I thank the Leader for having a debate on the Horse and Greyhound Fund Regulations 2013, which is important. That is the way we should do our business in future and I know the Leader has committed to scrutinising some of these reports.

On my behalf and that of my party, I would like to say how shocked and disgusted we were with the findings of the Smithwick report. All of us need time to read the report in full and I know the Leader will provide time in the future for a reasoned debate on it. Having said that, none of us should lose sight of the tens of thousands of members of An Garda Síochána who served this State with distinction over the years. The report highlights one individual who Judge Smithwick believes colluded with the Provisional IRA and members of the republican movement in the murders of Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan but that is something we will debate further. As I said, thousands of gardaí have served this State and protected it against the Provisional IRA and the republican movement over decades and many gave their lives in the service of this State. We should always bear that in mind. One individual has done a lot of damage to the reputation of the force.

What further concerns me from reading the summary of the report is that members of the IRA, many of whom are members of Sinn Féin, did not give evidence to the tribunal in public. Their evidence was frankly pathetic. In an interview on Newstalk this morning, Deputy Gerry Adams further exacerbated the problem when he effectively put the blame for the murders of Buchanan and Breen down to the fact that they needed to be careful about their security. That is an absolutely outrageous and disgusting remark from a leader of the Sinn Féin movement, many members of which served in the IRA. As we all know, Deputy Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin, was a member of the IRA, and a significant leader in it. From his operational activities, he probably would know these two officers, who were carrying out their duty as officers of the law in Northern Ireland, needed to be more careful about their security. These two men were nothing short of murdered by the IRA. I am certain that the people who carried out these murders are well known to Deputy Gerry Adams and senior members of Sinn Féin.

Our thoughts today are with the families of Chief Superintendent Breen and Superintendent Buchanan because I have no doubt the publication of this report will bring back some awful memories and feelings about the tragedy of the murders in south Armagh. I am certain the Leader will address this but I ask that we have time for a full debate.

I commend Judge Smithwick on all the work he has done over the years to produce this report. The establishment of the tribunal was worthwhile. We need to look at areas where this State might have failed but let us not lose sight of the fact it was effectively fighting for its survival in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s against subversives in the Provisional IRA, many of who are now sitting in the Oireachtas. Will the Leader provide time for a full debate when we have had the chance to read the report in full and consider its implications?

I thank Judge Peter Smithwick and his team for the work they have done over a very long number of years. We all share a sense of outrage, disappointment and sadness at the findings of his report and our thoughts are with the families of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan. I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, for their very prompt apologies on behalf of the State in this regard. It is welcome that there has been no further delay in issuing such apologies. I also ask the Leader if we might have a debate on the findings of the Smithwick tribunal because of its important ramifications for the Garda. I know the Commissioner will make a statement later today and we await that.

I observe the tax revenues and VAT receipts that came in at the end of November were up. I suppose that shows a sign of confidence and improvement in the economy. We are slowly making progress. One could go mad and say that is a signal of all manner of great things but I do not believe that to be the case. It is a good sign of progress and shows we are going in the right direction but there is much work to be done.

I draw attention to a statement made by the former Ombudsman, Ms Emily O'Reilly, exactly one year ago when she appeared before the Joint Committee on Public Oversight and Petitions. She pointed out that the Department of Health, because of what appeared to be a culture of prevarication, disregard for the law and an inability to take hard decisions, had already caused the State to incur enormous costs and looked set to continue on that path. Yesterday, with the observation of Ms Justice Mary Irvine in regard to cases before the courts, we saw the delays in accepting liability. Ms O'Reilly was referring to the Who Cares? report and the number of settlements made out of court without any acknowledgment and without any information.

Given all we have heard about top-ups and payments to chief executives, I would like to know how much money the HSE is paying out in those settled cases on foot of the Who Cares? report because those trying to take cases find them dragged out over a long number of years and then being settled one by one. Even though the Ombudsman pointed out where the problems lay and the Department of Health and the HSE know what the liabilities are, we, as citizens, do not know how much money has been spent on each of these settlements. In light of the desire for accountability and transparency, those figures should now be made available. Will the Leader see if we can find a way, through the Minister for Health, to make these figures available? It is money being spent on our behalf and we should know how much it is.

I join with my colleagues in calling for a debate on the Smithwick report and I compliment Judge Smithwick on the clarity of his conclusions. I have not had the opportunity to read the whole report but I have read the shortened accounts of it in the newspapers. It is significant that he said it is distressing and disheartening that even today, a culture appears to prevail in the Garda where loyalty is prized above honesty. That really needs to be looked at and we need to have independent supervision of the Garda. In every profession, there should be an independent regulator. I think that should be the case in the media, the Garda, the legal profession and so on. I am also very glad the Government acted so swiftly and honourably in making an apology to the families, who must be deeply distressed by this situation.

Along with one of my colleagues, I was horrified to hear the leader of Sinn Féin, Deputy Gerry Adams, speak on Newstalk.

There seemed to be a kind of cold-heartedness and cynicism about the entire thing. To blame the victim in this way suggests to me that Deputy Adams is unfit for his position as leader of Sinn Féin, a democratic party, in the other House. He said that they showed disregard for their own security and sat comfortably in Dundalk police station. Why should they not? They were police officers and they were cooperating, as they thought, with the Garda in Dundalk. I am sure that the overwhelming majority of members of An Garda Síochána feel betrayed by what happened in this instance. It is very regrettable. These things, unfortunately, appear to have happened on both sides. There are strong indications of collusion on the part of the British Government with certain Loyalist elements. This is appalling, depressing and disheartening. I am glad that we have faced up to it.

The person or persons responsible for setting up these two brave police officers for their murder betrayed their own colleagues in a most extraordinary way and this is something for which they stand reproached by the entire society. I would like to think, and I believe strongly, that one of the difficulties at that time was the lack of transfer of intelligence between the two forces. Information was made available to An Garda Síochána and apparently was not transmitted to the PSNI. There seems to have been an awkwardness in communication. I believe that has passed. I very much welcome the fact that there is strong co-operation between the two police forces. It is a sad day.

In that context there is a case which was repeatedly raised in this House about which a Minister from the previous Government, a very decent man, accepted that there was a gross injustice, the case of Dónal de Róiste who was dishonourably discharged from the army simply on the basis that he went to a pub in which there were Republican sympathisers. This was guilt by attainder, it was medieval. It was a gross and shocking injustice. This House voted and the Minister said that it was so but nothing has yet been done. This House should discuss that matter again. This man was completely innocent but for some obscure reason he was fired from his job, dishonourably discharged and his family was extremely distressed. It was raked up in the most disgusting way when his sister ran for the Irish Presidency but nothing has been done about it, although we have all recognised that it was an injustice. On the other hand, there was a very long period over which it was suggested, known and openly spoken about that there had been some degree of collusion and little was done. I would like that, parallel with this discussion, we again open the case of Dónal de Róiste and I would like my colleagues to join me in this, simply out of fairness because we need equity in all these matters.