Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is the Chairman's prerogative. This is my first time before this committee, dealing with two quite technical pieces of legislation. There are many other things we need to tease through and discuss. I look forward to being asked back to the committee again. I would like us to have regular interaction on Northern Ireland in particular. I know that the Chairman is very interested in and knowledgeable on the matter, as are other members.

It is a very important week in the context of protecting and maintaining devolved government and the institutions in Northern Ireland. I will be in Belfast tomorrow, working with all parties but especially the two largest parties, to try to find a way to ensure that we do not allow the heart to be ripped out of the Good Friday Agreement, which is what would happen if we do not have institutions in Northern Ireland making decisions for people there. In order for that to happen, the two largest parties need to find a way to accommodate each other, which is not easy, and I recognise the efforts made by both parties and their negotiating teams in recent weeks. That has happened in private, which is as it should be, but the negotiations cannot go on forever, as everyone knows, so we are coming to a point where people must make choices. My job and that of the Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, is to try to facilitate and encourage and help parties find the accommodation that is necessary in a way that is true to the agreements, including the Good Friday Agreement. There is a genuine effort in both the DUP and Sinn Féin to do that and support from the other political parties who want to be part of a fully inclusive executive in Northern Ireland. We are at a point where most people accept that negotiations cannot continue week after week. Northern Ireland needs a budget. There are practical issues around that. I passionately believe that Northern Ireland needs to decide on its own budget and how it is spent and it is people elected in Northern Ireland rather than anywhere else who should be doing that. It is an important week, a sensitive time and we should be careful about what we say but also be clear about the outcome that is necessary for the people of all communities in Northern Ireland.

I also want to thank the committee members for their support for the Government's efforts to represent Ibrahim Halawa who arrived back in Dublin about 20 minutes ago, where he met his family and friends at the airport. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Katherine Zappone, is there representing the Government. It is a happy ending to a very difficult period in his life. I had the opportunity to speak to him over the weekend and we wish him well in trying to get his life back to some form of normality. Today is a great day for him and his family, who I am sure will celebrate it. We will do what we can to ensure that he finds the transition from imprisonment over the last four years to normal life as a young Irishman in the coming months and years as smooth as possible.

There are many other issues that I would like to talk about but we are unable to do so this morning. I would like to return and discuss some of the matters on which the Government has strong views including the Middle East peace process, EU relations with Africa, Brexit, and the future of Northern Ireland, and there must be many issues on which the members would like to probe me. I look forward to doing that when we have more time.