Question to the Executive Office

deputy First Minister's Answer

I thank the Member for his question. I have said this before in this place, and I will say it again: there was never any justification for paramilitary organisations or for the criminal behaviour and the thuggery that we saw in the past and, sadly, see too much of in the present. That criminality should stop. That criminality demands a criminal justice response from the agencies. The agencies have my full support and, I believe, the support of all Executive members and parties in that.

Of course, we want to help and support communities to have resilience and robustness to resist those who attempt to assert control over them. That is very much what this type of programme does. It is supplementary to the criminal justice response. Let us make no mistake, however, about the fact that there is no role whatsoever for criminality in our society today and there never was in the past.