Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government has an extensive number of commitments on Northern Ireland. It refers the role of the Government as the co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and it commits to working with the British Government on the implementation of commitments made under previous Governments. Tomorrow, Westminster will begin to debate a Bill to set a budget for Northern Ireland. It has been reported today that the Irish Government has requested a British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference be convened and that Ireland would expect a consultative role should this happen. Today's The TimesIreland edition reports that Prime Minister May's Government is "stalling" on that issue. Will the Tánaiste indicate if the Irish Government has requested the convening of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference? If it has requested this, what is the response of the British Government to date?

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