I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
The introduction of this legislation in Dáil Éireann and similar enabling legislation in Westminster represents a further major milestone in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It is another historic step in the development of relations on this island and between the islands of Ireland and Britain following the signature yesterday of the four treaties which are among the five treaties, including the Good Friday Agreement, for which motions have just been moved. The legislation makes provisions for a key institutional aspect of the Good Friday Agreement.
The key points in the Bill are as follows: Part 1 provides for the participation of the Taoiseach and Ministers in the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council and for general provisions, including a power for the Taoiseach to make regulations to remove difficulties in the way of bringing the Bill or the Agreement into operation.
Parts 2 to 7 and the associated parts of annexes 1 and 2 to the international agreement scheduled to the Bill provide for the functions, manner of exercise of the functions, structure and powers of each of the implementation bodies.
These parts give the force of domestic law to the majority of the provisions of the Agreement, including, in particular, annexes 1 and 2.
Concerning structure, four of the six implementation bodies – food safety, trade and business development, language, and aquaculture and marine will have boards. In the case of the Food Safety Promotion Board, it was agreed that the board would be of an advisory character. The special EU programmes body and the Waterways Ireland body will be in the nature of executive agencies headed by chief executives reporting to the relevant formations of the North-South Ministerial Council. All the bodies will have chief executives. This represents a satisfactory outcome. To ensure the bodies get off to a good start, provision has been made for interim CE0s to be in place from day one pending the appointment of the definitive CE0s by open recruitment in most cases. The necessary funding and staffing for the bodies has been pre-agreed by the two sovereign Governments for year one, at satisfactory levels, with corresponding indicative figures for years two and three, when the bodies would be expected to be operating at their full initial levels.
Key points to note in relation to individual bodies are, in the case of Waterways Ireland, that in addition to immediate transfer of the Shannon-Erne waterway, all the island's currently navigable waterways will be transferred to the body from 1 April 2000 when a three region structure – eastern, western and northern – will come into effect. The body is empowered to engage in promotion, including marketing and development, of the tourism and commercial potential of the inland waterways for which it has responsibility. This body thus has the opportunity and the capacity to make a major contribution to the development of parts of the island that have yet to reap the fullest benefit from tourism.
The Food Safety Promotion Board will have responsibility in an area of key concern to the general public, as indicated by recent debates and controversies. The body will have an all island remit in relation to the promotion of food safety and will work in association with the existing food safety agencies, North and South, which will continue to be responsible for inspection and enforcement. The Bill amends the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998, with a view to a rational and effective division of labour with our authority in the State and a clear operational remit for the implementation body. As provided in the supplementary Agreement on the bodies, it is intended that the body will, in an independent manner, through independent scientific advice, promote the safety and hygiene of food pro duced, distributed or marketed on the island of Ireland. To that end, the North-South Ministerial Council will appoint, in addition to the advisory board, an advisory committee, including scientific experts and representatives of broader food safety interests.
The trade and business development body will exercise a significant range of functions, including responsibility, from the outset for a number of specific operational schemes, such as administering a programme to enable companies to undertake joint product and process development projects of commercial benefit; implementing a science and technology awareness programme on a North-South basis; and an innovation award scheme on the same basis. The body will be tasked to bring forward to the North-South Ministerial Council within three months proposals on the development of a North-South equity investment fund programme for consideration and decision by the Council. Again, this represents a satisfactory outcome.
The special EU programmes body will have significant functions in relation to post-1999 Structural Funds, including advising the North-South Ministerial Council and the Finance Departments on the negotiation of the post-1999 Community initiatives and the common chapter on co-operation between Northern Ireland and Ireland. It will prepare, for the approval of the North-South Ministerial Council and in close consultation with the Finance Departments and other relevant Departments, detailed programme proposals under the new Community initiatives. It will also undertake grant-making and other managerial functions in respect of INTERREG 3 and North-South elements of programmes under other initiatives. The proposals are to include recommendations on: the structure of measures for inclusion; the allocations to measures; and the objectives of each measure. The body's importance will be significantly enhanced if, as now seems likely, the recent visits by Messrs. Trimble and Mallon to Brussels and Bonn and the supportive activities of the two Governments bear fruit in terms of major special programmes funding for Northern Ireland and the Border counties in the post-1999 period.
The Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission will be able to tap the significant potential for the development of aquaculture and marine tourism in the areas concerned with obvious benefit to the economies of counties Donegal and Louth, following the extension of the functions of the Foyle Fisheries Commission to include Carlingford Lough and its basin and the extension of functions to cover the development of angling and marine tourism. Complex legislation is required to provide for the agreed function of the development and licensing of aquaculture. It has been agreed that this legislation will be brought forward in both jurisdictions before the end of 1999.
