Enda Kenny
Question:1 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach when he expects the commission of inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings to complete its work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15626/02]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Dublin-Monaghan Bombings.
Pat Rabbitte
Question:2 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach when he expects to receive the report of Mr. Justice Barron on the Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk bombings; if he has satisfied himself that the inquiry has received all possible co-operation from the British authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16371/02]
Tony Gregory
Question:3 Mr. Gregory asked the Taoiseach if the British authorities have fully co-operated and made available the requested documentation to the inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings; when the report of the inquiry will be issued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16862/02]
Joe Higgins
Question:4 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach the progress made to date by the commission of inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17121/02]
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Question:5 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach the progress made by the inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and other matters; if it is proposed to widen the terms of reference of the inquiry; and if the British authorities have been forthcoming with the co-operation required. [17158/02]
Trevor Sargent
Question:6 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach when the report from Mr. Justice Barron on the Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk bombings is expected; if he has satisfied himself that the British authorities have fully co-operated with the inquiry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18122/02]
Enda Kenny
Question:7 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the costs which have accrued to his Department in respect of the commission of inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19174/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together.
The commission of inquiry is engaged in writing its report, which Mr. Justice Barron expects to complete early in the new year. The commission of inquiry received certain information from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr. John Reid, last March and has received no further communication since. It is not proposed to widen the independent commission of inquiry's terms of reference further.
Deputies will be aware that Mr. Justice Barron is also examining the case of Seamus Ludlow in addition to other cases, including the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973 and the Castleblayney bombing of 1976, to which I referred in previous replies. The costs relating to the independent commission of inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings amount to €1,625,084.62, including the legal engagement with the inquiry by Justice for the Forgotten.
The last time I and others raised this question in the House the Taoiseach indicated he was passing on a letter to the British Prime Minister, Mr. Blair, from Mr. Justice Barron in respect of the level of co-operation being received from the British authorities about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. Arising from that letter, has the Taoiseach had further contact with the British Prime Minister and is he happy that a satisfactory level of co-operation has been reached?
Will the Taoiseach comment on a directive sent out by the British Ministry of Defence to former employees it engaged in the 1970s instructing them not to provide information to the families of the victims of the atrocities? Does he not believe this kind of directive adds to the suspicion and perception that something is not above board?
I will address the two questions the Deputy raised separately. Deputies will be aware that I raised the issue of the co-operation of the British authorities with the British Prime Minister on a number of occasions. The British Prime Minister is aware that we want maximum co-operation from the British authorities. More recently, the issue was raised at the Anglo-Irish Secretariat during the recent meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. At that meeting the Minister for Foreign Affairs again raised the matter with the then Secretary of State, Dr. John Reid, who stated that further material would be forthcoming. That material is awaited.
I am aware of the letter to which the Deputy refers and I am surprised by both its tone and contents. I had the matter raised immediately through the Anglo-Irish Secretariat as soon as I became aware of it. A response has been received reiterating the Prime Minister's undertaking to respond as positively as possible to Mr. Justice Barron's request for material. It further stated that the British Government had made it clear to former employees that the decision on whether to co-operate with Mr. Justice Barron's inquiry is a matter for the individuals concerned and not the British Government. I hope Mr. Justice Barron will receive all the information he requires from all sources.
On a further point—
I will return to you, Deputy.
I ask permission to conclude with a supplementary question. On 17 May 1974, 33 people were killed in Dublin. If it transpires that, following the Taoiseach's further intervention with the British Prime Minister, Mr. Blair, insufficient co-operation is received or the agencies on both sides of the Border and the British Government do not provide the truth, will the Taoiseach consider establishing a formal inquiry to investigate the decisions that lay behind the Dublin and Monaghan bombings?
As the commission is entirely independent, I am not aware of the information it has gathered to date. I do not know the import of the commission's information or how it will affect its final report. In order for conclusions to be drawn on the basis of the best information possible, it is important that the information requested is made available. As soon as we see the report, I will honour my commitment to bring it to the relevant committee, after which we will have to examine the options.
