Historical inquiries into Troubles legacy
Deputy Carthy asks for an independent, time-bound State unit to investigate legacy cases, including alleged Garda heavy-gang abuses and investigative failures. The Tánaiste is open to cross-party engagement and says domestic legislation must follow implementation of the agreed framework.
The Tánaiste recently launched a joint framework on the legacy of the Troubles with the British Secretary of State. We hope that will provide a route to bring about truth and justice for the many people affected by conflict-related tragedies. Would the Tánaiste be willing to work with Members of this House to establish an independent, time-bound, historical inquiries unit in this State to deal with legacy issues? I refer to issues relating to the heavy gang within An Garda Síochána, other conflict-related cases in this State and instances where there were clear cases of investigative failures, many of which continue to cast a shadow over communities. Will the Tánaiste support such a historical inquiries unit that would allow for effective and independent police investigations into unresolved deaths and incidents of torture or ill-treatment?
Comment on this
I am always open to engaging on a cross-party basis on this. I was with the First Minister for Northern Ireland in Hillsborough last night with representatives from western Balkan countries. We had a conversation about our peace process and the learnings from it for other parts of the world. It was a brief opportunity to talk to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in relation to legacy matters. We have a framework. It needs to be implemented and translated faithfully into legislation in the House of Commons. We will then need to do our corresponding piece of work here. I am happy to have a further or longer conversation about this with the Deputy and his party. What I will say now, however, is that we are already proposing to do two things in this jurisdiction. First is the establishment of a legacy unit within An Garda Síochána by the end of the year. Second, going back to Stormont House proposals, we have, from memory, committed to establishing that cross-Border information retrieval body to operate on a pilot basis for two years. I am interested in the Venn diagram as to where there may or may not be gaps, but I am very happy to have a conversation with the Deputy.