Northern Ireland Issues.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2005

Tuesday, 8 March 2005

Questions (100)

Joe Sherlock

Question:

123 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if, further to his reply of 2 February 2005, under the terms of the comprehensive agreement of December 2004, any party entitled to nominate Ministers to the Executive of the Northern Ireland Assembly would lose their automatic right to ministerial positions should they choose to abstain on the vote for the First and Deputy First Ministers, in view of the fact that the system has now been changed in order that the First and Deputy First Ministers are elected with the other Ministers in the Executive and not through two separate votes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7706/05]

Written answers

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

As I said in my reply of 2 February 2005, the Good Friday Agreement provides that the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister should be jointly elected by a cross community vote in the Assembly. The revised arrangements, outlined in the comprehensive agreement published on 8 December last, would, in addition to the First and Deputy First Ministers, include the other Ministers being appointed to the Executive in that cross community vote. Taking forward these proposals will, when the context is appropriate, require amendment to the Northern Ireland Act 1998 in the British Parliament.

The relevant provision in the comprehensive agreement states: "No minister would be allowed to remain in the Executive if he or she had not voted in favour of the Executive Declaration, and if the nominating officer of his or her party did not nominate another MLA who had done so, d'Hondt would be re-run excluding that party." If a party wishes to participate in the Executive, it seems both logical and appropriate that it should support the entire ministerial slate, reflected in the Executive declaration. This is particularly the case given the experience in the previous Executive when one party took its allocated ministerial offices but did not engage collectively at Executive meetings.