Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deirtear gurb é an rud is annamh is iontach. After numerous false dawns and Groundhog Days, finally, the institutions envisaged in the power-sharing arrangements of the Good Friday Agreement have been restored in Northern Ireland. Two years after the people of Northern Ireland elected the members of the Assembly, there is at last a working Assembly and a functioning Executive. The historic fact of the election of a Northern Ireland First Minister from the nationalist, republican tradition is noteworthy and significant. That it was finally achieved on the day as a normal and expected outworking of a democratic election is all the more remarkable. Northern Ireland was created to have a permanent unionist majority with the understanding that its premier would always be of that tradition. While the Good Friday Agreement created a new joint entity - First Minister and deputy First Minister - of equal power, the title of "First Minister" still has symbolism and potency. The speeches of First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, and deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, were both thoughtful and hopeful in a stated joint determination to make the institutions work for the people of Northern Ireland. God knows, good and effective government is much needed. There are any number of critical issues to be addressed. I wish all of those who will hold office there and the new official Opposition every success in their daunting tasks.

One issue that will require attention is securing a public sector pay deal. I am firmly of the view that the mass mobilisation by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions of public servants from teachers to nurses, transport workers to ambulance crew, had a massive impact on focusing politicians on the need to get back to work. An unprecedented 170,000 public sector workers took to the streets, bringing Northern Ireland to a halt. Their message was loud and clear and it was heard. It is understood that money to settle the pay claims of public servants is included in the £3.3 billion package provided by the United Kingdom Government. That money is now apparently conditional on the new Executive raising its own £113 million of own resources. The deputy First Minister, Emma Little-Pengelly, who was part of the discussions with the United Kingdom Government, has stated no conditionality was involved in the offer. I hope the British Government will provide what was promised without delay. The leader of the SDLP has called for transparency on exactly what was agreed. The Northern Ireland Office said it "contains built in commitments to ensure progress at pace ... [including] publishing and implementing a plan to deliver sustainable finances - including delivery of a balanced budget for 2024-25 by raising a minimum of £113 million through locally generated income" As someone who knows how difficult it can be to achieve a balanced budget, it is clear that challenging discussions lie ahead. Any discussions on finances must start from an agreed baseline.

The service challenges facing the new Executive are equally real and challenging. There are more than 420,000 people currently waiting for a first consultant outpatient appointment in a population of 1.9 million. That is almost half a million people. One in three of those patients have been waiting for more than two years for this initial consultation. The general secretary of Northern Ireland's largest public sector union, NIPSA, stated, "what we are witnessing is haemorrhaging of public servants out of Northern Ireland, either to different parts of these islands where they are better paid or to further abroad". After two years of no democratic government, the opportunity now exists for ministers to tackle these issues. It will not be an easy task and they must be given more than good wishes from the United Kingdom Government and from the United Kingdom Treasury in particular, to prove that the Administration can provide sustainable solutions to the people now looking to it.

I want in this discussion on Northern Ireland matters to raise two further issues. The first is the issue of the legacy legislation pressed through by the Tory Administration in Westminster over the heads of all the political voices on this island and many in the United Kingdom Parliament itself. The Tánaiste referenced this issue in his remarks. It has been suggested by a former Northern Ireland secretary, Lord Hain, that Troubles-related inquests are being delayed by state bodies right now, which are, as he stated, "running down the clock" to 1 May. Under the legacy and reconciliation Act, inquests not concluded by that date will close. A new fact-finding body will then be established and will provide amnesty for those who co-operate with investigations. As the Tánaiste said, the Irish Government has initiated an interstate case against the British Government. It is the Irish Government's view that the Act is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, a view shared, I think, across this House and this island. An update on this legal action, despite the comments of the Tánaiste, would be welcome, as would an indication of the timelines envisaged before the court makes a decision.

A second issue I wish to mention is a matter raised with me and other Labour colleagues by our British Labour Party colleague, Stella Creasy MP. Her view is that the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill has implications for the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol. I understand that my colleague, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, has raised this matter with the Tánaiste. Again, I welcome his views on the issue. The case is simple. In the letter Deputy Ó Ríordáin wrote to the Tánaiste, he stated the Tánaiste is probably aware that the Bill, that is, the safety of Rwanda Bill, is covered by a note from the Home Secretary to the effect that he is unable to make a statement that, in his view, the provisions of the Bill are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. This is because the purpose of the Bill is to severely restrict access to the courts by asylum seekers who want to contest their transfer to Rwanda. The Bill would apply throughout the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland.

There are two major concerns, as I understand it. First is the question of the compatibility of this approach with a guarantee of the Good Friday Agreement under the heading of rights, safeguards and equality of opportunity. Second, the Northern Ireland protocol is implemented in part by section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, under which EU rights must be recognised and given legal effect in UK law with access to appropriate remedies. I would be obliged to hear from the Tánaiste as to that matter. If it is not the case that these violate both the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol, he might let us know.

We wish Godspeed to the new Executive in Northern Ireland. Its success ultimately is our success. I believe it is our common hope that the full potential of the structures so creatively imagined in the Good Friday Agreement will finally now be able to be realised.

See this speech in context