Minutes of Proceedings
Session: 2010/2011
Date: 07 December 2010
Venue: Room 21
The meeting opened at 11.14am in private session.
The Chair declared the meeting open and pointed out that the meeting was being covered by Hansard.
1. Apologies
Mr Tom Elliot.
2. Minutes of Proceedings of meeting held on 30 November 2010
Members agreed the Minutes of Proceedings of the meeting held on 30 November 2010.
11.15am Fred Cobain joined the meeting.
11.15am John O’Dowd joined the meeting.
3. Matters arising
None.
4. Chairperson’s Business
None.
5. Correspondence
None.
6. Consideration of the operation of sections 16A to 16C of the Northern Ireland Act 1998
On a proposal from Mr Cobain that:
“The Committee makes the recommendation as set out in section 29B(1)(b) of
the Northern Ireland Act 1998.”
Question put: The Committee makes the recommendation as set out in section 29B(1)(b) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
The Committee divided. Ayes 3; Noes 7; Abstentions 0.
Ayes
Fred Cobain
Conall McDevitt
Declan O’Loan
Noes
Alex Maskey
Raymond McCartney
John O’Dowd
Jimmy Spratt
Jonathan Bell
Paul Givan
Simon Hamilton
Abstentions
None
The proposal accordingly fell.
On a proposal from Mr Hamilton that:
“The Committee agrees to write to the Secretary of State for the removal of
section 16C from the Northern Ireland Act 1998.”
Question put: The Committee agrees to write to the Secretary of State for the removal of section 16C from the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
The Committee divided. Ayes 5; Noes 3; Abstentions 2.
Ayes
Jonathan Bell
Fred Cobain
Paul Givan
Simon Hamilton
Jimmy Spratt
Noes
Alex Maskey
Raymond McCartney
John O’Dowd
Abstentions
Declan O’Loan
Conall McDevitt
The proposal accordingly passed.
The Chairperson advised that the Clerk would draft the letter to the Secretary of State, and that members would see the draft before issue. The Chairperson confirmed that the letter would indicate that the Committee decision had been taken on the basis of a simple majority, and not by consensus.
Agreed: Members agreed that the Clerk would prepare a first draft of the report for consideration at the meeting scheduled for 14 th December 2010.
Agreed: It was further agreed to include the following papers in the appendices of the report:
- The party submissions
- Extracts of the minutes of proceedings of the Committee relating to the report
- Relevant extracts of the Hansard transcripts of Committee meetings
- Research papers
-
Letter to the Secretary of State
7. Any other Business
Assembly Christmas Cards
Agreed: Members agreed to issue electronic Christmas cards, and agreed that the Chairperson would decide on the list of recipients.
8. Date, time and place of next meeting
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would take place on
14 th December 2010, at 11.00am in Room 144, Parliament Buildings.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 11.28am.
