We have reached a sad state of affairs when we cannot accept the truthfulness of answers given by the Taoiseach in the House. It is in that context that I ask my question. I will first remind the House of the Taoiseach's words here on 10 February 1999.

I have continually and unambiguously made clear since Good Friday. . . . .1998 that any reference by the Sinn Féin negotiators regarding the release of the late Jerry McCabe's murderers could not be considered . . . . . At no time was anyone given any comfort about these people and neither will they be.

Since he uttered these words, the Taoiseach has answered questions on the peace process virtually on a monthly basis and he has never once mentioned this issue as being one of the sticking points in the negotiations. When he specifically reported on those negotiations of last October, it was not mentioned even though Sinn Féin is today claiming that these releases were part of the agreed sequence of events and statements. In doing this secret, dirty deal with the IRA, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform have callously broken their word to the people and have betrayed the McCabe family.

People should remember that Detective Garda Jerry McCabe was serving democracy and his country when he was brutally murdered by violent thugs who only avoided 40 year sentences for capital murder by intimidating key trial witnesses. If we cannot believe what the Taoiseach has been telling us in this House for the past five years, why should we believe him now? I ask the Taoiseach to put away the script prepared by the spin doctors and to give an honest answer to the following question. When did his Government abandon its solemn promise of putting this concession on the table? Will he confirm Gerry Adams's claim today that the release of these killers was part of the deal agreed last October which was halted at the last minute by David Trimble? Was this part of the October deal — yes or no?

The full implementation of all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement has not been achieved to date. What became apparent to the two Governments as time went on was that the agreement was unlikely to ever reach full implementation unless certain issues were settled, some going beyond the terms of the agreement. It was from this that the concept of "acts of completion" emerged. What was envisaged in "acts of completion" was nothing short of a definitive settlement of the Northern question involving as one of its central elements the complete end to all forms of paramilitary activity.

What emerged by April 2003 was a complex set of understandings involving a range of elements, which would emerge as a sequence of agreed statements and supporting actions, some by Governments, some by Sinn Féin, some by the IRA and some by Unionists. This came very close to realisation in March 2003 but ultimately failed, as did a subsequent attempted settlement last October, essentially involving the same range of elements.

The Governments are now engaged in fresh efforts to bring a definitive end to the Northern conflict, yet we are again seeking to find a way in which an outcome involving essentially the same elements could be achieved. It is no secret that the range of elements to which I refer include matters such as the stability of the inclusive institutions, the ending of paramilitarism in all its forms, the decommissioning of all illegally held arms, the issue of demilitarisation, policing and human rights.

While it is unhelpful to the process of negotiation — indeed, any negotiation — to single out any single element and try to deal with it outside the only context in which it has relevance, one element has been brought into the public domain, the question of releasing the IRA prisoners in Castlerea. The issue of the possible releases of those prisoners has been consistently raised by Sinn Féin, in the same way as the question has arisen about how to handle those who may be responsible for paramilitary crimes committed before the Good Friday Agreement, and those who remained on the run, the so-called OTRs.

Questions were raised in the House about this issue as far back as March last year when I said that the Government was considering how to deal with these issues. The case of OTRs and that of the Castlerea prisoners are not unrelated — neither is covered by the Good Friday Agreement. Our goal last spring and in October, as I have said, was to clear the way on all outstanding issues, including the republican movement finally and definitively making an historic move away from violence. We did not achieve the outcome we were working for at that time. Because of this, the question of the release of these prisoners — or, indeed, resolving the OTR and other issues like demilitarisation, all of which were elements of the sequence — could not be pursued. These issues, therefore, remain on the agenda. Sinn Féin has made it clear that it is unable to convince the IRA leadership to take the necessary steps without the situation of the Castlerea prisoners being resolved.

Let me be clear that, for its part, the Government can consider the early release of these prisoners only in the context where the achievement of all other acts of completion, as set out, was assured. This means assurance of the complete ending of paramilitarism by the IRA, and decommissioning. This is something that we have been trying to achieve through intense engagement over the past two years and more. It is a goal for which successive Irish Governments have been striving since the foundation of the State, and it remains our goal.

The Taoiseach's reply is a disgrace. He knows that the early release of the convicted killers of Jerry McCabe was outside the conditions of the Good Friday Agreement. Does the Taoiseach seriously expect us to believe that this concession is the main blocking point to the final implementation of the Good Friday Agreement? If that is the case, why has he never reported that single issue to this House? It is clear that this secret deal was done with the IRA, and the Taoiseach's recent promise to consult the McCabe family is completely and utterly hypocritical. Surely he has read the letter from the Minister for zero tolerance, Deputy O'Donoghue to Mrs. Ann McCabe and his subsequent statement to the Dáil in which he said "I wonder how many different ways we have to say no for these people to get the message that those involved will not have the benefit of the early release terms of the British-Irish Agreement."

That is true.

Despite his newly-manufactured decisive image, the Taoiseach has lost the plot. The Provisional IRA now believes that it will get whatever it demands in return for the fulfilment of its commitments. Fine Gael rejects this concession being put on the table by the Government. It offends ordinary decent people throughout the land. Where is the Taoiseach's moral strength now? Where is his moral defence of standing for those who stand up for democracy? Is it not a fact that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform have been blackmailed by the IRA into putting this concession on the table? He expects us to believe that it is the last single remaining obstacle to a peaceful Ireland but this U-turn is a step too far. Will he tell Sinn Féin that the Irish people will not accept it?

