Minutes of Proceedings

In attendance for part of meeting: Dr A Henry (University of Ulster)

1. Apologies

Apologies were received from Mr J Wilson and Mr B McElduff.

2. Minutes of last meeting

The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.

3. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Statutory Rules

The Committee Clerk reported that the Examiner of Statutory Rules had approved the technical aspects of two Statutory Rules for fishery licence duties. A copy of his report was circulated to the Committee. A discussion took place on the merits of the rules; it was agreed that some further information was needed from the Department and that a decision on the merits of the Rules should be deferred until the next meeting of the Committee.

5. Any other business

1. It was agreed that the Committee's first inquiry should be on the subject of fishing. The Committee Clerk will prepare a draft press release which will include the terms of reference for the inquiry.
2. The members agreed to submit, to the Committee Clerk, a list of priority issues they would like examined in the future; these issues will be tabled for agreement at a future meeting.
3. The members requested some further information on the Minister's recent announcement of £2m to fund safety improvements at sports grounds.
4. The Regional Development Committee have requested a copy of the Committee's first day brief; it was agreed that a copy could be issued; it was also agreed that a copy of Regional Development Committee's brief should be requested.
5. Language promotion - it was agreed that the Department should be pressed for more information on the criteria and methodology used to fund language groups.
6. It was agreed that additional information should be sought from the Department on the Odyssey project.
7. The members requested a list of names and contact numbers of the heads of the various bodies within the Department's remit.
8. Future meetings - It was agreed that the NI Arts Council, the NI Sports Council, the National Museums and Galleries of NI, and the NI Museums Council should be invited to meetings of the Committee in the forthcoming weeks. It was also agreed that the Committee should visit Armagh Planeterium and Ordnance Survey NI in the near future.
9. The Committee agreed to send a letter of condolence to the relevant Council in Scotland following the recent fishing tragedy.

6. Presentation

Dr A Henry, a linguistic expert from the University of Ulster gave a presentation on the history of the development of Irish, Ulster Scots, Cantonese, and other minority languages in use in NI. Her presentation was followed by a number of questions from the Committee. The Chairperson thanked Dr Henry for her interesting and informative presentation.

7. Date of next meeting

The next meeting of the Committee will be on Thursday 20 January 2000 at 10.15am in Room 152 Parliament Buildings.

Mr E ONeill
(Chairperson)