Last weekend's boiler-suit brigade abduction in Belfast provides further proof of the accuracy of Gerry Adams's chilling declaration that the IRA has not gone away. It appears that the victim in this case was about to meet a brutal and horrific end. The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has said categorically that the abductors were members of the Provisional IRA. I met this morning with the Independent Monitoring Commission and was shocked to hear that Sinn Féin has said it will not co-operate with it in any way.

Does the Taoiseach believe the time has come to stop pandering to the IRA and its political representatives who are clearly intent on continuing to engage in various forms of criminal behaviour? The Taoiseach will meet a Sinn Féin delegation today and the newspapers report that he will make his views known to its members. What are the Taoiseach's views? What action does he propose to take to cut out the nonsense and deal with paramilitary activities which are happening in this State to the detriment of our democracy, business, commerce and way of life?

The events of last weekend brought into clear view what the Government has felt for some time about many of these paramilitary attacks. They are horrific. I had an opportunity over the weekend of talking to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I also met the Chief Constable. I know, from the meetings of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen, yesterday and from reports of these issues, that the individual who was abducted received approximately 93 stitches. It is the view of the security forces that, by ramming the vehicle, they saved his life. The security forces believe that he would have been transported across the Border and executed. It is the view of the British Government, the Northern Ireland Office, the Chief Constable and the Secretary of State that the people involved were members of the Provisional IRA and closely associated.

My views, for which Deputy Kenny has asked and which were set out in my speech in the University of Ulster in Coleraine a few days ago, are that it is long past the time when we must reach an end to paramilitarism and the association with it. We will not make progress until we end it entirely and completely. That has been my view for many years and my publicly declared view since I agreed to the process of the acts of completion in the autumn of 2002 with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair. We set out to define those in a way we believe is tough on one side but sensible on the other. We did not include everything in paragraph 13. For example, we did not include racketeering because we assumed that kind of activity has gone on for generations and takes a period to end. That does not mean we condone it. We are trying to get to end this activity in a reasonable time and it is imperative that we do so.

In one of this morning's newspapers I saw a view expressed which I had stated last week when I heard about this incident. Until we sign up to the policing arrangements, we will have these attacks. I hate to say what I am about to say, but I may as well do so because I hear it said to me frequently. In some communities it is popular to engage in policing activities because the police cannot do their normal job. Some people even say pressure is put on paramilitaries to engage in policing activities. I do not believe this was the case last Friday, but it has been so in other incidents.

I hope there is no party division in this House on this matter. We have all stated time and again that we must see the end to paramilitarism in its entirety. This is in line with paragraph 13. The sooner this is achieved, the better. Since the Weston Park talks which took place a number of years ago, we have a process to deal with policing arrangements and we must also deal with that. Both Governments and the political system in the South are prepared to do so.

Yesterday, the Government resisted the exclusion policies because we do not think they would work either, but that line cannot be kept forever. We all want to move to another position. However, it is now almost ten years since the first ceasefire and seven years since the second. It is time to bring these activities to an end. Otherwise more people will be killed and injured. I am not in lecturing mode. I will outline again today that activities of this nature cannot continue in a normal political situation.

The question is what the Taoiseach will do about it.

This is Leaders' Questions. Deputy Deasy is not entitled to undermine his leader.

We get speeches every week from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Deputy Deasy is out of order. It is his leader's question, not his.

I assure Deputy Kenny that I will again today make those points and put forward the Government's view strongly.

The Taoiseach and the Government have the full backing of my party in whatever action is deemed necessary to deal with paramilitary activities.

For a political party to say it is on the road to democracy and peace and truth and reconciliation, that a room in Belfast is cleaned out to torture an individual and to murder him and that the chief constable says the perpetrators are members of the Provisional IRA is a statement of great clarity. We have had similar clear statements from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that the Sinn Féin party in this jurisdiction is funded by organised crime in some way. Racketeering, punishment beatings and abductions continue to take place. It is the Government's responsibility to deal with information from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on organised crime. What action will the Taoiseach take on the evidence provided by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in this regard? The Taoiseach will have the full backing of this side of the House in whatever action he deems necessary.

It is high time we stopped hiding behind words. The Taoiseach leads a sovereign Government and has a constitutional duty to act on the evidence provided by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Will the Taoiseach outline what action he proposes to take?

Deputy Kenny raised two issues. First, on criminal activities and on people associated with paramilitary organisations, the House can be assured that all information is acted upon. A substantial effort has been made by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the past 12 months with regard to racketeering and evidence of racketeering. That work is ongoing. The Minister now has regular meetings with the security services to deal with these issues. This has achieved substantial success. People have not been caught in the act, but they have changed their ways. The Deputy will understand that I cannot give information on Garda activity, but the Garda now has greater knowledge of who to close in on.

Second, we are involved with the support of everybody in this House in the peace process in Northern Ireland. It is acknowledged that we will not reach finality in a short period. Yesterday, it was agreed that both Governments would ask the independent monitoring commission to examine these events in the context of the preparation of its first report and to bring the report forward to May 2004. We will continue to work with theindependent monitoringcommission, the British Government and the parties to try to find a solution to the issues.