Last night the British Government announced that it will not hold a public inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane. This has come as a devastating blow to the Finucane family. Pat's widow, Geraldine, and his three children, Michael, Catherine and John, have fought for three long decades for truth. They had hoped that this week the British Government would finally seize the opportunity to do the right thing and grant the necessary inquiry, but yesterday's announcement shattered that hope.

The Finucane family have rightly described the decision as "astonishing, arrogant and cruel". Instead of granting a public inquiry, the British Secretary of State proposes to leave the case in the hands of the PSNI and the Police Ombudsman. This ludicrous proposal flies in the face of the British Supreme Court ruling of 2019. That ruling made it crystal clear that none of the previous investigations, including police investigations, were capable of uncovering the truth as regards the extent and level of British state collusion in Pat Finucane's murder. The court ruled that these investigations failed to meet the standards of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Given the incontrovertible evidence that the British state and its agents were directly involved in the authorising and planning of the killing of Pat Finucane, it is utterly farcical that the British Secretary of State should advise the Finucane family to seek truth and justice in this way. The family knows all too well that this is not a genuine avenue to truth and justice. It is, in fact, a cul-du-sac, at the end of which is only more bluff and more delay. They see it for what it is: another confidence trick. The only reason to take this approach is to continue with the cover up and to ensure that those agents of the British state responsible are never ever held to account. In the words of Geraldine Finucane, this decision "is yet another insult added to a deep and lasting injury".

It is clear that the British Government is determined to keep a dark cloak over the extent and depth of state collusion in the targeting and killing of nationalists in the North of Ireland. It seems that far too many powerful people have far too much to lose from the Finucane family and so many others having justice for their loved ones and peace for themselves. The British Government has set itself against the Finucane family and against the highest court in its own jurisdiction. The British Government has also set itself against the Irish Government and this Oireachtas in its call for a full public inquiry. Speaking on radio this morning, Geraldine Finucane said:

I will never run out of road as long there’s breath in my body. Today is a new day. We shall take stock and move forward.

It is vital that everybody in the Oireachtas moves forward together with the Finucane family in their fight because we are all united in our stance that the demand for a public inquiry is a just one and a necessary one. The family are counting on all of us to continue with our support for them. What, in the Taoiseach's view, can we now do together to ensure the British Government ends it resistance to the truth and grants a public inquiry?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue this afternoon. It is deeply disappointing and very annoying that the British Government has not committed to holding a proper public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. I know the disappointment is keenly and painfully felt by the Finucane family, by Geraldine, the late Pat Finucane's wife, and his sons and daughter. I utterly concur with the Deputy's remarks. The decision was arrogant and cruel. The references to a potential PSNI review or the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland were disingenuous. It is very clear that the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland is not at present reviewing the case, so the Secretary of State's position there will require further explanation.

I thought that the statement of Chief Constable of the PSNI, Simon Byrne, was particularly interesting and significant. He described the murder of Pat Finucane as "a truly horrendous crime" and referred to the work of Judge Cory, Sir Desmond de Silva and others and the apology of a former Prime Minister in relation to the murder of Pat Finucane and the State's involvement in it. He also said:

It is our view that there are currently no new lines of inquiry. We now need to decide if a further review is merited given all the previous investigations into this case.

He went on to say:

A review itself is not an investigation. Any decision to investigate would only be made following the review process. Again, it is likely that any new investigation would need to be independently led. We would also need to be satisfied that given the extensive work of Lord Stevens, Judge Cory and Sir Desmond de Silva, that a further investigation has a reasonable prospect of furthering this matter either by bringing more persons to justice or answering the unanswered questions of the Finucane family and their ongoing search for justice.

In a sense, that goes to the heart of the matter. I listened to former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on "RTÉ News at One" just before I came in here. He spoke about his talks with then Prime Minister Tony Blair and the identification high-profile cases such as the Finucane case and others, and that the respective Governments would pursue them. The Irish Government established the Smithwick tribunal, pursued it and upheld its side of the deal reached at Weston Park. The former Taoiseach was very clear that he understood an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane would follow. It seems to me that there has been a consistent effort to undermine any progress towards the truth. Some dark secrets are being hidden and it is time they were revealed in the proper forum of a public inquiry. The necessity to do that is to restore confidence in the broader objective of restoring confidence and reconciliation across the board and enabling proper truth recovery across the board. This decision only delays that. The delay corrodes public trust in the British state's capacity to deal with issues it committed to dealing with. Proper relationships between two Governments and two states must be founded on the principle that agreements that are entered into are followed through on. The Irish Government followed through on its commitments. The British Government has not followed through on its commitment to a full public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. It is extremely important that it does so.

I spoke with Geraldine Finucane at midday to make it clear to her and to her family that the Irish Government will continue to work with them to keep the pressure on and ensure a public inquiry is eventually held. It is my view it is inevitable that at some stage a public inquiry will have to be held into this heinous crime. We will work with other colleagues in the Oireachtas to pursue this agenda.

I thank the Taoiseach. His reiteration of the position of the Irish Government, the Irish State and the Houses of the Oireachtas that there must be a public inquiry into the killing of Pat Finucane is absolutely essential.

I join the Taoiseach also in reiterating the fact that agreements entered into must be honoured and delivered on. As he rightly points out, at Weston Park and following on from it there was an acceptance that a number of cases required special investigation. As the Taoiseach rightly says, successive governments in Dublin have held up to our side of the bargain and the British Government has fallen very short - not alone that, but it has adopted a strategy that is very explicitly and obviously designed to block a public inquiry. For the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland yesterday to dangle the prospect - perhaps - of a public inquiry at a later stage more than 30 years after the killing of Pat Finucane is particularly unforgivable. Does the Taoiseach have a view as to what we can do collectively as an Oireachtas, perhaps in partnership with international figures, including President-elect Joe Biden, who has, as the Taoiseach knows, for a very long time supported the Finucane campaign for a public inquiry?

I think that, collectively, we as an Oireachtas can with one voice articulate to the British Government again the view that a full public inquiry should be held. We can continue to work at both European and international level and with international opinion. We have support in the United States from people such as Richie Neal and others, and we can of course enlist the engagement of the President-elect, Joe Biden. Fundamentally, however, it is really in terms of the relationship between Britain and Ireland that this case assumes such importance. As for the broader legacy issues, momentum needs to be injected into legacy generally. It has been stop-start for a long time now, going back to 2014 and the Stormont House Agreement. Commitments were entered into. Their progression has been very slow. The British Government is indicating that it wants to have a fresh look at legacy. My position in response was very clear: that the murder of Pat Finucane had to be dealt with as a catalyst to a broader approach to legacy. It is important, however, that the Irish and British Governments and our respective political communities resolve to get this issue dealt with, as originally committed to by previous British Governments.