Oral Answers to Questions

Guto Bebb Excerpts

Wednesday 25th January 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Paterson]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question and he touches on the problem of arriving at uniform consensus. We were elected on a platform of no more costly and open-ended inquiries, because we do not like the asymmetry of applying an extraordinary intensity of effort and expense to a very small number of cases. That is why I am trying to find a broader approach, working with all local parties.

[Guto Bebb (Aberconwy) (Con)]

7. What assessment he has made of the work of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains; and if he will make a statement.

[The Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office (Mr Hugo Swire)]

I commend the work of the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains, which has to date located nine of the 16 disappeared. The commission is information-driven and is committed to investigating any further information it receives regarding the remaining seven disappeared.

[Guto Bebb]

Given the success of the commission and the closure it has helped to bring to many families, will my right hon. Friend assure the House that his Department will continue to ensure that the commission has all the resources necessary to complete its vital work?

[Mr Swire]

If my hon. Friend looks at the early-day motion, he will see that we and the Irish Government remain committed to the work of the ICLVR. We pay tribute to the two commissioners, Sir Kenneth Bloomfield from the British side and Frank Murray from the Irish side. They have done sterling work and they are in stand-by mode. We are determined to continue this work, if the information is available, to, we hope, bring some resolution to the families who have lost their loved ones.