Kenova exposes a central truth about the conflict on this island. Collusion was not accidental. It was not exceptional. It was embedded in British state policy. Today I want to focus on an issue this House cannot avoid. Many of the crimes exposed by Kenova did not stop at the Border. They crossed into this jurisdiction. When they did, Irish citizens were entitled to the full protection of Irish law, but they did not receive it. The most searing example remains the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, the single deadliest attack of the conflict, with 34 people killed and hundreds more injured. While Operation Kenova did not investigate those bombings and made no findings on collusion in that case, it did expose the protection of agents, the withholding of intelligence and the prioritisation of operational advantage over human life, which is all directly relevant to the understanding of how such atrocities were allowed to occur. More than 50 years later, not one single person has been held to account in respect of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings. Reports have been published and limited investigations have been carried out but this State has never delivered a full public inquiry with statutory requirements to compel all relevant evidence, particularly material held by British authorities. Nor has there ever been a sustained diplomatic or legal pressure applied to force disclosure from the British Government. Families were not failed by a lack of sympathy, although in many years since they did not even get that, but they were particularly failed by the absence of urgency and resolve on the part of this State. That failure did not end in 1974. In 1975, John Francis Green was murdered in Monaghan. To this day there has been no prosecution. Serious and unresolved concerns remain regarding the involvement of the British state forces. Again, despite credible information and repeated appeals from his family, there was no investigative urgency matching the gravity of the crime. Once again, the burden of seeking truth fell on grieving families rather than on the institutions that were there to protect them. Deadly attacks linked to the conflict continued here in the years that followed. Almost forgotten is the bombing at Dublin Airport which killed Aer Lingus worker John Hayes from Balbriggan and injured nine others. Decades later, there is still no clarity for the Hayes family as to whether a full investigation file was ever sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. That uncertainty alone speaks volumes about the inadequacy of the investigation. As in other cases, questions arose about access to intelligence, forewarning and whether lines of inquiry involving British state actors were ever fully pursued. Once again, not a single person held to account. Even into the 1990s, the attacks continued. At The Widow Scallans pub in Dublin, Martin Doherty was murdered and a massacre was only narrowly averted by his actions. Again, no prosecution. Again, no closure. None of these were isolated incidents. From the 1970s through to the 1990s, attacks were carried out in this jurisdiction by loyalist paramilitaries operating with the knowledge, assistance or protection of British state forces. In too many cases, investigations stalled, lines of inquiry involving British state actors were never fully pursued and files went cold. The truth is that the evidence says quite clearly that the authorities in this State often stepped back when they should have stepped forward. There was and is an abdication of responsibility, a dereliction of duty, a shameful record. Operation Kenova confirms that British intelligence agencies were prepared to obstruct investigations, withhold evidence and interfere with due process to protect agents. That raises an unavoidable question. How much more could have been done and how much more could have been uncovered if this State had insisted early, forcefully and consistently on full accountability for crimes committed within this jurisdiction? Sovereignty has to mean something. It carries responsibility. The first duty of any sovereign state is to vindicate the lives of its citizens.

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That is why we must now confront the failures in how many cases have been handled here. Did you want the floor, Taoiseach?

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I am not, but I will tell you this, Taoiseach.

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On the first occasion that I had to attend a commemorative event on Talbot Street to remember the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, the involvement by this State on that occasion was the presence of special branch men who were taking notes of the family members. That speaks to what I am talking about today.

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The Irish Government supported the establishment of a historical investigations unit under the Stormont House Agreement in 2014 and legislated for co-operation in 2019. That unit was never delivered. Instead, the British Government introduced the shameful legacy Act, rejected by victims and widely criticised. If this State recognised the need for historical investigative units in the North, it cannot credibly argue against establishing an independent, time-bound unit here. Seeking truth about Dublin-Monaghan, John Francis Green, the Dublin Airport bombing, the bombings in Castleblayney, Belturbet and elsewhere, The Widow Scallans and other attacks - this is not about reopening wounds. Those wounds have never healed because the truth was withheld. Justice was not unavailable; it was deferred and denied. The Kenova report has stripped away many of the old excuses. No one can now claim that collusion is speculative. No one can pretend obstruction was accidental. After Kenova, ignorance is no longer plausible. The only question left is whether there is the will to act. Maybe the Taoiseach would like to take the remaining minute of my time to answer that question. Is the will to act there right now?

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