Charlie Flanagan

The Bill is part of the Government’s commitment to the agreed measures to address the legacy of the Troubles and to support the victims of the conflict and their families.

In addition to promising to enhance the co-operation being provided to ongoing coroners’ inquests in Northern Ireland into historical deaths, the legislation aims to further underpin the Government’s commitment to full co-operation with the framework of measures set out in the Stormont House Agreement.

Mr Flanagan said: “This legislation is an important and concrete demonstration of the Government’s commitment to dealing with the painful legacy of conflict in Northern Ireland. We acknowledge that addressing the needs of the victims of the Troubles is a key aspect of our efforts to support and to promote reconciliation.

“As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I was intimately involved in the negotiation of the Stormont House Agreement and as Minister for Justice and Equality I am delivering on legal measures necessary to underpin the commitments on legacy matters.

“This legislation will respond to the needs of Coroners in Northern Ireland and Britain dealing with legacy cases to access testimony from An Garda Síochána where this is relevant to their inquests.

“It will also provide a structured mechanism to enhance co-operation with a number of bodies dealing with deaths related to the troubles, including the Historical Investigations Unit to be established in Northern Ireland and the Ireland-UK Independent Commission on Information Retrieval, both of which arise from the Stormont House Agreement.”

The Bill is available on the Oireachtas website