I have received notice from the First Minister and the deputy First Minister that they wish to make a statement. Before I call the First Minister, I remind Members that they must be concise when asking a question. It is not an opportunity for long introductions.

The deputy First Minister and I wish to inform Members that the Executive Office will launch a public consultation on proposals to establish a statutory public inquiry and a financial redress scheme for those affected by mother-and-baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses and their pathways and practices. The consultation will be launched this week.

Today marks another important milestone and an acknowledgement of the suffering inflicted on mothers and children in mother-and-baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses. We have spoken directly to survivors, and we know that they still suffer the trauma of their appalling experiences, a trauma that was only ever made worse by years of being ignored when they sought the justice that they deserved. At the meeting with survivors, we thanked them for their significant efforts to seek the truth and an acknowledgement of the terrible wrongs that they and others endured. We welcome the cross-party interest and support that this important matter has attracted to date. As Members are already aware, we are keen to keep the work moving so that those affected and their families can access truth, acknowledgement and accountability. I am sure that we can all agree that they have waited for far too long, and we all want to play our part to address the most difficult and shameful part of our past.

The public consultation aims to gather a wide range of views. That will help shape the necessary legislation to set up the inquiry to establish answers to the three core questions: what happened, why it happened and who was responsible. Additionally, we want to avoid the mistakes of the past, where victims and survivors were required to wait for too many years before they could access financial redress. That is why the scheme will provide for a more immediate and standardised payment initially. A further, individually assessed payment will also be made available following the work of the inquiry.

Victims and survivors have long campaigned for justice, and, while we are aware that it has taken too long to get to this point, we want to recognise some of the work achieved since the Executive agreed the truth recovery design panel's recommendations in November 2021. Notably, the first phase of the investigation has already begun, with the appointment of the Truth Recovery Independent Panel in April 2023. We thank the panel for the publication of its interim report last month. For both the independent panel and the statutory inquiry to carry out meaningful investigations, it is vital that they have access to records that they can assess in order to make evidence-based recommendations.

For that reason, we are pleased to update Members on the significant progress that has already been achieved in that area. Since the House passed the Preservation of Documents (Historical Institutions) Act 2022 in March of that year, PRONI has been able to engage with institutions and begin the process of accessing, preserving, digitising and cataloguing approximately 4,500 private records, with over 3,000 of those items having already been deposited.

All of that work is being progressed in parallel with the delivery of dedicated and specialist support for victims and survivors through the Victims and Survivors Service (VSS), in partnership with WAVE Trauma Centre and Adopt NI. Those services have been designed with victims and survivors' groups and others to make sure that they are survivor-led, accessible and responsive. Over 300 people have been able to access those support services to date.

Yesterday, the deputy First Minister and I met victims and survivors from the consultative forum. We felt that it was important that they hear first-hand about the next steps for the public consultation, and we wanted to thank them for all their efforts to this point. They now need the establishment of a public inquiry and delivery of the redress scheme without delay.

Members will know from our statement on the legislative programme in recent weeks that we hope to see the draft Bill to establish the public inquiry and the financial redress scheme introduced in the Assembly before the end of this year. The consultation will run for 12 weeks. It will involve a series of online and in-person events that will allow those affected to ask questions and gain a better view of the proposals and help them to contribute. We encourage everyone who has an interest in the shape of the inquiry and redress scheme to get involved. That includes those directly or indirectly affected by the institutions, members of statutory and non-statutory organisations, health and social care professionals and the wider general public. All views expressed as part of the consultation will be fully considered before finalising the draft Bill. The Bill will be brought to the Executive for agreement before being introduced to the Assembly.

Finally, in launching the consultation, we acknowledge again the tireless and effective campaigning of all the victims and survivors that has helped to bring us to this point. Their patience, determination and dignity throughout these years have been absolutely remarkable. We hope that the steps announced today will provide them with some comfort and reassurance that we, as an Executive and Assembly, are committed to supporting them.

Thank you, First Minister. Before I bring in Members to ask questions, I must explain that a lot of Members rose in their places at the same time. If Members bear with us and try to get up and down again, we will try to ensure that they are listed to speak.

