Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

As a person from north of the North, I recognise and respect the fact the Minister has made a value judgment on the need for the continuation in operation of the legislation. I recognise the tremendous work that is going on in terms of the co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda. The recent contributions of Commissioner Murphy and Chief Constable Matt Baggott at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly gave everyone an understanding of the level of co-operation that exists, which is important.

Coming from where I do, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the long and patient road taken by the civil rights movement that began in 1972 which led to the publication of the Saville report the day before yesterday. As a number of speakers indicated, while we recognise this is the end of a process for many of those families and brings important closure for some but perhaps not for everyone, there are other cases and we must find a way to assist those involved. With the Minister's knowledge of the foreign affairs brief, his current position in the Department and his links with education we must find a mechanism to deal with issues. Instead of saying it is the responsibility of one Department or the other, we need a cross-sectoral response from all of those areas on the island of Ireland so teachers are allowed to teach the other side of an argument in order that people on both sides get to know each other. I include the Twenty-six Counties as well as the Six Counties because we have not dealt with the Civil War, the War of Independence and other difficult issues.

A big commemoration is due in 2016. In order to get rid of the need for this type of legislation we must help people to get to know each other so that dissidents who call themselves republicans - I call them criminals - are seen for what they are and that their ability to attract others to their cause is minimised because the horns have been taken off "the other side". We cannot duck and dive on the matter for much longer. Not enough is going on in the education sector on the island of Ireland, especially in Border areas and at interface areas in communities. As David Ervine said a long time ago, it is very easy for all to be on the one side at the 19th hole on the Malone golf course, it is much more difficult if one is in a frontier location. Much good work is being done in the UNESCO centre in Coleraine by Dr. Alan McCully. Many issues require to be addressed and they have been identified. It is just a matter of someone taking responsibility and saying "Yes, we are in charge of all the ones that cause a problem when they are planting the bombs". There needs to be a link between the Departments to prevent as well as to solve crime.

I wish well to Peadar Heffron, his wife Fiona and their extended family. He is making good progress. It has been a long road for him since January. We must continue to talk about him because he is the face of the new PSNI. He is an Irish speaking, Gaelic games playing person who was blown up in his car while listening to Irish CDs. If we allow what happened to him in 2010 to go away we will not do anyone a service. It is important to realise that the PSNI and the Garda have been extremely successful in stopping other such atrocities. We must acknowledge the work they are doing not alone in terms of preventing members of the police forces from getting blown up or shot but members of the general public as well. The Minister is aware that one can be close to being in the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time. It depends on which side of the issue one is on.

Coming from a Border area I must make a final point about Border security. Armed raids are being made on post offices and republicans against drug dealing are threatening to come over the Border to deal with people who they consider are interfering with their patch. Significant issues are occurring yet Garda stations on the Border have no CCTV, and unmanned Garda stations are being broken into. I respect the fact that Commissioner Murphy makes many of the decisions but we get the blame when resources in terms of personnel and funding are not seen to be available in Border stations that are being attacked. It is not just the Garda and the PSNI who are at risk, the public can get caught up in armed raids and attacks. I urge the Minister to discuss with the Commissioner exactly what is going on in the Border villages to which I refer and of which he should be aware and to provide personnel and supporting infrastructure to ensure security in Border villages.