Speeches by Benn.

“That was the basis on which Stormont House was agreed. It is the basis of the ICLVR, which has succeeded in recovering the remains of a number of people murdered and disappeared by the IRA and buried. It is searching again, I think I am right in saying, as we speak, for Columba McVeigh. His family and all the families …”

“The first thing I would say is that information retrieval mechanisms should be available to anyone who wants to come forward and provide information for families. That is important. The presumption is that it will be non-state actors who will be making use of it, but that may not be the case in all circumstances. Secon…”

“NCND is absolutely at the heart of the Thompson case.”

“I answered the first part of your question in answer to Mr Robinson when I said that those that had started and were terminated by the portcullis coming down under the legacy Act will be reinstated. As for the rest, we are giving consideration to what the most effective means is of taking those forward and what part se…”

“Yes, the reason for that was that you can only use a remedial order if you are not appealing any aspect of the judgment relating to that item. I may have explained this previously to the Committee and I certainly explained it to the House in December last year. As I have said to the House, in respect of the judgment of…”

“It is my intention to lay it alongside the draft legislation. We have been giving careful consideration to the Joint Committee on Human Rights.”

“Indeed, yes. There is great merit in laying out the whole picture at one moment. That is why I am telling the Committee that it is my intention to lay the draft remedial order. I have published the proposed draft remedial order. I did that in December or January.”

“People have already had a chance to see the shape of that and it was considered by the Joint Committee on Human Rights. Other people have commented upon it. It is my intention to lay the draft remedial order, which is the second part of the process, at the same time as the draft legislation is published.”

“The first thing I would say is that funding was identified—that is my clear understanding—within the Northern Ireland Executive for the five-year programme. Has that been taken away? The funding was identified from within Northern Ireland’s resources, and therefore I would presume it is still available for the cases th…”

“We have been waiting 27 years to make progress on legacy. This is the unfinished business of the Good Friday agreement. Those who negotiated that extraordinary document recognised that it needed to be looked at, but they were not able to do it at the time. There have been many attempts since, including the legacy Act, …”

“I am sure that you would.”

“The issue of the contribution that the Irish Government can make to taking forward a legacy has been a very important part of the discussions that I have been having with Simon Harris. The current position of the Irish Government is that they have brought an interstate case against the UK based on the fact that the leg…”

“In looking for the idea of an oversight board for a reformed commission, which is something it does not have at the moment that Kenova has, I am envisaging that people would apply. They could come from anywhere, including internationally, and then appointments would be made. That is a possibility, depending on who woul…”

“I am not going to give a running commentary on the nature of the negotiations, but I say to the Committee that I think we are close to being able to announce an agreement. When an agreement is announced, everyone will be able to see what it is that we have agreed.”

“We have yet to have a formal agreement, but we have made a lot of progress. That is what I would say to the Committee. I am keen that we are able to produce this and share it with everyone. When it appears, people will be able to see what has been agreed.”

“Subsequent to the exchange that we had last time, I looked once again carefully at the terms of reference for the Omagh inquiry. I will just try to find the section that relates to it. There is a reference in the terms of reference where it says in 2.i “Any other matters which are relevant to whether the Omagh Bombing …”

“For the record, what I just read out was not from the memorandum of understanding. It was from the Omagh inquiry terms of reference.”

“I would emphatically reject the suggestion that I am surrendering anything to anybody. Since I came into post 14 months ago, committed to repeal and replace the legacy Act, I have been looking to find a way forward, which is not going to please everybody. We have to acknowledge this. I read very carefully the summary o…”

“I would not agree with that. For those who are watching our exchanges today, as they did when we last discussed this, the memorandum of understanding provides the opportunity for information to be provided by the Irish Government to the public inquiry.”

“Of course I have discussed with the Irish Government their position on having their own way of looking at it, but their position is well known. In an agreement, you are only able to agree things where both parties share the same view. The time to make that judgment about what the MOU will produce is not now. It is when…”