Draft legislation on this matter had been well advanced in this jurisdiction, in the context of the existing Foyle Fisheries Commission, and it should be possible to move this forward expeditiously, although the Northern side is less advanced.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights is a reserved matter for which the Whitehall Department of Environment, Transport and Regions has responsibility. However, the Agreement provides that British and Irish legislation will be brought forward to make the body the general lighthouse authority for the island of Ireland. This legislation will be brought forward, if possible, before the entry into force of the Agreement on the bodies but as soon as possible thereafter.
In relation to the North-South Language Body, a point of note is that it will take the form of a single body with two separate parts, one concerned with the Irish language and the other with Ullans and Ulster Scots cultural issues. With the input of funding and enthusiasm from the Northern side, the body, which will have more than double the staff of Bord na Gaeilge, should give a significant impetus to Irish language promotion on the island. The two agencies within the body will operate almost completely independently of each other, thus ensuring that the Irish language agency will be able to operate in Irish, which is stated in the Agreement to be its working language. Given that the part of the Bill dealing with the language body will replace the Bord na Gaeilge Act, 1978, it is set out primarily in Irish in the Bill, with an English translation attached to facilitate British and Northern Ireland readers. A courtesy translation into Irish of the relevant part of the Agreement is being supplied to Deputies and Senators with the Bill.
Part VIII makes provision in respect of matters common to all bodies, including the transfer of staff to the bodies, grants to bodies, reports and accounts of bodies, the application of the Ombudsman Act, 1980, and the application of the Data Protection Act, 1988. The Bill provides for the application of the Ombudsman Act, 1980, to the implementation bodies and, in the interest of harmonisation, provides for any necessary liaison and consultation with the Ombudsman for Northern Ireland.
Under the Agreement to which the Bill gives effect, the bodies will be subject to the data protection legislation applicable in each jurisdiction. Provision is made in the Agreement for liaison and consultation between the relevant authorities, North and South – the Data Protection Commissioner and the UK Data Protection Commissioner.
In the absence, at present, of a statutory FOI regime in the UK, and given the substantial differences between the two jurisdictions in terms of access to information, the Agreement provides that the Ministers responsible for freedom of information will as soon as practicable draw up a code of practice on access to information for approval by the North-South Ministerial Council. Similarly, and for much the same reasons, the Agreement provides that each body will draw up a code of conduct for approval by the NSMC, covering its aims and values, its obligations to the public and the accountability and conduct of its members and staff. In addition, in order to avoid any problem that could arise from differences in the law of the two jurisdictions, including such as could arise from varying court interpretations of the law as it applies to the implementation bodies, arrangements have been agreed for consultations between the Attorneys General.
In the course of the intensive and difficult negotiations which led to the preparation of this Bill and its British counterpart, the Irish side was concerned to ensure two things above all: first, that the substance of the package agreed on the 18 December should be fully maintained, and, second, that the legal mechanisms for establishing the bodies, together with the financial and organisational arrangements, should be such as to ensure that the bodies will be in a position to function fully and effectively from the entry into force of the Agreement.
The Government is satisfied that both of these conditions have been met. The overall package as reflected in the Agreement and the Bill represents a very satisfactory outcome. The fact that the provisions regarding the implementation bodies are set out in an international agreement to be given the force of law in the State and at Westminster ensures that there is the necessary legal assurance and certainty underpinning the operation of the bodies. The Government is satisfied that, taken together with the separate programme of co-operation through existing bodies and having regard to the possibilities for further development through the work of the North-South Ministerial Council, the implementation bodies will have the potential to significantly enhance North-South interaction on this island.
The separate programme of co-operation through existing bodies arises from the requirement in the Good Friday Agreement to identify, in addition to at least six implementation bodies, at least six matters where existing bodies would be the appropriate mechanism for co-operation in each separate jurisdiction. The 18 December statement recorded agreement that specified aspects of transport, agriculture, education, health, environment and tourism would be suitable for initial consideration by the NSMC in this regard, and that it would be open to the North-South Ministerial Council, by agreement between the two sides, to consider other matters. The relevant Departments have been asked to work out the details of this programme with their Northern counterparts and this is ongoing. I have already referred to this position with regard to tourism.
In ballpark terms, the implementation bodies, once they are set up and running, will involve some £56 million in annual expenditure, with a total staff of about 880. The additional cost to the Exchequer for the bodies is still provisional, but is roughly estimated to be in the region of £5 to £10 million for this year, rising to an extra £25 million in round terms by 2001.