I thank the First Minister for her statement, which is really welcome and long overdue. Will she give a commitment that, if any religious order does not contribute fully to the redress scheme, the state will pursue its assets to secure payment in full? Will you confirm the date when we will know the value of the final payments?

The public consultation is about gathering all the information, about the framework on which we will proceed and about giving powers to the panel and the inquiry to scope out all the information on how women ended up in the institutions and what happened to their children in mother-and-baby cases. We need to find out all that information to take it forward.

We have already started the work of engagement with the institutions. As I said in relation to historical institutional abuse, we need to pursue the institutions. They have to pay redress, because that is also part of the healing process. That will be an ongoing piece of work as we move through this area of work now. The priority for the consultation is to put a shape to the inquiry: what the inquiry will look at, what its scope should be and the panel work as well. This is very informative, but it is absolutely an opportunity for us to get this right in this instance. We are all determined to do that.

Today is an important milestone for the birth mothers, adult adoptees and their families, who have campaigned for many years for truth, justice and accountability. Given that there is a long road ahead, will the First Minister establish a role for an interim advocate to provide individualised support to those seeking to contribute to the inquiry and/or seek redress?

It is really important that we look at how we are accessible in the consultation. Yesterday, when we met the victims and survivors forum, we made it clear to them that we want to be accessible. We will establish ways for them to engage, and there will be someone to help them to do that. Language is important when we talk about a horrific time in people's lives. We have to be sensitive to that. I want to make sure that we are sensitive in the consultation. We will work with the victims and survivors' group and with the engagement forum and make sure that we create space so that people can sit down and, in their way, put across their views on what should happen. I am absolutely determined and think that we can do the right thing by victims and survivors and make sure that everything that is required for them to participate fully is done.

I welcome today's statement and wholeheartedly acknowledge the significance of this for the victims and survivors. Will the First Minister set out what powers the public inquiry will have?

The deputy First Minister will respond.

I thank the Member for her question. There will be bespoke legislation on this, albeit it will be similar to the powers provided for in the Inquiries Act 2005. There were elements of this that required bespoke legislation, and that is exactly what we are consulting on. There are 40 pages of consultation that goes through each of those clauses in detail. On many of the issues, no doubt, there will be consensus, but there are key questions on which we will seek the views of the public but, absolutely and in particular, the views of victims and survivors and those most impacted.

I welcome the statement, which launches the consultation on proposals to establish a public inquiry and a financial redress scheme. The First Minister mentioned access to records. Many of those who presented evidence to the Executive Office Committee raised that matter and their frustration about it. Will the First Minister say more on how the Executive Office will assist people in accessing their personal records?

Thank you for that question. We all recognise the difficulties caused by not having access to records. For many victims and survivors, it has been a real cause of distress and, for obvious reasons, frustration. As the Member will know, access to adoption records is the responsibility of the Department of Health, which, we understand, worked closely with victims and survivors of mother-and-baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses to revise the guidance used by the health and social care trusts, which was published in November 2023. The updated guidance has been implemented, so it is now in effect. Officials will continue to closely monitor the situation. There seems to have been some positive movement on it, and we hope that that is maintained over the monitoring period, which ends in November 2024. We are, however, aware of continued issues in some areas. Individuals are being supported with those issues as well.

I am delighted that my private Member's Bill, which passed in March 2022 and was enacted as the Preservation of Documents (Historical Institutions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, is making a significant contribution to initial investigations into that terrible blot on our past. No such legislation exists in the Republic of Ireland, and records are being lost. Will the Executive Office lobby the Government in Dublin to close that gap and make sure that any salvaged records are made available to the inquiry? We have also talked about compensation. Will compensation come from the public purse or from the organisations involved in that stain on our care of those who were some of the most vulnerable people in our community?

