Mr. Bertie Ahern:

On the core of the question, it is not so much about attending committee meetings. This is where strand two comes in. Remember where we are at. The internal Northern Ireland position should be maintained until there is a change by the people through a vote. There is also the east-west relationship. Strand two, however, was designed and meant to be the place where we would have debate and interaction. We had the longer list of North-South bodies, as the Senator knows, which we placed first for discussion. When that was not agreed, strand two was still there for us to follow through on. That is where Ministers, both North and South, deputations, officials and other people could be brought in. That is how I saw the North-South bodies evolving. It worked for a while, although it has not worked at all for a long time, and that is where I see it. The North-South bodies should almost be a daily issue, where we are discussing matters and affiliated groups are involved. That is where that debate should be. There is lots of scope to do that.

In my time, we were at it in respect of health and agriculture. I watched the fisheries discussions that went on in the past year or so. These were ideal matters for proper activity involving North-South bodies, where people could get involved. It does not have to be just at ministerial level. It can involve Members of this House or organisations being brought into those discussion. That is the spirit of the constitutional change we brought in. That is how I envisioned it. Some years ago, I made a speech somewhere along the way about how that should evolve. I admit it has not evolved that way. I cannot help the Senator on that one.