Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of Deputy Niamh Smyth who is at a function commemorating Countess Markievicz. Fianna Fáil is happy to support the Bill, which is in the interests of Government transparency. It is important that the Republic of Ireland aligns itself in this regard with Britain and Northern Ireland so that we can get across our side of the story in respect of the release of State papers of relevance to Anglo-Irish relations in particular. Fianna Fáil is concerned that many Departments are failing to transfer their records to the National Archives, which matter requires attention. We are also concerned that no system is in place to manage digital records. We hope the Government through the Minister will take progressive steps to ensure Departments meet their statutory responsibilities in relation to archive management and put in place a proper archival management system for digital records.

I was very interested to see the release of the State papers from 1987 because they were of particular interest to me and my family. A letter was released, allegedly send by the UVF to my father, the then Taoiseach, informing him that MI5 had asked the UVF to assassinate him. That was obviously of some concern. It shows what information can be released and the importance of these State papers. The alleged letter from the UVF is something that needs to be investigated further, although it is probably not a matter for the House this evening. Certainly, it is something I will be looking into.

Fianna Fáil supports the Bill which is in the interests of transparency. I hope it will benefit historians in particular and ensure that important papers on Anglo-Irish relations and the Northern Ireland situation are released simultaneously in the Republic and in the United Kingdom.

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