Rose Conway-Walsh: Calls for prisoner supports and defence planning

Thank you very much and thank you Minister. Just a couple of questions. Myself and Deputy Maxwell met with some loyalist former prisoners last week and they were raising with us very similar things that Cushla had raised to us as well, former Republican prisoners, in terms of the reality of their everyday living and problems and issues that continue to arise for them in relation to travel and employment and several other things. Could I ask you to have a look at those issues, I know they were raised on the committee here before, to see what can be done in tackling those very practical issues, because I think they can be solved, well they need to be solved, we cannot just continue on from one generation to the other, because they described to us as well how their families continue to be impacted as well, and we are 28 years after the Good Friday Agreement thing, so I suppose my question to you Minister is, will you look at that area both for Republican and loyalist former prisoners and see what can be done? I am happy to engage with you, I am happy to engage beyond the committee here today. Okay, if you can and maybe report back to us. The other question I want to ask you, given the growing discussion on constitutional change, and now we see what's happened as well in terms of the First Ministers in Wales and in Scotland, and just the other academic work and so many preparatory work that has been done, what preparation has your department done, particularly in the area of defence and security, so has your department conducted scenario planning for defence arrangements in a United Ireland? So what I can say Deputy, perhaps not specific to a United Ireland, there is work that's underway and has been underway between our defence forces and UK defence forces, which obviously covers on an all island basis, that would be sharing of information, but also from a maritime perspective, of which there's obviously a huge amount of focus and a greater level of concern I think for many people for various different reasons, be it the shadow fleet, be it drone activity or be it the subsea cables, so that work is there and that work is happening and my own preference is that that work would be enhanced and that we would, I suppose, look to see how we can create an even stronger partnership and that would apply on an all island basis but also on an east west basis as well. I think more broadly, to your point, the political dynamic and the shift and changes at the moment have raised a lot of questions, but I don't want to maybe get into other jurisdictions or what may or may not happen. I think for all of us, there has been and there needs to continue to be a focus on how we can work more closely together on an all island basis, so we can get to a point at some stage where acknowledging that there are newer generations in Northern Ireland who have not known conflict and who may have particular views that we at some point reach a point where we're having that conversation and putting that question to people, but I do think we need to continue our work when it comes to reconciliation, when it comes to investing in the shared island fund, when it comes to the reconciliation fund through my own department, so that when we do get to that point, that enough work is done to ensure that enough people have benefited from the Good Friday Agreement and that we're not still dealing with the troubles and the legacy of the past. So I think that both should and can happen in tandem and that work can happen in tandem and I think the fact that whether it's from a security perspective, a justice perspective, an all island health perspective, an agricultural perspective, an energy perspective, there's a lot of work that is happening to make sure that we are working more closely together and that is positively impacting people's lives in the North, which really is what we ought to be doing. Indeed, and I certainly commend that work, but I suppose what I'm talking about is the extra responsibilities for you as Minister, that were there to be a referendum, and regardless of what people's constitutional preference would be, I think there's a responsibility on whatever Minister and whatever department, but particularly in your own area of defence and security, that people going in to vote in a referendum, and obviously you say within your statement you want the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, and there's provision within that. So would you consider doing a green paper or a white paper or indeed having a citizens' assembly so that people would know what it might look like? What defence and security might look like? Because there's just so many different elements of it in terms of the parity of esteem within the Good Friday Agreement, but in terms of personnel, in terms of sites or whatever. I just, you don't have to even answer me here now, but I think it's something that your own department needs to take very seriously. What I would say to that is that there's already work happening, so maybe from a reassuring point for people, that that all-island cooperation from a defence perspective is happening, not just north-south but east-west as well, and my work is to enhance that and to strengthen it. Beyond that, I think we all need to be open to looking at the implications, should that question be posed, and there is a particular outcome, the implications from an economic perspective, I know that Tony has just said recently he's open to a debate on the economic implications from a defence perspective, from an environment perspective, from an education perspective in so many different ways. So I think we need to be open, all of us, to having these discussions and to having this type of engagement, and certainly from a defence perspective I'm open to that.