AQO 274/16-21

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 08/09/2016
Answered On Date: 20/09/2016
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Justice what discussions she has had with the United Kingdom Government concerning funding for legacy issues.

Answer:

The Stormont House Agreement was an agreement made at the end of 2014 between the Northern Ireland Executive and the British and Irish governments. Under that Agreement, the United Kingdom government committed to providing the Northern Ireland Executive with £150 million for legacy.

Since the agreement was made discussions have continued between the Northern Ireland Executive and the United Kingdom Government to ensure that the outstanding legacy issues are resolved and that the bodies proposed to deal with the past are established. I have also met the Secretary of State to discuss legacy matters. Funding has naturally formed an important part of all of those discussions.

My department has never been resourced to deal with the legacy of the past. Having met a number of victims’ families, I am conscious of the impact of further delay in legacy investigations and legacy inquests. My concern is that, in the absence of the necessary additional funding, it will not be possible to complete the investigation of outstanding Troubles-related deaths in a reasonable period of a time and that we will fail the families of victims.