Ulster Unionist Victims spokesperson, Mike Nesbitt, has called for urgent clarification and transparency regarding the decision to cut funding to FAIR, (Families Acting for Innocent Relatives) in south Armagh. The Strangford MLA and former Victims Commissioner said: "The decision to cut funding, and to claw back 350,000 already paid, could mean the end of the organisation, yet when I spoke to FAIR Director Wilie Frazer last night, he had not been given any reason why FAIR are being excluded. If the PSNI have evidence of misconduct or maladministration, or OFMDFM have uncovered something, then it is only right and proper FAIR are told. Openness and transparency are values we say we put at the heart of the way we do government. Having talked the talk, it's time to walk the walk and tell us what's wrong.

 "In my time as Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, I was struck by two things. 

Firstly, the vague talk of a new Victims Service gave many victims group an uneasy feeling that the hidden agenda was to get rid of them, and I have to say, the fact the Service is still not up and running has done nothing to dispel that fear.

 The second point is that it strikes me government tends to hand out money and then send in the auditors with the big stick to make sure the funding was properly spent. Victims groups are not started by people who are competent in accountancy, or the law, or human resource management. They are run by people who care.

 There is a gap between the funder and the auditor, which the devolved administration could fill with a travelling support service of specialists in all the competences required to run the back office services support groups are required to manage. Once again, the process of running a support group has become more important to government that the outcomes the support group was set up to achieve in the first place.

 That is, of course, a general point, and without transparency and clarity, I cannot say if it applies to FAIR, which is why we need to hear from the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on their decision to cut funding."