Speeches by Robinson.

“Secretary of State, I am disappointed to hear you rule out extending the timeframe for ICRIR, particularly for Omagh. There are other requests already there that go right up to 2005 and 2006. If there was unanimity of view across the political parties of Northern Ireland asking you to extend the ICRIR deadline from 10 …”

“It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna), though I will reach a slightly different conclusion from him. Although she is not in the Chamber, may I remark on the principled stand taken by the hon. Member for Lewisham North (Vicky Foxcroft), not only today but in her decisio…”

“Dr McAlister, on a number of occasions you have talked about violence and gender-based violence not being unique to Northern Ireland. Sometimes we can be too introspective, like we are always in some special category, but actually it is faced elsewhere. From the perspective of a constituency MP, I know the stories of i…”

“Of course. You have answered questions about data and comparisons, and the Committee has had the benefit of your responses. There have been a number of high-profile cases in Northern Ireland over the last—to stretch it out—six or seven years. They tend to fascinate the public and lead to a lot of gossip, innuendo and a…”

“A knitting needles at the gallows-type situation, fascinated by the trauma of it all.”

“I’m sorry but I am going to have to withdraw early to attend another Committee. What you just suggested is helpful for the Committee. There is the Executive and their strategy, but our role is to look at it from a UK perspective, and we were not going to ignore this issue. Sonya talked earlier about mapping out and get…”

“How temporary was that removal from your team?”

“I know you will, but do you keep a separate column to show how it would have been counted, and then track trends, or do you not have any ability to track them when the counting rules change?”

“Claire wants to pick up on some of those legacy issues, so I will not touch on them. DCS McKee, you mentioned Home Office statistics and how they change their counting rules, which can make a material impact on how you track trends. Even though the counting rules may have changed, does the PSNI continue to record data …”

“No—thank you for it. I hope the Chair forgives me for delving into a slight tangent, but it was an important opportunity.”

“Thank you very much for all that you have shared so far. DCS McKee, what you have said is very stark. I will not get into the specifics of the case in Ballymena, but it should be a reminder to everyone that you have just said you lost 15 officers in your public protection branch, who are there to help assist victims of…”

“I could see there being some utility if you also had an extra column so you could see what was actually going on.”

“I understand the compliance and why you should and why you must—”

“I thank the Chancellor for engaging productively in the discussions about sustainable budgets for Northern Ireland, for the willingness to negotiate further and for the recognition that our need levels should be met. I thank her for that engagement and for the allocations to Northern Ireland for specific community proj…”

“The Secretary of State will know that the Democratic Unionist party, and the people we are privileged to represent from Northern Ireland, are hugely supportive of our armed forces. He should know that as a region, we disproportionately provide more personnel than any other part of our country to those armed forces. I w…”

“We will hear from Government in time, but this is your opportunity to let us know if there are areas that you feel the process could benefit greatly, but where there is reticence or reluctance on the part of the Northern Ireland Office and the state?”

“I think that exchange, irrespective of the legal outcome of the Supreme Court’s adjudication, gives a reflection of the impact of a failure to disclose. It is fundamental to confidence in the process, and allows people to suggest conspiracies and cover-up even though they do not exist.”

“Thank you. I will come back later to issues around Irish Government involvement and autonomy.”

“Two things arise from that. First, did your external assurance group indicate what impact a separation of the functions would have on timeliness, process, timeline and the effective delivery of answers one way or another for families? Secondly, and perhaps more fundamentally, you have the presence of an external assura…”

“I want to ask about the Stormont House agreement, which we hear about often. People will say that no political party supported the Legacy Act, but very rarely will you hear that that was for different reasons. So, too, you will find people who say that there was unanimity around Stormont House, but there clearly was no…”