Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

25. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of meetings that he has had with the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive. [39762/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I meet very regularly with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice, David Ford, and we have developed a close working relationship. Indeed, we frequently discuss matters of mutual interest by phone as and when they arise. One of my first actions as Minister was to travel to Belfast to meet with Minister Ford and I have since met him on numerous occasions.

I have met with Minister Ford four times in the context of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Co-operation on Criminal Justice Matters, which provides for structured co-operation between my Department and the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, and the related criminal justice agencies North and South. We are due to meet again in this framework in the coming weeks. In addition to these regular meetings under the Intergovermental Agreement, we also meet frequently in the context of other initiatives and events. For example, I met with Minister Ford when we addressed the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes Conference which was held in Dublin in May 2012. I also invited Minister Ford to attend the informal meeting of EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers which I hosted in Dublin in January this year during Ireland's successful EU Presidency. Minister Ford and I have also met twice at the North South Probation Services' annual seminars and twice also at the Cross Border Seminars on Organised Crime. We also met with the Scottish Justice Secretary at Stormont in February 2012 and later that same month I invited Minister Ford to visit Portlaoise Prison. Minister Ford and I also met in the context of the meeting of the North South Ministerial Council which was held at Farmleigh in June 2012.

I would add for the sake of completeness that I have also had the opportunity to meet with Minister Ford in a more informal context at a number of international sporting events in Dublin and that we remain in regular telephone contact.

It will be clear that I meet very regularly with Minister Ford. We are scheduled to meet on at least three further occasions before the year's end. We have a positive working relationship which is of mutual benefit in addressing shared policing and criminal justice challenges.