Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach knows, the British Government’s shameful legacy Bill will go through Report Stage in the House of Lords today. If it goes through, it will definitively shut the door to families’ efforts to achieve truth and justice through the courts. It will, of course, give an amnesty to those who are responsible for their deaths. Heartbroken families who have been fighting for years, determined to get truth and justice for their loved ones, have expressed huge concern. Opposition to the Bill is shared by victims’ families, human rights experts, the UN and all the political parties on this island, as well as officials in the United States and the European Union. Yesterday, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights added her voice to these concerns. She warned that passing the Bill would violate Britain’s international obligations and put victims’ rights at risk. I have a direct question for the Taoiseach. If this legislation goes through - and it appears it will - will the Irish Government take an interstate case to the European Court of Human Rights to vindicate the rights of victims and survivors on this island?

See this speech in context