I thank the Member for his question and pay tribute to him for his private Member's Bill. The feedback on that legislation has been hugely positive. It is facilitating very valuable work. The First Minister and I should certainly raise that legislation with the Republic of Ireland Government as a good example of what needs to be done. Access to personal information will be critical not only to the families and those impacted who want to get a better understanding of what happened but to the inquiry. It will feed through to the redress payments. It may not necessarily feed through to the standardised payment, although it might, but it will feed through to individually assessed payments in particular. It is good legislation, and other jurisdictions should certainly take account of it. In this context, in which there are cross-border elements, it is important that the Irish Government also consider that issue.

I thank the First Minister for her statement. As others outlined, the statement will be welcomed by victims and survivors, who have suffered for many years, particularly the women and their adult children. First Minister, you outlined that you met members of the Victims and Survivors Consultation Forum yesterday. Can you confirm that victims and survivors will have access to the consultation document before anyone else?

Yes. That is really important. The deputy First Minister and I listened to that request very carefully when we met the victims and survivors yesterday. They were eager, for the right reasons, obviously, to have sight of the document before it becomes public, given the sensitivity around the consultation. We committed to ensuring that that is the case. After we have given this statement to the House, we will immediately get the consultation document to the Victims and Survivors Consultation Forum, so that its members will, hopefully, have it a full two days in advance of its being made public on Thursday.

Will the deputy First Minister detail what support services are in place for the victims and survivors? I join others in welcoming the statement and the progress that has been made so far.

I thank the Member for his question. A key aspect of the work has been to recognise that, for many of those who have been most impacted, going through the process can be a very traumatising and retraumatising experience. I have no doubt that there will be many difficult times ahead for many of those victims and survivors as well. It was really important that, from the outset, a process was in place to offer help and support. I am pleased to say that we have been working through the likes of the Victims and Survivors Service, and over 300 victims and survivors have reached out for help and support. We anticipate that, as the process rolls forward and there are, for example, advertisements to encourage people to come forward, more people, other than the 300 whom I mentioned, will make themselves known. The demand on the support mechanisms will increase as we go through the consultation, and we must meet that need.

I thank the First Minister and deputy First Minister, and I welcome the announcement; it is progress. How will they ensure that a trauma-informed approach is taken in dealing with victims and survivors of the institutions as they navigate the public inquiry and redress scheme?

Thank you for that. The Department is committed to ensuring that we adhere to the five guiding principles of trauma-informed practice: safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, choice and empowerment. All members of the truth recovery programme team have undertaken training in trauma-informed practice, and they endeavour to provide a safe and respectful forum.

As we all know, these are very difficult and sensitive areas. We absolutely acknowledge — we did so again yesterday, when we met victims and survivors — that language is crucial when we talk about such a sensitive topic. We understand that, even within the victim and survivor family, there is, perhaps, a difference in how people come at the issues to do with suitable terminology. We do not want to add to anybody's distress, so it is important that we are guided by the trauma-informed principles, which help to ensure that we take the best possible approach.

I thank the First Minister for her statement, which is important for the victims, survivors and campaigners of so many years. Will social security benefits be disregarded for the purpose of payments?

I will answer that question. Yes, we aim for social security benefits to be disregarded, in common with other payments in the redress schemes that the Department has rolled out. We are confident that that will be done. It has been discussed a number of times, and, indeed, the consultation will touch on it. We are confident that those benefits will be disregarded for the purpose of payments.

How will the Executive Office ensure that the ongoing work is trauma-informed?

As I said, it is really important that everything that we do is trauma-informed and that we adhere to the five guiding principles of safety, trustworthiness, collaboration, choice and empowerment. All members of the truth recovery programme team have undertaken their training in that area. The issues are sensitive and difficult, so it is crucial that we are all guided by that.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chéad-Aire as ucht a ráitis.

[Translation: I thank the First Minister for her statement.]

Will the First Minister outline the process for standardised and individually assessed payments?

I thank the Member for his question. There will be a twin-track approach to the schemes, with the process for standardised payments to roll out at the same time as the substantive inquiry. That may be an unusual approach, but it is very much based on our experience of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. In that case, the inquiry came first, and a huge amount of valuable work was done during it, but it took years, and we are conscious that the victims and survivors have needs right now. That made its way into considerations of the issue and the recommendation, which was accepted, that a standardised payment should be rolled out at the same time as the inquiry, with a second stage — an individualised payment — after completion of the inquiry process. That would be consulted on, and the initial legislation would make provision for it, with the aim of rolling out the standardised payment at the same time as the public inquiry is established and carries out its work.

