8. Mr. AndrewF. Bennett asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will set up an inquiry into the the operation of the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act.
§ Mr. PriorI have at present no plans to do so, but I shall give careful consideration to this possibility before the House next debates the renewal of the legislation.
Mr. BennettWill the Secretary of State confirm that we must renew the legislation soon and that there is a grave danger of emergency provisions drifting into permanent provisions? Does he accept that there is a good case for setting up an inquiry to look particularly into the way in which some aspects of the legislation can be phased out?
§ Mr. PriorI shall consider these matters ahead of the next renewal of the Act. However, the fact remains that violence and the terrorist capacity for violence are sufficiently high to require special measures, and I shall not give up those measures until violence is over and done with.
§ Mr. SoleyI am glad to know that at least the Government are thinking about the matter. Does the right hon. Gentleman realise that it is nine years since the Act came into force, that it was reviewed about two years after that, and that it was about another two and a half years before the amendments reached the statute book as a result of that review? In view of that time scale, surely there is a strong case for another review?
§ Mr. PriorI know that the desire for an inquiry is shared by hon. Members, and that is why I am having an inquiry into the operation of the Act. We shall have to see how we get on.