Mr. John McCallister:

Under the model no committee can be chaired by somebody from the same party as the Minister. We currently have a Sinn Féin chair of the finance committee and a Minister for Finance and Personnel from the DUP. The Minister for Health is from the DUP and the committee chair is from Sinn Féin, while the chair of the education committee is from the DUP and the Minister is from Sinn Féin.

The difference when Paul Maskey was chair is that effectively everyone was in government. Certainly, for most of that time there were four or five parties in government. That meant the parties in the Assembly or in a committee were probably represented in the executive arm of the government. There are 11 members in a committee and a five party coalition meant most of the committee was represented in the Executive. After the 2011 election to the Assembly, 104 of the 108 members were in parties that were linked to the government, so there were very few people in that situation. What the Bill would seek to do is have a limited, smaller number of parties in government, for example, DUP, Sinn Féin and the Alliance Party. That gives a broader pool and one would want to have that additional scrutiny.

The Chairman commented on taking the Government to task. In Dublin, Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff that has been a key role, so people can really put a spotlight on what governments are doing. It is seen as a very crucial role. There has been probably not universal support but quite strong support from other parties and academics around that, because they see it more as the norm. There are also the recommendations from the World Bank regarding the best traditions.

Our current situation and Paul's term can be different from if one starts to build other parties in opposition and, indeed, technical groups. That would be one of the committees where they should, and rightly so, shine a light on the activities of the government. It is seen as a key scrutiny role that an opposition must provide.