Speeches by Robinson.

“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…”

“To be clear, there is no commissioner representing the security services. There is no commissioner representing the national security interests of the Irish Republic or the UK Government.”

“That is a separate point and why I want to focus on this. It seems curious that one of numerous commissioners would form that role as a commissioner.”

“I am worried about the contamination of commissioners. I invite you to reflect on the comments and to perhaps present it as needing a commissioner who understands Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and its state institutions in the same way that we have judges in the Supreme Court who understand the legal complexities of…”

“I do not disagree with that clarification.”

“More substantively, the Stormont House agreement envisaged an information retrieval body that would operate cross-jurisdictionally. How much preparatory work has been engaged to expand ICRIR in a way that would incorporate Republic of Ireland jurisdictional and national security issues? Do you feel that that will form …”

“Do you have any concerns about how that would work? Are the mechanics of that being explored at the moment in detail, or is it still just an aspiration on your part?”

“I am not pushing back against the notion. I am trying to get a sense of how far advanced those discussions are and what is left to do. Finally, on this section—because the Chair is always curious to keep me going—on the Stormont committee that you appeared before, Sir Declan, you mentioned the need for Irish and intern…”

“On the international aspect of this, it sounds as if, if both Governments are going to agree a body that is capable of operating cross-jurisdictionally, it is going to have an international feel, like a treaty-type organisation. Perhaps Ms Warde Hunter could answer this: are there discussions actively ongoing about bud…”

“There is a political part to this process. Clearly, it is being led by politicians, and the Secretary of State will bring forward his process. You have a duty of care to the people that work within ICRIR.”

“Can I ask you to express whether you have been disappointed or not by the almost silent indifference whenever prejudicial complaints are made on perception of conflict of interest?”

“The indifferent silence. I raise this issue quite regularly, but I rarely hear others challenge the prejudice that is laced through some of the issues raised around conflicts of interest.”

“Thank you, Chair. In many ways, Ms Warde Hunter, you have jumped into answering the question I was going to ask, unnecessarily and disappointingly for me, but I think the answers have been clarificatory and helpful. I have found some of the evidence that we have taken really disgusting on this issue. I have found it hu…”

“Good morning to you all. Sir Declan, you mentioned in your opening remarks that you had four propositions to give to us. The last one—to paraphrase in a non-verbatim way, in case I am pulled up by a former member of the judiciary—was a reset moment in which you hope to support two Governments in where they land. I thin…”

“Have you found any resistance to those propositions from the Northern Ireland Office?”

“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?”

“You mentioned the PSNI and the suggestion that it should be able to refer into ICRIR. You are aware that there are suggestions that other organisations, such as the Police Ombudsman’s office, should similarly be empowered to do so. I assume that there would be no reticence around the expansion of that list.”

“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…”

“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…”