Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for this question. As he will be aware, as I am sure other colleagues are, the Independent Reporting Commission is the body established under the Fresh Start Agreement of 2015 to report on measures aimed at ending paramilitarism. The commission submitted its first report to the UK and Irish Governments back in 2018, and the sixth and most recent report on 5 December. Both the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I have welcomed the report of the commission, and I laid it before Cabinet last week.

The commission views the twin-track approach as key to tackling paramilitarism. This involves progress both through the policing and criminal justice response, and a response to the wider socioeconomic factors that exist in the communities where paramilitaries continue to operate. Coupled with this is an additional dimension that the Deputy has referred to, namely the consideration of undertaking a process of engagement directly with the paramilitary groups themselves, aimed at group transition with the end goal of disbandment.

One of the recommendations in the commission's fifth report is that the Governments consider appointing an independent person to engage with the groups on this transition. The Governments have discussed the analysis and recommendations of the IRC, including at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference as recently as last month here in Dublin. Both sides acknowledge that additional steps are needed to definitively achieve the ending of paramilitarism. Both Governments agree that the IRC’s recommendation for the appointment of the independent person to engage with and report in detail on the question of the possible establishment of a formal process of comprehensive group transition has the potential to make a positive contribution. We will continue our joint work to consider this recommendation of the IRC. While a person has not been appointed, we are actively engaged in who that person might be, how that person would operate and then in putting forward potential proposals around a formal process of group transition. My Department remains committed to continued constructive engagement with the commission more broadly in respect of its work in 2024. As I outlined, the report deals not just with this particular recommendation but also the way in which we can engage proactively with communities, support them where there is a criminal element to the paramilitary groups still on the ground and where there is a need to invest in the socioeconomic issues impacting those communities.

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