Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what his Department's policy is on (a) what, (b) how and (c) for how long biometric data that is relevant to (i) ongoing and (ii) concluded Northern Ireland legacy cases is stored.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill contains provisions which will ensure that biometrics are available for use in future investigations by the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) into Troubles-related deaths or serious injuries.

These biometrics will only be retained for a finite period to allow the investigations to be completed, and must be destroyed by no later than the end of a reasonable period after the conclusion of the work of the ICRIR.