Vol. 488 No. 4
17 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs the plans, if any, he has to extend cross-Border co-operation between his Department and the Social Security Agency in Northern Ireland; and, if so, if he will outline his plans in this regard. [6459/98]
One of my main priorities since becoming Minister has been to further develop co-operation between my Department, the Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Services and the Social Security Agency, which operates under the aegis of that Department. There has been ongoing co-operation between the respective Departments over the years and excellent relations have been developed between the officials involved.
I considered that this needed to be given a new impetus and I felt this could best be achieved by a ministerial meeting to review all aspects of co-operation and the scope there is for further extension and development.
To that end in January of this year I met the Northern Ireland Minister, Mr. Tony Worthington MP, whose responsibilities include the Department of Health and Social Services. We had a wide-ranging exchange of views on the common problems we face in the field of social security, not least the high levels of unemployment and social exclusion and the policies being pursued to our respective Governments to address these problems. We also discussed implementation in both jurisdictions of the EU regulations on social security, cross-Border co-operation in countering social security fraud, support for the voluntary sector and cross-Border projects to combat poverty.
The meeting set in train a review of our overall arrangements for liaison and co-operation, with a view to developing even more effective and closer co-operation on all social security matters in the years ahead.
I have also invited Mr. Worthington on a return visit here in the near future which has been accepted.
