Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes the passage of the Bill. I agree with Deputy Haughey that the difference in release dates between the two countries has been a major problem. The British have obviously been ahead of the game and, as a result, could release papers into the public domain giving their perspective, thus colouring public understanding of serious events in the history of this State. At the time of the release of the particular letter to which Deputy Haughey referred regarding threats to his father's life, I was really struck by the lack of response from the Government. We had documentary evidence of a very strong allegation that the life of a Taoiseach of this country was under a significant threat emanating from the sovereign Government of the neighbouring island through the UVF. However, there was no response from the Government to that information whatsoever. There are many people in Dublin and elsewhere who are very aware that the British are also sitting on documents relating to the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. There is a refusal and a strong reluctance to permit those documents to be made available.

The objective of a modern Government should be a transparent democracy. To have a transparent democracy, we must ensure that information is placed in the public domain. When that information is in the public domain, it allows citizens to make better choices and to understand the processes and the systems around them to a great extent. It allows them to hold those systems to account. My only concern - albeit a strong one - is that we are not providing the necessary resources for Departments to make these archives available within the time provided for in the Bill or for those documents to be processed in such a way as to make them digitally accessible to citizens. I have not been convinced otherwise as yet. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that those issues are addressed.

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