The Taoiseach will recall that I addressed the issue of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings with him last week and that he signalled that the MacEntee investigation would be the next critical report in the series of reports into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of May 1974 and other such attacks carried out by Unionist assassins in collusion with British forces.

Is the Taoiseach aware that since that opportunity last week, an independent international panel on collusion in sectarian killings published a substantive report that addresses more than 70 deaths attributable to those who planned and carried out their actions from the infamous Mitchell farm at Glenanne in County Armagh, which was a militant Unionist base? Is the Taoiseach aware that in 24 of the 25 specific attacks examined by this international independent panel, there is significant and credible evidence, in its opinion, of involvement by police and military agents both directly and in collusion with loyalist extremists? Is the Taoiseach aware that the panel also found that at least some police superiors in the North of Ireland knew of an expressed approval of instances of this conduct and that senior officials in London had information sufficient to put them on notice of the serious risk of this conduct?

The Deputy's time is concluded.

This is the first truly international and impartial examination of collusion from a human rights law perspective and represents an expansion of the work already carried out by Mr. Justice Hamilton and Mr. Justice Barron, which we already commended in the House this afternoon. Does the Taoiseach agree with the conclusion of this report that there is a strong case for the British Government to answer and that it must fully co-operate in a properly constituted international inquiry not only into specific cases, but into the climate and culture that gave rise to the collusion that was manifest throughout those years?

The Deputy's time is concluded.

I will conclude. Will the Taoiseach press for such an international inquiry to be established and will he use his position of influence with the British Prime Minister to ensure there is British Government acceptance of, and co-operation with, the establishment of such an inquiry? Will he take a lead role in ensuring this comes about so we do not continue to build a mound of report upon report——

I ask the Deputy to give way.

——and can bring finality to the issue not only for survivors and the bereaved, but for those who wish to see the full truth about this series of attacks established?

The report of the independent international panel on alleged collusion in sectarian killings in Northern Ireland was launched in Belfast and Dublin yesterday. The panel met with officials after the launch to brief them on the contents of the report and the panel's findings and recommendations. We are up to date with the issue and are pursuing it.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has been issued with a copy of the detailed report and officials are studying any new detail that it might contain. The report draws heavily on what we discussed earlier, namely, the work done by Mr. Justice Henry Barron, and much of the panel's inquiries mirrors his investigation. I assume it referred to his document because, from what I saw of the report, it draws on the work he did. It also highlights the good work done by this House and the relevant sub-committee.

It is well recorded that concerns about collusion were a persistent issue for the Government during the Troubles. Unfortunately, we may never achieve full clarity on what happened but for the past six years I have been pressing the British Government on the issue. At Weston Park, over five and a half years ago, we obtained agreement on the establishment of an international examination of these issues by Mr. Justice Peter Cory, a very eminent member of the Canadian Supreme Court and internationally acclaimed by members of the world's Judiciary long before he was involved in this issue. He has put his report into the public domain so all these things have a consistent thread. Regarding the inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, we have argued very strongly internationally — in the United States, Australia, Canada and the European Union — that the inquiry be conducted in the comprehensive manner recommended by Mr. Justice Peter Cory. That approach is replicated in many other cases, although not in every single one. Instead, we decided to focus our efforts on certain cases.

The Pat Finucane Centre commissioned Professor Douglass Cassel to establish an independent panel of experts to consider allegations of loyalist collusion in Northern Ireland in the 1970s. Among the incidents they investigated were the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan and others, including the Miami Showband massacre. That report found that senior Royal Ulster Constabulary officers were aware and approved of collusion while officials in London had enough information to intervene. That is all on the record. The report calls on the British Government to appoint an independent inquiry to examine how high the collusion went in the chain of command. The report also states the panel received allegations of alleged failure on the part of gardaí and the Irish authorities to properly co-operate with law enforcement in cases of violence against loyalists in Northern Ireland and it has signalled that it intends to raise this matter with the Irish Government. Officials have held a meeting with the panel on these issues today.

We will pursue these issues and keep up the campaign to persuade the British Government. I am sure Deputy Ó Caoláin will appreciate, from what I have said, that we have had difficulty obtaining co-operation from the British Government to the fullest extent.

Does the Taoiseach not agree that we no longer have mounting evidence but a mountain of evidence of the extent of the collusion that took place? Does he not agree that the report now presented, which covers 74 murders, including the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, amounts to a further statement of the need for a full international public inquiry? Will the Taoiseach now act? The responsibility for action is primarily his, specifically on the Dublin-Monaghan bombings but also on the other points of investigation by both Mr. Justice Hamilton and Mr. Justice Barron.

This further report, by an independent international panel, is further evidence and must spur action on the Taoiseach's part. It cannot be left to Justice for the Forgotten to be a lone voice on this matter. It is tragic that such an important issue, involving the single greatest loss of life throughout the Troubles, has not interested even one member of the media to stay for this, the third leader's question this afternoon.

Hear, hear.

It is an absolute disgrace on the part of every one of them. They all left at the very point the question was made known to this Chamber.

Will the Taoiseach take the critical step of establishing such an inquiry? Will he also establish an inquiry, separate from the one critically focusing on who was responsible for the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, into why, as he mentioned earlier this afternoon, gardaí closed the files on the investigation into the bombings three months after that tragedy was visited on this city and my home town back in May 1974? Are there not questions to be answered in that regard? Will he take the appropriate steps to establish the full facts on that aspect of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings not only for the victims, the bereaved and the survivors, but for all who want to see truth and justice prevail on that atrocity?

I have painstakingly followed all these issues for the past number of years. We now have four comprehensive reports, including mainly new information that was not in the public domain when we started this work at the end of 1999. All those reports contain recommendations and work on them is being done, as it will continue to be. We have pressed the recommendations of Mr. Justice Cory and will continue to do so. In terms of the Finucane family's case, we have supported and called for a fully sworn inquiry under an Act that will allow full investigation. We have co-operated with all the human rights groups on these issues.

Deputy Ó Caoláin knows that it would get us nowhere quickly to set up an omnibus inquiry, involving people outside this State, without the involvement of the British Government, the NIO or British security. However, we will continue this painstaking work and the work of Mr. Patrick MacEntee SC is part of the process. We continue, internationally and with the British Government, to press for progress on the issues for the sake of families, relatives and victims. We will continue to do that to the best of our ability.

I believe the Taoiseach will make progress if he establishes an inquiry.