Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

We will deal with Committee Stage of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2004 today. We are scheduled to deal with Report and Final Stages of this Bill between 12 noon and 2 p.m. tomorrow. Will the Leader examine the feasibility of taking Report Stage after a short sos this afternoon? Judging by the number of Committee Stage amendments, I think it would be feasible to conclude the Bill today.

I welcome the meeting the Taoiseach had with Martin McGuinness and members of Sinn Féin. It appears that a "get tough" policy is being adopted on Sinn Féin and its almost À la carte approach to the Good Friday Agreement. We all applauded the Good Friday Agreement, signed on 10 April 1998. In the forthcoming local and European Parliament elections, Sinn Féin will be competing for seats all around the country. If the party wants to enter the whole democratic process, it will have to sever its links with the IRA. This is the commitment and belief of everyone within these Houses.

Mr. Tohill, who was involved in the recent kidnapping incident, received 93 stitches arising from the assault by the Provisional IRA. Obviously, he would have been executed but for the intervention of the police force.

The Independent Monitoring Commission was set up by both Governments to investigate incidents of this nature. Yesterday, members of the commission met the leader of the Fine Gael Party, Deputy Kenny, and indicated to him that Sinn Féin would not co-operate with the investigation. This is a further classic example of the À la carte approach of Sinn Féin to the whole issue. We can no longer pander to its whims; a get tough policy must be taken. I welcome the direction of the Taoiseach's statement yesterday and hope it will become the policy of the Government and all parties in the House.