Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 11: To ask the Taoiseach the action he intends to take arising from the Report of Mr. Justice Barron into the Dundalk bombing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28248/06]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 12: To ask the Taoiseach if he has received the latest report from Mr. Justice Barron; the action to be taken in view of this report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28460/06]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 13: To ask the Taoiseach if he has received the latest report from Mr. Justice Barron; the actions to be taken in view of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30787/06]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 14: To ask the Taoiseach the actions he will take on the basis of Mr. Justice Barron's report on the Dundalk bombing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34120/06]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 15: To ask the Taoiseach the actions he will take following the latest report from Mr. Justice Barron. [35924/06]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 15, inclusive, together.

As Deputies know, I answered extensive questions in the House the week before last on the Commission of Investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings which is chaired by Mr. Paddy MacEntee SC. As I indicated then, I have now granted a further extension to Mr. MacEntee until 11 December. I published his latest interim report last week. While Mr. MacEntee's work is separate and independent, it stems from the first report of Mr. Justice Barron and it is therefore appropriate that I mention these exchanges in the context of today's questions.

I referred Mr. Justice Barron's final report on the bombing of Kay's Tavern in Dundalk in 1976, and other loyalist paramilitary attacks from that period, to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights prior to the end of the last Dáil session. The committee published the report upon receipt. The main focus of the report is the bombing of Kay's Tavern in Dundalk in 1976. Mr. Hugh Watters, aged 60, and Mr. Jack Rooney, aged 62, were both killed in the attack.

The report also makes reference to other attacks by loyalist paramilitaries around that time which the judge deems relevant in order to provide a broader context for his findings. These include the Castleblayney bombs, the Dublin Airport bomb and other bombings in the State. It also includes a number of attacks in Northern Ireland, including the attack on the Miami Showband, the attack on the Rock Bar, Keady, the attack on Donnelly's Bar, Silverbridge, attacks on the Reavey and O'Dowd families in south Armagh and the murders of Sean Farmer and Colm McCartney. It also refers to an explosion and murder at Barronrath Bridge, County Kildare.

I understand the committee held three days of public hearings, ending on 4 October, with interested persons, and is due to send its final report to both Houses by the deadline of 17 November. This final report completes the work of the Independent Commission of Inquiry which was first led by the late Mr. Justice Hamilton and subsequently by Mr. Justice Barron. I am very grateful for their work in trying to help bring justice to the victims of several horrific atrocities.

All of Mr. Justice Barron's reports have now been referred to the joint committee, which has in turn done a commendable job in hearing the evidence, not least of the bereaved, and in reporting promptly and with clear recommendations.

We have acted on the recommendations of the Oireachtas committee to date. On matters that are entirely within the remit of the Government or public bodies within the State, we established the commission of investigation into the 1974 bombings under Mr Paddy MacEntee SC. When that work is complete, we will address the recommendations from the second and third reports, which relate to the 1972 and 1973 bombings and the Ludlow murder. We will consider the recommendations of the report on the bombing of Kay's Tavern when the committee has made its final report.

Where appropriate, action has already been taken by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda to recognise and address shortcomings that were identified in the reports to date.

With regard to some very important issues, the co-operation of the British authorities is essential and the Oireachtas committee has recognised this. The Government has been using all appropriate means in its efforts to ensure that co-operation. I have raised the matter with Prime Minister Blair on a number of occasions and contacts with the British Government are ongoing.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I pay tribute to the quality of the work of Mr. Justice Barron. He deserves enormous credit for the detailed report he has published on this occasion. It is in keeping with the painstaking manner in which he has discharged his obligations in terms of the prior reports referred to by the Taoiseach. We ought to consider some way we could appropriately mark his contribution. It has attracted surprisingly little scrutiny outside of the Oireachtas.

I am sure the Taoiseach agrees Mr. Justice Barron's findings are very grave, namely, that a loyalist group based somewhere in mid-Ulster was most likely responsible for this particular outrage, that there is strong circumstantial evidence of collusion with the security forces, that the Garda investigation was inadequate in many respects and that little consideration has ever been shown for the families directly involved. The Taoiseach made a passing reference to the lack of co-operation from the British authorities. Now that we have this report and since its receipt in July has he raised the matter with the British Prime Minister? Does the Taoiseach consider that raising the matter with the British Prime Minister is a waste of time?