The Taoiseach stated that the information promised by Dr. John Reid is still awaited. Is that the same as saying it has not been furnished? Does he have any reason to believe this information will be forthcoming and that the requisite files will be supplied? What communication has the Taoiseach had from Mr. Justice Barron? Is it his Lordship's view that this inquiry is running into the ground because of lack of co-operation from the British side. Arising from his discussions with his opposite number, Prime Minister Blair, does the Taoiseach have reason to believe this is likely to change, especially given the communication made by the British Ministry of Defence, to which Deputy Kenny referred, instructing current and former staff not to co-operate with the inquiry? It is highly unlikely that this is not the uniform position of the British authorities.
I reiterate that Mr. Justice Barron is independent and, therefore, does not answer to me on a day-to-day basis. It is important to make that clear. I am well aware he is trying to get as much information as he can from the British authorities, as he has set out, and he has had direct dealings with those authorities at a very senior level regarding this matter. Following meetings I had earlier this year with the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Secretary of State, John Reid, he received information, but I do not know what its content is. I confirm to the House that Mr. Justice Barron is seeking other information and that the British authorities are aware of the information he seeks. As I said at the British-Irish intergovernmental meeting on or around 22 October, those authorities indicated that they would pass on further material. I will be meeting the new Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, this afternoon and, among other issues, I will raise this matter again and ask that any outstanding information be made available. As I said in my reply, Mr. Justice Barron is writing the report and it is not run into the ground, but the more information he has, the better the quality of his report will be. Its quality will not result from any fault of his – the more information he has the more authority he will report with.
Regarding the Deputy's last question, from my many discussions of this over a long period and appreciating that we received information but would like to see further material, what concerns me is whether the information exists and where it is. I assume if it was in the Departments it would have been uncovered at this stage, but perhaps some of the information is elsewhere in the security structure. I am not sure of that, but I must be frank and say that I suspect it may be the case. If it is, God knows whether we will see the information, but regarding the information it has been possible to acquire, Mr. Justice Barron has done an enormous job as did the late Justice Hamilton before him. Although I am not aware of precisely what is sought, it is available in the British system and I feel duty bound to press as hard as we can to have the information made available or at least as much of it as politicians can get their hands on.
On the same point, is it not the case that this inquiry has been going on for nearly three years and that the main reason it has dragged on for this length of time is the lack of co-operation by the British Government, as has been said by previous speakers? Following the Taoiseach's intervention earlier this year, a small amount of relatively innocuous material was sent to the tribunal and its inadequate nature led Mr. Justice Barron to send, months ago, a list of specific items on which he needed responses. I ask the Taoiseach to confirm that the list has received no response to date. The Taoiseach is aware that, in light of recent revelations regarding Richie Barron, the families of the victims are extremely concerned that the fullest public scrutiny of the Garda inquiry into the bombings, during which known suspects were not questioned, cannot be provided by an Oireachtas committee following the Abbeylara decision. It is no longer an adequate way of dealing with this commission's report, which will produce huge amounts of material after a three year investigation, and the only way to resolve the issue now is through the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry.
I agree with much of the background of what Deputy Gregory has said, but I cannot agree with his comment that the information was innocuous. As I replied to Deputy Rabbitte, I do not know what Mr. Justice Barron has received. I understand he received quite an amount of information though not all of it, which is why he is seeking the rest. It is not correct to say that the inquiry has been held up because of lack of information. Mr. Justice Barron has gone through all the information that has been provided here. He has had total access to the Garda files the Deputy mentions, to those of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and those of the other relevant agencies. He has had access to all the information that is on the public record and that available elsewhere and it has taken an enormous amount of time to go through all that. He is not just covering the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, he has also gone through a number of other cases that relate to that period, such as the Castleblayney bomb of 1976, the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973 and the murders of John Francis Green and Bríd Carr, and he has also been involved in an extensive examination of the case of Seamus Ludlow. They were additional cases which we asked him to take on late last year and earlier this year. It would be helpful if the remaining information he wants was made available. I assure the House I will be urging the British authorities, through the new Secretary of State, to do that.
In relation to Deputy Gregory's last point, when I set up this committee with all-party support in the House I stated I would give an undertaking that when the report was completed we would do our best with it, bring it to the committee and look at where to go from there. Deputy Gregory is right to say that the committee would have to take legal advice on how to proceed, taking into account the Supreme Court judgment to which he refers, but as I have said many times, we have to see, based on Mr. Justice Barron's report and the work done by the late Mr. Justice Hamilton, if anything more can be achieved through a public inquiry. That can only be considered after deliberation of the work.