I thank the First Minister and deputy First Minister for their statement. It will bring some relief for victims to hear that we are well on the road to truth and accountability. One of the core questions that the First Minister outlined is, "What happened?". Last week, at the Executive Office Committee, we heard about the infants who died in mother-and-baby homes and are buried at Milltown Cemetery, where their remains are, potentially, being destroyed —.

Is there a question, Nuala?

What will the First Minister and deputy First Minister do to enable the public inquiry to ensure that the remains are left in peace?

I thank the Member for her question. Absolutely, the protection of all unmarked graves in cemeteries is of the utmost importance. We have seen across the island of Ireland how that has been exposed as being a very real issue, and we are alive to what has happened in our shameful past and how women on this island have been failed. The protection of unmarked graves in cemeteries has to be part and parcel of what we do. Powers and duties in relation to burials mainly fall under the responsibility of the Department for Communities. However, it is proposed that this will be an area of investigation for truth recovery, and that, again, hopefully, is a moment of progress.

The truth recovery inquiry will have the powers to inquire into how the institutions operated, including any burials of persons with institutional links in unmarked graves. That is a clear commitment and a strength of what the inquiry can do. We are also aware of a specific concern, and our officials remain in contact with colleagues in the Department for Communities and the diocese to establish the facts of the matter. Any evidence of such issues should always be brought to the Truth Recovery Independent Panel or to the PSNI, if information becomes available, so that they can investigate any allegations of criminality if there are specific concerns to be raised.

Will the deputy First Minister please detail what advertising and publicity will be put in place for the consultation?

I thank the Member for his question. It is critical that all those impacted are aware that the process is ongoing, have the opportunity to feed into the consultation process and the inquiry and can get access to the redress scheme that will come out of it. During the consultation process, we intend to hold eight face-to-face meetings throughout Northern Ireland. There will also be five online meetings, the first of which will kick off on 9 July. The consultation will be available in a number of formats, and there is a telephone line for those who want to raise issues about the format that they need in order to maximise access to it. We will also run a series of newspaper advertisements and use existing channels, such as the mailing list that we have through the Victims and Survivors Service and other contacts that we have for a range of organisations that work with victims and survivors. We are really keen to hear from people, so we appeal to everybody to please make yourselves known, because support is there, and we really want to hear from you in the process.

When the recommendations in the truth recovery design panel's report were agreed nearly three years ago, First Minister, you talked about:

"all the victims and survivors who were so grievously failed and have lived for many years with the unimaginable pain and trauma inflicted on them. Their needs are our absolute priority."— [Official Report (Hansard), 15 November 2021, p14, col 2].

Will the First Minister confirm that that is still her position?

Yes, absolutely. It is a source of shame for us as a society that women were so horribly failed. The historical treatment of and discrimination against women and girls is alive for us all to see, but this is our opportunity, as an Assembly and an Executive, to bring some healing to all the women, victims and survivors who were impacted by that experience. That is why it is important that we get this work right, are sensitive about how we work our way through it, are as inclusive as we can be, reach out as far as possible and listen wholeheartedly to the views of the victims and survivors, because this is about them. We have a chance not to fix but to bring some light to what happened to them and to their journey.

To all victims and survivors we can say only this: we are so thankful for your tireless campaigning and for the fact that you did not give up and that, despite all your setbacks through many decades, you continued on that path. As we move into the consultation and public inquiry, we are now walking the journey with you so that we can get to the bottom of how those things were allowed to happen, make sure that lessons are learned and provide the full facts and information for victims and survivors.

This is one of the most important areas of work that the Executive and Assembly will be engaged in during the mandate. We must get this right for victims and survivors, because they have been failed at every turn, and I know that we are all determined to do that.

That concludes questions on the statement. Members should take their ease. We are running a bit ahead of time, so we are trying to ensure that the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is here to make his statement. Please take your ease.