Naomi Long
East Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Underneath the Facebook posts to say that he had passed away, people speculated with such comments as, "Probably high on drugs", "Probably drunk", and, "Typical boy racer". There was all of that speculation. It was hurtful to the family, and it was inaccurate.”
“There are circumstances that we need to consider and be careful of. I was told, for example, that, when the issue of good character references at trial was being looked at in New South Wales — Committee members may wish to look at this for themselves — one of the groups that opposed their removal was representative of domestic abuse victi…”
“It sets out the strategic direction adopted by the Department and key partners to tackle those appalling crimes and protect vulnerable victims of exploitation.”
“The provision seeks to provide protection, via legal advice and representation for complainants, against the use of non-relevant personal material and evidence of previous sexual history being used in the court process.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the wider issue of ensuring that a withdrawal of services never happens again, I think that most of us agree that, although everyone has the right to take industrial action, no one has the right to derail and hold to ransom the entire justice system in that way.”
“Those measures will go some way towards helping to support complainants and enable them to have input into the decision-making process about what records containing their personal and sensitive information are required to be shared with the defence.”
The complete record
Every one of 7,548 lines we hold for Naomi Long, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 36 of 151.
“That will hopefully pick up areas that Members might identify during the sentencing Bill process but that need further policy development. <BR /> <BR />As I said, at the moment, the issue for me is not about whether it is an opt-in or opt-out scheme but about ensuring that people's decisions to opt in or opt out are properly recorded on the system and are respected when a decision is made to release an individual from custody, whether permanently or temporarily.”
“It is a very sensitive issue, and not all victims want to receive or, indeed, welcome receipt of updates on the progress of the case of the individual who has been charged. I did not say that it was not possible to introduce an opt-out scheme. I said that it would be impossible to do so ahead of the introduction of the Bill in the autumn, because it would require us to go to consultation, to engage with victims organisations and to restructure the PRVIS system, as well as the other systems that are in place with other agencies, including probation. Therefore, we could not do that in this mandate. However, we could give consideration to that as part of the wider sentencing review that is happening in parallel with the sentencing Bill.”
“Anyone who is unlawfully at large from prison is committing an offence and is automatically reported to the PSNI. There will then be a manhunt for that individual, if they are unlawfully at large. In most cases, those who breach their pre-release testing conditions will either be unlawfully at large for a very short period, often a matter of hours, or it will be to do with their conduct while they were on release during that period. That may be detected on their return to prison — for example, if they have been drinking alcohol or taking drugs. <BR /> <BR />It is very important that we recognise that many victims do not want to hear anything further about the perpetrator in their case.”
“<BR /> <BR />With respect to the Meehan case — I have to tread very carefully, because the case remains sub judice — it is an extradition case being heard in a different jurisdiction, so there is no ability for us to inform or even to be made aware of the outcome of that extradition case, given that it is between two arms of another Government. However, I have met the family, discussed their concerns and shared with them the work that we are doing. We also, in that regard, sought to provide them with all the information that is available to us regarding the progress of Meehan's case. However, you will understand that we are not necessarily apprised of the outcome of extradition cases, given the modalities that are engaged in such cases.”
“It is too late to include any change of that nature in the sentencing Bill. As Members are aware, that Bill is making progress through the various drafting phases to be introduced this side of Christmas, in all likelihood. However, there are issues with an opt-out system too, in that people may then end up perversely being contacted when they want no further contact, and that is a high risk also. Therefore, there is no single issue that can account entirely for human error, but we can put in place more rigorous procedures to try to minimise those human errors.”
“If an individual fails that testing, it is highly unlikely that they will be released at that point, although ultimately that remains a decision for the Parole Commissioners. If there is a failure, testing may also be paused for a short period. <BR /> <BR />While those who fail receive a lot of attention, as do any errors in what is a very sensitive area of criminal justice, we should not lose sight of the fact that the vast majority comply with the rules and the tests. Those people are much less likely to reoffend and create more victims. Therefore, pre-release testing is and will remain an essential part of the rehabilitation process.”
“The Northern Ireland Prison Service is reviewing what further steps can be taken to manage individuals who raise serious concerns during the pre-release testing process. That includes what more can be done to strengthen risk management for those individuals, and also the sanctions that they face if they fail testing. The Prison Service has a duty to prepare prisoners for release, which may be directed by the Parole Commissioners, as soon as they have served the tariff imposed by the judiciary at the point that they were sentenced. However, the commissioners may only direct release if they are satisfied that the individual will no longer present a risk of serious harm to the public. Crucially, pre-release testing helps to provide that evidence, so its benefits are considerable for the wider community.”