The Taoiseach must be aware of suggestions that information has not been forthcoming to the Barron inquiry to a sufficient degree. Does he agree that shows very bad faith by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair? One element of the Good Friday Agreement agreed between the Taoiseach's Government and that of Britain is that it is essential to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of violence, meaning that there is a treaty basis to a commitment to address the victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, including the families. Crucial to addressing their suffering is the obtaining of full information. Does the Taoiseach, therefore, agree it is incumbent on the British Prime Minister to order every Department in his Administration to hand over any information it has? It is insufficient merely to make the request of the new Secretary of State who cannot command each Department in the way the Prime Minister can. What commitments has the Prime Minister given? Has he given a commitment that all available information will be handed over and if that has not happened what is the problem?
I reiterate what I said to Deputies Kenny, Rabbitte and Gregory. Mr. Justice Barron and the late Mr. Justice Hamilton examined an amount of information and from their examination of all the records and files they concluded that there are issues within the British establishment on which it would be useful to have information. However, it is not clear if such information exists. To his credit, the British Prime Minister has given me and others a clear position on this. He gave an instruction that anything that is there should be passed over. If Mr. Justice Barron believes there is information that has not been handed over, I can only conclude that it is not readily available or is in the security system. Given the way the British system works, it always seems to be difficult to get information in that system, as any of us who have dealt with Northern Ireland over the past ten years or more will be aware. That is a fact of life.
As Deputy Higgins will be aware, I cannot go to the security people to get this information. I can go only to the British Prime Minister. I do not know how many times I have raised this matter with him, but it must be more than ten.
Is he the master in his own house?
The Deputy heard what I said. I have made it clear that whatever Mr. Justice Barron is seeking to get should be passed over. I believe that should and will happen in so far as Prime Minister Blair has control over it. Mr. Justice Barron has made the request for material clear, although I am not sure what it is, but when I meet Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, today I will make it clear that this House is not happy about this. I will relay to him what has been said by all parties, that information should be passed over. If we were to set up a public sworn inquiry, the difficulty is that it is unlikely we would get this information. We will get it this way or we will not get it at all. That is why it is important to keep pressing for it.
The Taoiseach will be aware that we are less than two years away from the 30th anniversary of the atrocities visited on this city and my home town. We can only try to comprehend the anxiousness and the frustration of the families of the bereaved, which has been reflected repeatedly to me by people I know. I knew people who were killed in this tragic visitation on both communities. This is something of which we must take charge. The idea that the British authorities, in their widest understanding, are continuing to withhold essential information from Mr. Justice Barron's efforts to get to the full truth of what happened leading up to, on the day and subsequent to that tragic day in May 1974, is unacceptable.
The Taoiseach indicated he will raise this matter with the new Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, this afternoon, which I have no doubt he will. However, what does he intend to say to him to reflect not only the frustration of Members of this House, but the ongoing hurt and anxiety of the many families who continue to suffer due to the absence of trust and justice in regard to this event? Deputy Dempsey will probably share my concern and that of other families, but I do not know what it is that he thinks is worth sniggering about at this time.
I find hypocrisy difficult to take, if the Deputy wants an answer to his question.
Rather than concentrating only on the opportunity of speaking to Paul Murphy and irrespective of the finger count of the number of times he has raised this matter, when does the Taoiseach intend reflecting this directly once again to the British Prime Minister? What action will he take if the British Government maintains its obstinate refusal to co-operate fully with Mr. Justice Barron in this inquiry?
In relation to commitments the Taoiseach made, there is not only a failure on the part of the British Government. On the allied issue of the report presented by the former Tánaiste, Mr. John Wilson, it was indicated here last November 12 months, in response to a question I put to the Taoiseach, that he expected Mr. Wilson's report to be dealt with, acted upon and implemented within the lifetime of the previous Dáil. That was the response he gave and it is on record that was his intention, but that has not happened. The many people who co-operated—
The Deputy seems to be making a statement rather than asking a question.
I will conclude on this point. I again ask a question I have asked repeatedly, when does the Taoiseach and the Government intend to act on the report of the former Tánaiste, John Wilson, on the Victims' Commission, and will he give a full and frank response to that today?
