John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A couple of issues arise with regard to the Northern Ireland Commission for Victims and Survivors and the Stormont House Agreement legacy bodies. The Deputy referred to the Ballymurphy case and if I have time, I will return to that. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, have received the advice paper on the legacy bodies from the Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, Ms Judith Thompson. The sharing of the commissioner's advice with the Government is welcome. I bring this up because it reflects the cross-Border nature of much of the legacy framework and that the families of victims and survivors have an equivalent interest in seeing an effective system in place for dealing with the past. The Government will consider closely the commissioner's paper as we continue to work with the implementation of the legacy framework of the Stormont House Agreement as soon as possible, with the needs of victims and survivors at the core of our approach. The Minister for Justice and Equality and the Tánaiste met the commissioner on 18 April to discuss her policy advice and suggestions to both Governments on implementing the Stormont House Agreement legacy framework.

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