“As soon as the error came to light, the family were provided with written representation forms to enable them to submit their views on Mr McEntee's temporary release and the potential conditions that may be attached to any pre-release testing. Decisions regarding any further periods of temporary release for Mr McEntee will be fully documented and will explicitly reference the views of the Cawdery family and the consideration and weight given to those views. I will take time at my meeting with the family to explain what has happened and what will happen in the future. Hopefully, that will provide them and other victims and families, and the wider community, with some reassurance.”
“The rigorous examination that is ongoing is, in the first instance, to ascertain whether there are further errors. It is too early to state whether further errors have occurred, but any that are found will be rectified immediately. People are aware of how the original error occurred, and action has been taken to prevent a recurrence. There is then a further finding on the external review of prisoner release victim information schemes, which will also help to reduce the potential for future errors and ensure that the schemes are victim-centred and trauma-informed, as they are intended to be. <BR /> <BR />As for the wider situation, further planned periods of temporary release for Mr McEntee have been paused. That is to afford the family their legal right to make written representations.”
“Not to release prisoners on pre-release testing and not to undertake that course of action would mean their simply being released automatically at tariff served, and that would not give us a good indication of what the risks that are associated with the release of that prisoner might be.”
“The reason why people are released first on short periods of accompanied release, then on short periods of unaccompanied release and then on longer periods of unaccompanied release is precisely to test their ability to rehabilitate safely into the community. All those periods of pre-release testing come with conditions that have to be adhered to. Those conditions will depend on the individual prisoner and the point of pre-release testing that they are at. If they fail testing, obviously, they will come back into the prison system and will have to be managed. However, all the cases of people being tested pre-release are to ensure that, when they are finally released, which is the decision made by the courts when they were sentenced, they will be released in a way that is safe and at a time when they are ready and not before.”
“On the first of those questions, of course it is of great concern to the Department, and particularly to the Prison Service, when an event such as that occurs. The administrative error that was the cause in that case has been identified and rectified. Further, though, as I said, a review is ongoing of all similar cases to identify whether there are other comparable administratively mishandled issues in the system. To date, none has been identified. However, that does not preclude the fact that some may be found. If so, those will also be rectified. <BR /> <BR />The wider review on pre-release testing is to try to ensure that the risk of those who are being tested pre-release is properly managed.”
“On the wider issue of keeping victims informed, in August, the director general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service and the chief executive of the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) commissioned an external review of the schemes that are within their remit to ensure that they are trauma-informed and victim-centred. That review was timely, and many of the recommendations will be implemented to ensure that families and, indeed, the wider public can have full confidence in all victim information schemes.”
“As soon as the Prison Service became aware of the error, it immediately contacted the family to offer a sincere apology and provide them with all the relevant information. The Prison Service also notified the Victims' Commissioner and the Parole Commissioners of the error and paused McEntee's pre-release testing. I would like to publicly reiterate that apology. I am genuinely sorry for the hurt that this caused the family, and I intend to meet them soon. To ensure that there can be no repeat, a full check of all cases in which a prisoner is serving a life sentence and victims are registered has commenced. Once that priority work has been completed, further checks will be carried out on all other cases in which victims have registered with the scheme.”
“I have met many victims of crime and fully appreciate the profound impact that the release of prisoners back into the community at the end of their sentence can have. The safety of the public and consideration of the impact on victims are of the utmost importance to me. Michael and Marjorie Cawdery died because of a vicious attack by Thomas McEntee. After McEntee was sentenced, the Cawdery family registered with the prisoner release victim information scheme (PRVIS). That meant that they should have been kept informed when McEntee was eligible for pre-release testing. That did not happen. <BR /> <BR />That mistake was caused by an administrative error at the time the family registered, seven years ago, which meant that the prisoner database system was not properly updated.”
“I will. We are also looking at domestic homicide reviews. I am happy to provide the Member with further information on that.”
“In the first tranche of eight cases that went through, all eight victims turned up and gave evidence, and all eight perpetrators were happy to concede guilt at the outset, so, just by the victims being there and having the confidence to come to court, the perpetrators pled guilty. We have seen that repeated. In domestic abuse contest cases where victims are able to give remote evidence, the success rate is well over 90% conviction. There are things that we are doing that will speed up justice and also make the process better. Finally, every domestic homicide is a tragedy.”
“I have just set out the work that we are doing on speeding up justice. One of the particular reasons that we are looking at, for example, changes in the jurisdiction of the courts, as well as more out-of-court disposals for lower level offences, is to ensure that court time at the High Court is reserved for the most serious of offences, which will allow us, hopefully, to move more swiftly. Committal reform, for example, has already delivered hugely for victims of sexual offences and domestic abuse cases, whereby they do not have to give evidence potentially twice, which is a deterrent to people's coming forward. We have also used the remote evidence centre; there is a judge-led pilot there, which has domestic abuse contest cases heard.”