Accountability arrangements for the North-South bodies are dealt with in Part VII, Annex 2 of the draft treaty. In particular, the financial accountability arrangements will mirror existing provisions covering bodies which come within the audit remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General within this jurisdiction, with reciprocal arrangements for Northern Ireland. In relation to Dáil Éireann, this will require the bodies to be amenable to account for the expenditure of money provided by the Oireachtas and for other matters arising from value for money examinations.
The text of the draft treaty specifies that the bodies will submit copies of their statements of account to the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland and the Irish Comptroller and Auditor General, who will in co-operation examine and certify the accounts. It also provides for access by the Comptroller and Auditor General to all necessary records of North-South bodies. Any report concerning the body by the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland will be laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The Bill ensures that audit reports and other reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General will be presented to the body concerned and to the relevant Minister who will cause copies to be laid before Dáil Éireann. The Financial Memorandum to be prescribed for each body will specify an upward time limit for the completion of the process of three months after receiving the audited reports of the accounts.
Members of the body or its staff will be required to appear before and otherwise co-operate with the Committee of Public Accounts. Other practical day-to-day management issues relating to the accounting and audit arrangements of the bodies, including value-for-money studies and inspection by the Comptroller and Auditor General of other bodies receiving grants from the North-South bodies in both jurisdictions, will be incorporated in the Financial Memorandum.
I am convinced that the new North-South arrangements make good, practical sense for all of the people on this island. Up to now opportunities for co-operation were available mainly in a non-structured, ad hoc way and while many organisations, for example, CBI and IBEC, have long pioneered North-South economic co-operation, the new implementation bodies provide opportunities to bring the work for our mutual advantage to another plane. There is a crucial imperative to put both parts of this island in a position to compete and to succeed in an era of global markets and global competition. This requires serious co-operation in areas of the economy such as trade and business development and developing together our relationship with the European Union, through the EU programmes body.
Cross-Border trade remains well below the lev els that are typical of neighbouring economies or regions. We in the South have reaped the success of an approach to our economy based on partnership and co-operation. We want to conduct our business in a spirit of partnership with a proper institutional framework that can support and break down the barriers to effective co-operation.
In the negotiations leading up to the Good Friday Agreement, the Unionist and loyalist parties acknowledged that North-South bodies were needed, not only for the practical benefits they would bring but also because they represent a vital institutional expression of the Irish identity of northern nationalists and of their associated identification with Ireland as a whole and with this State. The Agreement which this Bill is implementing lays the foundations for a closer coming together of North and South. There are many ways in the years ahead that the choice of a united Ireland can be made more attractive to a majority of the people in the North. The responsibility is ours. As expressed in the Downing Street Declaration, Irish unity could be achieved only by those who favour this outcome persuading those who do not, peacefully and without coercion.
In recent times the tendency has been to focus on the differences and the difficulties, but there is and has been a huge amount of agreement on the way forward and practical expression has been given to the areas of agreement. We must continue to strive for agreement on all aspects of the implementation of the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. All parties must recognise the overwhelming consensus on the island for peace. For our part we will continue to work on fulfilling our obligations under the Agreement and we expect all of the parties to do the same.
While the implementation of this part of the Agreement has primarily been a matter for the two Governments, it has, of course, involved close consultation with the Northern Ireland parties, in particular the UUP, the SDLP, and Sinn Féin. I wish to record my appreciation of their role in progressing this key part of the Agreement. The First Minister designate, David Trimble, has adopted a constructive approach throughout, on the basis that the implementation bodies will bring real practical benefit to both parts of the island. The contribution of the Deputy First Minister designate, Seamus Mallon, has been enormous throughout and is deeply appreciated by us all. We also greatly value the co-operation of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and his colleagues.
I also pay tribute to the Opposition for their helpful and constructive approach to processing this important Bill and of their continuous support for the Good Friday Agreement and its implementation. The approach of all Ministers and Departments to the negotiations was extremely constructive and open. The implementation of the new Strand Two arrangements represents a major undertaking for the whole admin istrative system, involving a re-orientation in a way that has not happened since the foundation of this State. What is involved is a dramatic re-orientation for our administrative system.
Last April, as we concluded the historic Good Friday Agreement, all of Ireland was focused on television sets as the news broke and as details emerged. There was a great sense of achievement and of goodwill. That goodwill, and the enormous support for this tremendous achievement, was further confirmed in May last, when the people of Ireland – North and South – voted so decisively in favour of the Agreement.
That same desire to ensure the successful implementation of the Agreement has also been clearly manifest in the public service, who have approached the many tasks involved in a very positive spirit. I pay tribute especially to the officials in my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and in the Offices of the Attorney General and the parliamentary draftsman and in all of the line Departments, who have approached this complex and historic project in a very positive spirit. I know that all involved will continue to do all that is necessary to ensure for the people of Ireland – North and South – the achievement of all aspects of the Agreement which they so clearly want to see succeed.