Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the two witnesses for the great work they are doing. Francie Molloy asked all the questions I intended to ask, but I will highlight a couple of matters. We took a trip to Bridge of Hope in Belfast where we met two ex-prisoners, one from the loyalist side and one from the republican side. It was very powerful because both of them spoke about struggling with the same issues.

One of them told us his granddaughter had gone through the process of applying to get into the police force in London but eventually she did not get in. What we heard was heartbreaking. The republican ex-prisoner spoke about not being able to get car insurance cover and neither could his son or daughter get insurance cover. That brought home the issues they face. It is a catch-22 situation. Are they the issues that witnesses deal with daily in trying to help people? What can we, as a committee, specifically do to support them? That is what we would like the witnesses to tell us today. Will they outline in a structured, simple way what we could do?

With regard to the PEACE IV funding, has the organisation got some funding from the EU down through the years? Also, is Brexit a cause of concern for the future in the area in which the witnesses work?