Speeches by Hanna.

“About 20 out of 300,000.”

“Do you think your repeated claims that people are being hounded and hunted stand up? I am not a statistician, but that is a really small percentage.”

“Out of 300,000?”

“Is it over 15 out of 300,000?”

“About 300,000 soldiers served in Northern Ireland under Operation Banner. How many of those have been in court?”

“You will be aware that, right up until recent days, we have been dealing with decades of this information being supressed.”

“Some stakeholders have reiterated their concern that the framework retains the broad national security veto from the Legacy Act, and that that could fatally undermine confidence and the progress that the framework represents. How will you prevent that veto being used to suppress relevant information reaching families w…”

“But you do not think they should get some of that engagement and advice directly from UK Government officials?”

“Looking at the Commission’s proposals and the Q&A on their website, it looks like there is a massive advantage for Northern Ireland in how they propose to treat the region on that. Is that not something the Government should be shouting about? Are we sometimes victim of how proposals are being read in other parts of th…”

“What does the application of the EU steel safeguards mean for Northern Ireland?”

“You say, perhaps diplomatically, that they could take a more strategic approach. Where do you think that strategy should come from?”

“Lord Murphy’s report talked about how little is made of dual market access. Do you think there are more opportunities to promote the differential and positive impact of our dual market access?”

“But I presume that the feedback that Lord Murphy captured, the views he encountered and the suggestions he made will frame your future engagement with the EU more widely.”

“Minister Thomas-Symonds, what do you hope to achieve from discussions with the EU about the report? Will you come back to this Committee after that?”

“You will be raising the recommendations in the report with the Joint Committee. When do you think that will happen?”

“To be honest, the first year or two was probably a fairly slow period for the production of legislation, because of the European elections and the reforming of the Commission, so they probably haven’t seen anything yet.”

“And that is not happening currently?”

“The committee suggested they would access UK officials directly, and you suggested that NI civil servants would be empowered to provide that advice. What is the reasoning behind that?”

“That is service!”

“Thank you very much, Lord Murphy, for your work on the review. I know that my party would have preferred a bit more focus on north-south and the island economy in the terms of reference, but the report was really fair and constructive within the terms you had. I want to ask about your recommendations on the Democratic …”