asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if in view of the incorrect information conveyed to him by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regarding the present status of the Stalker report into the conduct of the RUC in Northern Ireland, he will state whether his Government have protested to the British Government in this regard and, if so, what the response of the British Government has been and if, because of the serious implications of the Stalker affair for the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland, he will make a full statement on the matter.
Private Notice Questions. - Stalker Report.
The Stalker report to which the Deputy refers has been the subject of much speculation in the press in recent weeks.
I have no information either about the substance of that report or about the circumstances surrounding the removal from the investigation of Deputy Chief Constable Stalker.
I would recall the background: in November and December 1982 six men were shot dead by the police in County Armagh in circumstances which raised serious questions not only about the conduct of several police officers but also about the structure and operation of police units in Northern Ireland. These incidents had a serious and detrimental effect on confidence in the police, particularly among the Nationalist community.
The Government consider that it is a matter of great importance that the whole matter should be brought out into the open, that any supplementary investigations necessary should be completed as soon as possible and that the report should be acted on without delay.
As regards the description of the report, I would refer the Deputy to the statement made in the House of Commons last Thursday night in which it was indicated that the report was an interim report. It was pointed out, however, that this report is largely, complete. I am arranging for a copy of the statement to be placed in the Dáil Library.
I agree with the Minister that this matter has been the subject of the most widespread media reporting and comment. It is difficult to find out exactly where the truth of the matter lies. I should like to ask the Minister to elaborate on this crucial difference between an interim report and a final report. Is it the Minister's information now that before Mr. Stalker was removed he had completed an interim report and that the information given to our Minister for Foreign Affairs was that it was an interim report? Is that correct?
Yes, the status of the report could be described as interim. The Secretary of State, and the Northern Ireland Office, informed at least one journalist that, in fact, it was a final report. They were under the impression that it was a final report, but it was not fully complete at the time the DPP's Office in the North were asked for some further information and put some further questions to which Deputy Chief Constable Stalker was asked to respond with his team which, I have been told, was quite large. Coincidentally with that, Mr. Stalker was put on extended leave——
Scandalous.
——and he was replaced by Mr. Samson whose responsibility it is now to respond to the queries made by the DPP——
Smear.
——and to complete the report with the same team that Mr. Stalker was working with.
Is the Minister satisfied that he, the Department or the Irish Government were not misled over this matter? Will the Minister agree with me that it is something of significance and importance to the working of the Anglo-Irish Conference? Will the Minister state whether he, like myself, would be very suspicious in that context about the circumstances in which Mr. Stalker was removed?
I am satisfied that the confusion last week about whether it was an interim or a final report and the views conveyed to me were the result of a genuine misunderstanding; that there was no question of me, or the Irish Government, being misled. I do not intend to speculate on the outcome vis-à-vis the completion of the report, its investigation by the DPP or, indeed, about the causes for which Mr. Stalker has been asked to take extended leave.
I am still not clear about this. I accept that we can leave the matter of whether it is an interim or final report for further information and consideration. I am asking the Minister if he agrees with me that this matter of the incidents into which Mr. Stalker was inquiring, his conduct of that inquiry, the report he will make and his removal from that inquiry are all matters of fundamental importance to the working of the Anglo-Irish Conference?
In my initial reply to the question I said the Government consider it is of great importance that the whole matter should be brought out in the open and that any supplementary investigation necessary should be completed as soon as possible and that the report should be acted on without delay. I have nothing to add to that.
That does not directly answer my question. The same considerations could apply to the different parties involved. My question really is to do with the work of the Anglo-Irish Conference and the efforts being made in that conference to deal with the confidence or otherwise of the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland in the police force and the administration of justice. I hope the Minister will agree with me that this matter is of fundamental importance to the work of the Conference. Can I press the Minister again as to whether he has either suspicions or grounds for suspicion on the whole circumstances surrounding this matter, and in particular the peculiar circumstances in which Mr. Stalker was removed from the conduct of the report? If the Minister has doubts of the inquiry and the report at this stage is he not, like myself, suspicious about the matter?
I do not think it is proper for Deputy Haughey or me or the House to speculate about the motives behind certain events relating to this report in the past fortnight or three weeks. We should wait and see what comes out in the open. It is important that all matters should come out in the open as quickly as possible. In regard to the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the Conference set up under it, one of the objectives is to devise means whereby the confidence of the Nationalist community can be strengthened, and in so far as there are suspicion and mystery surrounding any members of the security forces or any branch of those forces, the more quickly it is removed the better in the interest of confidence.