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The Northern Ireland police service will be given any resources they ask for, a minister has said.
Hugo Swire told MPs at Northern Ireland questions this morning that the Treasury has agreed to fund a £12.9m automatic number plate reader for the PSNI after successful lobbying by ministers.
Shadow Northern Ireland minister Paul Goggins welcomed the funding, which came from the government's reserve.
Swire told the House the threat level in the province from "those who have turned their back on the peace process" is severe – there have been 121 arrests and 30 charges laid this year so far.
Swire warned against calling the terrorists "dissident Republicans" as that "gives them a status they do not deserve".
David Simpson (DUP, Upper Bann) said there have been massive bombs laid in his constituencies by the terrorists.
He asked for an assurance that the PSNI will have the resources they need.
Swire said he would support any funding bid from the police.
David Hanson (Lab, Delyn) said the threat is not just from dissident activity but from criminal activity carried out by the same people.
Paul Farrelly (Lab, Newcastle under Lyme) said the Saville report into Bloody Sunday was a watershed in Irish history, but it is important to look to the future.
He asked what initiatives the new government has to secure the peace.
Secretary of state Owen Paterson said Northern Ireland does need to look ahead, but solutions cannot be imposed from London.
Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Shaun Woodward welcomed Paterson to his role and asked if he had been rash when in opposition he ruled out any future inquiries.
Paterson repeated that solutions cannot be imposed from above, but the work of the PSNI's Historical Enquiries Team has wide support across the community.
Woodward pointed out the HET has more than 3,200 unsolved killings to investigate and after five years it is still investigating killings from the 1970s.
Paterson said there can be no more expensive open-ended inquiries such as Savile but the issue must be dealt with by local politicians.
Mark Durkan (SDLP, Foyle) said there are thousands of victims with differing needs, but the community has a responsibility to tell the truth so that future generations "know it was a dirty war".
Gregory Campbell (DUP, Londonderry East) said the north-west of the province has seen more pipe bombs in the first five months of this year than all of 2009.
Swire condemned the attacks, but reminded the House that operational decisions are for the PSNI chief constable and the Northern Ireland justice minister.
He said that there are 4.36 police per 1,000 people in Northern Ireland compared with 2.87 per 1,000 in England and Wales.
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