Proceedings of the Committee on the Preparation for Government

6 October 2006

Minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 6 October 2006 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.

In the Chair: Jim Wells

Present: Wilson Clyde
Patricia Lewsley
Fra McCann 
Alan McFarland
David McNarry
Alban Maginness
John O’Dowd
Peter Robinson MP

In Attendance: Nuala Dunwoody (Clerk Assistant)
Debbie Pritchard (Principal Clerk)
Jim Beatty (Assistant Clerk)
Pauline Hunter (Clerical Officer)

The meeting commenced at 10.05am.

1. Apologies

Mark Durkan MP (Ms Lewsley attended the meeting as SDLP representative in place of Mr Durkan MP)

Dr Sean Farren (Mr Maginness attended as SDLP representative in place of Dr Farren.)

David Ford

Michelle Gildernew MP 

Danny Kennedy

Naomi Long

Dr William McCrea MP (Mr Clyde attended as DUP representative in place of Dr McCrea MP.)

Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP

Martin McGuinness MP (Mr McCann attended as SF representative in place of Mr McGuinness MP.)

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

Conor Murphy MP (Mr O’Dowd attended the meeting as SF representative in place of Mr Murphy MP)

Ian Paisley Jnr

2. Previous Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 25 September 2006 were agreed.

Mr Clyde joined the meeting at 10.09am.

3. Consideration of the Sub-group’s Second Report on the Economic Challenges facing Northern Ireland

It was agreed that the Committee’s deliberations on the sub-group’s report would not be included in Hansard.

(a) After discussion, the contents of the report, with some amendments, were agreed. The Chairperson proposed that the Committee should order printing of the report. There was not consensus and the proposal fell.

(b) The Committee considered a request from the sub-group to change its terms of reference. This was to take account of the Secretary of State’s letter of 18 September 2006 notifying the sub-group, inter alia, that specific research mentioned in the terms of reference would not now be commissioned. Following discussion, it was agreed not to change the terms of reference but to note that these could not be met in their entirety due to the Secretary of State’s decision. 

4. Symposium on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland

The Chairperson reported on a meeting, hosted by Prof Monica McWilliams of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), between Commissioners and members of the Committee on Thursday 5 October 2006. The Chairperson proposed that, subject to developments, members of the Committee would attend a second meeting with the NIHRC on Tuesday, 5 December 2006. This was agreed.

It was also agreed that the Chairperson would write to Prof McWilliams to thank her for for the NIHRC’s hospitality.

Ms Lewsley left the meeting at 10.42am.

5. Sub-group on the Economic Challenges Facing Northern Ireland

Mr McFarland proposed that the Committee extend the deadline for production of a third report from the sub-group to 30 October 2006. This was agreed.

As there may be difficulties in obtaining a quorum for the meeting of the sub-group on Monday, 9 October 2006, it was agreed that the meeting should be cancelled.

Mr McNarry recorded his thanks to the staff for their work on the sub-group.

6. Next Meeting

The next meeting will be arranged to discuss the third report from the sub-group. Members will be advised of the time, date and location.

The meeting adjourned at 10.43am.