John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

There is general agreement on all sides of the House that this very important matter needs to be debated within the coming week. There is no dispute about that. I also agree with the proposition that there should be more than just one speaker from each group. However, it has been my experience in the past that when we have very vigorous calls for debates, the vigour of the calls is not matched by the vigour of the participation in the debates. I question if it would need to go on for a whole day. We also need to be fairly circumspect in the utterances we make with regard to these issues. I said as much earlier this week.

The recognition of the need to uphold and not endanger anyone's personal rights and safety is not a side issue; it is contained in the document. It explicitly states that all IRA volunteers have been given specific instructions not to engage in any activity which might endanger the new agreement. In terms of the settlement, we have to know if the IRA will give up all its activities, including criminality, as well as the verified decommissioning of its arms. One cogent example of such activity in the context of this State's democratic system is the surveillance of Members of both Houses. This is intolerable in a democratic State; it cannot happen.