Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Has either of the two Governments taken the report of the International Monitoring Commission? Does the Taoiseach think it is helpful? I presume we can take the Taoiseach's earlier answer on the fears articulated, especially by the SDLP, that to enlist the support of the DUP, fundamental changes might be made to the Agreement. We can take from what the Taoiseach has said that his Government is certainly committed to protecting the core principles of the Agreement.

As the Taoiseach knows, the British Irish Agreement (Amendment) Act 2002 provides for special arrangements to be made for the implementation bodies during what was described at the time as a temporary suspension of the Assembly and the Executive. The word "temporary" is used no less than 11 times in the Act. Does the Taoiseach accept that these temporary arrangements cannot remain in place indefinitely? If they do, serious questions will arise about the compatibility with those parts of the Good Friday Agreement that are enshrined in Article 29.7 of the Constitution.

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