The Northern Ireland affairs committee (NIAC) this week published a report on the UK government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Bill.

The bill makes good on the government’s promise to “repeal and replace” the previous administration’s controversial Northern Ireland (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.

It was introduced in October after the UK and Irish governments launched a new joint framework for dealing with legacy issues the previous month.

The MPs’ report says Ireland “now needs to demonstrate its own commitment to establishing and completing human rights-compliant investigations, underpinned by legislation”.

It says there is a need for “the establishment as soon as possible of structures comparable to those in the UK, to ensure confidence in the legacy process as a whole across the UK and Ireland”.

However, Ireland’s foreign affairs and trade minister, Helen McEntee, said “some of what is contained in the report in respect of the government of Ireland’s commitments commitments on legacy seem to be based on an inaccurate understanding of the joint framework”.

“It is important to be clear that, unlike the situation in Northern Ireland, the government of Ireland never closed down unresolved investigations into Troubles-related incidents, and that fully ECHR compliant investigative structures already exist in this jurisdiction,” she said.

“In circumstances where historic offences have not been resolved, the investigations remain open and the Garda authorities follow up fully on any new evidence or information that becomes available to them.

“By contrast, the 2023 UK Legacy Act has been found by the courts in Northern Ireland to be in breach of the UK’s Human Rights Act, and by extension the ECHR.

“That is why the Labour government, when it took office, committed to fundamental reform of the Act, and the Commission it establishes.”

The Irish government is working to establish a new Garda unit as a “central point of contact on legacy” and would soon bring forward legislation relating to the UK’s Omagh bombing inquiry, she added.

“My Department will of course continue to engage with NIAC, including in relation to legacy issues, and DFAT officials will be meeting NIAC later today to discuss their report,” she said.