Tom Elliott MLA, Ulster Unionist Justice spokesperson, has said that the public won’t thank Sinn Fein and the SDLP for playing fast and loose with the safety of children through their failure to support the National Crime Agency being given full operational powers in Northern Ireland.
The Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA said:
“The losers in this impasse are our children. They are the ones who are being put at risk by the vacuum which has been created by the failure of Sinn Fein and the SDLP to set aside their petty political agendas and apply common sense to this situation. This is simply not a risk worth taking.
“I contacted the Department of Justice following the recent National Crime Agency UK wide operation targeting those accessing child abuse images online. In their correspondence DoJ states that the PSNI 'may not always have the capacity to respond as they would wish to in such cases. This is one of the reasons why it is important that the current situation with the National Crime Agency is resolved so they can provide the same level of support and input in Northern Ireland as elsewhere.'
“It is chilling to consider what the implications may be if the scale of an NCA operation demands more than current PSNI resources can cope with.
“Nationalist politicians can try and muddy the waters all they want, but the public aren’t blind and they won’t thank Sinn Fein and the SDLP for playing fast and loose with the safety of children.”