I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that at a time of great sensitivity in respect of the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process, it is fundamentally important that the Government of which he is Taoiseach should speak with one voice on these matters. On two occasions in the recent past I asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform whether he was prepared to publish the names of the people he believed to be members of the provisional IRA army council. The Minister said that was not appropriate. However, last weekend on a Sunday morning chat show he chose to name three individuals as being members of the army council of the Provisional IRA. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Taoiseach did not go that far and said they did not have the extent of evidence available from security briefings that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has.

Does the Taoiseach share the view of a Fianna Fáil councillor who yesterday called for the resignation of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell? Is that Fianna Fáil policy? Is there now a split within the Government, which is essentially causing a sideshow and an unwarranted distraction from focusing on the main issue, which is the web of criminality recently exposed by Garda Commissioner Conroy and his gardaí, which seems to reach right to the inner sanctums of Irish business and which affects the economy and goes to the heart of our democratic system?

Does the Taoiseach believe it would be appropriate for him to be fully briefed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he speaks on issues such as this on behalf of Government? Does the Taoiseach not believe it is fundamental that the Government speaks with one voice? These matters have of course been denied by the Sinn Féin leadership, who seem to again follow the old Sinn Féin motto that those who know do not tell and those who tell do not know. What is the position of the Government in respect of this matter?

Are they or are they not?

As I have mentioned a number of times outside the House and I repeat it inside the House, there are no differences between the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and me on this issue whatsoever. I get detailed briefings on security issues, but they are broad briefings. I do not get detailed intelligence reports every day like the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform receives, nor do I or have I ever looked for the detailed security briefs from different regions of the Garda and the kind of information the Minister gets.

Deputy Kenny is right, but that is a sideshow. It is really nothing to do with the main matter. I am the one who is at least credited with the phrase of Sinn Féin and the IRA being opposite sides of the one coin. Who attends meetings and what is its formation have nothing to do with the issues. I agree fully with that point. The fundamental issue here is that we are trying to move to get a clear position on three questions. We have made considerable progress on perhaps two of those questions. The fundamental issues are the putting arms beyond use — decommissioning; the issue of criminality in all its respects; and the end of paramilitarism. Who is or is not in some group is not the issue. All the Government's attention and efforts are to reach that position.

As I have said many times the reason for that is simple. We have spent two full years on this phase of the peace process. In all that has happened in recent weeks, nobody should forget the enormous strides that have been made in all the other phases of the peace process. However, since the end of 2002 we have moved to the phase of acts of completion for the outstanding issues. That is the phase we have been in. We made substantial progress in March 2003, but failed because of these issues. At the end of 2003 we made progress, but failed again because of these issues. Again in 2004 we failed because of these issues and some other issues — the clarity around decommissioning.

We are trying to bring an end to this phase. I will restate the reason for this as it cannot be said often enough. We cannot implement the wish of the people, which is the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement because we cannot get trust and confidence on the part of all the parties, never mind the two Governments, to move forward until we get clarity on these issues. This is why it is so important. This is the fundamental issue. Anything else is a sideshow. When we met Sinn Féin representatives some weeks ago we made these points clear to them. We are awaiting a response on those points and I hope we will be able to move on successfully when we get those responses. We have not got them as yet.

The Taoiseach did not respond to the question as to whether his party shared the view of some of his councillors about the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In recent days, we have heard some pious pronouncements from members of the Sinn Féin Party about republicanism and criminality. It has been suggested that Sinn Féin and its supporters have no part in any criminal activity. Such statements have been made by the same people who denied responsibility for the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe, denied any involvement in the Northern Bank raid and refused to agree that the abduction and execution of Jean McConville was a crime.

I listened to the sisters of Robert McCartney, who was murdered in Belfast recently, speaking on RTE radio this morning. Their fundamental point was that comments made on radio and television and in newspapers by the leadership of Sinn Féin, principally that party's president, Mr. Gerry Adams, have no impact on the ground, because "that is the way they are". I listened yesterday to Deputy Ó Caoláin, who made a different kind of speech in the presence of the Tánaiste. Does the Taoiseach agree that if Deputy Ó Caoláin and his party, particularly his party's president, want to make hard decisions and to dissociate themselves from criminality, they could in the first instance speak to the IRA person in Belfast of republican leanings who issued the instruction to murder Robert McCartney, who was an innocent man? If Sinn Féin wants to demonstrate that it is serious about the ways of democracy and the path of peace, it should take the hard decision. Does the Taoiseach share the view that Sinn Féin should at least dissociate itself from the killers of Robert McCartney, for example by expelling them from the republican movement?

