Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 355: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in relation to his contacts with all the parties in respect of the Northern peace process; the work programme he is following in that regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30448/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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When they met on 6 April last in Armagh, the Taoiseach and Prime Minister Blair set out the Governments' joint strategy for achieving a fully functioning Assembly and Executive this year. Since then, the Taoiseach and I have been engaged in intensive efforts, in conjunction with the British Government, to achieve restoration of the institutions by the 24 November deadline. This has involved regular and ongoing contacts with the political parties, which have intensified in recent months.

On 29 June I accompanied the Taoiseach to Stormont for a series of high level meetings between the Governments and the political parties to take stock of developments since the recall of the Assembly on 15 May. To assist the parties in their preparations for Government we published a workplan and a timetable clearly setting out the steps to restoration of the institutions by 24 November. We stressed that the key to success is engagement and agreement between the parties themselves and we urged them to make full use of the summer period and to engage seriously on resolving the issues necessary for restoration.

It was encouraging to see engagement between the parties in the Preparation for Government Committee over the summer. It was also encouraging that those meetings led to agreement on some of the issues which need to be addressed in the context of restoration. We will seek to build on that work when we meet the parties for high-level talks in Scotland next week. Those talks will be critical to the success of our efforts. The Governments are approaching them with serious intent. We hope all the parties will do likewise.

In the meantime, we are intensifying contact with the parties. I met with Mark Durkan and some of his colleagues in the SDLP in Derry on 14 September, and yesterday I met in Stormont with representatives of the UUP, Sinn Féin, Alliance and the PUP. Contacts will continue over the coming days in advance of the talks in Scotland. I am due to meet the Secretary of State tomorrow at Hillsborough to review the outcome of those meetings and to plan for the Scotland talks.

I genuinely believe that with political will, agreement is possible between the parties by 24 November. The Governments cannot make this happen — the best prospects of a sustainable deal will arise from all the parties working together in an inclusive process. However, I can assure the Deputy that I personally will spare no effort in the weeks remaining to secure a deal.