I heard a comment as I was waiting outside that perhaps I was afraid to come to the Seanad. I assure the House nothing is further from the truth. I will be happy to come to the Seanad any time as Minister for Justice and answer any questions the House might wish to put. That applies also to Senator Mulcahy — I will be happy to answer any questions.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to open an historic debate in this Chamber. The Taoiseach would have been here if he was not confined to bed with a serious 'flu. He recognises the enormity of this historic occasion in the Seanad. The Joint Framework Document, A New Framework for Agreement, is potentially of enormous significance for the future political, social and economic development of this island. Those of us privileged to be present in Belfast when the document was launched by the Taoiseach, Deputy John Bruton, and the British Prime Minister, John Major, could not fail to have been moved by the sense of history in the making.
It is our job now to get on with the political debate generated by that historic event and to ensure that the publication of A New Framework for Agreement marks a major step towards a new beginning in the history of this island in which violence for political ends has no place or part to play.
The publication of the Framework Document creates an unrivalled opportunity to consolidate the peace process on this island and to secure its integration into the wider talks process. The publication of A New Framework for Agreement follows from other achievements of the past 14 months — the adoption of the Joint Declaration in Downing Street on 17 December 1993; the announcement by the Provisional IRA of its cessation of military operations on 31 August last; the announcement by the Combined Loyalist Military Command of its decision to cease all operational hostilities on 13 October last; the establishment of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation by the Government, and the engagement of the Governments in dialogue with Sinn Féin, the Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Democratic Party.
Those developments have combined to replace despair with hope. They have combined to create a unique sense of opportunity unmatched on the occasion of any previous initiative intended to address the problems of Northern Ireland during the past quarter century of conflict. People throughout this island are looking to their political representatives, both North and South, to grasp this opportunity to secure a lasting peace and an equitable political settlement. They will not easily or quickly forgive us if that opportunity is squandered or lost.
That places a heavy burden on all those involved to approach the wider dialogue that should follow publication of the Framework Document in an open and constructive way. We need to be sensitive to the concerns of those whom we seek to engage in dialogue and we must be constructive in addressing those concerns. That duty applies to all parties involved in the process and I hope that parties on all sides of the debate will enter dialogue in that spirit. The moment for instant analysis and comment is already past.
Now is the time for calm reflection and consideration of the actual content of the Framework Document. It is a complex document that has evolved over a considerable time. It addresses the most intractable political problem on this island and deserves the deepest study and analysis on all our parts. I now wish to turn to the document itself.
Central to the approach in A New Framework for Agreement are a number of guiding principles which inform its treatment of the different aspects of any arrangements that might flow from future talks. Those guiding principles are not new but what is new is the manner in which they have been applied across the spectrum of the relationships that need to be addressed if lasting peace and stability on this island are to be secured.
In that way, those guiding principles ensure the necessary balance in the proposals A New Framework for Agreement contains. The principles concerned are: the principle of self-determination as set out in the Downing Street Declaration adopted by the two Governments in December 1993; the principle of consent; the principle that agreement must be pursued and established by exclusively democratic means without resort to violence or coercion; and the principle that any new political arrangement must be based on full respect for the rights and identities of both traditions.
The structures and arrangements proposed in the Framework Document which those principles inform are concerned with three distinct relationships which need to be part of any settlement: the relationship between the two communities in Northern Ireland; the relationship between both parts of the island of Ireland; and the relationship between the two sovereign Governments. The requirement, for the purpose of the establishment and operation of structures within Northern Ireland itself, is that they are capable of securing cross-community support. A New Framework for Agreement confirms that this remains an essential requirement in the view of both Governments. Moreover, these structures should be capable of enabling the elected representatives in Northern Ireland to exercise shared administration and legislative control over all those matters that can be agreed across both communities and which can most effectively and appropriately be dealt with at that level. The two Governments believe that those structures can be most effectively negotiated through direct dialogue involving the parties in Northern Ireland itself, as part of a comprehensive three stranded approach.
