Mr. Michael Culbert:

Go raibh maith agat ar dtús, a Chathaoirligh. I thank the committee for the invitation to come here and address the group. Just before I commence my statement, I was asked by Tom Roberts of EPIC to offer his apologies for not attending. He also asked me to convey that issues relating to the republican ex-prisoner community also relate to his community, which is the loyalist political ex-prisoner community.

Mr. Mulgrew and I are representing Coiste na n-Iarchimí, the organisation which works on behalf of the 25,000 former political prisoners who were imprisoned during the conflict for activities related to the Irish Republican Army. The prisons were emptied of political prisoners under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement way back in the year 2000, which was excellent. It was a great aspect of the Good Friday Agreement as far as we were concerned. Our problem at the moment is that there has really been very little implementation of changes to the situation of the 25,000 former prisoners and their families. We can be legally discriminated against in the North of Ireland. Apparently, that is a legal term. We can be denied all goods and services available to all other citizens. The baseline is that we are looking for equality of citizenship 20 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

One of the good things about the Good Friday Agreement as far as we were concerned were the commitments to the people who were being released from the prisons. Section 5 in Annex B stated:

The Governments continue to recognise the importance of measures to facilitate the reintegration of prisoners into the community by providing support both prior to and after release, including assistance directed towards availing of employment opportunities, re-training and/or re-skilling, and further education.

Unfortunately for us, people are denied access to university programmes, denied access to work for which they are well qualified, and we are denied freedom of travel to many countries. Most recently, four people were deported from Mexico on the orders of the American Government, according to the Mexican authorities. Our problem is we do not know where this will end, 20 years after the peace agreement.

They are just some of the aspects which affect us. Our job at the moment within the coiste is to constantly lobby and act as advocates for the 25,000 because the 25,000 cannot fight their individual situations in silos. All I ask is for consideration to be given to that section of the community which is proactively supportive of the peace process. Any assistance which could be given would be much appreciated. Sin a bhfuil agam, a Chathaoirligh.