SECRETARY of State Julian Smith has told Stormont's parties he will introduce legislation on historical institutional abuse by the end of the year.
The legislation is expected to trigger the payment of long-awaited compensation to the victims of historical abuse, as recommended by Sir Anthony Hart's inquiry in 2017.
Stormont's main parties wrote to Mr Smith last month urging him to act over compensation for abuse victims.
In a response sent yesterday, he welcomed the parties' support for the draft legislation.
"The UK government has made a commitment to introduce legislation by the end of this year if there is no NI Executive restored and will be engaging with colleagues in Westminster to seek to secure this," he said.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "In the absence of an inclusive power-sharing executive, the secretary of state must move quickly on legislation that will deliver for victims."
