The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Hugo Swire)
I regret that the oral answer given to the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon) on 25 January, Official Report, column 290, contained an error. The case of Lisa Dorrian, raised by the hon. Member for North Down, falls outside the remit of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains. The commission was established to obtain information, in confidence, which may lead to the location of the remains of victims of paramilitary violence, “The Disappeared”. “The Disappeared” is defined for this purpose as those killed and buried in secret by illegal organisations prior to 10 April 1998 as a result of the Northern Ireland conflict. Lisa Dorrian disappeared in 2005 and therefore her case is outside this remit.
The correct answer is as follows:
Mr Swire
: I suspect that the only thing that can give partial closure to the hon. Lady’s constituents is the location of this individual. I am not certain whether the hon. Lady has signed the early-day motion, but if she has not I urge her to do so. Clearly, if the information is there the Police will act on it, but the case of Lisa Dorrian does not lie within the commission’s remit as her disappearance occurred in 2005. The commission is only able to examine the cases of those who disappeared before 10 April 1998, as a result of the Northern Ireland conflict. In terms of the remaining cases of the Disappeared that the commission is dealing with, I can assure the hon. Lady that it will be properly resourced for this work both by ourselves and by the Irish Government. We are absolutely determined that we will work our way through as many of the missing as we can, but I stress that this is an information-led process and we urge anyone and everyone with any information to bring it before the two commissioners.