Member

Inquests have already had a good airing in this debate. From the framework document, which seems to be the foundation of a lot of the measures involving the Irish Government, the numbers involved are clear. Nine inquests have already started. More recently, 20 inquests were directed by the Attorney General, and there are four remaining inquests from the previous five-year plan. There seems to be a working assumption in Government about how many will survive the Solicitor General’s sift, but we have not heard that figure today. It is incongruous: the Government rightly continue to say that the legacy commission complies with statutory obligations, discharges functions under article 2 and is good enough for everyone, but they also say that it is not good enough for a select few. I have not heard a satisfactory answer to why the Government are resisting the opportunity—given yesterday by new clause 55, or in this debate by amendment 51—to ensure that the legacy commission looks at all the cases, particularly given that there is an argument around consistency of approach.