Security (Hansard, 30 January 1992)

§ 8. Mrs. Gorman
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the security situation in Belfast.

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The security situation in Belfast is kept under constant review and the size and disposition of the security force effort there are adjusted as necessary. In recent weeks, a number of additional measures have been introduced and the security forces have had considerable success in disrupting planned terrorist activity.

§ Mrs. Gorman
I thank my hon. Friend for his reply. May I pass on to him some of the comments made to me by people I know in Belfast? They have welcomed the increased presence of our defence forces in their beleaguered city. May I draw to my hon. Friend's attention a report in the Sunday Express pointing out that paramilitaries convicted of bombing and murder are sheltering in the Republic are drawing more than £2 million per week in dole money and social security, paid for by the British taxpayer, while many would face reconviction if they returned to Ulster? Will my hon. Friend please look into the matter because those people are living off the system that they seek to destroy with their bombs and bullets?

§ Dr. Mawhinney
I know of my hon. Friend's deep interest in the affairs of the Province and I thank her for it. I am aware of the speculative piece to which she refers. An individual's entitlement to social security benefit, including whether or not he or she receives benefit, is confidential information. I confirm that all claims to benefit are treated strictly in accordance with the law, and benefit would not be paid to any person unless the entitlement was valid.

§ Mr. A. Cecil Walker
Will the Minister comment on the proposal to close the strategically placed Royal Ulster Constabulary station at Springfield parade in north-west Belfast?

§ Dr. Mawhinney
No, but if the hon. Gentleman has views that he would like to express to me on that closure, I should be delighted to hear from him.

§ Mr. Hume
Will the Minister ask the hon. Member for Billericay (Mrs. Gorman) to get her facts right and stop promoting bias in the House? Will he remind her that 98 per cent. of all people convicted of crimes of violence in Northern Ireland are residents of Northern Ireland?

§ Dr. Mawhinney
The hon. Gentleman has made his own effective point in his own effective way. Having read the article, I admit that aspects of it caused my eyebrows to rise.

§ Mr. Wilkinson
Can Her Majesty's Ministers use the time before there is any question of political talks resuming to take the initiative in the security situation in Belfast and elsewhere in the Province? For normal political life to be maintained in Northern Ireland, is it not critical to defeat terrorism, and must not that defeat come before political changes or constitutional arrangements?

§ Dr. Mawhinney
My hon. Friend makes a fair point, but he would wish to put it in the context of the fact that security policy works alongside political, economic and social policy. There is no quick fix to defeat terrorism in Northern Ireland. My hon. Friend should be in no doubt, however, that we have that commitment. May I encourage him by telling him that the Chief Constable's view is that four out of every five planned terrorist incidents in Northern Ireland are thwarted before they take place? Last year, we took 400 people to court charged with terrorist-related offences, including 38 for murder. My hon. Friend will have welcomed the substantial arms and explosives finds in Belfast just a few weeks ago.