Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is the first occasion on which I can publicly thank the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, for his work as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. I wish him well in his current role in the justice ministry.

Fianna Fáil supports this legislation which is one of the key outcomes of the Fresh Start agreement of November 2015. The Bill creates a new monitoring body to review and report on any paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland. It is a sad reflection on both Sinn Féin and the DUP that such a body is still required almost 20 years on from the Good Friday Agreement. The peace process was always about more than the absence of violence. However, the zero-sum attitudes taken by the two main parties, which has led to the current impasse in Stormont, has hobbled the immense potential and optimism of the Good Friday Agreement.

This sterile political environment has allowed paramilitaries to continue to blight Northern Ireland in both communities. This Bill was necessitated by the MI5-PSNI confirmation of the continued existence of the IRA and its role in formulating Sinn Féin policy. Sinn Féin has fundamental questions to answer around its links to the IRA which has no part in a democratic state. It is now time for Sinn Féin and DUP to move beyond tribal partisanship and work to ensure Northern Ireland is capable of addressing the most important challenge of our lifetime, namely, Brexit. The existence of the IRA, its highly lucrative criminal network and role in setting the political agenda raises fundamental questions for Sinn Féin. It must ensure there is no role for such armed groups in a democratic state.

That we are still dealing with paramilitarism in 2017 is a sad reflection on Northern politics. The rigor mortisof the approach of both Sinn Féin and the DUP has stifled development and fostered deepening cynicism that is leaving many communities behind. These communities are ripe territories for paramilitary groups from which to operate. The current crisis is the latest in an exhausting series of difficulties. In the face of Brexit, the most serious geopolitical challenge this island has faced in generations, the Northern Executive remains in deep freeze. The parties have to get their act together and find a compromise, recognising that it involves movement on both sides.

The purpose of the IRC is to promote progress towards ending paramilitary activity connected with Northern Ireland in the interests of long-term peace and stability and stable and inclusive devolved government in Northern Ireland. An international agreement between the Irish and British Governments was signed on 13 September 2016 and provides for the establishment of the IRC as an independent body. The IRC will need to be established in the domestic law of each jurisdiction, as appropriate. The nominations for the membership of the IRC have been announced by the Irish and British Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive. We in Fianna Fáil welcome the nominations. The names have been mentioned by the Minister.

In July 2005 the IRA formally ended its armed campaign and ordered all volunteers to assist in the development of purely political and democratic programmes through exclusively peaceful means. It stated volunteers must not engage in any other activities whatsoever. It subsequently decommissioned in September 2005. The St. Andrews Agreement, dated October 2006, saw Sinn Féin agree to the PSNI and the re-establishment of the Northern Assembly in May 2007 following its suspension in 2003 after the Sinn Féin spy ring controversy. In the intervening years, however, a number of serious incidents occurred that underline the fact that the IRA has not, as Deputy Gerry Adams said, "gone away". Events such as the brutal murder of Paul Quinn in October 2007 in County Monaghan, revelation of the systematic cover-up of sex abuse in republican ranks and the recent tit-for-tat murders expose a continued presence.

The political crisis that led to the 2015 Fresh Start agreement arose from the investigation into the murder of Kevin McGuigan in 2015 which was believed to have been in retaliation for the murder earlier that summer of Jock Davison, a senior republican involved in the murder of Robert McCartney in 2005. The investigation revealed the PSNI's belief the IRA continued to exist and was possibly involved in the murder. Subsequently the Garda Commissioner backtracked on a February 2015 letter to state her belief the IRA existed. The former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers also confirmed that she believed it existed. The Sinn Féin Northern chair Bobby Storey was arrested but not charged in connection with the murder. It is not credible for Deputy Gerry Adams or any other member of Sinn Féin to say Sinn Féin has "no special responsibility" for the IRA. They are one and the same and any objective commentator or historian recognises that, behind the spin, that is a fact.

In October 2015 MI5 and the PSNI issued a report on paramilitary activity that had been requested following the McGuigan murder. It reached very disturbing conclusions about the continued existence of the Provisional IRA, its army council and ongoing role in criminality and the belief of Provisional IRA members that the army council set out strategy for both the IRA and Sinn Féin. That the army council decides Sinn Féin strategy is profoundly anti-democratic as it means that a political party operating in both jurisdictions is being directed by an illegal armed gang. There is absolutely no space for this in any democracy.

A separate Garda report set out how €28 million worth of criminal assets had been extracted by the Criminal Assets Bureau from 50 IRA members since 1996. This is part of a broader criminal empire worth a total of €500 million, or €70 million per annum. One has to ask where this money goes.

Northern Ireland remains engulfed in yet another political crisis that has led to a protracted paralysis in the institutions. The lack of progress in getting the institutions up and running is deeply disappointing and underlines our concerns that zero-sum politics is sustaining fertile ground for paramilitaries.

Let me mention some paramilitary incidents involving both loyalist and republican groups. A report entitled, Police Recorded Security Situation Statistics, makes for alarming reading in regard to paramilitary activity on both sides. In 2007-08, one death due to paramilitary activity was recorded, whereas in 2016-17 the number was five. In 2007-08 there were 42 shooting incidents, whereas there were 61 in 2017. In 2007-08 there were 23 bombing incidents, whereas there were 29 in 2016-17. In 2007-08 there were 45 casualties of paramilitary-style assaults, whereas there were 66 in 2016-17. The list goes on, with the exceptions being reductions in the numbers of firearms, rounds of ammunition and quantities, in kilograms, of explosives found. These statistics, in themselves, show the uncertainty, instability and the continuing paramilitarism that needs to stop. That is why Fianna Fáil welcomes this legislation.

Owing to the tight numbers in the House of Commons, the Tory Government is reliant on DUP support. The DUP has secured a deal that will see £1 billion over two years and further flexibility, amounting to around £500 million, already committed to. The deal appears to bypass the Barnett formula used in allocating funding across the component nations of the United Kingdom. This has drawn criticism from other devolved administrations. We hope there will be a focus on the key Stormont House Agreement and Fresh Start agreement measures, with the emphasis being placed on projects such as the A5 motorway to Derry which will be a key piece of infrastructure that will benefit the north west of the country. In addition, the Narrow Water bridge project, in my county, should be completed, using some of the moneys to be made available. It would be of great benefit to counties Down and Louth, in particular, given the tourism opportunities offered. The Irish Government should uphold its commitment in respect of these measures.

The botched renewable heat incentive scheme which could cost up to £490 million acted as the catalyst for the crisis. Behind the immediate problems, however, lies a deeper malaise that has afflicted the institutions in recent years. The political system has to move on from this addiction to crisis politics. In the past few years there have been annual problems with the institutions, punctuated by a series of new agreements and arrangements designed to keep the system ticking over. Since 2013 alone, there have been the Haass talks, the Stormont House Agreement and the Fresh Start agreement which aim to reinvigorate a stagnant political process. History has shown it requires both Governments to engage fully and honestly to keep the peace process moving forward. The DUP's leverage cannot be allowed to stymie progress and undermine long-established British policy for the sake of short-term political gain.

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