I wish to raise a matter to which we referred last week. The Taoiseach claimed that the Provisional IRA could not be persuaded to end its activities without the release of the murderers of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe as part of a final settlement. This position was contradicted last night by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who said this concession would only be considered after all criminal activities had ended. Today the president of Sinn Féin, Mr. Gerry Adams, made an allegation that the Taoiseach told him privately, before the Good Friday Agreement was finalised, that these killers would be covered by the early release terms of the Agreement and that "there could be no exemptions". At that time, the Taoiseach was giving solemn assurances to the contrary to the family of Jerry McCabe and the public.

I would like to know the truth of this matter once and for all. Does the Taoiseach confirm or deny that he had a meeting with Mr. Adams at which he said there could be no exemptions and that the killers of Jerry McCabe would be eligible for early release? I have recently been made aware that other participants in the Northern talks were informed before Easter that the release of these murderers was part of the October deal which was derailed at the last minute by Mr. Trimble's decision. Can we put an end to this speculation? Will the Taoiseach come clean and admit that he put this concession to the IRA on the table last October, thus breaching his word to the people and to the McCabe family? Is Mr. Adams telling the truth when he says he had a private meeting with the Taoiseach at which this matter was discussed?

I dealt with a number of matters in this area in considerable detail last week and I do not want to go over them again. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform met with representatives of the Garda Representative Association for more than two hours last week and he also met with the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.

He has also indicated that he will write to Mrs. McCabe on the matter. I expect he will do so in the near future.

The Minister and I have made it clear that the issue of the release of Jerry McCabe's killers can only be considered in the context of acts of completion in the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, which means ending the conflict once and for all. I said this last week, and I say the same now. I do not think I need to go over what the Minister said last night. I have looked at the text of what he said, which is what I have been saying for months.

What happened last October?

The process of engagement between the two Governments is continuing. We want to make progress in the coming weeks. We want to clear away as many issues as possible before the summer. The current controversy has brought the issue of paramilitarism clearly into focus. There are other issues, but this is obviously a key question. The two Governments will continue to facilitate and actively encourage the process. We need the parties to continue to engage and commit themselves.

In regard to last October, as I said last Wednesday, we were prepared, if we achieved the totality of what we were trying to negotiate, to examine and approve a situation where we would release the prisoners. Unfortunately, we never reached that position for a number of reasons. It was not the only issue. There were several issues, including the ending of paramilitarism, "on the runs" and all the issues around that, which we never got near. I hope that clears up the issue. We were prepared to deal with the issue if we got what we wanted, but we did not get there.

On what the President of Sinn Féin said today, it is clear that Mr. Adams is under an enormous misapprehension. The Government made it clear at the time of the Good Friday Agreement that the release of Jerry McCabe's killers was not covered by the Agreement. I said so on several occasions, including in a letter and in subsequent statements in this House and elsewhere. Mr. Adams and Mr. McGuinness argued that they should be covered, but we argued they should not. At that stage we were not discussing the end of paramilitarism or what would happen in regard to decommissioning. We had negotiated that decommissioning would be finished in two years. These issues should have been completed by 2000. I reiterate that Sinn Féin argued the position.

The fact is that the McCabe killers were convicted in February 1999 and we were discussing where we were in April 1998. Whatever discussions took place, we certainly had not reached a position on who would be released. We made it clear from the outset that the Good Friday Agreement would not include this aspect. The matter was raised in this House at the time. I replied by saying I could understand how people in the North would say they were being treated under one rule while people in the South were being treated under another rule. I defended that position, which was clearly our understanding at the time. What is on the Dáil record is correct.

I listened to the arguments this morning between the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Mr. Adams. Did this one to one meeting occur between the Taoiseach and Gerry Adams? Did the Taoiseach tell Mr. Adams that there were no exemptions and, therefore, the killers of Detective Garda McCabe would have to be released? When I and thousands of others like me, both North and South, voted for the Good Friday Agreement, we did so on the clear understanding that the Executive had ruled out early release for these prisoners. If the Taoiseach made an agreement with Mr. Adams on a one to one basis, it alters fundamentally the understanding of the Agreement for which people voted. If this is the case, it means that the word of Government given to the McCabe family and to the public has now been breached.

I note comments today that the McCabe family should trust the Government. If we cannot believe what was said for the past five years on a range of issues, why should we believe it now? Does the Taoiseach deny that Gerry Adams met him and that he told him there were no exemptions to the Good Friday Agreement? Is the Taoiseach saying that Mr. Adams's comment today is false? I use that word because I cannot use another.

The answer to all the questions is "yes". We had a substantial number of discussions from September 1997 right through 1998. At no stage was there an agreement that the murderers of Jerry McCabe would be included in the Good Friday Agreement. We are talking about something which happened six years ago. This is why these people are in prison for the past six years. Some of them are in prison eight years next month because we said they will not be released. I recall Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness arguing the prisoners should be released after 22 May, but we refused to do so. This is why they are still in prison. If they were to have been released, they would have been immediately. We held to the line that they were not included in the Agreement.

I have answered the question about last October. Yes, they would have been in the position had we obtained a full agreement last October, or last March for that matter, because the March and October agreements were different. We did not get to that position, which is a fact. To say anyone mentioned releasing them on 10 April 1998, or any period up to that, when they were not fully convicted until February 1999, is impossible.

They will be released but not just yet.