On 12 February 1989, 30 years ago, Pat Finucane was shot 14 times in front of his wife, Geraldine, and their children as they sat down for Sunday lunch in their Belfast home. Pat was an intelligent man and a committed and dedicated solicitor. He defended his clients and exposed human and civil rights abuses in the North. Pat was highly effective and highly respected. He was very good at his job and, for that, he was murdered.

The people who killed Pat were agents of the RUC. The information used to kill Pat was provided by British military intelligence, and the guns used to murder him were supplied by RUC agents. As the Taoiseach knows, Pat's family has campaigned long and hard and with great dignity for a public inquiry into his killing. I pay a special tribute this afternoon to Geraldine and the whole family for never backing down in the face of British Government intransigence and denial.

The Taoiseach will be aware that the Finucane family have been in the British Supreme Court over the past year to try to compel the British Government to fulfil its obligation to hold a public inquiry, as agreed at Weston Park in 2001. This morning, that court has ruled that previous inquiries into Pat's murder did not have the capability to establish salient facts into his death and, as such, it has found that an inquiry compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights into Pat's murder has not been held and that none of the previous inquiries has satisfied Article 2 obligations.

The continued refusal by the British Government to honour its commitment to hold a public inquiry into Pat's killing is one of the many broken commitments of the peace process. The withholding of information on the part of the British Government and the absolute disregard shown to victims in the courts are features of many cases. The Finucane case is not unique. It must stop.

At Weston Park in 2001, the British Government agreed to a public inquiry into Pat's murder. This has not happened. That agreement must now be honoured immediately, and the Irish Government must act to secure that. The Taoiseach will recall that this is not just a matter of a commitment in his programme for Government but it is also the stated will of the Oireachtas. Will he join me this afternoon in stating clearly the British Government should immediately fulfil its obligation to hold a public inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane? Will he relay that demand without delay to the British Government, including the British Prime Minister?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The short answer to her question is "Yes". Needless to say, I never had the opportunity to meet Pat Finucane. He was killed over 30 years ago but I have read about him and know he was an honourable man. He was a lawyer and a human rights activist long before people even used that term. I had the opportunity in recent weeks to meet Geraldine Finucane and her family. Geraldine made a real impression on me, particularly her dignity and steely resilience in seeking justice and truth for three decades.

The House will be aware that this morning the UK Supreme Court issued a judgment stating the UK was acting within its power to decide not to hold a public inquiry. It also found, however, that the inquiries held to date, including the de Silva review, were not adequate and not compliant with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Government and I believe that finding is very significant. The position of the Government is that the British Government should now honour its commitment to carry out a public inquiry, in accordance with the Inquiries Act 2005, into the murder of Pat Finucane, the solicitor and human rights activist. The British Government should keep the promise made by former Prime Minister, David Cameron, in Weston Park in 2001 and accept the judgment of the Supreme Court today. It is the honourable thing to do. It would be the right thing to do and I believe the British Government should do so. I will certainly raise it in my meetings with the Prime Minister, and the Tánaiste will do so with his counterparts as well.

I thank the Taoiseach very much for that. I echo his sentiments as regards the honour of Pat Finucane and the effectiveness of his legal and human rights activism. Above all, we must acknowledge today the great dignity and resilience of Geraldine Finucane and her family. Incidentally, I do not know any single person who has met Geraldine Finucane who was not greatly impressed by her, as the Taoiseach clearly was.

As he said, the ruling this morning asserts the prerogative of the British Government to do the wrong thing and to break its word, but, more important, it sets out very clearly that the de Silva review was not compliant with Article 2 and that there has not been a full and proper investigation into the murder of Pat Finucane. At Weston Park, it was very clearly agreed, between two sovereign governments and all parties, that such an inquiry would happen. I warmly welcome and acknowledge the fact that the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, will now vigorously pursue this matter. I hope the British Government will, on this occasion, move away from its position of denial of the truth to the Finucane family and that this inquiry can proceed without delay.

I am aware that, over the coming days, the Finucane family and British Government will want to consider this judgment in full and in detail, as will the Government here. Our position is that an independent public inquiry under the terms of the Inquiries Act, allowing for the subpoena of witnesses and the discoverability of documents, should now be held. That political commitment was given by former Prime Minister David Cameron at Weston Park in 2001 and it should be honoured. The UK Supreme Court decision today is significant in finding that the de Silva review did not honour that commitment. The only way it can be honoured is through a full public inquiry under the Inquiries Act. The Irish Government will call for that. I will press my counterpart, Prime Minister May, to honour the commitment made by her predecessor. The Tánaiste and other Ministers will also take it up.

