Mr. Eugene McGlone:

We certainly welcome the engagement referred to by Mr. Maskey and will certainly pursue the issue. Our colleagues from the political parties in the North who are in the room have engaged consistently with us on matters such as this. In a sense, we are speaking to the converted from Northern Ireland and, unfortunately, it is the unconverted who are not present. We could engage in proselytising with them. We will certainly pick up on the issue and drive it forward.

I am from west Belfast and the news yesterday on the levels of deprivation, poverty and social injustice was not good. It was not something with which I was comfortable or happy to hear. I am not proud of it. It is an indicator of neglect, but it is not unique to west Belfast, as it is seen in many constituencies in Northern Ireland. While west Belfast has been highlighted on this occasion, all of the political parties and groupings in any constituency should be concerned enough to lift their heads and say there is something wrong.

The people in our society do need to have their rights enshrined in legislation and the opportunity to test these rights. Among them are the right to a decent standard of living, the right to an education and the right to a good health service. As Ms McKeown pointed out, the right not to suffer from rickets is absolute. We should not envisage any child in Ireland today suffering from rickets and we should not think in terms of having to deal with diseases or disorders which affected people 70 or 80 years ago and which we thought had been wiped out.

Ms McKeown will deal with the question on the Secretary of State in more detail. The short answer to Ms Ritchie's question is "No"; we have not met the Secretary of State. We have been seeking meetings. At this stage, our focus must be on persuading the parties in Stormont to approach this issue together. If we and our friends around the table cannot persuade their colleagues in other political parties to join in, we will face a difficulty. The Secretary of State will not take this route just because we ask for it, but she will probably be more persuaded if the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP are also involved. Ms McKeown will pick up on this point as well as the issue raised by Deputy Flanagan.