Proceedings of the Committee on the Preparation for Government

13 September 2006 (AM)

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 13 September 2006 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.

In the Chair: Jim Wells

Present: Dominic Bradley
Fred Cobain
David Ford
Gerry Kelly
Danny Kennedy
Naomi Long
Alban Maginness
Fra McCann
Raymond McCartney
Alan McFarland
Ian Paisley Jnr
Peter Robinson MP
Sammy Wilson MP

In Attendance: Nuala Dunwoody (Clerk Assistant)
Martin Wilson (Principal Clerk)
Neil Currie (Assistant Clerk)
David Douglas (Clerical Officer)
Tim Moore (Senior Researcher)

Observing: Ciaran Kearney (Sinn Fein researcher)
Richard Bullick (DUP researcher)
Stephen Barr (UUPAG researcher)

The meeting commenced at 10.07am.

1. Apologies

Mr Durkan MP (Mr Bradley attended the meeting as SDLP representative in place of Mr Durkan MP)

Dr Farren (Mr Maginness attended the meeting as SDLP representative in place of Dr Farren)

Ms Gildernew MP (Mr McCann attended the meeting as Sinn Fein representative in place of Ms Gildernew MP)

Dr McCrea MP (Mr Robinson MP attended the meeting as DUP representative in place of Dr McCrea MP)

Mr McGuinness MP (Mr Kelly attended the meeting as Sinn Fein representative in place of Mr McGuinness MP)

Mr McNarry (Mr Cobain attended the meeting as UUPAG representative in place of Mr McNarry)

Lord Morrow (Mr Wilson MP attended the meeting as DUP representative in place of Lord Morrow)

Mr Murphy MP (Mr McCartney attended the meeting as Sinn Fein representative in place of Mr Murphy MP)

2. Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 6 September 2006 were agreed. 

3. Matters arising

Meeting with the Secretary of State on 18 September 2006

The Committee agreed that the meeting with the Secretary of State would be held in the Senate chamber.

Mr Wilson joined the meeting at 10.25am.

The Committee agreed a press release regarding the Secretary of State’s meeting with the Committee.

Mr Robinson joined the meeting at 10.45am.

The Committee agreed the matters for discussion with the Secretary of State and their order.

The Committee agreed that other matters to be raised with the Secretary of State would be sought from the Institutions PfG Committee meeting scheduled for that afternoon. 

4. Draft PfG Committee Report on Law and Order Issues

Mr Maginness joined the meeting at 11.21am.

The meeting was suspended at 12.20pm.

The meeting reconvened at 12.43pm.

The Committee agreed the report.

The Committee agreed that the report should be printed as the second report from the Committee on the Preparation for Government.

5. Motion for Debate of Report

It was agreed to table the following motion:

‘That the Assembly approves the second report from the Committee on the Preparation for Government, on Law and Order Issues; agrees that it should be submitted to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and, pending restoration of the Institutions, calls on the Secretary of State and others to address those matters identified in the report as requiring resolution or further discussion.’

Mr McCartney left the meeting at 1.04pm.

Mr Wilson left the meeting at 1.07pm.

It was agreed the motion should be referred to the Business Committee but with no suggested date for Plenary.

It was agreed that the report would be embargoed until the commencement of a debate in the Assembly but that embargoed copies should be issued to MLAs, the media and the Secretary of State prior to the debate in Plenary.

The Committee agreed a press release regarding the publishing of the report.

6. Any Other Business

The Committee agreed that the Chairperson should agree the minutes of the meeting, relevant to the consideration of the report, so that they could be incorporated in the printed report.

7. Next Meeting

The Committee will next meet at 2.00pm this afternoon in Room 144, Parliament Buildings to discuss issues relating to Rights; Safeguards; Equality and Victims.

The next meeting on Law and Order issues will be held on Monday, 18 September 2006 at 9.45am.

The meeting adjourned at 1.15pm.