Dr. Thomas Leahy:

I would say if there is not to be a HIU in this State the most important thing is confidence of victim survivors in the process and among the public, in Ireland and the UK. There needs to be some form of oversight mechanism or individual while the process continues because if people have points they want to raise about particular cases or how they are being handled they must have a point of contact that can raise these at high Government levels and get a response and a dialogue. If that does not happen at the time I know from the research and what various interviewees say that there would not be confidence in that process. It would also ensure that things would not be left in such a way that afterwards people will say the process did not fulfil their expectations. That would be key. I would also have a concern, and this has been raised by some victim survivor groups and politicians, that some in the North wanted the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI, to oversee the process. They did however accept that would place a huge burden on the PSNI alongside contemporary policing needs. I would be concerned in this State too about how the Garda could deal with these often quite complex legacy cases alongside everyday policing matters, given the Garda's contemporary resource needs. That has to be considered and some of these oversight mechanisms can help with that process.