Dick Spring
Question:81 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the programme of work envisaged by the North South language body established under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. [14025/99]
Written Answers. - Good Friday Agreement.
The agreement signed by me and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on 8 March 1999 provides for the establishment of six North-South Implementation Bodies, including a language body. Under that agreement, this body will have two agencies, an Irish language agency and an Ulster Scots agency. The body will be formally established at the time of the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement.
The programme of work of the body will be a matter for the body itself, once established, under the direction of the North-South Ministerial Council. That programme of work will, of course, be based on the functions and remit of the body, as elaborated in the agreement signed on 8 March. Beyond that, and pending the establishment of the Body and the north-south Ministerial Council, it would not be appropriate to comment on the detail of the work programme.