Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the Government's position on the British Government's commitment in the St. Andrews Agreement to establish a forum on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland; if the Government has any involvement in the planning for this forum or has conveyed views to the British side on the matter; his views on whether the British commitment to convene an inaugural meeting of the forum in December 2006 is appropriate or feasible; his further views on the representation of civil society at any such forum, the selection of its chair and the provision to it of adequate secretarial and research resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39539/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Government very much welcomes the firm commitment in the St. Andrews Agreement that the British Government is to establish a Forum on a Bill of Rights and convene its inaugural meeting in December 2006. The Joint Declaration published by the two Governments on 1 May 2003, in the context of their ongoing work to achieve full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, explicitly committed the British Government to "work with the parties to facilitate the response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission's proposal for a round table forum on the Bill of Rights, involving the parties and civic society." It envisaged that the round table forum "will have an independent chair and its own secretariat, will be as inclusive as possible of Assembly parties and civic society, will appropriately involve the Human Rights Commission, mindful of its statutory role, and will be adequately supported and resourced."

Since then, the Government has consistently raised the need for delivery on this commitment with the British Government, within the framework of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference. I discussed the issue with the Secretary of State at successive meetings of the BIIGC this year, where we also reviewed the useful discussions on a Bill of Rights between the political parties in the Assembly Preparation for Government Committee.

The discussions at St. Andrews resulted in an explicit commitment by the British Government in Annex B of the St. Andrews Agreement to the establishment of a Forum on a Bill of Rights and to the convening of its inaugural meeting next month. In order to facilitate delivery on that commitment, a public consultation process was launched by the British Government on 14 November. The consultation invites views, inter alia, on the draft terms of reference for the proposed Forum, the timescale for the Forum to produce agreed recommendations and the Forum's proposed size, membership and structure. The consultation is ongoing, but will be conducted within a tight timeframe. Responses have been requested by no later than 28 November next.

On the question of Forum membership, the Government has always supported the involvement of political parties and civic society, as envisaged in the Joint Declaration. I made clear our support for such an inclusive Forum as the best means of facilitating debate on a Bill of Rights when I met with representatives of the Human Rights Consortium and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in Belfast in March of this year.

The role of Chair will obviously be critical to the success of the Forum's deliberations. It is the Government's view that the Chair should be clearly independent, have relevant human rights expertise, and possess the skills necessary to facilitate effective discussions among Forum Members. I made these views known to the Secretary of State earlier this year. We firmly believe that, in line with the Joint Declaration commitment, the work of the Forum should be adequately supported and resourced. I welcome the clear statement of intent in that regard in the British Government's Consultation Document of 14 November.

We will continue to engage with the British Government at political and official level in the coming weeks as preparations for the first meeting of the Forum proceed.