Speeches by Robinson.

“You accept the concerns that have been raised, but you are not clear as to what the actual position is.”

“I know. We are asking these questions, because for us taking evidence, this is crucial.”

“Are you unclear as to how that will happen?”

“I think that is very interesting. For example, terrorist A has evaded justice—probably hidden in the Irish Republic for a while and came back again—and there are no lines of inquiry. The criminal part—the stage 1 process for criminal prosecution—has passed. Then terrorist A comes in and starts giving information that c…”

“That is the issue with that information.”

“That is the issue then. If information is subsequently given, having decided that no information is there for prosecution, but that subsequent information could provide information that would make prosecution possible, that stage has already been concluded.”

“That is not the point that Mr Johnstone was making. He was making the point that if someone is giving information for information retrieval purposes, those are protected disclosures and therefore cannot be used against you. If that information is gleaned through separate channels in a criminal investigation, of course …”

“But you would consider it.”

“Would you support a family from Northern Ireland who wished to raise these issues outside of the jurisdiction?”

“But the Human Rights Commission takes cases.”

“None at all? You just support people that do?”

“And you have a power to take proceedings.”

“Your primary function is to advise Government on human rights obligations in Northern Ireland. You will be well aware that there are citizens of Northern Ireland who are being failed in the human rights obligations of a neighbouring jurisdiction. Do you give advice? Do you comment? Would you be prepared to suggest that…”

“You have helpfully mentioned the failings of the Irish Government in terms of article 2 of ECHR. You know that they took an interstate case against the United Kingdom Government. Do you feel it would be appropriate for the UK to consider taking action against the Irish Government if they were to fail in their obligatio…”

“Mr Johnstone or Ms Kilpatrick, are you aware of this process? Did you notice a distinction in the joint framework that this is outside of the Legacy Commission, but a family report from the guards is a mechanism that is available? Have any of your members accessed that provision of information?”

“Just hold it there, Celine. Martin?”

“Good morning to the three of you, and thank you for coming. It is important that you are here today to try to build the case for greater clarity from Government. You have been doing a lot of the work since the summer, whenever it became clear that Northern Ireland was again being told, “Details to follow.” We as Northe…”

“There is a willingness on our part to make sure that we are bringing these issues to the fore. We do not want this to be a lengthy series. This is part of our economic growth inquiry, but we are not going to wait to the end of that inquiry to make some of these issues known, because that would be too late for you, I da…”

“Explain to the Committee what impact that has. What steps have you taken? At what point do you start issuing letters of notice to staff members, never mind service users?”

“Thank you; that’s helpful. David, could I ask you to draw from the perspective of Action Mental Health on the real-world consequences for your service users?”