Speeches by Kearns.

“For four months, I asked the Government what severance payments Mandelson received. According to the permanent secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, I received no reply due to an “error”. Now, we have the failure to release 56 documents. Mandelson should have been dismissed for gross misconduct…”

“Local doctors tell me that they were hoping the new contract would be focused on family medicine, with detail about the 10-year plan and neighbourhood health centres that the Minister has just touched on. I ask when the Secretary of State will be releasing the detail of the neighbourhood contract, which is really vital…”

“Closing the strait of Hormuz is Iran’s most predictable threat, yet it appears that no plan to reopen it was ready to be enacted. Equally, on Cyprus, it appears that there was either an intelligence or a planning failure, which underestimated Iran’s intent or capability. Will the Government review whether adequate plan…”

“So the recommendation for a UK-Ireland joint co-ordination hub is based on evidence from Scotland rather than from Northern Ireland?”

“In terms of the ethnicity or descent of the organised crime groups, if we take paramilitary techniques we try and remove them, is there a certain percentage of organised crime groups operating across the border who are, for example, of a completely descent—not Irish, UK or English?”

“Forgive me, but you spend your time having private conversations, roundtables and discussions with serving and former police officers, so to come to the conclusion that there needs to be a joint co-ordination hub, there must be an issue or a problem that is not being delivered on. Therefore, you presumably have police …”

“Forgive me, but you spend your time having private conversations, roundtables and discussions with serving and former police officers, so to come to the conclusion that there needs to be a joint co-ordination hub, there must be an issue or a problem that is not being delivered on. Therefore, you presumably have police …”

“You mentioned that there is strong co-operation, but also that you think there need to be more formalised structures—either a joint co-ordination hub or more timely alert sharing. Are you aware, through your interviews or your roundtables, or from the public domain anywhere, of any failures or collapses of cases or inv…”

“You mentioned that there is strong co-operation, but also that you think there need to be more formalised structures—either a joint co-ordination hub or more timely alert sharing. Are you aware, through your interviews or your roundtables, or from the public domain anywhere, of any failures or collapses of cases or inv…”

“Chair, perhaps the Committee could write to the PSNI to ask for its view. Rob, is there anything that we should be aware of that is new, alarming or that we should keep an eye on with trends in activity by paramilitaries in Northern Ireland?”

“Rob, you said there has been no spike in CTA abuse and obviously these long-term routes. In terms of cross-border criminality, what percentage would you say is paramilitary versus organised crime groups—or is it just too blurred for you to segregate significantly?”

“Rob, you will be aware that there is a crisis of male violence in Northern Ireland. I am interested in the role of sexual violence and child abuse within paramilitary organisations.”

“So you do need a structure?”

“Chair, perhaps the Committee could write to the PSNI to ask for its view. Rob, is there anything that we should be aware of that is new, alarming or that we should keep an eye on with trends in activity by paramilitaries in Northern Ireland?”

“We have just heard evidence that there is strong co-operation, but that more structures were needed. Are investigations collapsing or being frustrated because of a lack of structures? Do you have real-time alerts across the borders? Do you therefore need—I think the recommendations were for this—a UK-Ireland joint co-o…”

“Rob, you will be aware that there is a crisis of male violence in Northern Ireland. I am interested in the role of sexual violence and child abuse within paramilitary organisations.”

“So you do need a structure?”

“Most of the tobacco and vape shops within England seem to be run by Kurdish gangs or Turkish gangs. I presume that that is not the same in Northern Ireland, or are you starting to see that creep in?”

“You mentioned that drugs are common across the area. What type of drugs does your research show are involved? Is it cocaine? Is it Captagon? What sort of thing are we seeing?”

“We have just heard evidence that there is strong co-operation, but that more structures were needed. Are investigations collapsing or being frustrated because of a lack of structures? Do you have real-time alerts across the borders? Do you therefore need—I think the recommendations were for this—a UK-Ireland joint co-o…”