Vol. 512 No. 2
10 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the further consideration, if any, he will give to the proposal to locate the headquarters of one of the new North-South Implementation Bodies in County Cavan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25582/99]
As the Deputy will be aware from previous responses to his question in June and September, it has not been possible up to now to take decisions on the locations of the new implementation bodies, in the absence of the necessary political context. The House will appreciate that an issue such as this needed to be agreed in consultation with our ministerial colleagues in the new Executive in Northern Ireland.
Happily, these consultations can now take place and the matter of agreeing the permanent locations and headquarters for the implementation bodies will be on the agenda for the inaugural plenary meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council, which is scheduled for 13 December.
Like the other Members in the House, I compliment the Minister, all the Members of the Government and previous office-holders who did outstanding work in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement. I compliment the Minister on now having it implemented with the commencement of the new institutional arrangements.
I thank the Minister of State for her reply. Does she agree that favourable consideration should be given to the valid requests from various interests, including elected public representatives and statutory bodies, in Counties Cavan and Monaghan to have such headquarters located in that region. As the Minister of State is aware, that region has suffered immeasurable damage economically, politically and socially over a period of 30 years. Would the Minister of State agree that such decisions would complement the welcome announcement by the Minister for Finance yesterday concerning a new decentralisation programme?
Much preparatory work has already been done at official level and a variety of potential locations have been examined in both jurisdictions, bearing in mind the functions and activities of the bodies in question, in particular, their new North-South remit and the current location of staff carrying out existing functions. No decisions have been taken and since these options have yet to be reviewed and agreed at political level, in fairness to the new Ministers in Northern Ireland, it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the decisions or express a preference for locating any of the implementation bodies. These matters will be discussed at the earliest opportunity at the inaugural meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council, which is scheduled for 13 December in Armagh.
Would the Minister of State agree that the area west of the river Bann has not done well economically over a long period, and that this is the view throughout the North of Ireland ? It suffers from a lack of regional and economic development in the same way as the west of Ireland does. The Minister should favourably consider valid requests from less developed regions for decisions at North-South Ministerial Council level to achieve the required regional economic development. That is the policy option outlined in the Government's An Action Programme for the Millennium and in the Good Friday Agreement. I am sure that members of the new Executive in the North will be working towards that particular programme.
I agree that it is in accordance with the Government's overall policy of trying to bring administrative systems to regions which have been economically deprived. In considering the locations of these implementation bodies every aspect will be examined and I am sure that favourable consideration will be given to the concerns raised by the Deputy.
11 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in regard to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. [25494/99]
I refer the Deputy to the reply I gave earlier to Priority Question No. 1, a copy of which is supplied for the Deputy's convenience. This was the question relating to progress on the Good Friday Agreement. If the Deputy wishes to put a supplementary question he can do so, but I have already dealt with the matter during priority questions.
