I will ask the Taoiseach about the report drafted by the PSNI and MI5 for the Northern Ireland Secretary of State and which has been released to the British Parliament. The Secretary of State has spoken to the British Parliament about the report which deals with the structure, roles and purpose of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. Its conclusions are of concern. It concludes that all of the main paramilitary groups remain in existence, including the UVF, the UDA, the Red Hand Commando and the Provisional IRA. It states, "Seventeen years after the 1998 Belfast Agreement, paramilitary groups remain a feature of life" in Northern Ireland and "all of the paramilitary groups maintain a relatively public profile in spite of being illegal organisations". These groups have "leadership structures and subgroups across Northern Ireland" and are organised along militaristic lines, using labels such as "brigade" and "army council". The report further states:

Members of these paramilitary groups continue to engage in violent activity, both directed by local leadership and conducted without sanction. Violence and intimidation are used to exercise control at community level.

It states that members of all groups have carried out murders since 1998 and it is further stated that members are involved in other serious criminal activities, which harms communities and damages the financial prosperity and reputation of Northern Ireland. The report goes on to say that this includes large-scale smuggling operations, fuel laundering, drug dealing and extortion of local businesses. It also says, very worryingly, that some weapons have not been decommissioned and that all groups have retained capacity in relation to weaponry. While the report points out a number of positives in the work of the leaders of these various paramilitary groups, it states that despite these positives, "we judge that individual members of paramilitary groups with a legacy of violent activity still represent a threat to national security, are engaged in organised crime and undermine Northern Ireland's post-conflict transformation". The report says that the structures of the Provisional IRA remain in existence, albeit in a much-reduced form. It includes a senior leadership, the provisional army council, which has an overarching strategy.

I put it to the Taoiseach that both Governments have taken their eyes off the ball with regard to comprehensively resourcing their intelligence capacity, particularly on the Garda side, and in terms of what has been going on in organised crime and racketeering. Will a comprehensive, well-resourced joint agency be established at British-Irish Government level to focus on organised crime, particularly by members of paramilitary groups, including fuel laundering and other criminal activities? Quite some months ago, the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly called for such a joint agency to be established on foot of the assembly's report. Will the Taoiseach work with the British Government to re-establish the International Monitoring Commission, given the conclusions of the report under discussion that the PSNI does not have the same level of intelligence that it once had and, as such, there is now a need for such a body to be reinstated?

I thank the Deputy for his comments. It is important to note that the report states at the end:

We judge that the other paramilitary groups on ceasefire will continue to exist and that they will continue to pose a threat to national security and engage in serious crime ... [W]e believe that the level of intelligence coverage is proportionate to the threat posed by these groups. We are confident in our judgements and that these accurately reflect the best intelligence available to us.

The report was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on paramilitary groups following the comments made by the Chief Constable of the PSNI. It was also commissioned following the recent horrific murders in Belfast and the very significant fallout for the political institutions that arose from them. Governments here, in Northern Ireland and in Britain will examine the assessment very closely. It clearly raises matters of very serious concern. There are issues with regard to the existence of illegal organisations and command structures, access to weaponry and widespread criminality. These things have no place and can have no place in our democracy. They never did. The future of the peace process depends on their being removed from life on this island once and for all. I acknowledge that we have come a long way over the last 15 to 20 years along the road of peaceful resolution of differences. Everybody can understand that. We need to complete that process. I made the Government's position very clear when I spoke in Cambridge some time ago on the matter; 21 years after the IRA's ceasefire, it should no longer carry any capacity for threat. Statements to the effect that the IRA has gone away or left the stage are simply not credible. There may have been a time when living with constructive ambiguity helped the peace process, but that time has now passed. Paramilitarism in all its vestiges must be removed. I addressed those issues in Cambridge. I repeat in the House today that after 21 years of the IRA ceasefire and ten years after decommissioning and the IRA announcement, it is past the time when it should carry any capacity for threat.

The Garda Síochána and the PSNI will continue to work closely together to combat criminality in all its forms on both sides of the Border. For the information of the House, the Minister for Justice and Equality will publish today the Garda Síochána assessment of paramilitary activities in so far as this jurisdiction is concerned in order that there is a full picture of the respective assessments of the law enforcement agencies on the island. For his part, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade will continue to engage with all parties in Northern Ireland to address these issues. I note, with regard to what Deputy Martin said, that the issue of dealing with criminality, including criminality as a result of the legacy of paramilitarism, is one that the State takes very seriously. I note that 134 filling stations have been closed in respect of fuel laundering. Tobacco smuggling and other issues are a serious priority for the Garda and law and order activities here.

