Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his detailed response. As he knows, the Independent Reporting Commission report is very clear that ending paramilitary activity is made immeasurably more difficult by two issues, namely, the vacuum created by the absence of devolution and uncertainty over Brexit. A return to political decision-making in Stormont is essential in order to comprehensively address these issues, which are multifaceted and deep-rooted. I have often said in this House that the one political mandate that all of us on this island have is to implement the Good Friday Agreement, having been given that mandate through the referenda held both North and South in May 1998. Sadly, we do not have a functioning Executive or Assembly in Northern Ireland, for which both Sinn Féin and the DUP should be ashamed as they have held up the restoration of those necessary institutions. A non-functioning North-South Ministerial Council has also been a huge loss to this country, as it could have been central to the preparations for Brexit in an all-Ireland context.

The residue of paramilitary activity must be eliminated. Great emphasis must be placed on dealing with these criminals who masqueraded for decades under so-called political ideologies, resulting in destruction and loss of life. That must be ended once and for all.

The Minister correctly pointed out that I have consistently raised the need for additional resources for the Border region in this House. I have often said that there are unique policing demands in the Garda Border division. The Minister used that phrase on television the other night. I have always highlighted the need for additional resources because of cross-Border criminality. It hurts me and 99.9% of the people I have the privilege of representing when we hear ill-informed commentary that our region is lawless or that its people do not subscribe to the rule of law. Sadly, a very small number of criminals both North and South have inflicted damage on the area. I reiterate that more than 99.99% of the people living in the Border region are law-abiding. They work hard, the same as people in every other part of our country, pay their mortgages, rear their families, pay their education and health bills and are looking to the future. They want to be secure in the knowledge that they are safe when going to and from work. That does not take away from the fact that a very small number of people can do a lot of damage to a region, but the people I represent believe in the rule of law.

An anniversary mass for the late Paul Quinn, a young man who was murdered in horrific circumstances by thugs and criminals, was held only a few weeks ago. Recently, my colleague, Deputy Breathnach, launched a report on cross-Border crime on behalf of committee A of the British-Irish Parliamentary Association. The report noted that there had been an increase in the number of criminal groups with cross-Border operations over the past five years, rising from approximately one in five groups in 2014 to one in three in 2018. Cross-Border criminality, in which people are involved in illicit trade in drugs, fuel products and so on, must be tackled with every possible resource available to the State and its agencies both North and South.

See this speech in context