Deputy Ó Caoláin will appreciate I answered most of the points raised, although he asked me two direct questions, which I will answer. He asked what I will say to Secretary of State, Paul Murphy, today. I will reiterate to him that Mr. Justice Barron has commenced the completion of his report and that to obtain the fullness of that report to the satisfaction of this House which agreed to set up this process, we want the additional information Mr. Justice Barron requested. That is what I will be seeking.
Regarding the Deputy's second question on the report of the Victims' Commission, following the publication of the Wilson report, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform initiated a consultation process with all the interested Departments and all public agencies affected by its recommendations, which he had promised to do at the time, with a view to drawing up an implementation plan, which he had also promised to do. I wish to thank the former Tánaiste, John Wilson, for his work in this area some years ago.
Prior to the summer, the Government agreed a range of measures recommended in the Wilson report, including the assigning of a high ranking official in my Department to advance and monitor the implementation of all the recommendations contained in the report. In addition, in respect of the recommendations relating to financial assistance and as a variation on the recommendations contained in the report, the Government agreed, in principle, to the establishment of a trust fund – a fund analogous to the memorial fund in Northern Ireland – to address the financial needs of the victims of the conflict in Northern Ireland and their families in this jurisdiction. A working group of officials from Departments are drawing up detailed proposals for the operation of that fund. I understand that the working group expects to be in a position to report to Government with legislative proposals, which will be required for the establishment of the trust, before Christmas – this month if I recall correctly. A final figure has not been put on the amount of money to be made available to the trust, but that will be necessary as part of the decision.
In addition, a number of the recommendations made in the report of the Victims' Commission have been, or are being, implemented. Deputies will be aware of the progress made regarding the inquiries into the Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk bombings. Mr. Justice Barron will consider other cases in his report, the Castleblayney bombing, the case of Bríd Carr, which were mentioned in the report, and he will undertake an inquiry into the case of Seamus Ludlow.
Funding has also been provided to the group, Justice for the Forgotten, in respect of the provision of a family support centre, which was a recommendation of the report. The Department of Health and Children also provided funding for counselling in the aftermath of Omagh and in respect of some other cases, which is also mentioned in the report.
We are mindful of the pain and trauma suffered over the years by the victims of violence in Northern Ireland – all the victims of all violence in Northern Ireland. It is important to make sure there is an appropriate and sympathetic response by the State to the needs of those who have suffered so much. What I have said gives a full report on this matter.
When I was 13 years old I remember clearly my mother thinking that my brother, sister and father, who were in Dublin on the night of the bombing, 17 May 1974, had been wiped out. Unfortunately, relations of many families were wiped out on that night as well as in other incidents in other parts of the Republic in 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976.
When the Taoiseach meets the Secretary of State, Mr. Murphy, this afternoon will he ask him whether, hypothetically, he would countenance the current Taoiseach or any Taoiseach standing over a refusal by the security forces in the Republic to co-operate with, for example, the investigation into the Omagh bombing? What would the British establishment say if the word went out that the security forces here were not to co-operate with such an investigation? That is the context of the outrage in this country at the Ministry of Defence in Britain telling its former employees not to respond to requests for information from the Barron inquiry. Will the Taoiseach articulate that outrage? Is he himself enraged or has he expressed or indicated the extent of people's outrage? We can discuss cold facts and statistics, but it must be appreciated it would be outrageous if the security forces here were not to co-operate with the Omagh inquiry. The situation is the same in the context of the shoe being on the other foot.
I hope the Taoiseach will be able to articulate the level of outrage among people in this country. Will he indicate when he believes the Barron inquiry will be completed? Is he in a position to inform the relatives that the Barron inquiry will clearly take time to complete or that, because of the extent and substance of the information it has uncovered, there will be a need to set up a tribunal to discover what really happened and establish who was involved in and responsible for those atrocities? Will the Taoiseach indicate what he will say to the relatives after his meeting with the Secretary of State, Mr. Murphy, what will he say to the Secretary of State and how will he articulate the outrage among people in this country at the refusal of the British authorities to co-operate in terms of providing information?
