Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together.

Monday, 12 April was an important day for the people of Northern Ireland. With the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the election of David Ford as Minister for Justice, for the first time in 40 years policing and justice powers are being exercised with cross-community support on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland by their own elected representatives. Authority and responsibility for policing and justice issues are now where they ought to be, namely, at local level, accountable to and operating for the benefit of all the people of Northern Ireland.

I congratulate the political parties in taking this decision, which is a further vote of confidence in the political institutions and the peace process. I have also offered my congratulations to David Ford and the Alliance Party on their achievement. My Government looks forward to working with the Minister on the challenges that lie ahead. My colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, met Mr. Ford last Friday.

The agreement announced in Hillsborough on 5 February provided the basis for moving forward on devolution and for the future stability and success of the democratic institutions that we have all worked so hard to create and maintain. The cross-community vote in the Northern Assembly on 9 March in support of the devolution of policing and justice was also an historic occasion. I strongly condemn the attempts of small dissident groups to disrupt the democratic process. Both Administrations, North and South, the Garda and the PSNI will continue to work closely to bring these criminals to justice.

I met Margaret Ritchie on 10 February last in Government Buildings where I congratulated her on her recent election as leader of the SDLP. We discussed the agreement reached at Hillsborough and the next steps involved in its implementation.

In the course of my visit to the United States for the traditional St. Patrick's Day celebrations, which I will be reporting on later, I thanked President Obama for his continuing support for the peace process and the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, for her unstinting support. I also met First Minister Peter Robinson, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and Northern Ireland political leaders during my visit. I expect to meet the British Prime Minister at the next European Council meeting, which is scheduled to take place in June.

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