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

I thank the Deputies for raising the various concerns regarding the Order of Business as outlined this week. On the announcement today by the British Government, as I said earlier at the remembrance ceremony for the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the 48th anniversary of the worst atrocity of that time, the Stormont House Agreement remains the agreed position of the two Governments and all the political parties. This unilateral departure by the United Kingdom is not welcome and I have made it consistently clear to the British Prime Minister on an ongoing basis that unilateralism does not work in respect of the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. People may have issues but I do not believe any serious effort has been made to implement the Stormont House Agreement. From that perspective, I have met quite a number of victims' organisations over recent months and I stand with the victims of all atrocities, not just those perpetrated by the British armed forces but all of them.

Some terrible atrocities were committed and we need full accountability for all of them. That needs to happen as well. There were discussions between the British and Irish Governments through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. Again, it is regrettable that this move has been made, apparently in the context of a domestic party political agenda, as opposed to the context of the broader issues. To be fair, I do not underestimate the challenges all around but, when you meet the victims and the different victims' organisations in respect of different atrocities, they are very clear that they want no amnesty. They want full accountability and for people to be brought before the courts, if possible, and to be prosecuted. That is the least they deserve.

To respond to Deputy Boyd Barrett, my understanding is that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is not available for a debate this week. The Government is absolutely determined to hold such a debate in line with what the Ceann Comhairle has said. I share the Deputy's abhorrence of the aggression at the funeral. I could not comprehend that. It is important that we have such a debate to uphold the importance of a free and independent media in bringing honest and objective accounts of conflict situations to the world. We have witnessed this importance in Ukraine, where an Irish journalist lost his life endeavouring to bring the truth to the Irish public and the wider world through his work.

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