I am honoured to have the opportunity, on behalf of the Government, to introduce this legislation in Seanad Éireann, which completed all stages in Dáil Éireann last night. Similar enabling legislation has been enacted this week in Westminster. These items of legislation are intended to give effect, as appropriate, to the four international agreements supplementing the Good Friday Agreement, which the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I signed in Dublin Castle on Monday. As I said in the Dáil, this Bill represents a major step forward in the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and in the transformation from conflict and division to peace and co-operation.
The Bill essentially provides for the establishment of the North-South and British-Irish structures envisaged in the Good Friday Agreement. The bulk of the provisions in the Bill relate to the establishment of six North-South implementation bodies, which was the most substantial of the agreements signed last Monday.
The Bill and its associated agreement effectively put flesh on the bones of the Good Friday Agreement which stated, in broad terms, that the implementation bodies would implement on an all-island and cross-Border basis policies agreed in the North-South Ministerial Council. It said that the bodies would "constitute a necessary public function" and have a "clear operational remit".
It gave an absolute commitment that the two Governments would make the necessary legislative and other enabling preparations to ensure the bodies, once agreed, would function at the time of the entry into force of the British-Irish Agreement and the transfer of power to the new Northern Ireland Assembly. The functions of the bodies were agreed among the Northern Ireland parties on 18 December last and the necessary legislative arrangements are before us in the Bill. Most of the other arrangements are also spelled out in the Schedule to the Bill and any outstanding arrangements will be in place by the "go live" day, so to speak.
The other agreements covered the establishment of a North-South Ministerial Council, a British-Irish Council, and a British-lrish lntergovernmental Council which will replace the Anglo- lrish Intergovernmental Conference established in 1985.
I regret that both Houses have not had more time to study the detailed provisions of this Bill or the agreements from which they flow. I expressed my appreciation to Members of the Dáil for the manner in which they met the difficulties posed by the urgent need to pass the legislation quickly, and I repeat my appreciation to Senators for the manner in which they are dealing with the Bill, having regard to the exigencies of the timeframe. Senators will, I hope, understand that agreement was not reached at political level until late last weekend at which point the Bill was completed. The equivalent British order was tabled and debated in the House of Commons on Monday of this week and passed all stages in the House of Lords on Tuesday. The Government was keen to have our legislation tabled and enacted in the same broad timeframe. We are grateful to both Houses for their helpful and constructive approach in facilitating this.
The six implementation bodies agreed cover an important and diverse range of public service activity. In overall terms the bodies, once up and running, will involve some £56 million in annual expenditure and will have a total staff of about 880 people. Waterways Ireland is being established to run and promote the island's navigable waterway system. It will have immediate responsibility for the Shannon-Erne waterway and for all the island's currently navigable waterways from 1 April 2000. The body will be responsible for the promotion, including marketing and development, of the waterways. It has tremendous tourism potential for both parts of the island, as already signalled by the success of the Shannon-Erne waterway.
The Food Safety Promotion Board will have responsibility on an all-island basis for an area of key concern to both producers and consumers alike. It will, inter alia, exercise functions with regard to the promotion of food safety, research into food safety, communication of food alerts and surveillance of food-borne diseases. The image of the island of Ireland as a green and clean source of food can be further enhanced by the work of this important body.
The Trade and Business Development Body carries real potential for greatly increasing economic interaction on the island, and can bring genuine practical benefits to North and South.
The Special EU Programmes Body will have a significant role to play, including in the formulation of programme proposals under the next round of EU Community initiatives. It also underlines the continuing critical contribution being made by the European Union to the consolidation of peace and reconciliation on the island, something greatly appreciated by us all.
The Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission will be responsible for the navigational aids system for the whole island and will have responsibility for the development of aquaculture and marine tourism in the Foyle and Carlingford Loughs. It will take on the existing functions of the Foyle Fisheries Commission and have responsibility for corresponding functions for Carlingford Lough.
The North-South Language Body, through its two separate agencies, will be responsible for the promotion of the Irish language and of Ullans and Ulster Scots cultural issues on an all-island basis.
I would like to refer briefly to the structure of the bodies. Broadly speaking they will operate along the lines of our semi-State agencies. Four of the bodies will have boards, they are the Food Safety Promotion Board, the Trade and Business Development Body, the North-South Language Body and the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission. Waterways Ireland and the Special EU Programmes Body will operate as executive agencies headed by chief executives reporting to the North-South Ministerial Council.
The Bill sets out in detail how the agreed functions are to be exercised and describes the structures of the bodies. Once the enabling legislation is in place, the focus will be on ensuring that the bodies are in a position to function effectively from the "go live" date, as provided for in the Good Friday Agreement. In order to ensure that the bodies can function effectively from the outset, provision has been made for interim chief executive officers to be in place pending the appointment of definitive chief executive officers, by open recruitment in most cases.
Decisions will have to be taken shortly on the locations and headquarters of the bodies. In arriving at these decisions, every effort will be made to ensure a fair geographical spread, North and South. Yesterday in the Dáil there were a number of pleas and good contributions from Deputies who were anxious to have some of the headquarters located in their constituencies, and account will be taken of their views in that regard. There will be a balance of location on both sides of the Border. Account will also be taken of the location of the existing staff of the bodies to be transferred and of any particular requirements of individual implementation bodies.
