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

The British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and the British-Irish Council, two institutions of the Good Friday Agreement that are still operating, met in the past week or so. The Tánaiste and the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, went to London for the meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. The Tánaiste and I were in Jersey last week for a meeting of the British-Irish Council. At all forums, we make very clear our opposition to the legacy legislation being bought through the Houses of Parliament by the British Government. This has not weakened in any way whatsoever. I have raised it directly with the Prime Minister. I have discussed it with President Biden. It has been discussed with US Members of Congress. As Deputy Tóibín mentioned, it was raised by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement chaired by Deputy Fergus O'Dowd on its recent visit to the British Parliament. We very clearly have not ruled out an interstate legal challenge to it. However, let us not forget that the UK Government does not necessarily treat decisions of the European courts in the same way as we do. Many in the British Government have been critical of the European Court of Human Rights. This is a different approach from the one we have.

To echo the comments of Deputy Smith, we should not make the mistake of suggesting that a de facto amnesty would only apply to former British servicemen. It would also apply to IRA terrorists and other paramilitaries. Most of the atrocities committed against women and children civilians and the worst sectarian killings were committed by paramilitaries. We all have a role to play when it comes to legacy. I encourage all parties to encourage anyone they know, or are connected to, to provide information to the Garda or the Police Service of Northern Ireland if they believe it could lead to a prosecution of a paramilitary or somebody involved in any such killings and not to partake in events that glorify violence during the Troubles in any way.

The UK Government published an extensive list of amendments to its Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill on 8 June. The amendments do not allay our fundamental concerns or those of many others about the Bill and its compatibility with the UN Convention on Human Rights. We will continue to urge our UK counterparts to pause the Bill. We believe the provisions relating to the granting of immunity from prosecution of crimes such as unlawful killing are incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. We are also concerned about the shutting down of other avenues to truth and justice, for example, inquests, police investigations, investigations by the ombudsman and civil cases. The Government's view is that any way forward on legacy must be based on agreed human rights standards with victims at its centre. It is against these parameters that we and others will assess the amendments.

As I said, I have raised the Bill with the Prime Minister Mr. Sunak at every available opportunity. In addition, the Tánaiste regularly raises these matters with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. There were substantive discussions at the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London yesterday.

On 22 May, I met some families of victims and the WAVE Trauma Centre to hear directly about their opposition to what is being proposed. As well as the widespread opposition by the public in Northern Ireland, serious concerns have also been expressed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and many Members of the US Congress.

Serious concerns have also been expressed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and The Council of Europe has, on five separate occasions, including mostly recently on 7 June in an interim resolution, expressed concern about the Bill's compliance with the ECHR. Discussions concerning the possibility of referral of an interstate case to the court by Ireland on the Bill, in the Government's assessment, are premature, but we do not rule out the possibility and we will keep the matter under review.

On Deputy Haughey's question, from our contacts with the UK Government and the five major parties in Northern Ireland, we understand there are contacts between the parties and there have been discussions between the DUP and the UK Government with respect to assurances that they might be given which would enable the Executive and Assembly to be re-established in the next couple of months. The commitment we have sought from the UK Government is that there should not be any further changes to the Windsor Framework and that the Good Friday Agreement and all of its positions should be respected. We have those commitments and I trust those commitments.

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