HC Deb 27 November 2002 vol 395 c293W
21. Dr. Julian Lewis

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the security implications of the theft of documents from police and Government offices. [81619]

Mr. Paul Murphy

The Government take the break-in at Castlereagh and the alleged terrorist intelligence-gathering operation at Stormont very seriously.

Sir John Chilcot has been asked to conduct a review of the national security implications of the break-in at Castlereagh. A progress report has been received from Sir John, but as you will understand, the nature of the material it contains means that it is not appropriate to make it public.

A team from the Security Service is currently undertaking a review of security procedures in the Northern Ireland Office, and I look forward to reading their report. Progress on their recommendations may be made within weeks as improvements are identified, but the review cannot be concluded until after the related police investigations are concluded.