Minutes of Proceedings - 16 January 2008
Present:
Mr Alex Attwood
Dr Stephen Farry
Mr Alban Maginness (Chairperson)
Mr Nelson McCausland
Mr Alan McFarland
Mr John O’Dowd
Mr Peter Weir
Attendees:
Mr Kevin Shiels, Committee Clerk
Ms Roisin Fleetham, Assistant Clerk
Ms Karen Roy, Clerical Supervisor
Apologies:
Ms Carál Ní Chuilín
Mr Danny Kennedy
Mr Raymond McCartney (Deputy Chairperson)
Mr Jim Wells
2.15pm the meeting opened in private session Mr Maginness in the Chair.
1. Apologies
The apologies were noted.
2. Minutes of last meeting
The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting 9 January 2008. They will be published on the website.
The Committee agreed that an extract of today’s Minutes of Proceedings should be included in Appendix 1 of the report and were content that the Chairperson agrees the minutes relating to this to allow them to be included in the printed report.
3. Matters Arising
The Chairperson informed Members that the Life Sentence Review Commissioners had forwarded details of hours worked by individual Commissioners, the paper was distributed to Members.
4. Declaration of Interests
The Chairperson reminded Members that any amended Declaration of Interests should be forwarded in writing to the Committee Clerk.
5. Consideration of Draft Report
The Chairperson informed Members that, following the last meeting, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had submitted two papers which had been copied to Members. An additional paper had also been received from Mr Robin Masefield, Director of the Prison Service, clarifying issues raised during his evidence on 9 January 2008. All three papers would be included in the Committee Report as written evidence.
The Committee considered the Conclusion and Recommendations section of the Draft Report paragraph by paragraph. The Committee agreed the bulk of this section, with some amendments and adjustments. There were some parts where agreement was not reached and Members agreed to meet again on Monday 21 January at 8.30a.m. to discuss and make a final decision on these specific parts. In the meantime it was agreed that the Clerk should produce a final draft of the Report, taking account of the Committee’s decisions and suggestions and email a copy to Members on Friday 18 January.
4.10pm Mr McCausland left the meeting
4.22pm Mr McFarland left the meeting
4.40pm Mr Attwood left the meeting
4.40pm the Chairperson adjourned the meeting.
