Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether it remains the assessment of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and MI5 that the Provisional IRA (PIRA) continues to exist, including the Provisional Army Council (PAC) and, if so, whether the relationship between the PAC, PIRA and Sinn Féin remains as was set out in the assessment of the structure, role and purpose of paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland published on 19 October 2015.

The ‘Paramilitary Groups in Northern Ireland’ report was published in 2015 by the UK Government in order to provide 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. This public assessment, which was intended to inform the then ongoing cross-party talks, has not been repeated.

Although it is acknowledged that some individuals engaged in serious criminality may also have ties to former paramilitary Republican organisations, such activity does not present a threat to national security.

The PSNI and UK security agencies continually assess the threat, risk and harm posed by paramilitary, terrorist and organised crime groups to inform the most appropriate operational response. The threat from Northern Ireland Related Terrorism (NIRT) is assessed by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), after MI5 passed over responsibility earlier this year. JTAC keeps the Threat Level in from NIRT under constant review and formally reviews it twice a year. However, the threat is wholly driven by violent Dissident Republicans who reject the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and not by Groups that support the GFA.

Where any criminality exists, the Government is clear that it should be dealt with fully by the police.