“There is an appetite, however, for change right across the justice system, and so bids to initiatives such as the public-sector transformation board are crucial because they will allow us to fulfil that appetite to fund some of those endeavours and, hopefully, make further savings in the future if we can make those changes. All of us around the Criminal Justice Board table recognise that there needs to be transformation for us to be more effective and efficient. That investment now will help us to save money in the future.”
“There is a long-standing and ongoing funding challenge for Justice, which is well recognised by everyone in the House because I repeat it frequently enough. It will undoubtedly impact on what we can deliver. The DOJ's share of the Northern Ireland block grant has fallen continually over the past 14 years, from just under 11% in 2011-12 to just over 8% in 2025-26. That underfunding hampers our efforts to do transformation as funding is, quite rightly, prioritised to demand-led front-line activities, including policing, prisons and courts. We have less than 0·5% of discretionary spend, which makes it increasingly difficult for us to engage in that kind of system-wide transformation.”
“In addition, work is continuing on the implementation of a second phase of committal reform — direct committal — which is planned for November 2026. <BR /> <BR />There is still a lot more to be done, but what we are seeing in departmental statistics is that the average or median time taken for a case to be dealt with from the date on which the offence is reported to the police was 189 days in the most recent bulletin. That was an 8·3% improvement over the past two years, and will be a key measure of how the system is performing overall and a sign that efforts to speed up justice are having an impact.”
“There are regular updates to the Criminal Justice Board, as well as interim updates to the programme board, about how we are making progress. Given the existing financial pressures, that funding is a boost and will enable us to do some essential work to progress efforts and reduce avoidable delay. Part of that will be the work that we are doing around collating responses to the out-of-court disposals consultation. We will publish the findings of that and recommendations in due course. There is an early engagement project, which has seen the commencement of a gateway initiative to seek to enhance communication and file-preparation quality between the PSNI and the PPS at the earliest point in a case. There is also work towards a pilot of new case-management processes for courts.”
“The programme is an example of cross-justice collaboration to try to resolve what is a key issue. The Criminal Justice Board comprises all the senior leaders in the justice system, and they have prioritised that programme of work. It takes a whole-system approach; focuses on reducing avoidable delay, reducing demand, freeing up capacity and facilitating more proportionate and effective responses to offending behaviour; and aims to take advantage of technological developments to improve operational processes and communication between criminal justice organisations. <BR /> <BR />Funding of £20·5 million from the public-sector transformation board is enabling work to progress on early engagement and out-of-court disposals.”
“They do a difficult job and should be remunerated fairly.”
“The money was set aside and ring-fenced at the beginning when I was budgeting, which is why, at the beginning, I had quite limited budgetary concerns. I have had to take some fairly difficult decisions to live within the budget. My overspend at the moment is pretty much entirely with the PSNI. That is where the majority of DOJ's overspend is happening. We are working with the PSNI to try to find ways of managing that overspend. We have already reduced it by about half, but we need to reduce it further still for the Department of Finance to judge it as being affordable. I will continue to work with colleagues to find a way through. Just because police officers and, indeed, prison officers do not go on strike does not mean that they should be any less worthy of receiving their pay when it is due.”
“The contractual element of the pay went ahead, as it should, at the start of October. I am hopeful that we will get to a point where we are able to pay the rest of the pay as soon as possible, as I say, subject to affordability. We will, sadly, be starting next year's pay round pretty soon, so, hopefully, we will be able to move that forward.”
“Like the Department of Health and the Department of Education, the Department of Justice has a projected overspend. There is a deficit of around £23 million for the PSNI. Until we have a plan in place to deal with that, a pay rise has been deemed unaffordable, although it has been approved in a value-for-money business case. At the moment, I am working through that with my Executive colleagues so that there is a consistent approach to pay. I set aside 3·5% for pay at the start of the year in order to ensure that that money was available. However, the recommendations that came to me were between 1% and 1·5% higher than that, which means that there is still a shortfall. I know that some other Departments did not ring-fence anything for pay at the start of the year. We did, but affordability will still be a challenge.”
“The County Court rules committee has proposed a 23% increase to fees under the County Court scale to address inflation's eroding their value since 2017. The proposed amendments have undergone consultation, economic appraisal and policy screening, with no anticipated impact. The draft rules are subject to negative resolution procedure and are scheduled to be considered by the Justice Committee on 16 October. Pending the outcome of that, we will take them forward, as is appropriate.”
