Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 September 2015
97. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she has received a report from the Garda Commissioner in relation to paramilitary activity on this island; if there are paramilitary organisations still in existence on this island; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32467/15]
View answerThe Deputy will appreciate that I am briefed on a regular basis by the Garda Commissioner with regard to the security situation.
It is the Garda assessment that there continues to be a real and persistent threat from the activities of so-called 'dissident' republican groups. These groups remain resolutely opposed to peace and are prepared to use violence to achieve their aims and, indeed, to support their lifestyles. They reject the democratic will of the overwhelming majority of people on this island which was so resolutely expressed in support for the Good Friday Agreement. I know the Deputy will agree with me that the people of this island want to move on and forge a better future for themselves and their children. These groups are stuck in a past that everyone else wants to leave behind and they should simply stop.
An Garda Síochána is constantly engaged in intensive operational efforts against these groups and will continue to target them. Co-operation with the PSNI is central to these efforts and, I am happy to say, that co-operation has never been closer. There is a strong and resolute commitment on the part of the two services to work together and nowhere is this more important than in the area of security co-operation. Constant contact is maintained between anti-terrorist officers on both sides and intelligence is shared in both directions with a view to making arrests and ensuring successful prosecutions of those involved in terrorist activity. The House can rest assured that, with the Government's support, the Gardaí will take all appropriate measures, within the rule of law, to defeat these groups.
It might be helpful to add that the position with regard to this jurisdiction in relation to the Provisional IRA has been made clear in statements issued by me and by the Garda Commissioner at the end of August and it is consistent with the assessments of the Provisional IRA provided previously by the Independent Monitoring Commission. In the light of recent developments in Northern Ireland An Garda Síochána is maintaining close liaison with the PSNI in respect of the investigation into the murder of Mr. McGuigan and I have asked the Garda Commissioner, in light of any new evidence emerging from that investigation, to let me have a fresh assessment of the status of the Provisional IRA.
The Deputy will be aware that in the context of the current discussions between the parties in Northern Ireland and the Irish and British governments, the British Government has arranged for an assessment to be made of paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland, which will include an assessment in relation to loyalist paramilitary activity.
