Mr. Mark Thompson:

I reiterate what I said. We had a generation following the peace process that hoped this would be resolved. It has now passed to a new generation. This Act is not a full stop. It will not stop what it happening. It will add to further destabilisation. It is important to build on this. There are a number of parallels. This is having a corrosive effect on the body politic and civil society. There is a lack of confidence in the criminal justice system. There is a particular lack of confidence in policing because the PSNI is fighting a rearguard action to protect the RUC in the Belfast courts. We only have to look at the recent Sean Brown case when 18 boxes of sensitive information were withheld not only from the Irish Government, which was involved in a panel on the murder with a number of lawyers to build confidence to have it resolved, but also from the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and the courts. It only emerged last week that this sensitive information is being retained by the intelligence services and the PSNI. This could be replicated in case after case. It is having a corrosive effect. There is no support for policing when it comes to these issues. There is no confidence in the police to actively investigate or do anything and it is fighting this rearguard action.

We have that at one level and we also have the intergenerational trauma being handed to a new generation to pick up the baton and continue the fight. This just passes it on. The whole notion that the Act is being branded as reconciliation is a complete lie. It is a complete falsehood. It will not further the aim of achieving reconciliation; it will cause more disharmony, dismay and disillusionment. The people driving the Act care about one thing only, namely, the protection of British soldiers and their reputation with regard to their role in the conflict in our country. That is what is at the bottom of it. As the committee knows, other Oireachtas committees, particularly the Barron inquiry, sought co-operation from the UK in the handover of documentation and it refused to co-operate. This is in keeping with the modusof the UK with regard to how it approaches legacy. There will be more intergenerational trauma and all of the other associated elements I have just described.

To come back to the point made by the Cathaoirleach, we work with many families affected by many actors. At times there is an attempt to pigeonhole our organisation in a particular way by other people who probably do not want us doing the work we are doing. I am not for one second saying this is what was being done this morning. I am working with a number of families affected by the agent known as "Stakeknife". I have been working diligently for the past six years with a number of these families. Yesterday, a decision was made that there would be absolutely no prosecutions in quite a number of these cases. Ms Oliega Aiesta could probably speak about the impact of the Ombudsman's letters on families and the trauma this has been causing.

Every day is a traumatic experience for families, where the door is closed on them after hopes and promises died but do you know what? They are a brilliant and resilient people, and they continue. It has been humble to walk with them, support them and work with them. They have come through so much for this to be taken away from them through this Act, closing everything down and telling them, “You will not get anything. That is it. It is over.” This will not deliver and it is irredeemable. They are not fixing this. The beauty of the Stormont House Agreement was it was for everyone - all actors, regardless of who they were. If you were a victim, regardless of who the perpetrator was, this process worked for you. That is what we had but the UK did not want it because they were subject to it as well.