The Northern Ireland Assembly announced on Friday that it has launched an investigation into the behaviour of Jeffrey Donaldson whilst at Parliament Buildings, following his conviction of 18 sex offences, including one count of rape, against two women when they were children.
Donaldson was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) between 2003 and 2010 and was a regular visitor whilst he was the Lagan Valley MP.
Speaker Edwin Poots asked the Chief Executive of the Assembly to conduct a review on Monday, 29 June.
In a statement, the Assembly said: “The Chief Executive has now considered the Speaker’s request and put in place arrangements to conduct a Review of any abuse or inappropriate behaviour by Jeffrey Donaldson.”
“The Review will be conducted by the Director of Parliamentary Services (Senior Assembly Safeguarding Officer), guided by experts in trauma-informed practices, and reported directly to the Chief Executive.”
The purpose of the review is to allow former or current MLAs any users of Parliament Buildings to report ‘incidents of abuse or inappropriate behaviour they directly experienced while Jeffrey Donaldson was a Member of the Assembly or visitor to Parliament Buildings’.
The DUP announced on Thursday that child safeguarding expert Jim Gamble is undertaking an independent investigation into Donaldson’s time within the party.
Terms of Reference
The review should:
- Establish if the Assembly Commission holds any relevant information on abuse or inappropriate behaviour while Jeffrey Donaldson was a Member of the Assembly from 2003 to 2010, or while he was a visitor to Parliament Buildings as an MP.
- Communicate and provide an appropriate process to enable any Member or former Member, current or former Assembly or party staff, or other user of Parliament Buildings to bring forward any incidents of abuse or inappropriate behaviour they directly experienced while Jeffrey Donaldson was a Member of the Assembly from 2003 to 2010 or a visitor to the Parliament Buildings as an MP.
- Inform Members or former Members, current or former Assembly or party staff, or other users of Parliament Buildings of the support service are available for anyone who reports having been subject to abuse or inappropriate behaviour by Jeffrey Donaldson.
- Draw to the clerk/chief executive’s attention any matters that may require further appropriate investigation or referral to the PSNI or other statutory agencies.
- Indicate whether any of the issues considered have implications for any Assembly Commission policies or procedures.
- Consider the extent to which the review findings or a summary thereof can be published.
