Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Questions Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, are in my name. I might follow up on them separately. The Taoiseach has been in office for seven full months. He will appreciate that people want to know how he intends to lead on Northern Ireland. Thankfully, it has been a relatively quiet period when it comes to constitutional issues. This is an opportunity to drive change and policy forward. The lesson we consistently need to be aware of is that nothing can be taken for granted in relation to the North. The consistent position of the Irish Government has been that it sees itself, along with the British Government, as a guarantor of progress through the institutions established by the Good Friday Agreement. I ask the Taoiseach to comment on the assertion that it is not enough for institutions to be established and for politicians to hold positions without actually delivering for the people. It is a matter of regret that one of the failings of the Northern Ireland Executive is that it has not functioned very effectively in recent years.

I can recall, prior to the Hillsborough Agreement, that it was quite dysfunctional in terms of how it was operating as a collective Executive, in regard to circulating memos and papers to each other and so forth. In that context, does the Taoiseach agree it seems surprising that even the position of Deputy First Minister is one which can be put on hold for about two months?

When Mr. Peter Robinson stepped down as First Minister, we saw this caused a lot of inaction and drift for that period. Ministers in the Executive tend to come and go, almost on a yearly or two-yearly basis, which seems to be more about electoral advancement than actually doing things, whereas being in government means one has to do - one has to execute policy and deliver. It is a curious aspect of the Northern Ireland Executive that there tends to be the sense about it that people can come and go, and divert, whereas there is very serious work to do. This is almost the equivalent of the Taoiseach saying he is taking two months off because he wants to go off and campaign somewhere.

I do not mean that in any personal sense. It is a very real issue in terms of how the Northern Ireland Executive works. It has been one of the reasons there has been a lack of confidence in public opinion towards the institutions in the North. The medium to long-term damage emanating from this can actually undermine the edifice of the Good Friday Agreement itself if people are not careful with regard to the office, the institutions and the positions within the Executive. I make that point sincerely.

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