Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. This is an important recommendation which the Government and I will support. In my engagement with the British Government, it also supports it. It is about finding a mechanism by which everybody involved supports it fully. There are ongoing situations in Northern Ireland - there is no functioning Executive and there are a number of parties there. It is about making sure all parties that are potentially impacted, including communities, are in agreement on how we move forward. It is a bold move, as the Deputy said. It may not be something everybody will support but in the past we have seen something like this be successful. It adds to the other dimensions of work under way. There is a view from some that the organisations are only engaged in criminal activity. We need to look at all of the different elements and take a full view of what might work and be helpful, in particular trying to get the end goal of full disbandment. I support it, as does the Government. We will continue to work with the UK Government to that effect.

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