Tom Elliott MLA, Ulster Unionist Justice spokesperson, has said Sinn Fein and the SDLP are putting nationalist politics ahead of the protection of children, after a UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed strong concerns that the National Crime Agency does not have full operational powers in Northern Ireland.
Mr Elliott said:
“Sinn Fein and the SDLP are putting Nationalist politics ahead of the protection of children through their failure to allow the National Crime Agency full operational powers in Northern Ireland.
“The Ulster Unionist Party has warned time and time again that we are more vulnerable to serious organised crime than any other part of the United Kingdom. We now have the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child saying:
“The committee is strongly concerned that in the absence of the legislative consent motion, the NCA does not have powers in the devolved sphere in Northern Ireland and therefore the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), integrated within the NCA, is not fully operational in Northern Ireland.”
“It is a total disgrace that children in Northern Ireland should have less protection because of the petty politics of Sinn Fein and the SDLP. They need to get real and support the National Crime Agency being given full operational powers in Northern Ireland.”