Nobody has ever been held responsible for atrocities that were carried out in this jurisdiction, it is suspected, by loyalist paramilitaries. A historic inquiries team has been established in Northern Ireland to open these murder cases where nobody was ever charged. Perhaps the time has come in this jurisdiction for the Government to consider the establishment of a similar team that would reopen old cases which involve loyalist and republican paramilitaries where nobody was charged.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has raised a number of points. I agree with him that the reports are excellent. We have had four comprehensive reports ranging from the early work of the late Mr. Justice Liam Hamilton to the work in recent years which has been painstakingly carried out, and has involved huge detail, by Mr. Justice Barron. Mr. Justice Barron who has worked within offices of my Department for many years worked diligently and put in a huge effort on this work. He has co-ordinated his work in so far as it has been possible for us to open up various contacts with the British, to Downing Street, the Secretary of State and the NIO, and to others in the security force to receive assistance. If Mr. Justice Barron was here he would say that at best that has been patchy.

For that reason we have continued on his work and recommendations on a number of fronts. We established the Commission of Investigation into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings in 1974 under Mr. Patrick MacEntee. Following much effort and work, we have opened up new information for him with the security forces, which he has diligently followed during the past 18 months or so. As I mentioned previously, there are legal aspects about what he can and cannot do, but that matter is under discussion. He has now completed his investigative and preparatory work and will report on it.

Some issues in the second and third reports are being examined. The Oireachtas joint committee recommends that the Government consider extending the terms of reference of the order establishing the commission of investigation to include some of these issues. On completion of Mr. MacEntee's final report we intend to return to those issues. As I said previously, Mr. MacEntee has made it clear he does not want to engage in that exercise. If we follow that through for the 1972 and 1973 bombings, we will have to get another person to work on it. In regard to the recommendations made in the report on the murder of Seamus Ludlow, some of these are similar to recommendations in a previous report. We would be in a better position to review and address all these recommendations when the current commission of investigation has completed its work. Specific recommendations from the Ludlow report have already been acted on and, with regard to the point made by Deputy Rabbitte on following up cases, the Garda has established a unit to work on some of the historical cases. It has used all the mechanisms available to it to liaise with the PSNI in respect of the investigation into the murder of Seamus Ludlow.

The Garda Commissioner has appointed a dedicated team of gardaí to re-examine the case in a proactive manner and to determine whether there is any possibility of bringing any or all of the four suspects to justice. In that particular case, it is clear that Mr. Justice Barron has pinpointed who he believes were responsible for the murder. I have been advised by the Garda authorities that, as recommended by the Oireachtas joint committee, the reinvestigation of the murder of Seamus Ludlow is at an advanced stage and is under the direction of a Garda superintendent. Liaison will be established and maintained with the historical inquiries team in Northern Ireland and the family has been kept fully informed of the investigations. Officials of my Department have also been following up cases and met representatives of the Miami Showband families and Justice for the Forgotten. I have also met a number of these groups.

These reports should be debated in the House. The appropriate time to do that, subject to the Oireachtas committee's opinion, is probably when it completes its work on the fourth report. I understand it will then put together its conclusions in respect of the four reports. That would be an appropriate time, although we could debate it at an earlier stage if that is considered necessary.

Mr. Justice Barron has highlighted and brought to a detailed position what went on during those times in respect of all the cases he investigated. He has brought to light as much evidence as he was able to collect from all the records available in official and Garda files, as well as from other files he acquired both inside and outside the State. While it perhaps does not solve everything, we are in a much better position now than we were when we set about this task several years ago.

A number of other cases were also examined but it would take me a long time to mention them all. In approximately 20 cases, we now have significant details regarding evidence which we previously did not have. It is just a historical question at this stage because of the circumstances of the time and the nature of the Garda investigations of these cases. I have discussed this at length with the families and, while they always ask me to explain it, there is not much point trying to explain more than 30 years later.

The reality, which some of the families can never understand, is that three months after the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, which represented the biggest single atrocity of the Troubles until the Omagh atrocity in 1998, the official files closed. There is no point making criticisms or going on about it because that is what happened and I have faithfully, in countless meetings with the relatives, explained the position. They were different times, with different circumstances and difficulties. The families do not understand that and believe it was because of collusion and a cover-up. I think it was just the way it was in those days. Although 30 people were killed and more than 100 were injured, the entire investigation ceased after three months. However, that is what happened.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and I have spent long hours trying to explain this to the families. They interpret the matter differently. I do not think there was any malice on our part; it just reflected the circumstances of the time. All we can do now is investigate the cases as completely as possible.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That concludes Taoiseach's questions.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I ask the Taoiseach——

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Sorry, Deputy, it is 3.15 p.m. and there are other Deputies who cannot be facilitated.