For the information of the House, the DUP has confirmed that its Ministers will be reappointed next Tuesday and that they intend to go back to the talks. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade has made it clear that the place to deal with these issues now is these talks, if we are serious about having the institutions work. For normal politics to apply, one cannot have situations such as those I mentioned. The place to deal with these is around the table where all parties are involved. I hope the talks can be very clear, straightforward and frank, and that they will deal with the issues I addressed in Cambridge and that are referred to in the report from the PSNI to the three-person body and in the report to be published later this evening by the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality.

The Taoiseach did not answer the specific question I asked about the establishment of a British-Irish joint agency to deal with the widespread racketeering, organised crime and smuggling that has been going on for far too long. The report is very clear that members of these paramilitary groups - the UVF, UDA, Provisional IRA and others - continue to engage in violent activity directed by local leadership and conducted without sanction. Violence and intimidation are used to exercise control at a community level. We know this because after the murder of Paul Quinn, not one person came forward. After the murder of Robert McCartney, no one came forward despite the presence of so many people in a public house. Why is that? It is because control is exercised in a very brutal way. That is not acceptable 17 years after the Good Friday Agreement, and something needs to change. I put it to the Taoiseach that the Provisional IRA army council still exists despite all the denials we have had. The investigation into the murder of Kevin McGuigan is ongoing, but it is judged that the assessment put forward by the chief constable in his public statement on 22 August remains accurate. It also says that all of the groups have committed murders since 1998. As we know, no one came forward and no one was prosecuted or convicted.

There is a problem here, and both Governments, particularly ours, took their eyes off the ball. I am told that in the last three to four years the intelligence capacity of An Garda Síochána with regard to what is going on along the Border and cross-Border area is not as strong as it should be. It is under-resourced and not up to speed. There is a sense that these groups have been allowed to act with impunity. There are individuals ruling the roost in these areas on a continuing basis and there is a well-established organised criminal network involving individual members of paramilitary groups. There is a twilight zone there that we cannot get at. People might not like my saying that, and they may nod their heads, but that is the reality and it is what the report is saying. I put it to the Taoiseach that a joint body, as recommended by the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly some time ago, is needed. That body said more determined action was required North and South of the Border to eliminate the activities of organised crime gangs involved in cross-Border illicit trading, including the establishment of a permanent full-time multidisciplinary task force. Our own parliamentarians from Britain and Ireland are saying that something of that order is required. Will the Taoiseach agree to doing that? Deputy Brendan Smith has published a fuel laundering Bill and is calling for such legislation. Will the Taoiseach give consideration to that at a later stage?

First of all, there is an extensive degree of co-operation between the Garda Síochána and the PSNI in regard to smuggling and criminal cross-Border activities. For instance, there are two cross-Border joint task forces at the moment between the PSNI and the Garda. The cross-Border tobacco enforcement group includes representatives from the Revenue Commissioners, CAB, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the UK's HM Revenue and Customs, HMRC, and the National Crime Agency. Obviously, co-operation also takes place with other revenue administrations, such as the European Anti-Fraud Office, or OLAF, as it is called. Changes were made to the Finance Bills here in 2012 and 2013. For instance, in February of this year, a joint operation was carried out with HMRC in which 14 premises on both sides of the Border were searched. It resulted in a total seizure from both jurisdictions of almost 2.5 million cigarettes, 12 tonnes of tobacco and a manufacturing plant, and the arrest of five individuals. There have been 99 individuals up before CAB, with over €28 million taken from persons in that regard before the Special Criminal Court.

I would also mention that the extent of smuggling and fuel laundering is an issue that has been very much to the fore for the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda and the PSNI. One hundred and thirty-four filling stations have been closed.

To answer Deputy Martin's question, I am not opposed to it, but I think we should wait for the publication of the report from the Garda by the Minister for Justice and Equality. The Commissioner and the Chief Constable of the PSNI should speak. We should examine in the talks in Belfast the two cross-Border anti-fraud, anti-smuggling, anti-criminal joint task forces that are there at the moment, and if I deemed it necessary or it was deemed appropriate that we should have a further joint operation, then I would not be opposed to it, but what we do need to say very clearly is that the rule of law has to apply, and what has happened, as Deputy Martin well knows, is that the legacy of the Provisional IRA has poisoned society in many cases along the Border.