The new North-South structures referred to in the document are for the purpose of addressing the relationship between the two parts of Ireland. Any such structures must be capable of creating a new beginning for relationships within the island of Ireland. They also need to acknowledge the simple fact that there are many matters of common interest to both parts of the island.
That is why the Framework Document suggests new institutions to cater for future political, social, cultural, economic interconnections which would permit elected representatives of democratic institutions. North and South, to enter into new co-operative and constructive relationships.
What the two Governments propose in that regard is a new North-South body involving Heads of Department on both sides, that would be duly established and maintained by legislation in both sovereign Parliaments. The intention is that that body would bring together Ministers representing the Irish Government and political Heads of Departments from the new democratic institutions in Northern Ireland. They would discharge or oversee delegated executive, harmonising or consultative functions over a range of matters which the two Governments would designate in the first instance in agreement with the parties, and to which the two Administrations, North and South, could subsequently add.
The criteria which the Governments suggest should be applied in determining which functions could usefully be discharged by the new North-South body are objectively based. Those criteria include the common interest in a given matter on the part of both parts of the island, the mutual advantage of addressing a matter together, the mutual benefit which may derive from the matter being administered by the North-South body, the achievement of economies of scale and the avoidance of unnecessary duplication of effort.
Maximum flexibility is ensured by providing that functions designated in accordance with these criteria could fall into three broad categories where the objective would be consultative, harmonising or executive. That will enable specific functions to be dealt with in the manner appropriate to the particular needs of the function in question. Thus in some cases the only requirement would be for the two sides to exchange information and consult with each other about existing and future policy while in others the requirement would extend to the establishment of an agreed policy and its implementation on a joint basis.
In keeping with the principles which underlie all their proposals, the Governments propose that the new North-South body should operate on the basis of agreement and democratic accountability. It will be a matter for the two Governments in the first instance to designate the functions to be delegated to it acting in agreement with the parties and, thereafter, a matter for agreement between the two Administrations, North and South.
Equally the Governments envisage that decisions within the body would be by agreement between the two sides and that the Heads of Department would exercise their powers in accordance with the rules for democratic authority and accountability in force in the Oireachtas and in the new institutions in Northern Ireland. The operation of the North-South body would also be subject to regular scrutiny in agreed political institutions in Northern Ireland and the Oireachtas generally.
The two Governments also believe that there is need to address again the relationship between the two Governments themselves. The intention would be to enhance the existing basis for co-operation and to support and underwrite the fair and effective operation of the new arrangements.
What is envisaged is a broadly based agreement which would maintain a standing Anglo-Irish intergovernmental conference serviced by a permanent secretariat of civil servants drawn from both Governments. The conference will continue to provide institutional expression for this Government's concern and role in relation to Northern Ireland. The conference will also represent the principal instrument for an intensification of co-operation and partnership between both Governments.
Matters for which responsibility is transferred to new political institutions in Northern Ireland will, of course, be excluded from consideration in the conference except in the specific circumstances provided for in the document. One issue, however, that is likely to remain a matter for east-west co-operation for the time being at least is the issue of law and order in which I, as Minister for Justice, naturally have a particular interest.
The Framework Document recognises that the issue of law and order is closely linked to the issue of political consensus. It identifies policing and the task of enhancing community identification with policing in Northern Ireland as an important issue and an area in which the climate of peace and the growth of agreement may offer new possibilities and opportunities.
Consolidating the peace process can provide an important dividend in relation to policing in both jurisdictions. New opportunities to enhance community identification with policing in Northern Ireland will be created and imagination will be required if those opportunities are to be fully realised. Resources will be freed in both jurisdictions to tackle forms of criminal activity which are a source of real concern to communities throughout this island. One of the peace dividends will be additional resources to tackle the scourge of drugs and the pushers who prey on our youth. North and South, additional resources to tackle the activities of organised criminal gangs and the creation of a more secure environment which can be enjoyed by all.
