Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply and I am glad to note there will be an expansion of the particular issues to be discussed. Will Minister indicate the timeframe and the work programme? When does he hope to have these agreed between the two Governments and the Executive parties? The Minister quite rightly stated that peace must yield benefits and dividends to all communities. Throughout these talks, urgency and momentum must be attached to show the people of Northern Ireland and throughout the island that politics work and that it is about delivering for people. Dealing with these issues will allow the Executive, the Assembly and the two Governments to deal more and more with the bread and butter issues in which the people throughout the island want to see us engaged. I hope progress can be made quickly. As I have stated previously to the Minister's predecessor, the two Governments need to take a leading role and I sincerely hope it will be the Minister's focus. Why was the statement of Theresa Villiers a stand-alone statement with a follow up statement from the Minister? I know he was in New York on the day. Why was it not a joint statement on a major issue? It is a departure from precedent.

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