Source · Select Committees · Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
Second Report - The effect of paramilitary activity and organised crime on society in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Affairs Committee
HC 43
Published 1 February 2024
Recommendations
3
Acknowledged
Para 32
Engage DWP to improve universal credit access and develop NI childcare strategy
Recommendation
The high cost of living in Northern Ireland has contributed to a ‘cruel storm’ which paramilitary groups are exploiting to target vulnerable individuals. Single mothers in precarious financial situations are being targeted by paramilitary groups engaging in illegal money lending …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledged concerns about illegal money lending and stated the Northern Ireland Office will continue regular engagement with DWP to discuss these issues. It noted existing credit advice on the NI Direct website and deferred the childcare strategy development to the restored NI Executive, offering UK Government support for knowledge sharing.
Northern Ireland Office
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4
Acknowledged
Para 36
Set out approval process for NI EVAWG strategy during Executive suspension
Recommendation
We are concerned to hear about the gatekeeping of funding and other activity by paramilitary groups which has increasingly excluded women and the community and voluntary sector since the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. This has implications for the …
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Government Response Summary
The government welcomes the restoration of the NI Executive, seeing it as an opportunity for the Executive to progress a strategy on ending violence against women and girls, and highlights existing funding for related projects.
Northern Ireland Office
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7
Acknowledged
Para 53
Embed a safeguarding approach to prosecute paramilitary activity as modern slavery and exploitation.
Recommendation
Low prosecution rates for those who commit violent crime can act as a barrier to reporting the crimes of paramilitary groups and serve to perpetuate the impunity with which these groups act. An effective criminal justice system able to identify …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of safeguarding and prosecuting paramilitary-related crimes, noting that the devolved NI Executive is taking forward work including a Child Criminal Exploitation Task and Finish Group and an MSHT Strategy, which aim to strengthen the criminal justice system.
Northern Ireland Office
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10
Acknowledged
Para 64
Prioritise ending paramilitary harm as a strategic commitment in the Programme for Government.
Recommendation
Tackling paramilitarism in Northern Ireland requires a whole of Government approach. While we are mindful that it is ultimately a matter for any newly formed Executive to decide its priorities for government, we urge the next administration in Northern Ireland …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for a whole-of-government approach to tackling paramilitarism and sees the Executive's restoration as an opportunity to ensure this work remains a priority.
Northern Ireland Office
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11
Acknowledged
Undertake updated analysis of paramilitary activity to inform national security strategy scope in Northern Ireland.
Recommendation
There is a live debate as to whether the current scope of national security, as it relates to Northern Ireland, should be revised to include threats other than those to democracy and the state, such as paramilitary activity like drug …
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Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the need for a whole-of-government approach and commits to keeping under ongoing review the effectiveness of mechanisms for coordinating responses to threats from terrorism, paramilitarism, and organised crime, stating roles are well understood.
Northern Ireland Office
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Conclusions (2)
1
Conclusion
Acknowledged
The term ‘paramilitarism’ is complex and contested in Northern Ireland. We heard how use of the term can risk romanticising the presence of gangs who engage in overt criminality and attempt to exercise coercive control over the communities they seek to prey upon. At the same time, however, terms such …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the importance of safeguarding children and young people from abuse by paramilitary or organised crime gangs.
9
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 62
The continued presence of paramilitary groups, 25 years on from the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, represents a festering wound on society in Northern Ireland. Given the delineation of responsibilities between the Government and the Northern Ireland Executive in tackling terrorist and paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland, the lack of an Executive …
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges the assessment that tackling paramilitarism requires a whole-of-government approach, noting the Executive's restoration as an opportunity to prioritize this work and ensure coordination.