An overall settlement in Northern Ireland requires a balanced constitutional accommodation which recognises the legitimate aspirations of both traditions on this island. The two Governments recognise that fact and signal their readiness to address constitutional issues as part of an overall settlement in A New Framework for Agreement. That means ensuring that the basic law of both jurisdictions adequately reflects the commitments entered into and the reality of the diverse aspirations of the two traditions.
The Irish Government is prepared to introduce and support proposals for change in the Constitution to implement the commitments contained in the Framework Document and in the Downing Street Joint Declaration. Those changes will fully reflect the principle of self determination and consent. The principles underlying those changes will be to remove any jurisdictional or territorial claim of legal right over the territory of Northern Ireland contrary to the will of its people and to provide that the creation of a sovereign united Ireland could therefore only occur in circumstances where a majority of the people in Northern Ireland formally choose to be part of a united Ireland. That will not affect the maintenance of the existing birthright of everyone born in either jurisdiction to be part of the Irish nation as of right.
The British Government equally signals its readiness to uphold the democratic wish of a greater number of the people of Northern Ireland on the issue of whether they prefer to support the union or a sovereign united Ireland and will also embody the principles and commitments in the joint declaration and in the Framework Document in their constitutional legislation. That will be effected by way of an amendment of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, or by its replacement by appropriate new legislation and appropriate new provisions entrenched by agreement.
There has been some comment about the fact that details of proposed amendments to the Constitution were not published by the Government in conjunction with the publication of the Framework Document. The Government decided against publishing details of the proposed amendments because it believed that it would not be appropriate to do so. The detailed wording of changes to the Constitution is a matter for the Government, the Oireachtas and ultimately the people. We have spelled out the principles which will be involved and have given our commitment as to the nature of the changes which we are prepared to support. What has been said leaves no room for doubt as to our bona fides.
It has been emphasised by those of us who spoke on the Framework Document in the Dáil and by the British Government representatives also that it is not a blueprint to be imposed on anybody but is intended essentially to assist discussion and negotiation involving the Northern Ireland political parties. It represents the considered and shared assessment of both Governments as to what might constitute an agreed outcome from future talks involving the Government and the parties. The accommodation which it suggests is intended to enable the people of this island to work together constructively for their mutual benefit without compromising the essential principles or the long term aspirations or interests of either tradition or community. It does not and is not intended to threaten either tradition but — and we make no apology for this — it is intended to challenge both.
Neither Government claims a monopoly of wisdom and both remain open to proposals or suggestions from the parties themselves. We fully expect the parties to come forward with their own proposals but the challenge for them — as it has been for us — will be to achieve balance and demonstrate the necessary willingness to accommodate legitimate recognition of competing aspirations. The Governments will be fully prepared to build on any area where general agreement can be secured provided that that agreement contributes to a comprehensive settlement which addresses the three sets of relationships involved.
The important thing now is for the process of dialogue and debate to get under way and this debate is part of that process. We see the publication of A New Framework for Agreement as providing direction and a basis for structured discussions. The Irish Government wants comprehensive negotiations to get under way as quickly as possible. The people of this island want those negotiations and are looking to their political representatives to engage in that process.
I would, in conclusion, like to pay tribute to those who have been involved in the process leading to publication of A New Framework for Agreement. It is the product of considerable work by both the Irish and UK Governments and their teams of advisers. A special mention in that regard deserves to be made of the former Taoiseach, Deputy Reynolds, who played a crucial part in moving the process forward in particular through the momentum created by the peace process. I pay tribute to Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn who, as Minister for Justice, played a vital role in the process and in the discussions on the Framework Document. I also pay tribute to the Tánaiste, Deputy Spring, who was involved in this historic process from the beginning.
I commend A New Framework for Agreement to the House.