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<p>The Terms of Reference for the Independent Panel Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
have been published and the geographic scope is limited to England and Wales. The
protection of children is a devolved matter, and it would be inappropriate for the
inquiry panel to make recommendations for Northern Ireland concerning the running
of the child protection system there.<br><br>However, as the Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland set out in her statement to Parliament on 21 October, the Government
is determined that no stone should be left unturned to investigate serious allegations
of institutional failure. She has also made clear that the Government, Ministry of
Defence and the Security Services will give the Inquiry the fullest possible co-operation.
We currently believe that the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry is the best place
to do that in respect of Kincora and we will work closely with, the Chairman of the
Inquiry, Sir Anthony Hart to help to achieve that. <br><br>We will monitor carefully
the extent to which the Inquiry is able to make progress in respect of material relevant
to Kincora and we will look at the <br>situation again if the Inquiry tells us it
is unable to determine the facts.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
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