Public Inquiries are costing millions of pounds of tax-payers money every month a DUP MP has claimed. Gregory Campbell, DUP Member of Parliament for East Londonderry was speaking out after a Parliamentary Question submitted to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Shaun Woodward showed that over the course of a six month period from October 2007 to March of this year (the earliest figures available) the Robert Hamill Inquiry cost £2,705,350, whilst the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry cost £5,698,636 and the Billy Wright Inquiry cost £3,911,088.The Bloody Sunday Inquiry cost £2,355,549 over the period. Coupling these statistics with 48 upcoming inquests into security force related killings which the Chief Constable has described as “mini-public inquiries”, Mr. Campbell has claimed Northern Ireland could be spending as much as £100million per year for the next two or three years on historical inquiries.
Speaking today the DUP MP said:
“These inquiries are fast becoming an industry. However we have to ask ourselves can we as a society really afford to be spending so much public money on these costly public inquiries that could be invested elsewhere? What about the strain being placed on police resources because of obligations to these inquiries? Important as the issues being dealt with are, just what are we as a community gaining by government spending £5million a month of public money on inquiries into our troubled past?
Coupled with that, we are about to embark upon 48 inquests, which the Chief Constable has described as “mini inquiries” into security-force-related deaths in Northern Ireland – that will mean even more money being poured into paying for what amounts to more public inquiries. These funds could be put to much better use and I am sure many will question whether such expenditure represents genuine value for money in the economic plight which exists at the moment.”