Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry, DUP)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assistance his Department is providing to families in Northern Ireland who have yet to establish the location of the remains of relatives in order to allow for a proper burial.

Paul Goggins (Minister of State, Northern Ireland Office; Wythenshawe & Sale East, Labour)

The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) was established in 1999 by treaty between the UK Government and the Irish Government. The objective of the Commission is to facilitate the location of the remains of the victims of violence, killed before 10 April 1998, as a result of acts committed on behalf of an unlawful organisation which has been proscribed under the Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1996 in the UK or subject to a suppression order under the Offences Against the State Act 1939 in Ireland. These individuals are commonly known as 'The Disappeared'.

The Commission uses a range of investigative techniques in respect of information it receives about victims of violence within its remit. They aim to exhaust all reasonable steps to locate the remains of these individuals in order to facilitate a proper burial of those remains. They also aim to provide families with as much information as they can about the fate of their loved ones. The Commission shows tremendous dedication and commitment to their work, and their success in recovering the remains of Danny McIlhone in December 2008 is a testament to their approach.

I have met the families of the Disappeared on several occasions and I am always willing to listen to their concerns. In response to the views they raised initially with me the Northern Ireland Assembly has passed the Presumption of Death Act (Northern Ireland) 2009, enabling the families to gain some measure of closure by enabling the formal registration of the deaths of the Disappeared, and a confidential free telephone service for the ICLVR has been established. Some funding has also been provided to the WAVE Trauma Centre for their work with the families of the Disappeared.