The Taoiseach might recall that last week I asked him and the Minister for Justice and Equality what steps are being taken in response to an appalling shooting and murder in my constituency. That dastardly crime was the latest in a litany of gun murders, which include tragic victims recently in Swords and Leixlip. The Minister for Justice and Equality told me in January that the Garda's Operation Hybrid had resulted in 86 arrests and the seizure of 91 firearms, including machine guns and assault rifles. I welcome the work of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau in the investigation of gun crime but the number of firearms seized in almost four years seems low by comparison with the number of reported crimes. There is a significant number of unsolved gun crimes.

Are there further actions the Government and An Garda Síochána might take to prevent firearms entering this country, perhaps alongside our EU partners, by targeting the manufacturers of guns in Europe and elsewhere and addressing the issue of traceability? Do we need to strengthen greatly, with the support of Interpol and Europol, the sanctions for importing and using guns and use our extradition powers to apprehend any criminals outside the jurisdiction who are directing crime in this country?

The Taoiseach might remember that, in 2006, the then Minister, Michael McDowell, who is now a Senator, introduced a weapons amnesty before implementing the Criminal Justice Act, which imposed a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for illegal possession of guns and a sentence of up to life imprisonment for possession with intent to endanger life.

While shootings and murder have the most shocking impact on communities, some districts of Dublin Bay North have also suffered greatly from burglaries, car theft and related joyriding, illegal dumping and serious nightly drug-fuelled, anti-social and criminal behaviour.

There are also regular reports of intimidation of households and vandalism of public facilities, including DART stations. We often hear those reports at the Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, north joint policing committee. A persistent request from our constituents who live in the north fringe of Dublin city and the south fringe of Fingal is for a new Garda station at the centre of this rapidly-developing area, which is destined to be home for 50,000 or 60,000 people.

I received comprehensive replies from the Minister for Justice and Equality and Commissioner Drew Harris regarding the provision of a new police station. The Minister informed me that it is the Commissioner's job to allocate resources, delineate Garda boundaries and so on. Commissioner Harris outlined the actions he has taken and referenced the capital investment and Garda modernisation and renewal programmes. We know from Garda sources that a new district headquarters is being planned for the north DMR and its location in this burgeoning north-south fringe would be best.

The Taoiseach, in his reply, will probably refer to the 21,000 Garda personnel, including 15,000 members, promised by 2021 but is community policing not the Cinderella service in all of this? In jurisdictions such as Sweden, New Zealand and Japan, local community police officers are the core of active policing.

Why have the Fine Gael Governments since 2011 left An Garda Síochána well behind other EU police forces when it comes to the most up-to-date IT assets and modern policing technology methods? We are tired of hearing of deficiencies in PULSE and IT systems and, for example, the late delivery of the hand-held devices for the traffic corps.

I made an error in my earlier reply. The commitment made at Weston Park in 2001 was, of course, made by former the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and not David Cameron, one of those who succeeded him. The position of the Government is the same. The United Kingdom Government made a commitment in 2001 at Weston Park to carry out a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act into the death of Pat Finucane. The Supreme Court decision shows that the reviews carried out to date were not compliant with that commitment and it is our strong view that the commitment should now be honoured by the British Government and we will be pressing it to do so.

I am obviously aware of the incidents that have taken place in recent days - the shootings at the M1 retail park in Drogheda, in Corduff in my constituency and in Coolock in Deputy Broughan's constituency. The Government is working with the Garda to improve its resources and capabilities to deal with all forms of crime, particularly violent crime. For many years, there was little or no investment in the Garda as a consequence of the recession this country experienced. In the past three years, however, we have been investing in the force again. The number of gardaí has been increased to over 14,000, the largest in a very long time. There are more civilians involved in the organisation, which frees up gardaí to carry out front-line policing work, and there is real investment in new Garda stations throughout the country. There has also been investment in IT and vehicles. Such investment will continue.

Where new or refurbished Garda stations are located is something that has to be worked on by An Garda Síochána, the OPW and the Department of Justice and Equality. It depends on the availability of sites and other operational matters and it is best done in that way.

The Garda has made some important progress in tackling the insidious threat of organised crime and there is ongoing contact between the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána to ensure that a successful and proactive approach is taken. Deputies are aware that a number of arrests have recently been made in the United Kingdom on foot of investigations into the supply of drugs and firearms in Ireland and the United Kingdom. These arrests resulted in several court appearances, while others who were arrested and released are under investigation. These investigations are being led by the UK National Crime Agency and supported by the Garda and the UK police. I acknowledge the co-operation between the two forces and commend those involved in the operation.

I also note the work of An Garda Síochána in securing a number of convictions in the Gareth Hutch murder case over the course of the year. The House is aware that Operation Hybrid was established to co-ordinate the response to violent crime in Dublin and to alleviate concerns about community safety, particularly in the inner city and on the northside, where there is significant support from armed support units.