Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)

This is a brief opportunity for us to make some comments and observations about the recently held British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which took place in the Leinster House for the first time. Before elaborating on the session, I take this opportunity to congratulate the co-chairs, Deputy McHugh and Mr. Laurence Robertson, MP, on their handling and general organisation of the plenary session in the House. These things are not possible without the organisational skills and know-how of the backroom staff in the secretariat, both here and in Britain, and, of course, the ushers and the Captain of the Guard and all those who paved the way for a difficulty-free event in Dublin.

The British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly has a mission to promote co-operation between political representatives in Britain and Ireland. It was first established as the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body in 1990. In 2001 its membership was enlarged to include Members of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the High Court of Tynwald and the States of Guernsey and Jersey. All these bodies are enthusiastic participants in the work of the assembly which deals with non-legislative parliamentary activities and meets on a biannual basis, with meetings of various committees being held in between. There are four committees dealing with sovereign matters, European affairs, economic matters and environmental and social issues. There is potential within their deliberations to consider a range of issues affecting the populace of the island as a whole and in Britain.

There are still several aspects of the Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrew's Agreement that remain to be completed. It is important that progress be made on the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, while progress on the establishment of the North-South parliamentary forum has also been slow. There is a working group in the Oireachtas and Stormont and clearly there is a well of goodwill on both sides. However, we have not yet got it over the line, but I hope we will do so soon. When I was Ceann Comhairle, we had one meeting in Newcastle, County Down which demonstrated the potential of the inter-parliamentary grouping getting together on a regular basis. I hope to see progress made on this issue today.

The inquiry into the murder of the solicitor Pat Finucane must expedited as quickly as possible. The Smithwick tribunal is examining the murder of the RUC officers north of the Border.

Britain is our nearest neighbour and if we proceed on the basis that trade is the oxygen of economic activity, the development of further and stronger trade links between this country and Britain is obvious, particularly when there are so many issues of common interest such as the Common Agricultural Policy, of which the next phase is being negotiated at EU level. Simultaneously there are ambitious plans for the dairy industry in Food Harvest 2020. In the last year we have seen serious problems for individual farmers who have found themselves with a super-levy problem, while at the same time dairy farmers in the North had surplus quota that remained unfilled. There are also dairy co-operatives in Border areas which use producers from both the North and the South. I have been advocating for a long time the putting in place of a bilateral arrangement on this issue; it would be of benefit to farmers and the dairy industry and help with job creation on both sides of the Border. It is an obvious area and the sharing of quotas would carry no direct cost. It is a great pity we have not succeeded in convincing the powers that be at Commission level of the merits of this proposal.

Many NAMA properties in Britain were built by Irish-based developers. That is an area in which there a great deal of activity.

Those who spoke at the assembly this week underlined the potential in the health sector. As a Border representative, I know at first hand of the potential for enhanced co-operation and the development of strategies for more inclusive health care strategies on the whole island, an issue on which I hope progress can be made. We were fortunate to have the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport at the session to deal with issues in these areas which clearly offer potential for enhanced co-operation and joint ventures.

We did not deal with one issue that we should examine at subsequent meetings - community relations in the North. There is no doubt that there is some distance to go in building peaceful and harmonious relationships between communities in the North. There are areas in which there are still tensions and hostility. Perhaps they do not hit the headlines to the same extent they did in the past, but as a body, we must be aware of them and ask ourselves how best we can help to develop the more harmonious relationships that would be beneficial to all of us.

Conventional economic activity in the North would be of huge benefit. Its economy is dependent on the public sector and industrial development has been slow. If progress can be made on this front, it will benefit everyone on the whole island, particularly the unemployed in the North.

We must look at existing cross-Border bodies. There is a need to constantly review their role and sharpen their focus and perhaps change direction, where necessary, to ensure they achieve the objectives and goals set for them. As I said, the establishment of the parliamentary forum would help enormously. The opportunities for Members of this House to meet on a regular basis with MLAs to exchange views and progress the issues mentioned are obvious. I hope all those involved can bring influence to bear on those who will decide on how soon it can be established. Let us hope we see progress in the near future.

The victims of the Troubles are mentioned regularly. While there is no off-the-shelf formula to deal with the issue, there are those who still live with the trauma, grief and bereavement as a result of family members being killed, disabled or maimed because of the Troubles. We must review this issue to consider how we can provide a support structure and ensure they are remembered as part of the ongoing process of reconciliation in the North. I hope the issue can be addressed by the steering committee when it is planning the next plenary meeting and subsequent sessions.

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