A former mayor of Derry has said that the British government should call a halt to the Saville inquiry. Ulster Unionist Alderman Mr Richard Dallas said the revelation that one of the Bloody Sunday paratroopers is to be paid a £40,000 personal protection package to give evidence proves that it is "an unjustifiable waste of money".
The former paratrooper, known as soldier 027, was a 19-year-old radio operator when paratroopers shot dead 13 men on Bloody Sunday.
In his written statement to the inquiry he claims several of his ex-colleagues shot dead unarmed men and shot a man who had already been wounded. He alleges that some of the soldiers used outlawed soft-nosed dumdum bullets.
Because of the controversial nature of his evidence, soldier 027 has been granted a personal protection package by the Northern Ireland Office at the request of the inquiry.
It runs for a 12-month period and includes a loan of £20,000 for him to buy a house or flat, £6,000 to buy a car, £100 per month for a life insurance policy and £1,400 per month living expenses. Alderman Dallas described the payment as "a joke".
"Many unionists believe this inquiry is getting out of hand. This soldier has already given his account to the Irish Government, to the NIO and to journalists, and now he's being paid to turn up and give evidence.
"Justification is the issue. Soldier 027 has been speaking about this since 1975.
"For the last 20 years his evidence has been in the public domain and it's not a case of throwing good money after bad, but bad money after worse.
"This money is apparently to protect this man from his former colleagues, but given that they know about his evidence since 1975, and that nothing has happened to him so far, it may undermine this man's credibility as a witness."
However, Mr Desmond Doherty, solicitor for the family of Bloody Sunday victim Mr Bernard McGuigan, said the financial package available to soldier 027 was justified.
"He has signed a six-page legal document with the NIO. He went on record to give evidence last month. His evidence is quite exceptional and crucial to the search for truth.
"His statement refers to what he called unspeakable events carried out by his former colleagues, including the killing of men who had surrendered and the killing of a wounded man."
Mr Doherty continued: "The package is to assist him to give evidence. He feels he is under threat from his former colleagues and the NIO obviously feel the same way. It is to put him under a protection scheme. It's not a waste of money to get to the truth.
"In order for him to come forward, he had to get protection. Here we have a precedent being set, but this soldier has the character to come forward.
"If his evidence is not the truth, then he should be exposed.
"He says he raised his rifle to look for a target, because his colleagues were firing, and he was amazed that he could not find a target to engage, and he did not fire."
Meanwhile, Prof Dermot Walsh, chair of law at the University of Limerick, who wrote a critique of the original Widgery inquiry, has supported the decision to grant soldier 027 protection.
"His statement was previously published in the media and may not be the same as his statement to the inquiry. His evidence is absolutely critical. It is vital evidence and throws a completely new light on some of the shootings, particularly those in Glenfada Park."