As the Taoiseach knows, the British Government’s shameful legacy Bill will go through Report Stage in the House of Lords today. If it goes through, it will definitively shut the door on families’ efforts to achieve truth and justice through the courts. It will, of course, give an amnesty to those who are responsible for their deaths. Heartbroken families who have been fighting for years, determined to get truth and justice for their loved ones, have expressed huge concern. Opposition to the Bill is shared by victims’ families, human rights experts, the UN and all the political parties on this island, as well as officials in the United States and the European Union. Yesterday, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights added her voice to these concerns. She warned that passing the Bill would violate Britain’s international obligations and put victims’ rights at risk. I have a direct question for the Taoiseach. If this legislation goes through - and it appears it will - will the Irish Government take an interstate case to the European Court of Human Rights to vindicate the rights of victims and survivors on this island?

I reiterate and restate the Government’s opposition to this legacy Bill. We think it is entirely the wrong approach to give former army servicemen and former IRA and paramilitary terrorists immunity from prosecution. We owe it to the victims to make sure we all do everything we can to make sure any information that can be given to the police is given to the police and that those people are prosecuted, if at all possible. That is why we are very much against this legacy Bill. I have made that very clear to the Prime Minister, as has the Tánaiste to his counterparts. It has been discussed with the US President and it was discussed at European level as well. The Bill has not yet been enacted. If it is enacted and becomes law, we will at that point give consideration as to whether an interstate case would be appropriate. We do not rule that out. I encourage everyone to play their part when it comes to legacy issues-----

We are over time.

-----because we all have a role to play.