Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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138. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there have been any recent discussions with the parties in the Northern Ireland Executive on the establishment of a civic advisory panel as provided for in the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33871/21]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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150. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the proposal in the Stormont House Agreement to establish a civic advisory panel following the provision for the establishment of a civic forum in the Good Friday Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33872/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 138 and 150 together.

The concept of an independent consultative forum was first established under Strand One of the Good Friday Agreement, as a consultative mechanism on social, economic and cultural issues. It was envisaged to comprise of representatives of the business, trade union, voluntary sectors and such other sectors as provided for by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. It was to be reviewed at the time of the suspension of the institutions in 2002 and was not reconvened.

The 2014 Stormont House Agreement proposed the formation of a Compact Civic Advisory Panel.  It was agreed as part of New Decade New Approach that this panel should be reformed and that 1-2 issues per year, as identified by the Executive, would be commissioned for civic engagement, with the Panel to propose the most appropriate model for specific issues including one Citizens Assembly a year. The Government supports the implementation of this commitment, alongside all those made as part of NDNA.  Progress on these commitments will be considered at further Implementation Review meetings involving the Governments and the Northern Ireland parties.

The Government continues to support the establishment of the North South Consultative Forum, as provided for under Strand Two of the GFA, representative of civil society and comprising social partners and other members with expertise in social, cultural, economic and other issues. The Government has worked to move the issue forward, submitting proposals to the Northern Ireland Executive for its consideration. We have also raised the issue at successive plenary meetings of the North South Ministerial Council.

Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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140. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress with regard to the implementation of the provisions of New Decade, New Approach and the need for a functioning power sharing executive in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33853/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The New Decade, New Approach Agreement (NDNA) reached in January 2020 was a very significant shared achievement by the parties in Northern Ireland together with the British and Irish Governments, in restoring the power-sharing institutions of the Good Friday Agreement to operation. As outlined in the Programme for Government, its full implementation is an important priority for the Government.

The Irish Government commitments that were made at the time of the NDNA are focused on working with the Executive through the NSMC to deliver projects that benefit people across the island, including greater connectivity between North and South; investing in the North West region and in border communities; supporting the Irish language in Northern Ireland; and supporting reconciliation as an integral part of the Peace Process. The first implementation review meeting took place in January of this year, which I attended with representatives of the British Government and the Executive. We reaffirmed our shared commitment to ensuring the sustainable and effective operation of all the devolved institutions, and to the ongoing implementation of NDNA. 

It is welcome that the Secretary of State last week gave an assurance that the positive measures agreed in support of linguistic diversity and cultural expression in Northern Ireland will be put in place through legislation in Westminster in October in the event that this balanced cultural package is not enacted through the Northern Ireland Assembly. 

It is hoped that we can arrange another implementation review meeting in the period ahead.

The NSMC is essential to overseeing and developing North South cooperation on matters of mutual interest, including the implementation of the NDNA Agreement. The important work of the NSMC to develop cooperation on an all-island basis has resumed following the NDNA agreement. Two successful NSMC plenary meetings have now taken place, as well as a number of Sectoral meetings at Ministerial level. It is regrettable that it was necessary to postpone the plenary meeting of the North South Ministerial Council scheduled for 18 June, and we will seek to find an early date for that to be rescheduled.

We will continue to work with both the UK Government and the Northern Irish Executive to ensure that the NDNA agreement is fully implemented to ensure the effective functioning of the Executive.