Speeches by Swann.

“Do you then track their follow-on status if the Republic of Ireland sends them back to the third country?”

“At what point geographically?”

“Meetings, visits and strategies—what is the output? How many arrests and prosecutions have there been from the cross-border work with your colleagues in the Republic?”

“Thanks, folks, for coming this morning. Listening to your opening statements and answers to the Chair, is there a disconnect between the two organisations? I am getting from CRC that, “T:BUC is there. We are working with the Executive. The Executive is working well,” but that—not to paraphrase you, Dympna—most of the p…”

“Dympna, I suppose, sitting around this table, I know what you mean by groups being punished or fearing being punished. Do you want to unpack that for the rest of the Committee? What do you see? Give an example of what you are talking about.”

“Is that a political decision or a civil service decision?”

“We should remember that this change will have an effect across all the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland. A Northern Ireland coastguard rescue officer contacted me to say: “I am not writing out of personal financial interest” but “because I care deeply about the future of a service that has protected lives for…”

“I will take the Minister up on that offer. I wrote to him asking him to meet companies in South Antrim over two weeks ago and I am still waiting on a response to that. In his initial response, he said that the TSS and HMRC are able to support Northern Ireland companies with advice and guidance. Will he assure the House…”

“I congratulate the Chair on how she is raising the issue in this debate and how she has handled the legacy inquiry. Does she agree that there must be an answer to the concerns raised by the PSNI that it does not have any additional moneys to provide that information to the ICRIR with regard to legacy? There is also a f…”

“Will the Secretary of State give way?”

“Will the hon. Member also acknowledge that even Members of the Finance Minister’s party are now opposed to the budget he produced?”

“Will the Secretary of State give way?”

“I thank the hon. Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for raising the matter. I was the Minister who commissioned the inquiry, and listening to the families and the individuals who were in Muckamore at that time was a harrowing experience. I want to put on the record my thanks to Tom Kark KC, who chaired the inquiry, for ha…”

“The right hon. Gentleman will acknowledge that, as there has not been a repetitive budget since 2016, any transformation or investment in health is always more challenging, and that is where the waiting lists are. Does he also acknowledge that that transformation funding is now there, and that the work being done by my…”

“I recently met Voices for Impacts youth advisory group in Glengormley. Unfortunately, the funding for its youth centre has been cut to one night per week. What encouragement can the Secretary of State give those young people that the youth hubs he is talking about can be extended to Northern Ireland?”

“Sir Declan and Peter, you have both mentioned the frustrations due to the lack of engagement from the Irish Government and how that played into the frustrations within the organisation. Do you want to unpack what an unsettling impact that has? We got told that the Garda have set up their own establishment unit. Some of…”

“You have talked about the individuals who have come into the organisation. Your report notes that a number of ICRIR staff are currently seeking other roles or secondments, and that reflects the cultural health of the organisation. Have you any suggestions as to how that high turnover of staff is affecting the functioni…”

“Holly, from an NIO point of view, what is your reaction on hearing that?”

“Let me declare an interest: I worked with Peter for a number of years. I want to make that transparent. Peter, your report noted that culture was the element most remarked on during your meetings with staff, and you made a number of recommendations. Are you confident that the culture of the current organisation can be …”

“Peter said he had eight letters that were not responded to. A Garda unit has been set up, but the phones are not being answered. You can understand how that feeds into the frustration in the organisation.”