Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

47. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the implementation of the Independent Commission on Information Retrieval contained in the Stormont House Agreement which requires legislation to be passed through Dáil Éireann in the context of the current discussions in relation to legacy issues regarding the Troubles prompted by British proposals of a general amnesty. [42382/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The framework of the Stormont House Agreement, agreed by both Governments and the parties in Northern Ireland, provided for a set of institutions to deal comprehensively and fairly with the legacy of the Troubles. This framework included an Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (ICIR) for truth recovery, to be available to victims and survivors across the UK and Ireland.

The objective of the ICIR will be to enable victims and survivors to seek and privately receive information about the Troubles-related deaths of their next of kin.

The Irish and UK Governments concluded an agreement on the establishment of the ICIR in October 2015. As set out in that agreement, the Commission will consist of five members; an Independent Chairperson of international standing, appointed by the two Governments, one Commissioner each appointed by the Irish and UK Government, and two Commissioners appointed jointly by Northern Ireland's First Minister and deputy First Minister.

The ICIR agreement was signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in October 2015 and laid before the Oireachtas in January 2016. The Independent Commission can only be formally established once the necessary legislation has been enacted and the two Governments have notified each other of completion of all other domestic legal procedures required to bring the agreement into force.

As the Deputy is aware, proposals published by the British Government on 14 July represent a very radical departure from the Stormont House Agreement and we do not accept them as the basis of a way forward.

Where the British Government propose significant changes to that framework, these must be discussed and agreed by both Governments and the parties to the Northern Ireland Executive. Only through a collective approach can we hope to deal with these issues comprehensively and fairly and in a way that responds to the needs of victims, survivors and society.

Following a meeting of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 24 June, we agreed to begin an intensive process of engagement with the British Government and the Northern Ireland parties to find an agreed way forward, and this process is underway. The intention is to find an agreed way forward that will allow implementing legislation to be introduced in both the UK and Ireland by the end of the autumn.