AQW 7172/22-27

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 21/02/2024
Answered On Date: 04/04/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister what research their Department has commissioned concerning victims since the start of the 2017-18 financial year.

Answer:

The HIA Inquiry report was published in January 2017. The focus since then has been on implementation of the recommendations, and we are committed to ensuring that victims and survivors have the acknowledgement, redress, and victim-centred support services they deserve.

Under the legislation establishing COSICA, the Commissioner may undertake or commission research into matters concerning the interests of victims and survivors. The Department has not commissioned any research concerning victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse since the start of the 2017-18 financial year.

In implementing the HIA Inquiry recommendations, the findings of relevant research have been considered when appropriate, including research by Professor Anne-Marie McAlinden (Apologies, Abuse and Dealing with the Past project at Queen’s University Belfast) which informed preparations for the apology offered to victims and survivors in March 2022. The Commissioner has also referenced research in her advice on a memorial.