It is also the intention that where there are boards, these will be in place as soon as possible. The Bill provides for the secondment of staff from the public service dealing with the functions being transferred. This would be on an interim basis and would facilitate the bodies getting up and running as quickly as possible.
In addition to the six implementation bodies which are provided for in the Bill it is worth recalling that the Good Friday Agreement also provides for the identification of at least six matters for co-operation where existing bodies, rather than new structures, will be the appropriate mechanism for co-operation in each jurisdiction.
The 18 December agreement reached among the Northern parties identified six areas as suit able for initial consideration by the North-South Ministerial Council in this regard. These areas are transport, agriculture, education, health, environment and tourism. In each case a number of matters of mutual interest have been identified and the relevant Departments, North and South, are currently preparing draft work programmes for consideration by the council.
As is the case with the implementation bodies, the matters identified represent key and significant areas of Government responsibility. On tourism, the 18 December agreement provides for the establishment of a publicly owned company which will be established by Bord Fáilte and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. This company will subsume the activities of the existing Overseas Tourism Marketing Initiative. It will carry out overseas marketing and promotion activities for the two tourist boards and will establish overseas offices for that purpose.
There has been worthwhile North-South co-operation for many years and the level of this co-operation has deepened and intensified in recent years. Much of this co-operation has occurred under the aegis of the Anglo-lrish Intergovernmental Conference and much has been of an ad-hoc nature between public and private interests. However, studies have consistently shown that the potential for co-operation to the mutual benefit of both parts of the island has never been fully tapped. What is new about the arrangements we are debating is that, for the first time, this co-operation can be carried forward in a structured and systematic way. Once the North-South Ministerial Council is up and running it will oversee the implementation bodies we are providing for in this Bill.
The remit of the council is very broad. In addition to overseeing the implementation bodies, it will provide a framework for the two Administrations on the island to work together on all matters of mutual interest and benefit coming within their competences. This process of co-operation holds enormous potential for the people of this island and for their common good. At last we have the means through which that potential can be developed and realised.
In providing for the establishment of these bodies, we have been keen to ensure that the rights of citizens, in so far as they interact with the bodies, would be protected. The provisions of the Ombudsman Act, 1980, will apply to each of the bodies. Any necessary liaison and consultation with the Ombudsman in Northern Ireland is provided for. Each of the implementation bodies will be subject to the data protection legislation applicable in each jurisdiction. Here again, arrangements are being made for liaison and consultation between the relevant authorities, North and South. As there is no statutory freedom of information regime in the North, the Agreement provides that the responsible Ministers, North and South, will, as soon as practicable, draw up a code of practice on access to information. Similarly, it has been agreed that each body will draw up a code of conduct for approval by the North-South Ministerial Council which will set out its aims and values, its obligations to the public and the accountability and conduct of its members and staff.
Parliamentary and financial accountability are also fully provided for. Bodies will submit annual accounts to our Comptroller and Auditor General and to the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland, who will, in co-operation, examine and certify the accounts. The bodies will provide full access to their records by the Comptroller and Auditor General who will have full accounting and audit access, including to carry out value for money studies. The members of the body will also be required to appear before, and otherwise co-operate with, the Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas, including the Committee of Public Accounts.
While the necessary legislative and other preparatory arrangements to implement these aspects of the Good Friday Agreement have primarily been a matter for the Irish and British Governments, there has been close consultation with the Northern Ireland parties, in particular with the UUP, the SDLP and Sinn Féin. I wish to acknowledge the constructive role they played in the development of the agreement to which this Bill is giving effect.
As Senators will recognise, a great deal of this Bill is of a highly technical nature. A number of existing bodies and delivery mechanisms are being dissolved or transferred into the new implementation bodies. A substantial body of legislation on our Statute Book is either being repealed or substantially amended. Considerable work has been undertaken across the full range of Departments to bring the arrangements this far. Clearly the work has been guided by an acute awareness of the political sensitivity of many of the issues involved.
I would like to place on record my appreciation, and that of the Taoiseach and the Government, for the work of my colleagues in Government and their officials. The dedication and commitment of all those involved, particular of those in the Anglo-Irish division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of the Taoiseach, has been immense. I express my gratitude to them for their dedication and patriotism. In particular, I pay tribute to the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, whose contribution, we can all agree, has been outstanding. I also want to express my appreciation for the work of my colleague in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and to the immense efforts of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and my good colleague and, I hope, my friend Secretary of State, Mo Mowlam, and her excellent officials.
Ministers and Departments are already rededicating themselves to ensure that the necessary arrangements will be in place for the bodies to function effectively from devolution or "go live" day, in tandem with the other institutional arrangements provided for in the Good Friday Agreement.
The tabling of this Bill is a further significant step along the road of implementing the Good Friday Agreement. It is about co-operation and partnership. More than anything else, it is about a new beginning on this island. It is about ensuring that never again will it be blighted by conflict. By working together on practical matters of common concern and interest, we give ourselves the best possible chance of achieving that goal. Much progress has been made in implementing the Agreement but we still have some way to go. We all know the nature of the remaining problems. Let us redouble our efforts in the coming days and weeks to overcome these problems. The prize is very great indeed, and it is in sight.