Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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166. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the degree to which all outstanding matters arising from the Good Friday and subsequent agreements or discussions are satisfactorily addressed or accommodated arising from recent discussions in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3251/15]

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Outstanding commitments undertaken in the two foundational agreements of the peace process, the Good Friday and Saint Andrews Agreements, arose in the context of the recent Stormont House talks, which concluded successfully on 23 December. Throughout the talks, the Government maintained the view that the best way to strengthen peace and reconciliation across this island is to implement fully these Agreements which, together with the Stormont House Agreement, will remain at the core of the Government’s approach to Northern Ireland.

In the course of the talks, progress was made regarding the implementation of a number of commitments from previous Agreements. The Saint Andrews Agreement included a commitment to take forward a review of the North South Implementation Bodies and Areas for Co-operation. Progress secured in the Stormont House Agreement means that the North South Ministerial Council, meeting in Institutional format, will agree by end February 2015 a report on new sectoral priorities for North/South cooperation, identified during Ministerial discussions since November 2013. A report on new sectoral priorities will be a standing item for future meetings of the NSMC meeting in Institutional format.

In the context of the Good Friday Agreement commitment regarding a Northern Ireland Civic Forum, the Government advanced the position that greater civic engagement would stimulate informed public debate in Northern Ireland in relation to key societal challenges. I welcome that the Stormont House Agreement provides for the establishment of a civic advisory panel to meet regularly on key social, cultural and economic issues and to advise the Northern Ireland Executive.

As is the case with all participants in the talks, there were a number of additional issues which the Government would have wished to see progressed further but there was not sufficient consensus among the parties at this time.

Notwithstanding that it was included in a paper tabled by the Government at the outset of the talks, I was disappointed that a commitment to an Irish Language Act, either enacted in Westminster or the Northern Ireland Assembly, did not form part of the final Agreement. I welcome, however, the explicit endorsement in the Agreement by the British Government of the principle of respect for and recognition of the Irish language in Northern Ireland.

The Government will continue to advocate for an Irish Language Act and to encourage those Northern Ireland parties which currently support an Act to continue to build the necessary enabling consensus among their Executive colleagues.

Similarly, while the Government would have wished to see the establishment of a North South Consultative Forum and a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, the necessary enabling consensus was not forthcoming during the Stormont talks.

The Government will avail of other opportunities to secure progress on these outstanding issues. We will also continue our broader efforts to ensure that the full potential of the Agreements is realised towards achieving effective partnership government, genuine reconciliation between divided communities and economic prosperity for all in Northern Ireland.