The Ulster Unionist Party has demanded the British government tackle terrorists who are still operating in Northern Ireland.
Mr David Burnside MP insisted loyalist and republican paramilitaries are still waging vicious campaigns of violence and have been responsible for more than 200 shootings in Northern Ireland since April.
"It is time for the Government to wake up to what is really happening on the streets of Northern Ireland and to deal with it by tough action," he said.
In reply to a question in Westminster, Security Minister Ms Jane Kennedy told the South Antrim MP there were 220 separate shootings attributed to terrorists between April and November 15th.
Loyalists accounted for around two thirds of these - 146 attacks compared with 61 blamed on republicans.
Even though murder levels have dropped, Mr Burnside argued violence was still running at dangerously high levels. "It could be argued that the relatively small number of fatalities is because of good fortune rather than a sudden outbreak of peace," he said.
Even though loyalists have carried out the bulk of the attacks, Mr Burnside hit out at Sinn Féin's credentials for returning to a power-sharing administration at Stormont.
"Sinn Féin politicians believe that they should be back in the government of Northern Ireland yet, as these figures clearly demonstrate, their friends in the IRA are still shooting people on a regular basis".
