§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether any evidence gathered by the Stevens inquiry into allegations of collusion between members of the security forces and paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland was destroyed as a result of the fire in the office of the inquiry in the Royal Ulster Constabulary complex at Carrickfergus, County Antrim.
§ Mr. Cope[holding answer 15 January 1990]: I understand that it has not so far been possible to assess fully the damage and loss of documents following the fire at the Seapark complex on 10 January. However, as Mr. Stevens made clear in his press statement on 11 January, duplicate files of the investigation were kept at a separate location as a matter of routine and his investigation has not been disrupted.