To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the action that will be taken consequent upon the publication of the Report of the Police Ombudsman, into the Royal Ulster Constabulary and protected informers. (111552)

The Government acknowledge that the Police Ombudsman’s investigation has succeeded in bringing to light serious failings of duty by a small number of police officers over the period 1991 to 2003. The Chief Constable has accepted the report’s recommendations and work on reinvestigating the cases referred to in the report has already begun. Where sufficient evidence can be obtained, prosecutions will be brought, whether against loyalist paramilitaries or police officers if there is sufficient evidence to put before a court that they are thought to have been involved in any criminal activity.