Troubles investigations could cost up to £630m, says legacy body chief

It could cost about £630m and take seven years to deal with investigations related to the Northern Ireland Troubles, the head of the legacy body has estimated.

Sir Declan Morgan has told MPs it could end up handling 650 investigations once it is reformed in legislation before Parliament.

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) is due to become a new Legacy Commission next year.

It is currently awaiting a UK Treasury decision on a bid for more funding made earlier this year.

Sir Declan Morgan, the ICRIR's chief commissioner, has been giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.

It currently has a ring-fenced budget of £232m, but has presented a business case for it to be increased to £628m, in order to "scale-up".

Committee chair Tonia Antoniazzi described the figure as "eye-watering".

Since becoming operational in 2024, it has spent £65m.

Sir Declan said it currently has a workload of around 200 investigations relating to almost 300 deaths, including the 1974 IRA pub bombings in Guildford.

"We have less than 200 investigators," Sir Declan said.

"Trying to deal with those cases with these sorts of resources is simply not possible.

"In the event we can't deal with these cases, there is going to be a shed load of people looking for public inquiries and they will cost a fortune."

He said once new legacy legislation is passed in the UK and Ireland, "countless people" will be able to get answers.

When asked how many cases the body could ultimately end up with, Sir Declan replied: "Our central estimate is 650 investigations."

Dealing with that volume of cases will likely take a period of seven and a half years, he said.