Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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129. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the actions, apart from public statements, that he has taken to meet with and to request his counterparts in the strongest possible way to ensure the establishment of the historical investigations unit and other legacy bodies in Northern Ireland as envisaged under the Stormont House Agreement. [10143/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Stormont House Agreement was reached in 2014 after a period of intense negotiation by the Irish Government, the British Government and the political parties in Northern Ireland. It provides for a comprehensive and balanced framework to address the legacy of the past.

The commitment to the implementation of the provisions of the Stormont House Agreement was reaffirmed by the British Government in the context of the New Decade, New Approach Agreement in January 2020.  As the Deputy will be aware, in March 2020, the British Government published a Written Ministerial Statement which proposed significant changes to the Stormont House framework, and subsequently published a Command Paper in July 2021 proposing a general statute of limitations.

I have engaged with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland political parties, victims' representatives and others regularly extensively throughout this period.  In June 2021, I agreed with the Secretary of State to convene an intensive engagement process centrally involving the Northern Ireland political parties and engaging first and foremost with victims representatives to attempt to find agreement on a comprehensive and collective way forward on dealing with the past.  In that process, we set out the Government's serious concerns with the British Government's proposals and our position that the Stormont House Agreement is the path forward.  The parties, victims representatives and other stakeholders also made clear their opposition to the British Government's proposals in that process.

I again raised the need for progress on legacy and the vital need to find an agreed way forward with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference that took place on 2 December 2021 in London. I have continued to engage regularly with the Secretary of State and with the leaders of the parties in Northern Ireland on this most sensitive issue, and I have continued to caution the British Government strongly against unilateral action in this space.  The Taoiseach has also communicated this message to Prime Minister Johnson. 

The Government remains ready to engage and work with the British Government and the parties to the Northern Ireland Executive in partnership on this very important issue in the period immediately ahead, with a view to reaffirming a collective approach that is consistent with the Stormont House Agreement framework, and for all victims, survivors and society as a whole.