To ask the Minister of Justice for an update on tackling paramilitary activity and crime in East Antrim.

Mrs Long

Members will be aware that, although the Executive action plan 'Tackling Paramilitary Activity, Criminality and Organised Crime' is coordinated by my Department, the programme is cross-cutting in nature. Good progress has been made, but we are all too aware that countering the enduring, pervasive nature of paramilitarism requires a long-term, genuinely collaborative approach across government, working closely with community partners. From a law enforcement perspective, the south-east Antrim UDA remains a priority group for the paramilitary crime task force (PCTF). Recent convictions in the area have related to drugs, ammunition and offensive weapon offences. The paramilitary crime task force continues to work with colleagues in local districts to tackle paramilitary activity and crime. In the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area, a local drugs strategy has been implemented, not only to target those individuals causing most harm to communities but to support the victims of such activity. Learning from the delivery of the programme to date has underlined the importance of developing collaborative models of working between statutory agencies and community partners on the ground to respond effectively to issues in areas that are vulnerable to paramilitary coercion and control. That place-based working will be developed further in phase 2 of the programme. Multi-agency partnership working is already evident in a number of initiatives being delivered under the programme. Those are active in East Antrim and include the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council youth support hub, which is a multi-agency support network supporting vulnerable young people at risk of being influenced or controlled by paramilitary groups. In addition, the Carrickfergus and Larne area has been identified as one of eight priority areas for the focus of the Communities in Transition (CIT) project. A number of projects are being delivered in the area on issues relating to community safety, community capacity-building and restorative justice.

Members will be aware that tackling paramilitary activity and criminality is a priority for the Executive. The initiatives that I have described today are specific to the needs of individuals and communities in east Antrim, but continued investment is leading real change for the better for individuals and communities across Northern Ireland. Collaborative working across Departments, drawing on all their strengths, can really deliver positive change.

Mrs Long

I thank the Member for his comments. No one who saw the 'Spotlight' programme last week that featured those affected by the murder of Glenn Quinn could fail to be moved and appalled by what they heard. He was an innocent man who was brutally murdered. The Quinn family have my full support in standing up against those thugs. I encourage anyone with information to contact the PSNI or to go through Crimestoppers, an independent charity that allows people to provide information anonymously. For people to do that, they must have confidence that there will be a response. I have confidence that, if people report that information to the PSNI, there will be a criminal justice response to those who are behind that activity. It is incredibly important that that is the case.

Mr Beggs

Drug dealing, loan-sharking and brutal violence are hallmarks of organised crime groups. Let us not beat around the bush. It is clear that abusive members of gangs are taking advantage of their local community. I ask the Minister when those responsible for some of the murders will be brought to account. How will she support vulnerable members of the community who have to live there? How can they be protected so that they can be assured that they can live safely with their friends and families?

Mrs Long

The Member makes an important point. For those in communities whom we ask to come forward with information, there is a huge vulnerability and a fear. We already know that people can be murdered in their home simply because they have made an offhand comment about thuggery or drug dealing in their community. They are absolutely ruthless organisations. They are interested only in feathering their own nests at the expense of the local community. They are not paramilitaries; they are parasites. They feed off the backs of local communities, and they destroy local communities. It is important that we have a criminal justice response. We can do that only with the full cooperation of the community. It is a question of testing the justice system by bringing forward that information to the PSNI and others. If people feel afraid, they should use Crimestoppers to do that anonymously and allow us to work with the PSNI to ensure that those people can be brought to justice. I would be happy for more of those people to be brought to justice and brought to justice very quickly so that the rest of our community can move on and live in peace.

Ms Dillon

Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Thank you — Principal Deputy Speaker. I almost forgot it in English. Apologies. I also watched the 'Spotlight' programme and reiterate the remarks of others who have offered condolences to the family. It was difficult to watch. As somebody who also received a threat for speaking up for others who had been threatened by the organisation that we are talking about, I say that we cannot have enough legislation and policing on the issue. Can the Minister give us a timetable for the additional legislation to tackle organised crime that was consulted on late in 2020?

Mrs Long

There are a number of threads to the Member's question. I am happy to provide her with a detailed response about the work that the Department is doing. I can give an updated response about the work that commenced last year, with the full support of the Justice Committee, in relation to the commencement in Northern Ireland of the remaining parts of the Criminal Finances Act 2017. We hoped that that work would be brought forward at Westminster in the first quarter of this year. Given the pressures on the legislative programme there, it will now be brought forward by June at the latest. However, the four required pieces of subordinate legislation have been drafted and are going through. Four more pieces are to be done in collaboration with Westminster so that that can complete its course. At that point, we will have access to all parts of the Criminal Finances Act, which includes unexplained wealth orders, forfeiture of accounts and a whole series of other penalties. I firmly believe that, while these individuals use a cloak of political cover to undertake their acts, they are motivated purely and simply by greed. If there were no money in this, they would not be in it either. The sooner we remove the assets that they accrue as a result of their criminal activity, the sooner we will put a stop to what is going on in those communities.

Mr O'Toole

Minister, in your previous answer, you mentioned political cover being given to these organisations. We cannot ignore the fact that this is happening in the context of increased tension around post-Brexit trade arrangements. Do you agree that there is a real risk that these criminal organisations will use that tension to give cover to their vile acts? Do you agree that it is incumbent on all of us to ensure that, in our words, we do not enable or give "cover" to those organisations to do that?

Mrs Long

I say to the Member: so it is and so it has always been. People exploit every tension in our community to give some form of political legitimacy to the work that they do in intimidating, bullying, threatening and murdering people in their own communities. It is nothing new, but it is every bit as horrendous now as it ever was during the Troubles. From the perspective of leadership, there is a conversation that we all need to have with organisations that are still wedded to paramilitarism. It is a simple conversation, which is to ask when they are due to stop. There is nothing to be said beyond that. The time has come and gone for people to continue talking about wanting to move forward, particularly when one month they say that they want to move forward, and the next month they rattle sabres about the potential for further violence. You cannot ride two horses. You must choose. If you want to move away from violence, you should get on with it. Show us your bona fides and do it, and you will get nothing but support from those of us in the Assembly Chamber. If you want to continue to use violence and the threat of violence to coerce your community, you will meet with nothing from the Assembly Chamber; you will meet with a police response.

Mr Principal Deputy Speaker

I remind Members that question 13 has been withdrawn, although the Minister would have set a record if she got to question 13. Topical question 7 has also been withdrawn.