Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 (Specified Organisations) Order 2008

I had not got that far; I was dealing with questions about the UVF. I shall come on to answer the specific questions raised by the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, but he asked why we are despecifying the UVF. That is a fair point. On the one hand, the UVF took three years to make its statement of May last year, and the Secretary of State has considered that. On the other hand, I was asked why it has taken two years or more to specify Óglaigh na hEireann. My point is that these things do not happen overnight. There is a set of laws and procedures for the Secretary of State to follow. These things are not done on a whim or a hunch; they are done after careful consideration and after taking advice from the Security Service and the chief constable.