Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Richmond's questions, it is extremely important that the meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council proceed and that all parties to the Good Friday Agreement honour their obligations under it. That involves full attendance at the sectoral meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council. I was glad that that did happen in the transport sector in terms of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan's sectoral meeting in the presence of Ms Nichola Mallon and the First Minister.

In respect of the new First Minister and whosoever is elected, my door is always open and I will work to constructively engage, as I have always done and will continue to do. I believe the only way we can work on this island is for all politicians from all persuasions to engage in the democratic process and dialogue, as well as to seek to reach understandings on common ideas and projects. The shared island initiative that we have undertaken is designed to be a constructive dialogue and engagement with all sectors on the island of Ireland. This includes research projects, industrial joint projects, education and infrastructural and amenity projects like the Ulster Canal and the greenways projects and much more. We have provided half a billion euro in funding to enable us to do that. We are working on a whole range of projects in that regard.

We will do everything we possibly can to allay the fears of certain sectors of society in the North. However, we also need to move strongly in respect of working with the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on educational disadvantage, school completion and supporting young people in communities that do not have a tradition of school completion or progression to further and third level education. We must take the initiatives to alter that once and for all and create a new paradigm for young people born into certain communities within Northern Ireland who have not had that experience or tradition. That needs to change in terms of the future of Northern Ireland.

On legacy issues, I believe that the framework is there in terms of the Stormont House Agreement of 2014. There can be no unilateral changing of what has been agreed between two Governments and all of the political parties in the North. In my view, the victims and those killed by state security forces, the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries need justice and there must be accountability. We have always been conscious of the needs of victims and the need to prioritise their needs in dealing with legacy issues. The legacy issues have dragged on for far too long. Too many families are without closure or the satisfactory provision of information and transparency around the death of their loved ones, often in very brutal and savage circumstances.

In my view, that is something we have to continue to keep in mind. It is about the victims, what they have gone through and what their families have gone through in particular.

That also applies to Deputy Barry's question. The truth should always win out in respect of atrocities carried out by whomever, and particularly in terms of either the Parachute Regiment or other state security endeavours. There have been lots of comprehensive inquiries under way in regard to collusion. Operation Kenova - or Project Kenova, or whatever title it has - is going on at the moment. It is a very widespread investigation in terms of Stakeknife and all that and the engagement between elements within the paramilitaries and state security services. We need the truth to all of this. We need to understand what happened and the victims and families, in particular, need to understand. They have waited far too long for all of this to come out.

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