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

The position of the Irish Government, which is shared by all of the political parties in Northern Ireland across the political spectrum, along with all the victim groups also, is that a unilateral move away from the Stormont House Agreement and the introduction of what amounts to a general amnesty for all security personnel and all paramilitaries for murders and other crimes committed up until the Good Friday Agreement is not the right way to go. It is wrong for many reasons. I have stated this consistently. I do not believe in a general amnesty for those who committed murder, whether they were state actors or involved in terrorist or illegal organisations. I just do not believe in that. We have consistently said this. The Deputy knows that at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, there was an agreement to continue engagement with all parties and victims' groups on these issues. As the Deputy also knows, this process has started. The British Government may be setting out its position but our position as an Irish Government, shared with all of the political parties in the North and all of the victims' groups, remains consistent with that of the Stormont House Agreement.

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