Former Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward today defended the cost and time taken by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry - and warned Prime Minister David Cameron he was “rash” to rule out such investigations in the future.
Lord Saville’s inquiry, which was finally published last month, started in 1998 and cost around £200 million.
It investigated events in Derry on January 30th, 1972, when Parachute Regiment troops opened fire during a civil rights march and 14 people died. The report found that none of the dead posed a threat and the actions of the soldiers were totally without justification.
In a Commons debate on the report, Mr Woodward said Mr Cameron’s pledge for “no more open-ended and costly inquiries into the past” was “rash and it is a huge risk”.
Asked by the DUP's Nigel Dodds whether he took responsibility for the cost of the Saville Inquiry, Mr Woodward said: “It is a really serious issue for this House to consider - whether it would wish to compromise the independence of a judicial inquiry by effectively saying for example: ‘You cannot give legal representation to the witnesses you call forward’.
“That would, of course, have saved half of the costs of Lord Saville - but would we have got the truth if legal representation had not been given?” Mr Woodward asked. “I certainly will share in my responsibility for allowing the production of this inquiry to go ahead as it did in order not to compromise its independence.
“That’s why I do make the very careful distinction between the price and the value of this inquiry.”
Mr Woodward warned ministers that dissidents in Northern Ireland would be “watching very carefully" how the British government now responds to the report.
“They wish to see how the grief of others can be exploited, how justice can be turned to injustice. They wish to pervert the outcome, to twist the truth in perverted logic which can be used to build community support for a violent struggle in the years ahead," he said.
“The response of the Government today really must ensure that this group have no opportunity, no chance, to make cause from a grievance for a sense of justice denied.
“The Government should ensure that the resources and means are available, should the buck be passed, to enable the executive and the institutions of the political process in Northern Ireland to be able to respond appropriately.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said there could not be a “Saville-type inquiry” for each person killed during the Troubles.
The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) - a special police team set up to investigate murders during the Troubles - is currently investigating all 3,268 deaths, including those of soldiers and police officers, he said.
“The 86 per cent satisfaction rate that the HET is achieving amongst families who have received reports demonstrates the success it’s having in helping to bring a measure of resolution,” he said.