Proceedings of the Committee on the Preparation for Government

8 September 2006

Minutes of the meeting held on Friday, 8 September 2006 in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.

In the Chair: Francie Molloy

Present: Alex Attwood 
George Ennis
Sean Farren
David Ford
Michael Ferguson
Derek Hussey
Naomi Long
David McNarry
Lord Morrow
Dermot Nesbitt
Edwin Poots
George Robinson (from 12.49pm)
Caitriona Ruane

In Attendance: Nuala Dunwoody (Clerk Assistant)
Debbie Pritchard (Principal Clerk)
Joanne Adair (Assistant Clerk)
Elaine Farrell (Clerical Supervisor)
Eileen Regan (Senior researcher)

Observing: Clive McFarland (DUP researcher)
Stephen Barr (UUPAG researcher)

The meeting commenced at 10.15 am.

1. Apologies

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

Mr McFarland (Mr Nesbitt attended the meeting as UUPAG representative in place of Mr McFarland)

Dr McDonnell MP

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

Mr McGuinness MP

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

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

Mr Kennedy (Mr Hussey attended the meeting as UUPAG representative in place of Mr Kennedy)

Mr Paisley, Jnr (Mr Ennis attended the meeting as DUP representative in place of Mr Paisley, Jnr)

2. Chairperson’s business – report on the Economic Challenges facing Northern Ireland

The Committee agreed that it was content for an embargoed copy of the report to be sent to those who gave oral evidence and agreed the draft press release.

3. Agenda item 1 – minutes of the meeting on 1 September 2006

Mr Poots joined the meeting at 10.21am
Mr Ennis joined the meeting at 10.24am
Mrs Long joined the meeting at 10.25am
Mr Hussey joined the meeting at 10.26am

The minutes of the meeting of 1 September were agreed subject to the following amendments:

Under ‘Apologies’ amend the reference to Mr Nesbitt and the DUP to read ‘Mr Nesbitt attended the meeting as UUPAG representative in place of Mr Kennedy’.

The reference to 1941 should be amended to 1949.

The meeting was suspended at 10.45am and resumed at 10.59am

Delete - ‘Nelson McCausland proposed that British passports should be made available to citizens born in the Republic of Ireland after 1941 and this should be referred to the two Governments for consideration. There was consensus and the proposal was agreed’

And insert –

‘Nelson McCausland proposed that British passports should be made available to citizens born in the Republic of Ireland after 1949. There was not consensus and the proposal fell.

Nelson McCausland proposed that the matter be referred to the two Governments for consideration. There was consensus and the proposal was agreed’.

Sinn Fein advised that it did not support this motion. The Chairperson ruled that the deletion and insertion were an accurate reflection of the record of the meeting on 1 September as set out in Hansard.

Mr Ford left the meeting at 11.10am

4. Agenda item 2 – draft report on Rights; Safeguards; Equality Issues and Victims

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

The meeting was suspended at 12.15 p.m.
Mr Attwood left the meeting at 12.15 pm
Mr Poots left the meeting at 12.15pm

The meeting reconvened at 12.49 pm
Mr Robinson joined the meeting as DUP representative in place of Dr McCrea MP at 12.49 pm

Mr McNarry left the meeting at 1.38pm.
The meeting was suspended at 3.07pm and resumed at 3.19pm

A number of amendments to the draft report were agreed. It was agreed that the remainder of the draft report, from paragraph 48 onwards, the Executive Summary and the Conclusions, would be considered at the meeting on 15 September.

5. Any other business

Invitation from Monica McWilliams, Northern Ireland Human Rights Chief Commissioner to attend a symposium

The Committee agreed to consider the letter from the NIHRC, suggesting various dates for the symposium on the issue of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, at its next meeting.

6. Next Meeting

The next meeting dealing with rights, safeguards, equality and victims’ issues will be held on Friday 15 September. This will be an all-day meeting with lunch provided.

The meeting adjourned at 4.12 pm