Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the continuing validity of the assessment of the structure, role and purpose of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland published on 19 October 2015.

The 2015 assessment was commissioned due to specific concerns. It was a one-off factual assessment from the UK security agencies and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) on the structure, role and purpose of paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland and was intended to inform the then ongoing cross-party talks.

The PSNI and security partners continue to work to keep the people of Northern Ireland safe, including continually monitoring the threat from paramilitary and terrorist groups to inform their operational response to these harms.