I wish to raise concerns that decisions by the British Government are seriously undermining the Good Friday Agreement and the work of political institutions. This agreement and subsequent agreements transformed politics on this island, gave people great hope and brought peace - although it is a, imperfect peace - and a sense of stability for the future. While it most directly impacted on the North, it had a very good and positive effect here in this part of the island and throughout the diaspora.

Once the institutions were stabilised and the big issues such as arms being put beyond use and policing were dealt with, the Government here, and I include the previous Government, took its eye off this most important issue. The British Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government has also not engaged as it should have. The agreement is 15 years old, but there are still outstanding issues such as a bill of rights, Acht na Gaeilge and an all-Ireland charter of rights. We have discussed many times the failure and refusal of the British Government to act on commitments made in Weston Park with regard to the killing of Pat Finucane and the ongoing incarceration of Marian Price and Martin Corey without trial, and the Taoiseach believes they should be released or at least face due process. The Taoiseach is aware the Orange marching season has once again begun. There is much work to do. The Government is an equal guarantor with the British Government of this agreement. This is not the British Government's agreement; it is an agreement between the two governments and the rest of the political parties.

I spent all day yesterday in Stormont. The crux of what is undermining the ongoing work is that the British Government has reneged on an £18 billion commitment agreed at St. Andrews in 2006 to develop an economic peace dividend. It has just walked away from it. It has removed £4 billion from the block grant and is now imposing £1 billion of very significant cuts in welfare. The Taoiseach understands the great difficulties we have here economically because of many issues he inherited. We have had decades of conflict, disadvantage and discrimination in the North; if ever a place needed to be sustained and had need of an economic dividend it surely is this part of the island.

Will the Taoiseach join me and others in the Dáil in getting the British Government to honour its commitments and remove what is a threat to the well-being of the political institutions in the North, the Executive and the Assembly? These are commitments it made and has now reneged upon. I am not making them up.

As Deputy Adams is aware, the Good Friday Agreement sets out a bill of rights for Northern Ireland that would include the right of recognition of the principle of mutual respect for the identity and ethos of communities and parties in Northern Ireland. We support the principle of parties in Northern Ireland setting down their views in drawing up an agreement in respect of this bill of rights. It is possible to do so with constructive discussion between the parties on what might be the substance of any such bill of rights. We continue to stress the importance of ensuring the bill of rights, if it is produced, takes into account the separate and specific context of Northern Ireland.

The Deputy is well aware from his long experience of politics in Northern Ireland that every time an issue was raised over the past 30 years, and there have been many, the political process in Northern Ireland went to Downing Street and asked for another cheque to deal with whatever crisis had arisen. I would like to think governments would honour their commitments in respect of the Good Friday Agreement. The First and Deputy First Ministers are very active in promoting Northern Ireland at home and abroad, and discussions are taking place on the possibilities which exist from changes in the taxation regime and the very active and constructive propositions being put forward by the Executive and the First and Deputy First Ministers in making Northern Ireland an attractive location for investment. This has resulted in approximately 2,200 jobs being located there, with more created from the indigenous economy.

With regard to the figures the Deputy mentioned, it has been a while and I do not have the cumulative amounts allocated by the British Government in each year since the Good Friday Agreement. I expect to meet the First and Deputy First Ministers in the not too distant future, and I would be happy to discuss the matters raised by Deputy. I expect the Executive will follow through diligently on this issue with the British Government.

The First and Deputy First Ministers are following this through diligently with the British Government. I dissent totally from the Taoiseach's suggestion that every time a crisis occurred in the North, the parties there went to Downing Street looking for a cheque. This is not the case. I am an Irish republican and I do not want any British Government involvement in our affairs. We have one of the most successful peace processes in our lifetime. I remember walking through the Turf Lodge estate with Fr. Alex Reid and he asked me how we would know whether the peace process was working. I answered it would be when the people there knew it was working. There is extreme disadvantage in mostly Nationalist, but not exclusively Nationalist, working class areas, with generational discrimination and disadvantage. The same goes for working class loyalist and Unionist communities.

What the British Government signed up to at St. Andrews was an attempt to regenerate the economy with an investment of £18 billion, but it has reneged on this and the Deputy First Minister and the First Minister have raised this issue with the British Government and the Taoiseach. The British Government also cut the block grant through which the North receives its subvention from London. There is much controversy about how much tax is lifted from the North by the British Government and how much it removes from the Six Counties. We have had a £4 billion cut on top of an £18 billion hit and now we have a very clear intent of austerity through removing £1 billion from these communities.

I welcome what the Taoiseach stated about speaking to the First and Deputy First Ministers about these matters, but they will tell him nothing different from what I have just told him. It is the Taoiseach's agreement.

It is an international agreement between the two governments, so the Irish Government cannot resile from this. People in the North - Unionists and the rest of us - look to the Government here as a co-guarantor of this agreement to ensure the British government is accountable daily in this business. Therefore, I am asking the Taoiseach again to intervene urgently. I am not one for scaring the horses or raising false concerns, but there is genuine apprehension about where this will end up if the Tory Government continues on this path.

Deputy Adams is aware that the British Government has put forward a series of proposals concerning economic incentives to develop and strengthen the economy in Northern Ireland. While this is clearly a matter for the British Government and the Northern Ireland Executive, I welcome that and would like to see it progressed. In fact, I expect that in the preparatory period for the G8 summit in Fermanagh, to which I have been invited as Ireland currently holds the EU Presidency, we will have an opportunity to discuss this matter and see what can be moved forward in the context of that particular set of proposals. I know that the British Prime Minister, Mr. Cameron, and the Northern Ireland Executive view this as an opportunity to move that package of proposals forward. That is an important element of strengthening the east-west relationship.

As regards the Deputy's question about how one knows the peace process is working, that is why the matter was raised by me directly with the US President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as with Senators and other members of the US Congress. Deputy Adams is aware of the discussions that have taken place there. He is also aware of the response from a European perspective in terms of the PEACE IV dividend.

Today, ECOFIN was able to make substantial progress on the preliminary problem of dealing with the deficit for the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, for 2012-13. The Tánaiste is engaged in the process of dealing with the approval by the European Parliament of the MFF or budget for the EU, which includes that PEACE IV dividend. I know the Deputy has welcomed it before and it will be of benefit, particularly to hard-pressed communities. I look forward to having an engagement with the First Minister, Deputy First Minister and, when possible, the British Prime Minister in respect of the proposals for economic stimulus in Northern Ireland. I have to assume that reflects, at least in part, the original decision made at St. Andrews. We will obviously have an opportunity to discuss that here again.

This matter has been raised on quite a number of occasions over the past two years. In that time, there have been at least 50 ministerial engagements in respect of the North-South Ministerial Assembly dealing with issues about Northern Ireland and cross-Border activities.