Perhaps I could deal again with a number of points. I take on board what Deputy Sargent has said. I believe he will acknowledge that it was I who commenced this process after 25 years and that I was not pressed by anybody, other than the relatives who continued to approach me and other Members during that period, to do so. I do not believe we need to discuss in detail the level of outrage among people. What we are trying to do is discover as much of the truth as possible. I know many of the families of people who died in the Dublin bombings and other Members know the relatives of those who were killed in the Monaghan bombings.
As Deputy Rabbitte stated earlier, the issue is that the bombings took place almost 30 years ago. As we know from the Bloody Sunday tribunal, it is not that easy to piece together information about all of the individuals involved, establish what were the possible links between members of the security forces and paramilitary groups, etc. The inquiry is concerned with trying to get to the bottom of this matter. The work of Mr. Justice Barron is nearing completion. He is writing his report and it will hopefully be finished early in the new year. The one remaining aspect is to obtain as much information from the British system as is now available. I frankly do not know whether that information is available.
I reiterate that I was surprised at the tone and content of the letter in question. We raised it through the British-Irish Secretariat and we received a firm commitment that the British Government made it clear to the employees that they could co-operate. The employees have been informed that this is not a matter for the British Government, it is a matter for them. We were also informed in recent weeks that Mr. Justice Barron would receive all the information – that which is available – he requires from all sources.
The question is, what is available and who might have it? That is the difficulty we face in light of the fact that so many years have passed. We must also ask if some of this information was ever documented or if it took the form of allegations? That I do not know. I have my own suspicion and not even with the benefit of Dáil privilege would I be prepared to reveal that suspicion. I hope Mr. Justice Barron will assist in that area. I am aware that he has been trying very hard to achieve progress. However, we must wait to see what his work uncovers.
I wish to use this extensive debate on Question Time to make it clear that, even with the passage of so many years, the House remains extremely concerned. The British authorities should do all they can as quickly as possible to answer Mr. Justice Barron's questions. As I informed Deputy Gregory, I do not know the extent to which those questions have been answered and I accept his point that they have not been answered in full. We want the judge's questions answered in full and I will make that position clear.
I have a particular interest in this issue because I was a teacher in North Great George's Street at the time and some of my students were injured and were taken to hospital. When I returned to the area later that evening, I witnessed the indescribable carnage in Parnell Street. If the bomb had exploded an hour earlier, hundreds of girls from Loreto College and hundreds of boys from Belvedere College, who walked home down North Great George's Street and on to Parnell Street, could have been killed or injured. There could have been absolute mayhem.
After 28 years, we are not one step closer to discovering what happened, how it happened and who was responsible for it. This was the greatest atrocity in the entire period of the Troubles. We know that the Garda investigation that took place at the time ran into the sand at the Border and that there was no co-operation from the RUC. With the Good Friday Agreement and the advent of the new police service in Northern Ireland, would it not be possible to achieve progress on this matter? Is the Taoiseach prepared to publish the findings of the initial Garda inquiry? Is he also prepared to state what was the outcome of those findings and to indicate both the difficulties the Garda experienced in pursuing the perpetrators beyond the Border and the extent of the lack of co-operation from the RUC?
Does the Taoiseach agree that the families affected by these atrocities have not achieved closure and that they have suffered enormously? Many family members lost their dear ones and have endured great emotional distress and financial hardship. There must be closure in respect of this matter. However, there is no indication that, after 28 years, such closure will be achieved, whether it be in terms of allaying the enormous suffering experienced by families or in terms of what we would expect in relation to a terrible outrage of this nature, namely, the provision of financial compensation by those who perpetrated it. Will the Taoiseach indicate when closure might be achieved? Is he in a position to say when the report might finally be delivered to us in order that we might put this matter to rest once and for all?
The commission of inquiry is engaged in writing its report, which Mr. Justice Barron expects to complete early in the new year. I reiterate that we are discussing a particular aspect of this matter. I regularly meet representatives of Justice for the Forgotten and the relatives. I have had sessions with the entire group of relatives, many of whom live abroad or in different parts of Ireland. They are extremely grateful to the House for the work being carried out by Mr. Justice Barron and they do not have a sense of being betrayed. They are grateful for the amount of work, effort and commitment that has been invested by Mr. Justice Barron and others in trawling through the data. For 25 years they were not grateful because all of the information was in existence but nothing happened. However, things were different then.