Will the Taoiseach confirm that a blind eye was turned to criminality in this jurisdiction in recent years, as the Minister for Defence stated the other night? Has that eye been opened and is it now fully focused? Will the full resources of the State, which are available to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Commissioner, be used to stamp out criminality in this jurisdiction, in all its forms? Fine Gael would support such action.

Hear, hear.

Deputy Kenny asked me three questions. I dissociate myself totally from any derogatory remarks about the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform made by any Fianna Fáil councillor.

Will the Taoiseach expel the person?

It is obvious that the person in question does not know what she is talking about.

Hear, hear.

She spoke about the matter at length.

I am interested to hear the Taoiseach's comments.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and I have spent more hours working on these issues than we would want, particularly over the last two years. I recall weekends when we sat around, mostly waiting for people to get back to us on certain issues. I think we spent approximately 30 hours working on these issues, waiting for briefing notes, etc., over the course of one weekend, during one of the failed attempts to reach agreement. I could mention many other things, but there is no point in going into them. Many people who have spoken about the peace process in recent days are so badly informed about it that it is upsetting to listen to them. I would rather leave such things go, however, because the people in question are not involved in the detail and do not understand all aspects of the matter.

The second issue raised by Deputy Kenny was a comment made by the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea. The Minister's statement was correct, of course. All such issues were mentioned in paragraph 11 of the joint declaration because acts of criminality were ongoing at that time. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Blair, and I said such issues would have to be dealt with when we spelt out in detail the necessary acts of completion at the end of 2002. Quite frankly, our immediate concern at that time was to see an end to the daily killings, bombings and attacks.

We should not forget we have seen the end of a significant number of problems, which I hope will never come back again. It is too easy for people to say that it has all been a waste of time. I heard somebody say that the other day, but it is obvious that the person in question does not remember how bad it was in the past. People need to take stock and to consider what it was like. Deputy Kenny is right — we have to finish the process. One cannot go on, ten years on. We are now talking about criminality and fraud. People are trying to raise and use money that was gained through illegal activity for political purposes. We want to bring an end to such issues. That is the position.

Deputy Kenny also spoke about the brave family of Robert McCartney, some members of which are in Dublin today. The Minister will do all he can to help them. They have suffered in the worst possible way at the hands of those engaged in thuggery and criminality — they have lost a family member to murder. We have to try to help them in every way we can.

I was not in the House yesterday when Deputy Ó Caoláin made his point. I wish to state clearly that we are listening closely to the comments of Sinn Féin's representatives. We are waiting for a response to a meeting attended by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Justice, Equality and Law Reform some weeks ago. In light of everything that has happened, I think Sinn Féin will understand if we reserve judgment. Its members have to accept that their words cannot easily be accepted at face value. It will take much more than words to rebuild trust, but we are listening. We all know what must be done. We all know what we want Sinn Féin and the IRA to do. Their actions have to be capable of being understood in clear terms by the people of this island. We have said we want no ambiguity, no fudge and no messing. Let us be straight and let us get to the bottom line.

I welcome what Deputy Ó Caoláin said yesterday, but what we want and what must happen is an end to paramilitary and criminal activity by the IRA and the decommissioning of IRA arms. We can try to restart the process if that is achieved. We will not be able to do so if that is not achieved. I do not want to make the same points every day, but I reiterate that we have to achieve the aims I have mentioned. Having received a security briefing yesterday, however, I am aware that these aims are not being achieved, unfortunately. In effect, large amounts of money are being hauled around the Republic of Ireland by various people. It is being laundered for the Provisional IRA. That is what we saw last week. I heard what the Deputy said yesterday. We have to reach a position from which we can move on. That is all I want to achieve. I am not interested in arguing about Sinn Féin's mandate or demonising that party — I just want to make progress and to get these things finished.

Hear, hear.

In the last two years — it is almost March again — I have been doing almost nothing other than trying to deal with this. That is not a good idea for me or the Government. We need to get to an end to this. Everyone in this country understands what the Ministers, Deputies Dermot Ahern, Cowen and McDowell, and I have been doing for the last two years. They all understand it now. We should just get on with it. It is not impossible to do it. Deputy Ó Caoláin and I know the relevant group of people. It is not rocket science to get to an end to this. If we can move on, we can move on. If we move backwards, that would be terrible for the entire island. I want to move forward. If Sinn Féin is saying it wants to move forward, we should try to do so.

Hear, hear.