A four-strong Victims' Commission will be better equipped to deal with the needs of victims in Northern Ireland than one commissioner, First Minister the Rev Ian Paisley said today.
Speaking to the Assembly, Dr Paisley was defending the decision to appoint four commissioners after initially advertising for one person.
RUC widow Bertha McDougal is among four people named as commissioners
As MLAs also expressed concern about the way the decision was leaked, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness also dismissed claims that four commissioners were appointed because he could not agree on a single appointment with DUP leader Mr Paisley.
"Nothing could be further from the truth," the Sinn Féin MLA said. "We never at any stage of our deliberation had a situation where the First Minister proposed someone and I proposed someone as an alternative, it never happened.
"I know some people may greet this with incredulity, but I think it's a symbol of how he and I do the business," he said.
The four members will be former interim commissioner and RUC widow Bertha McDougal; Patricia MacBride, whose brother was an IRA man shot dead by the SAS; former TV anchorman Mike Nesbitt; and Brendan McAllister, director of Mediation Northern Ireland.
"Our belief is that a team of four commissioners working together - in essence a Victims' Commission - is the best way forward," said Dr Paisley.
"Given the significant backlog of urgent work and the range of difficult challenges that face us in this area, these four people will have much more capacity to engage with victims and survivors than a single commissioner."
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said the commission is "faced with a task as important as it is challenging".
"We are determined to look forward and work towards a better, peaceful future in Northern Ireland, so that no new generation has to bear the awful suffering of the past. But we must not forget those who continue to cope every day with their own personal legacies of pain and grief.
It is vital that adequate services and funding are in place to meet the ongoing needs of victims and survivors, of carers and of those who have been traumatised."
Before the appointments can be ratified, the Assembly will have to pass a Bill creating a Victims' and Survivors' Commission. Dr Paisley said he wanted the four commissioners-designate to agree a work plan in the meantime.
Prior to today's announcement, Stormont ministers had earmarked £33 million for victims' issues over the next three years.