Since I began considering this matter in 1998 or 1999, I have found it hard to understand how the system operated during the period in question. It was difficult for Governments at the time because there was a security threat to the State, many paramilitary groups were operating and there was great pressure on the authorities. With regard to the original report of the Garda, which Deputy Costello mentioned, the facts surrounding that have long been in the public domain. That report actually closed within a matter of weeks, which we find hard to understand now. Even though it is four and a half years since the Omagh bombing there is still a huge number of personnel working on it each day. At that time, however, the entire operation closed down within five or six weeks. I cannot understand that but that was how it happened. We just have to accept it, we cannot change it. All we can do is try to uncover the facts. What happened then is that they moved on. What we have to do—
That was because there was no co-operation then.
No, I am afraid it was not that simple. Frankly, I wish it was.
Perhaps the Taoiseach will elaborate.
That is for others. It is history. I do not want to get into what happened in 1976. I do not blame the Administration of the day or any other Administration for any of these cases. They were faced with all kinds of horrendous problems. That is the reality, although it is hard to accept and understand it now. I went through this with the relatives for a long time one night. It is not easy.
We have an obligation now and we are trying to carry out that task. We should finish the report. Mr. Justice Barron has gone through every shred of information he could get his hands on. It is an enormous amount, as I know from the volumes of records. He and the people assisting him have worked hard on it, as have Justice for the Forgotten and the families and legal experts who co-operated with him. We are coming to the end. Whether it will bring closure, I do not know but we will then move it on a further stage. I will relay the one outstanding part to Secretary of State Paul Murphy today. We cannot say that nothing has been achieved. We have moved a step further; indeed, we have moved a long way on this.
A number of Deputies wish to ask questions and I appeal to them to keep their questions brief.
The relatives respect the fact that the Taoiseach set up a commission of inquiry. I am a little concerned about one of the Taoiseach's remarks earlier in which he seemed to imply that if we do not get the information from the British Government this way, we probably will not get it at all. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment that should the British Government fail to co-operate, it will not be used as an excuse to avoid having full public scrutiny by way of a tribunal of inquiry into the huge amount of material that has been gathered by the commission? The only way to deal with that material is through a public tribunal of inquiry. Will the Taoiseach give a commitment that this will happen regardless of whether the British Government co-operates?
The Taoiseach said it was not as bad as it seemed and that the Ministry of Defence in Britain accepts that it is a matter for former Ministry of Defence employees to decide whether they co-operate. Does he regard that as acceptable? Will he express equal outrage to that response? It is the same as the Ministry of Defence saying: "Do not co-operate." It is offering an excuse for non-co-operation. Will the Taoiseach pursue this matter and not be fobbed off by that assurance? I am pleased the Taoiseach has set up the inquiry.
Can the Taoiseach give any hope to the relatives of the two CIE workers who were killed in a previous bombing in December 1973? One of the workers was from south Tipperary and the other was from Mayo. Will that case be investigated? I do not wish to delay Mr. Justice Barron's report but is there any possibility of that bombing being included?
In relation to the Ministry of Defence missive, is it the Taoiseach's view, as it is mine, that the reason the directive was circulated is that people who have a case to answer with regard to the events of May 1974 and other such atrocities visited on this jurisdiction are now senior members of the British military establishment? An explanation is required for the continued obstinacy on the part of a section of the British establishment and that is the only logical explanation I can offer. Does the Taoiseach share that view?
In response to Deputy Gregory's question, if I gave that impression, that was not my wish. It has to be taken in the context of the final report and then it has to be examined. No excuse should be accepted then, so I am not saying a tribunal ultimately will be ruled out because we have not got information. I wish to make that clear.
With regard to Deputy Sargent's question, the tone and content of those letters were wrong and unacceptable. That is why I tried extremely hard to ensure we got clarification that that was not an instruction to the staff, that it was not the British Government's position and that there was no block on the information. We got the three issues cleared up on 22 November.
The CIE workers, as I well remember, were murdered by the bomb beside Clery's. Those were the bombs in 1972 and 1973 and they are included in Mr. Justice Barron's inquiry. He will report on them. With regard to the last question, I have no information that the people concerned are in senior positions. Many of these people are probably retired. Some might still be in office but I do not have information in that regard.