Lord Weir of Ballyholme (DUP)

My Lords, I associate myself with the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Caine, in passing on condolences to the family of Conor Bradford. I also associate myself with the remarks of all who have spoken on this Statement so far on the absolute abhorrence and condemnation of the brutal and evil murder of Robert Hamill. It is clear, in this and other matters, that the law should always be obeyed, that the rule of law should be paramount and that no one should be above the law. Unfortunately, what we have seen in this report has not told us a great deal that we did not already know. The one former police officer who disgraced the badge by being involved in terrible criminal acts has been to court and been convicted and sentenced for his crimes. The report concluded that there was no collusion between the RUC and those responsible for the murder. Those are all facts that we knew already. Given the fact that the report has taken 29 years since the murder of Robert Hamill and more than 20 years, albeit through very unusual circumstances, since the inquiry started, during which the Hamill family has had to await the final report, as well as the fact that the cost to the public purse to produce something that does not take us very much further forward in terms of new information is £33 million, do the Government acknowledge, in hindsight, that perhaps we would have been better finding a more focused and effective route to deal with this matter?