Mr. John Finucane:

I will follow on from Mr. Hazzard's last question. I was looking forward to engaging in reference to some of the papers provided in advance. I must say I have been very disappointed by that comment. I have not been reassured by what sounded like a qualified retraction of the comment - which was very deliberate - that there is a legal industry in the North based on legacy cases. People have made similar comments before, for example, Mr. Hazzard referenced Teresa Villiers. The right-wing English press has made those statements before. I have never heard the families themselves make those statements before. There are families like the Ballymurphy and Springhill families, or Patsy Kelly's family last week and others who have been forced to go to the courts or enter into a legal process, whether that is civil or with our ombudsman.

I am not aware of any example where those families have turned around and felt let down by their lawyers or saw their lawyers doing anything other than advocating for their rights to the best of their ability. That comment was disgraceful and I do not use that word lightly.

It also comes in a context where in respect of legacy, lawyers have been vilified for the work they do, particularly when they take on the state in certain areas. Mr. Yeates's retraction was a qualified one. He referenced that he tried to have improved relationships with the CAJ. The CAJ are not practitioners. There are a number of small firms in the North that are practitioners and have fought very skilfully and professionally for a number of years to the best of their ability on their clients' behalf. The comments he made have been rightly condemned by the Law Society of Northern Ireland whenever they have been made by other political persons and the press. Because of that comment, I see no point in engaging with him any further on the opening statement that has been provided or the legal analysis that had been provided which, in advance of today, I had looked forward to. I want to take this opportunity to register my disappointment that he used the platform today in front of our committee to make the comment he made.