Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 21, inclusive, together.

The visit of President George Bush to Northern Ireland in June as part of his European tour was an opportunity for the Irish, British and United States Governments to meet the political parties to discuss a range of political and economic issues. When President Bush, Prime Minister Brown and I met First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, we expressed our strong support for the work of the Executive and stressed the need to move forward on the critical issue of policing and justice. I met Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness again in Omagh on 15 August and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Micheál Martin, met Secretary of State Shaun Woodward on Thursday, 18 September.

On 3 September the Governments published the 19th report of the Independent Monitoring Commission which provided clarity on the status of the Provisional IRA. The Government welcomed the very positive report and I thank the IMC for its hard work in preparing it and its continuing contribution to the peace process. Following on from the decommissioning of its weapons, the IRA has now completely stood down the structures which engaged in its armed campaign.

I met the First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness together with their ministerial colleagues at the British-Irish Council summit hosted by the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, in Edinburgh on Friday, 26 September. I spoke again on the telephone with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister last week.

The Government is disappointed that the Executive did not meet on Thursday, 2 October and that this led to the postponement of the scheduled plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council last Friday. Our agenda for North-South co-operation is important for all of the people and business on the island. The North-South Ministerial Council is a vital institution of the Good Friday Agreement and its work must continue.

While there are a range of difficult issues to address, I hope the current issues of disagreement within the Executive can be resolved, as the First Minister and Deputy First Minister indicated last week at their joint appearance at Stormont. We remain in close contact with the British Government and parties in the Northern Ireland Executive and will continue to offer support in resolving these difficulties.

We want the Executive and all the institutions working in the best way possible for the people of Northern Ireland. That is the only way forward. All of the commitments in the St. Andrews Agreement have been implemented, except the devolution of policing and justice. This remains the central outstanding issue. It is the view of both the Irish and British Governments that the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly should take on this responsibility. I spoke to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in advance of his visit to Northern Ireland on Tuesday, 16 September and again last week. I welcome his encouragement of the parties to resolve this matter and expect to meet him again shortly.

The Executive has had impressive achievements — an agreed programme for government and budget and investment strategy provide a sound basis for progress. The continuing message that Northern Ireland is open for business and that devolution is working will be vital for the success of the Northern Ireland economy which faces the same uncertainty and risks as other economies face. It is important that the Executive gets down to business to address the difficult challenges ahead.

With the restoration of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland in 2007, there are no current proposals to reconvene the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation. While the forum has played a role in the past, I do not expect further meetings in the current circumstances.

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