Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The short answer to her question is "Yes". Needless to say, I never had the opportunity to meet Pat Finucane. He was killed over 30 years ago but I have read about him and know he was an honourable man. He was a lawyer and a human rights activist long before people even used that term. I had the opportunity in recent weeks to meet Geraldine Finucane and her family. Geraldine made a real impression on me, particularly her dignity and steely resilience in seeking justice and truth for three decades.

The House will be aware that this morning the UK Supreme Court issued a judgment stating the UK was acting within its power to decide not to hold a public inquiry. It also found, however, that the inquiries held to date, including the de Silva review, were not adequate and not compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Government and I believe that finding is very significant. The position of the Government is that the British Government should now honour its commitment to carry out a public inquiry, in accordance with the Inquiries Act 2005, into the murder of Pat Finucane, the solicitor and human rights activist. The British Government should keep the promise made by former Prime Minister, David Cameron, in Weston Park in 2001 and accept the judgment of the Supreme Court today. It is the honourable thing to do. It would be the right thing to do and I believe the British Government should do so. I will certainly raise it in my meetings with the Prime Minister, and the Tánaiste will do so with his counterparts as well.

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