Apr. 01 2026
Source Page: Secretary of State announces the extension of NIO Lead Non-Executive Board MemberAsked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the answer of 4 September 2025, to Question 70519, on Public Inquiries, what has been the total public cost to date of the Inquiry into the preventability of the Omagh bombing.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Government has the deepest sympathy for all of those affected by the Omagh bomb in August 1998. It was a terrible atrocity committed by the Real IRA at a time when the people of Northern Ireland were looking to a future without violence. Our thoughts are with those who have taken part in the hearings to date and particularly with all those victims affected by the events of that terrible day more than 27 years ago.
The Omagh Bombing Inquiry is an independent statutory public inquiry, established to investigate whether the bombing could reasonably have been prevented. While I am the Sponsor Minister for the Inquiry, it is rightly independent from Government. Inquiry spend is therefore an operational matter for the Inquiry which they publish on their website on a regular basis.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Government is taking steps to support voluntary search and rescue organisations in Northern Ireland, including K9 Search and Rescue (NI); and whether he has had discussions with relevant departments on the provision of funding to assist such organisations in carrying out their work.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Co-ordination of land and inland water rescue is devolved, with search and rescue policy the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Department of Justice and co-ordination of land and inland water search and rescue operations falling to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. I have had no discussions on the provision of funding to assist such organisations but understand that the Northern Ireland Department of Justice provides approximately £100,000 of grant funding each year, which is shared across the current nine voluntary search and rescue organisations to help to sustain their capability.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department has spent on special severance payments in each of the last three years.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The total value of severance payments is set out in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts, which are available for the last three years at: GOV.UK
Mar. 25 2026
Source Page: Minister’s Boston visit puts NI's tech sector in the spotlightWritten Evidence Mar. 25 2026
Inquiry: Policing and security in Northern IrelandOral Evidence Mar. 25 2026
Inquiry: Policing and security in Northern Ireland