Parliament
14 mentions of the inquiry in Parliament: debates, written questions and statements, oral questions and early day motions, from Hansard.
Murder of Patrick Finucane Independent Inquiry
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions took place, if any, between the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and representatives of the Finucane family regarding the appointment of the two assessors to the Patrick Finucane Inquiry; whether the family's consent was sought; and whether it was granted.
Under the Inquiries Act, the power to establish a statutory independent inquiry and the constitution of the inquiry lie with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
In the Secretary of State’s Written Ministerial Statement of 13 June, he set out that he had appointed Baroness O’Loan and Francesca Del Mese as Assessors to the Patrick Finucane Inquiry under section 11 of the Inquiries Act 2005 in accordance with the established appointments process. The Secretary of State then informed the Finucane family in the week of the announcement in line with customary practice. Their role is to provide expert advice to the Rt Hon Sir Gary Hickinbottom who has been appointed as Chair of the Inquiry under section 1 of the Act. I remain confident that these appointments have the relevant knowledge, experience and professionalism the Inquiry requires.
Read full answer →Public Inquiries: Finance
To ask His Majesty's Government how much public funding they have provided to public inquires in each of the last five years; and which are the current and anticipated (beginning in 2025) public inquiries to which they are providing, or are expecting to provide, support or funding.
Since 2020, His Majesty’s Government has supported 16 public inquiries under the Inquiries Act 2005. The Cabinet Office does not centrally hold data on the yearly public funding to inquiries as each Government Department is responsible for the inquiries they sponsor.
Four inquiries have been established so far in 2025. The Independent inquiry into Manston short-term holding facility and the Stockport Inquiry will be sponsored by the Home Office, the Nottingham Inquiry will be sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, and the Patrick Finucane Inquiry by the Northern Ireland Office.
Read full answer →Bloody Sunday Tribunal of Inquiry: Costs
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 15 October (HL1391), what have been the costs to date of the Cory report, the inquiry headed by Sir Desmond de Silva into the death of Patrick Finucane, the Stevens Inquiries and the Robert Hamill Inquiry.
As mentioned in my previous Written Answer, the Government takes reasonable steps to control the costs of inquiries, including capping legal costs as appropriate.
The Government asked Judge Peter Cory to re-investigate the death of Patrick Finucane. This was not a public inquiry but led to public inquiries into the deaths of Rosemary Nelson, Billy Wright, Robert Hamill and Patrick Finucane.
The Robert Hamill Inquiry is yet to publish its Report and therefore its final costs are not yet available. The Government is in the process of setting up the Patrick Finucane Inquiry and has considered the likely costs and impact on the public finances. The Government’s expectation is that the inquiry will avoid unnecessary costs given the work done in all the previous reviews and investigations and the large amount of information and material that is already in the public domain.
Sir Desmond de Silva was appointed to conduct an independent review into the death of Patrick Finucane, but like Cory, this was not a public inquiry. Sir John Stevens’ investigation was commissioned and funded by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (now PSNI).
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