“However, I expect the legislation to be brought forward immediately once the business case is completed and to come into effect within six weeks, respecting the legislative process. In anticipation of the introduction of those new rates, the Legal Services Agency (LSA) has updated its case management system to ensure that the increased fees can be claimed as appropriate from the date on which the fees come into operation. It is also looking at how it will then be able to process, without requiring application from the practitioners, the additional back payments that I promised to the date in December last year.”
“I remain committed to delivering the uplift to remuneration that I set out in the Chamber in December last year. Officials across the Department are continuing to progress the business case with the Department of Finance that covers the wider enabling access to justice programme, not just the increase in legal aid fees. Progression of the business case was delayed to enable further amendments to legal aid fees that have been developed through the criminal legal aid working group that was established in March to be included in this round of change, and it was further impacted on by the fact that officials had to react to the impact of some emerging issues on the wider reform programme.”
“There is a suite of interventions that are available when young people become radicalised. Where it differs from the traditional radicalisation that we have seen in our community over many years is that those individuals tend to be lone actors and radicalised in their own home. Therefore, it is only when their behaviours reach a certain level of danger that we become alert to their involvement or, alternatively, when they have undertaken an offence, which makes it slightly more complicated to address. One of the things that we need is for not just my Department but Education, Health and others to look at it as part of our wider safeguarding approach. The other thing to say is that many of the people who are being radicalised are very young.”
“The Online Safety Act is but one of the tools available, and, obviously, my Department has made representations to the Home Office, which leads on communications and telecommunications because it is a reserved matter. We continue to feed in our concerns in that space. <BR /> <BR />Through the tackling paramilitarism programme, we are about to trial some desistance programmes for people who have already been radicalised into either paramilitary or organised crime but, we believe, are still reachable and teachable in that space, to get alongside them in order to start to change their attitudes and to offer them an alternative route forward at the very earliest stage of conflict with the justice system. That is one of the things that we can do. <BR /> <BR />We also look at what is available in other places.”
“<BR /> <BR />We need to identify much earlier, before harm has been caused, the issues, means and methods that are being used to radicalise individuals. We need to seek to intervene much earlier in the chain, before those individuals themselves become radicalised and end up undertaking actions that will bring them into conflict with the law and place others in the way of harm.”
“There are two elements to it. The degree to which sentencing is a true deterrent is questionable, because most people who commit crime never consider being caught. Many of them do things on the spur of the moment without giving any due regard to what the outcome for them might be, and many are completely reckless with respect to their own behaviour. I hear Members chunter from the sidelines that that is nonsense, but, if you talk to those in the legal profession, they will tell you that that is part of the problem. However, with the right sentencing framework in place, we can show, when those cases come to court, that we are serious about tackling it. That is an important message. The law will not change people's minds, but it will change their behaviours over time.”
“Some of those reports may be as a result of other family members who are raising concerns.”
“We will continue to explore doing that with our partners, because, again, we know that there will be under-reporting for a number of reasons, and even those who make initial contact with charitable organisations may not follow through on it later. Some of those reports may be —.”
“That is difficult, because the bulletin looks only at reported incidents and reported crimes, yet we all know that there will be instances in which those crimes are not reported. Many victims, for good reason, will choose not to present to the PSNI. Although I always encourage people to report crime, I understand the complexities involved in doing so in a domestic violence context, because most people's priority is simply to extract themselves and their loved ones from a dangerous situation. We have the opportunity, through the work that we do with partners in the community and voluntary sector, to get some sense of the direction of travel, but it is hard to quantify that in a way that is robust enough for us to provide formal statistics.”
“Tackling it cannot be achieved by the Department of Justice alone. A cross-Executive and community-wide response will be required if we are to prevent abuse, protect victims and, ultimately, reduce the harm caused across society. The domestic and sexual abuse strategy provides us with a cohesive direction by enabling the necessary change to happen through partnership working.”
“The most recent PSNI bulletin, which was published on 28 August, shows that, in the 12 months up until 30 June 2025, 29,740 domestic abuse incidents and 18,246 domestic abuse crimes were recorded. That represents decreases of almost 7% and 5·5% respectively on the previous year. Although those reductions may appear encouraging, they should be treated with caution. Recorded statistics reflect only those cases that were reported to the police, and reporting can be influenced by a range of factors, including whether victims feel able to come forward and have confidence in the system. A fall in recorded incidents and crimes does not necessarily mean that domestic abuse is happening less frequently. What is clear is that domestic abuse continues to take place on a significant scale.”
