Northern Ireland

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 July 2015

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Questions (717, 718, 719)

Micheál Martin

Question:

717. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the status of the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21860/15]

Micheál Martin

Question:

718. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the review and monitoring meeting of the Irish and British Governments in relation to the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22960/15]

Micheál Martin

Question:

719. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the actions that will be taken following the review and monitoring meeting held on 2 June 2015 regarding the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22961/15]

Written answers

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

I propose to take Questions Nos. 717 to 719, inclusive, together.

The full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement remains a priority of this Government and continues to be a key focus in contacts with the Northern Ireland Executive and with the British Government. The Taoiseach and Prime Minister Cameron discussed implementation of the Agreement at their meeting in London on 18 June, underlining the collective benefit of full implementation.

To continue to take forward this work, I represented the Government at the Implementation and Review meetings of the Stormont House Agreement in Belfast on 2 June and again on 25 June. A major focus of the 2 June meeting was the failure the previous week of the Welfare Bill to secure approval in the Northern Ireland Assembly, the potential consequent budgetary implications of this and its potential impact on the prospects for implementing the totality of the Stormont House Agreement. In the period since this meeting took place, a Budget Bill was agreed by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The 25 June meeting was an important opportunity to take stock of progress, including in the context of the ongoing political impasse in relation to welfare reform and wider budgetary issues. The meeting considered and approved for publication a progress report which outlines overall implementation of the Agreement, including work towards establishing new mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the past. In addition to the new mechanisms, the Northern Ireland Executive has undertaken to take appropriate steps to improve the way the legacy inquest function is conducted to comply with ECHR Article 2 requirements.

While good progress has been made across many of the Agreement’s work streams, a way forward needs to be found in relation to the ongoing impasse on welfare reform and wider budgetary issues. There is currently a limited window of opportunity to resolve these issues. It is essential that the political leaders in Northern Ireland face up to their responsibility to find a sustainable resolution to the issues at hand, and intensify their efforts on delivering the Agreement as a whole. The Irish Government will continue to support this collective effort.