The British and Irish governments are close to agreeing a mechanism on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, according to Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn.
He told MPs at Westminster this morning that both sides had "made a lot of progress" in talks to reach a compromise.
Mr Benn has promised to repeal and replace the previous Conservative government's controversial Legacy Act which shut legal avenues for bereaved families.
But he has faced criticism for insisting on retaining the act's investigative body, the Independent Commission on Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).
Many families have said they have no confidence in the ICRIR, although Mr Benn told the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in Westminster that 200 people had approached it and it had taken on some high-profile incidents amongst its 80 cases.
Ireland is currently taking an interstate case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights on the basis that the current legislation is not compatible with international human rights obligations.
Mr Benn said getting Irish support for revised arrangements that he wanted to put in place would be a "very, very significant step forward".
"It would, I think, enable the revised arrangements to command greater confidence in Northern Ireland if the Irish Government is shown to move from its current position to one saying, 'we've talked to the British government and we've been able to agree jointly on way forward'.
"I think that would be a very significant and beneficial step forward."
He laid out the broad framework of what was being discussed with the Irish Government.
It includes significant reform to the ICRIR that would be human rights compliant and capable of carrying out investigations leading to prosecutions where evidence exists.
These reforms include:
- better governance arrangements for the ICRIR, including an international oversight board and more robust conflict of interest arrangements covering investigative staff
- giving the ICRIR powers to hold public hearings, take sworn evidence and give families effective representation
- establishing a separate information recovery body and providing safeguards for British Army veterans asked to participate, including giving them the ability to take part virtually rather than travel to Northern Ireland
He also said he expected the name of the ICRIR to change.
MPs were told that 38 legacy inquests which had been stopped by the coming into force of the Legacy Act would be assessed.
Mr Benn said 14 that had started before the legislation was enacted would reconvene unless there was sensitive information involved which could not be dealt with in a coroner's court.
It might be necessary to turn any such cases over to a reformed ICRIR which could deal with such sensitive material, along with the 24 inquests which had not started at the time of the legislative guillotine.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson criticised Mr Benn for failing to use the talks to pressure the Irish Government into establishing a parallel public inquiry in the Republic into the 1998 Omagh Bombing, alongside the UK inquiry which is currently under way.
Mr Benn said it was important to see how the Irish/British agreement covering provision of information in Irish archives to the UK inquiry would work in practice.
He also said the Omagh families had the right to challenge the decision not to establish an Irish inquiry in the Dublin courts.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna said some people thought there was an "obsession with the past" in Northern Ireland.
She said by contrast it was an "obsession with the future" on the understanding that only frank disclosure of difficult truths could lead to proper reconciliation.