“Compensation Services does all that it can to progress such claims as expeditiously as possible, but, when it is waiting for police reports, information from the applicant or further evidence such as deeds, insurance information and any business interruption information, that is often outside its control. Some cases will not meet the threshold of three or more people being involved, but the scheme is meant to cover "riotous assembly". If it is not proven that that was the case when the criminal damage happened, it will therefore be down to the individual insurer for that particular business or home to step in.”
“I understand the Member's point, because it has been raised with me before. We have to go back to what the purpose of the compensation scheme is, however. It was introduced at a time when businesses and individuals were often unable to get insurance because of the level of property damage that was being inflicted during the terrorist campaign here. Compensation Services was therefore designed to deal with such incidents, as opposed to incidents of simple criminal damage or even simple hate crime offences. For example, for the civil disorder in Ballymena, 27 claims were submitted to Compensation Services. Of those, one claim has been paid out, one has been withdrawn, 15 are awaiting police reports and 10 are awaiting further documentation that is needed to support the claim.”
“Where insurance is in place, companies will be available to provide immediate support to victims of criminal damage. If unable to secure support from an insurer, the criminal damage compensation scheme provides an important source of assistance for victims. As with all schemes, it is important to keep them under review. Consideration is being given to the need for any changes to the scheme to ensure that it meets the needs of victims. Any proposals for change would be subject to consultation.”
“The criminal damage compensation scheme provides important financial support to victims where there has been physical damage to a property or a vehicle in Northern Ireland and where it can be shown that the damage was caused unlawfully, maliciously or wantonly by an unlawful assembly of three or more people or maliciously by a person acting?in connection with?an unlawful association such as an act of terrorism. Compensation may also be payable for agricultural property or property that is free from rates, if the damage was caused maliciously or deliberately. <BR /> <BR />Most commercial insurance policies should cover businesses for damage to their premises, including interruption to business operations. Some policies will also cover businesses that are not damaged but whose trade is affected in the aftermath.”
“The confidence of a community is shaken when they see people being treated as the spokespeople for a community but that community sees those people very much as having a jackboot on their neck.”
“<BR /> <BR />We will also be bringing forward, through the Bill, additional means of sentencing and additional offences around participating in and directing organised crime. That is important because, whilst all paramilitary organisations have a finger in organised crime, not all organised crime organisations are involved in paramilitarism. We need to untangle all that, so it is important that we look at those issues as well. <BR /> <BR />When it comes to my views on the legitimising of illegal groups by those kinds of engagements, whether of other Ministers or an interlocutor appointed by the two Governments, I have been clear that that is unhelpful.”
“Intersectionality forms part of the hate-crime legislation that we hope to bring forward, and there will be aggravating factors where a hate-crime motive for the signalling offence can be proven. We will also prosecute those as stand-alone offences so that, if a hate-crime motivation cannot be proven, a person can still be held accountable for their crime. <BR /> <BR />Membership of a paramilitary organisation is a criminal offence. It can be prosecuted, and jail terms for it are available in legislation. If somebody is arrested for a hate crime, and they are also proven to be a member of a paramilitary organisation, there is nothing to preclude the two offences from being taken through the court together, as is the case in circumstances where somebody is arrested for an offence and there is also a paramilitary link to the crime.”
“Damaging street signs in general is one of the most petty and childish acts that a person can undertake. If you cannot drive past a sign that you do not like without feeling the need to take an angle grinder or a bucket of paint to it, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself. I will not be providing any assurance in the Chamber as to how the PSNI will prioritise investigations. As you will be well aware, it is for the Chief Constable to direct the resources of the PSNI, not me as Minister.”
“It is far more likely that somebody will be radicalised individually, in the privacy of their own home, than in a more public way. Undoubtedly, however, both will take to the streets, and both will use muscle to intimidate people who are vulnerable in the community or those who dare to have the audacity to speak up on their behalf.”
“The PSNI's assessment is that, whilst there are individuals who are connected to existing paramilitary organisations and are engaged and active in a number of those protests, there is less evidence to substantiate any claim that those organisations are orchestrating or organising those protests. In addition to the more traditional actors in that space, groups of people are being radicalised online by far right organisations and networks. They are often lone actors, who do not have a network of support or a traditional base in Northern Ireland, but they are being activated online and are finding their community there and acting in that sense. There are two separate dynamics happening, particularly with the far right threat.”
“It is completely unacceptable in today's society that people still find themselves intimidated because of who they are or how they are perceived by others. Unless we are all consistent in that message and unwavering in our condemnation, there is no point in us telling victims to have any kind of confidence in the system that, ultimately, we are the face of.”