- Ulster Unionists support recommendations from Sir Anthony Hart
- Redress should not be delayed
Following the Chair of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry, Sir Anthony Hart, outlining his final recommendations, Ulster Unionist Party Leader Mike Nesbitt MLA said:
“The findings of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry cast a dark shadow over 73 shameful years of Northern Ireland’s past. The most vulnerable in our society, children, were let down as protection of the institutions trusted to care for them took precedence.
“We support the recommendations in full, it is the least survivors deserve after all these years.
“The strength and courage shown by those who gave evidence, as they had to relive painful, distressing memories needs to be matched with a commitment to deliver the recommendations from Sir Anthony Hart by those who now bear that responsibility.
“The fact that after a lifetime of waiting for an official acknowledgment of their suffering to find it is there but they can’t access it is simply obscene. Redress for victims of historical institutional abuse should not be frustrated because the Executive can’t get its act together. Ministers will stay in place until polling day and I call on them to do whatever it takes to action the recommendations from Sir Anthony Hart.
“The report and its recommendations will be discussed in the Assembly on Monday as Opposition parties have put it on the agenda. We won’t let this fade into the background because of the current Executive’s toxic politics.”