Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I am grateful to Ms Stone for briefing me shortly after her appointment and her subsequent engagement. Her presentation was excellent and dealt comprehensively with the different aspects of victims' needs and other legacies of the past. In the aftermath of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, Kenneth Bloomfield was appointed as victims commissioner in the North and the former Tánaiste, the late John Wilson, became victims commissioner in the South. Has Ms Stone succeeded Mr. Bloomfield, or is her role separate?

I endorse Mr. McDonnell's positive comments on the need to reach agreement on the Haass proposals. The SDLP, the Alliance Party and Sinn Féin worked positively and proactively on the proposals to reach agreement, but, unfortunately, the Unionist parties have not made the same commitment.

I gather from the tone of Ms Stone's comments that the services provided are not adequate to deal with people's personal and health problems or their educational needs. All of the victims are getting older and a cohort are now elderly. As time passes, it will become increasingly difficult to provide them with adequate services. Is the issue of providing adequate services for those in older age groups, in particular, being treated with the urgency it deserves?

I wish Ms Stone well in her work in this difficult area. As she correctly noted, the victims' needs should be paramount in all of the work done by the people of this island to address the issues arising.