Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The victims of the conflict have been very much in our thoughts in recent weeks and I, too, commend the Taoiseach for his attendance at the cenotaph in Enniskillen to commemorate the attack in which 12 innocent lives had been claimed. He may be familiar with the documentary "No Stone Unturned" which was made by Mr. Alex Gibney about the killing of six men in Loughinisland in 1994. It brought substantial new attention to the level of collusion between British state forces and unionist paramilitaries. I am sure the Taoiseach is aware that, at the start of the month in a victory for the victims of the Glenanne gang, the High Court in Belfast confirmed that it was making an order to compel the Chief Constable of the PSNI to complete an overarching investigation into the activities of the gang which, as the Taoiseach knows, was implicated in the Dublin-Monaghan bomb attacks. Thus far, the British Government has refused to co-operate with the Irish Government - indeed, successive Governments - on these matters. The programme for Government specifically commits the Government to actively pursue implementation of the all-party Dáil motions of 2008 and 2011 on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Has the Taoiseach raised these issues with the British Prime Minister? What is his view of the British Government's intentions to include a Statute of Limitations or an amnesty for members of the British crown forces in its soon-to-be-published legacy paper? He will be aware that at the time of the Stormont House Agreement we managed to reach agreement on the architecture and mechanisms for truth recovery to begin dealing with legacy issues but at no point was an amnesty for any combatant of the crown forces or other force even considered, much less agreed to. I have spoken to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade who has very strongly indicated his opposition to any suggestion that there be a Statute of Limitations or an amnesty. Can the Taoiseach offer to the House his assessment of that proposition?

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