquiry, we saw the very positive impact that truth recovery can bring.

Deputy Adams asked if the Minister would meet the Secretary for State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers. He will do that in the short term. Obviously, this will be a priority.

The Deputies asked if this would be debated in the Dáil. I think there is a need to debate wider legacy issues and I will certainly ask my Whip to raise it at the Whips' meeting. It is important to provide an opportunity to debate the wider issues of the past and legacy issues that so critically need to be the focus.

Different parts of the world from Afghanistan to the Knesset look to the Northern Ireland peace model, including the east-west and North-South elements. However, as legislators, we are all aware that the process is not finished. As a Donegal man and a politician, I work very closely with my colleagues across the Border. It is a process and the truth and legacy issues of the past are very much part of that. I will certainly do my best to try to convey the need for having an open and wider debate. There may be things we could look at differently.

This may be an important juncture. It is 40 years since the Kingsmills massacre and we are also discussing the Loughinisland tragedy, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the Pat Finucane murder. So many relatives are affected and we have to do justice to them.

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