Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2024
335. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if she will liaise with her British counterparts to establish a body akin to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains to perform a similar function in relation to the 'disappeared' of the 1916-1923 period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20260/24]
View answer356. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if she will establish a body akin to the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains to perform a similar function in relation to the 'disappeared' of the 1916-1923 period; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20259/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 335 and 356 together.
As the Deputy may be aware, the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) was established by the Governments of Ireland and the UK, arising directly from the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The Good Friday Agreement was the culmination of significant effort to end the most recent phase of the Northern Ireland-related conflict which claimed over 3,000 lives during a thirty year period (1969 – 1998), and what we refer to as ‘the Troubles’.
The Good Friday Agreement specifically provided that it was essential to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of violence as a necessary element of reconciliation. It is in this context that the agreement on the formation of the ICLVR was signed by the UK and Irish Governments.
The ICLVR is responsible for facilitating the location of the remains of victims of paramilitary violence (known as 'the Disappeared') who were murdered and secretly buried arising from the troubles. In practice, the Commission is reliant on information provided by people who were close enough to individuals and to events at the time to have information that would be considered credible. Those who come forward with information are guaranteed confidentiality and the law provides immunity from prosecution to individuals in respect of information gathered by the Commission in the course of its work - it was considered necessary to give these guarantees in order to get the information needed.
The Deputy will appreciate that the investigation of historic cases from the period 1916 – 1923 would, at this remove, be quite a different exercise to that engaged in by the ICLVR and one that would be missing the important input of individuals with first hand knowledge of the events concerned. I hope that the Deputy will understand that in these circumstances, the practical extent to which a body analogous to the ICLVR could provide a useful means of addressing these cases would be open to question.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge and remember the families and friends of missing people in Ireland and the ongoing pain and the lack of closure they suffer in the absence of the remains of their loved ones. I am committed to doing everything possible to ensure families have the best chance of having missing person cases resolved, and since 2023, the details of unidentified remains held by the Coroners in the State have been published by my Department, in recognition that efforts continue to bring about such closure.