Hear, hear.

It is our view that the release of the prisoners in Castlerea does not come under the Good Friday Agreement. That was reflected in the Criminal Justice (Release of Prisoners) Act 1998. It is not the only issue on the agenda. I would not like anybody in this House or outside it to believe, as a result of this debate, that it is a single issue. There is an enormous range of issues, including demilitarisation, prisoners, OTRs and fundamental human rights. If we had been successful in obtaining the framework we set out in March last year, there would have been a whole sequence of events concerning a whole range of issues, some of which have been mentioned. If we ever want an end to the IRA, which is what I want, we will have to be brave and take some pain to get some gain. If we want to take a purist view that we will end paramilitarism in all its forms, that will not be done by taking one point and dealing with it in isolation. I will be as tough as is necessary against Sinn Féin and the IRA but if we can get a complete set of agreements we will do so.

We had also decided how we would discuss this with the Garda bodies, the McCabe family and Ben O'Sullivan's family. There was no question of the Government making or announcing a deal without consultation with those families.

What about the Dáil?

We will continue as best we can to bring finality to this agreement. While it may suit some people in the House, we are still a long way from that, but we continue to try because it is the right thing to do.

The Taoiseach's word is worthless.

I wanted to raise with the Taoiseach his silence on, and the absence of reference on the websites of his Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs or the EU Presidency to the shocking violations of international humanitarian law in Iraq that we see in newspapers and on television. However, having just heard the Taoiseach's comments it is important to go back to the murder of Detective Jerry McCabe. Do I understand the Taoiseach to have told Deputy Kenny that this was not the only issue? He said there is an enormous range of outstanding issues to be dealt with. Was the release of those who murdered Jerry McCabe being used as a concession for a single act of decommissioning last October? It was not at all the act of completion that we were led to believe, even in the secondary explanation by the Government.

The choreography went wrong in October because we did not know the extent or scale of the act of decommissioning that took place. Is the Taoiseach now saying, however, that the release of those who murdered Jerry McCabe was intruded in return for that single act of decommissioning? I cannot understand how he can reconcile that with the letter to Mrs. McCabe from the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Donoghue, which appears in today's Irish Examiner, and states: “I hope that what I said at the meeting provided you with assurance that there is no question of granting early release to those concerned, either under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement or, for that matter, on any other basis either.”

That was yesterday.

I am not saying that a sovereign Government ought not reserve to itself the right to do what it thinks is best in circumstances where the complete departure from violence as a weapon of political advancement is agreed, verified and signed up to. To intrude this as a pawn in negotiations to extract further concessions in the snail's pace progress towards what may or may not be a final settlement in the future is utterly unacceptable, apart from being entirely at variance with what the Taoiseach said in this House and what the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said to Mrs. McCabe.

Perhaps Deputy Rabbitte missed what I said yesterday at the press conference when I comprehensively dealt with the issue of the inhumane treatment of the prisoners in Iraq. I dealt with that yesterday and I do not want to let that point go unanswered.

I did not want to give an impression to Deputy Rabbitte, which I do not think I did, that this was a part of the settlement. There are not many matters left for the Irish Government to deal with, although there are issues regarding "on the runs", OTRs, human rights and equality which we must address in the overall context of agreement. We must be 100% clear, however, that the consideration by Government of releasing the Castlerea five would only be in terms of the end of paramilitarism and a final agreement. It was not an interim position and I assure the House of that. It would only take place in the event of full completion of the condition set out in paragraph 13 of the joint declaration, namely, the end of paramilitarism — "the ending of conflict" was the phrase used — and, as the Deputy knows, those are the words the IRA has difficulty broaching. We did not, however, achieve that.

There are many issues the British Government must address. It stated that within the context of acts of completion, it would bring before Parliament the legislation necessary to resolve outstanding cases on a basis involving judicial process and showing sensitivity to the position of victims. The Irish Government would address similar cases in this jurisdiction. That is set out in the joint declaration. We would only look at any of these issues, however, if there was completion and I hope we will arrive at that position as soon as possible.

We are not at that position. We are further from it than we were when we discussed these issues in April 2003. October was only a mirror of that time because it was in April 2003 that the detailed discussions took place. However, we did not get there. We nearly made it in April 2003 and, in the view of the Irish Government, we did not come as close in October 2003 as a result of a range of issues. If I gave every detail of the negotiations in recent years, such as what was said and thought, we would be unable to negotiate any arrangement. This is not an industrial relations issue. We are trying to end for once and for all the paramilitary violence that has almost ruined this country economically for a quarter of a century. We want an end to the Provisional IRA and the remnants of paramilitarism. It is only in that context that I, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform or any of us collectively would go to the McCabe family and say we think this could take place as part of the greater picture.

We would not go if we thought we were only getting a little process along the way. The reason we never did it was because we did not get to where we wanted. We tried and we will continue to try, but that is our position. I do not think we did other than the proper discharge of our duties in trying to bring finality to paramilitary violence in this country.

The Government was willing to play the card.