Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I thank Fianna Fáil for tabling the motion and giving us the opportunity to talk about the disappeared and the details outlined in the motion. In particular, I thank the family members for being here this evening. I know some of them have brought their loved ones home and others have not yet done so, but it is a fact that they are still working together and supporting each other. This awful experience has brought them all together and they are still here fighting for everyone who is among the disappeared.

We have spent a lot of time in this House talking about the European Convention on Human Rights and the British Government living up to its international human rights obligations. The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill puts total control in the hands of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and a self-appointed body, the independent commission for reconciliation and information recovery, for them to decide which families would or would not get access to a human rights-compliant investigation and the threshold of accountability for truth telling. We all agree in this House, Members of every party and none, that this is not just a denial of human rights, it robs families and victims of their human rights and it is a cynical and despicable attempt to withhold truth and justice and control who knows what, so it is hard to stomach when that same culture of control and denial of human rights is accepted to this day within a democratic political party in this State and on this island.

I have spoken many times in Leinster House about Columba McVeigh and the disappeared. My father before me also did so. I knew the words "the disappeared" before I knew what they meant. I knew the McVeighs because they are from the village I am from. I knew about Columba from a very young age. His name was frequently spoken in our house and there was talk about trying to get him home.Columba was abducted, murdered and buried in secret by the IRA.

All any of the families want is a proper burial. That is it. They do not want anybody to be punished. The only justice anyone is seeking here is closure on what were brutal and undeserved deaths, and to be able to bring their precious ones home as a final act of love and care, that all families deserve. No legacy mechanisms and bilateral agreements are needed to do this, just the will to do the decent thing within your organisation, to dig deep at every level of the republican movement for information for these families, to cut through a culture of control that still exists to this day, and genuinely encourage those with information to come forward and reassure them that it is okay. There is no point in denying that a culture of silence and omertadoes still exist on our island because I can give two names. First, there is Paul Quinn who was murdered in 2007, which was nearly ten years after the Good Friday Agreement. Every bone in his body was broken when he was beaten to death in a barn in County Monaghan. There is a wall of silence around what happened to Paul Quinn.

Second, there is Robert McCartney. He was punched, beaten and stabbed to death outside a pub in Belfast after his friend had a run in with a man inside. All of the 72 drinkers at the pub told detectives that they were in the toilet when the assault happened.

I know that there has been co-operation but until all of those family members are back with their families then it is not enough, and there is no excuse.

In relation to Columba McVeigh's case, I ask the Minister present, and we have dealt with the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, previously about this matter, to ensure that a interlocutor is used in these cases. Columba's family would prefer if there was no interlocutor and that the information is more direct. That is one request. I hope to God that when the search resumes, and hopefully soon, that Columba is found.

I call on the Minister for Justice to address the irregularity of the Troubles permanent disablement payment scheme or injured pension. We are in the situation where the pension has been introduced in the North after a long time and people are applying for it. However, I believe that a person wishing to apply was born in the South, that person does not get the same access to the pension. So a potential applicant born in the North or in the UK who was injured in the North or South of Ireland can access the pension but not if he or she was born in the South of Ireland. I understand that to be the situation and Sandra Peake from the WAVE Trauma Centre will confirm the matter. I believe that the pension eligibility situation is worth pursuing because there could be two people who have suffered in the same explosion but one of them might not have the same access to redress or supports as the other victim, which is wrong. If the Minister needs to deal with the British Government to change the situation then I think that he should do so.

To conclude, I wish to emphasise the importance of this matter. I thank the Minister for dealing with me about victims' cases in general, and I also thank the previous Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach. We must do everything we can and not just in this case. Everyone in this House must do everything they can, show leadership and they must do as they say.