Vol. 508 No. 1
90 Mr. B. Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the further considerations, if any, he will give to the proposal to locate the headquarters of one of the new North-South implementation bodies in County Cavan as discussed at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on 16 June 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18171/99]
My colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, replied to a similar question from the Deputy on 22 June. In the meantime, there has been no material change in the position, due to the con tinuing impasse regarding the establishment of the Executive and decommissioning.
As the Deputy will be aware, all of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are interconnected, and are intended to come into being at the same time. Therefore, the blockage in the creation of the executive has effectively halted progress on arrangements for the establishment of the North-South institutions, including the North-South implementation bodies.
As was indicated to the Deputy in June, decisions on the location and headquarters of the implementation bodies will be a matter collectively for the two administrations, North and South, and it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the outcome of that decision-making process by elaborating at this point on the details of individual possible locations.
However, I am happy to confirm that my colleague the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I are both fully aware of the excellent case being made for Cavan by the Deputy, and I can assure him that his representations will be treated with the fullest and most serious consideration.
