Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I will elaborate on my reply, as I did not seek to play down any role. The care and maintenance arrangements are in place for the present North-South bodies to keep them operating and functioning. That does not preclude action in other areas. Like the Deputy, I would prefer a different arrangement but in recent weeks and months Secretary of State Hain and his colleague, Minister of State David Hanson, have been progressive on the Ulster Canal and other projects. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, has been dealing directly with this and much progress has been made on a number of issues. In fairness to Secretary of State Hain and his ministerial colleagues, they have taken a position on issues, including implementation bodies, on which we can make progress, as stated by Deputy Ó Caoláin. Since the new administration took office it has been very forthright and we have seen movement that we did not see previously. There has been much engagement by Ministers and I hope that continues. Regarding care and maintenance for implementation bodies, it is important we keep activity on these issues moving.

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