I want to ask the Taoiseach about legislation on information retrieval agreed between the Irish and British Governments on 15 October 2015.

This was led jointly by the Houses of the Oireachtas and Westminster in January last year. As part of this process, the Government drafted and published an international agreement to establish the independent commission. The commission has not yet commenced because the British Government insists on imposing a so-called national security veto regarding the process. The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, has raised this issue with the British Secretary of State, as have I. Has the Taoiseach raised this matter with the British Prime Minister?

I have made four formal requests, some in writing, for a meeting with the Taoiseach and the Sinn Féin leadership to discuss these issues. Given the tone in which the Taoiseach addresses me every so often about the North, it would be expedient if he would agree to such a meeting.

I do not have any difficulty about the meeting and I will come back to Deputy Adams as soon as I have an opportunity to do so. I would like to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to comment on the independent commission dealing with the legacy institutions-----

I am asking the Taoiseach whether he has raised the matter with the Prime Minister.

I have, on many occasions. I will ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to respond to the Deputy's immediate point. A meeting will take place in Belfast today.

I think the Deputy will be aware, given his capacity as Uachtarán Sinn Fein, that matters are at a delicate and sensitive stage in Northern Ireland. On the matter of the talks, we are very much, in sporting parlance, in time added on for injuries.

An earlier question referred to Brexit. In that context and in the context of dealing once and for all with the very delicate and sensitive issue of the horrific legacy in Northern Ireland, in what is not a post-conflict society, there is a need to ensure the many thousands of victims and families, and survivors are dealt with in a way that is real. The international treaty to which the Deputy referred is an important component of that, but other issues are the subject matter of discussions today in Belfast. I intend to be present at a meeting tomorrow. It is incumbent on everybody involved to ensure the legacy institutions, as established under the Stormont House Agreement, are up and running and implemented at the earliest opportunity. I welcome the assistance and involvement of Uachtarán Sinn Féin and his colleagues in that regard.