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Northern Ireland Act 2000 (Modification) (No. 2) Order 2006

I too thank the Minister for outlining the order, the sixth we have had on these matters, and for the help he unfailingly gives us when we are debating these, knowing our concerns. We are grateful to him. Having said all that, I want to put on the record that we are curious about why the order is coming before us so soon after the last one, keeping the Assembly in suspension until 15 October, was passed by Parliament in March. Having heard what the Minister has said, I would still ask: is it really necessary already to pass an order keeping the Assembly in suspension until April? There has been some movement in Northern Ireland since the order was last discussed, and that is welcome. When the Assembly was recalled on 15 May the Secretary of State laid down a firm deadline of 24 November for either the Assembly to elect First and Deputy First Ministers and an Executive, which would allow power to be restored, or for Assembly Members’ salaries and allowances to be stopped and for all the elections to be postponed for the foreseeable future. The Minister has clearly outlined the very firm view of the Government about what happens at midnight on 24 November should agreement not have been reached. We all hope we see the former of the two scenarios realised rather than the latter, although, given that the Restoration of Government Committee in the Assembly has failed so far to elect a chair, we recognise that there is still much progress to be made. We had some concerns when the Secretary of State announced that such a committee was to be established, and those concerns have now grown. The committee cannot be a substitute for full, inclusive all-party talks, yet no effort seems to have been made to institute talks alongside the committee. We urge the Minister to set up such talks chaired by the Secretary of State. We remain convinced that that is the only way forward. We have a specific question for the Minister regarding the treatment of staff in the Assembly. As I have said, the Secretary of State has declared that, if no Executive are formed by 24 November, he will stop MLA salaries and funding for offices in Stormont. Surely, however, staff—who will inevitably be made redundant if that occurs—would be entitled to three months’ statutory pay. Will the Government therefore give notice to the MLAs during the summer to issue precautionary redundancy notices? We believe that is a very important point. Given that the order allows Westminster to govern Northern Ireland in the absence of the Assembly, I take this opportunity to put on record once again our profound frustration at how Northern Ireland is legislated for in Parliament. The Minister has recognised this, but we do not seem to get very much further. We have said on a number of occasions that the system of Orders in Council is hopelessly inadequate. Last autumn the Secretary of State wrote to my colleague in the other place, my honourable friend the Member for Montgomeryshire, asking for his suggestions on how we could improve the scrutiny of Northern Ireland. I discussed this with my noble friend Lord Smith of Clifton, and we responded to the Secretary of State on 22 November last year with a number of ideas about how we could bring the views of the political parties in Northern Ireland adequately to the attention of both Houses of Parliament. My honourable colleague in another place received a response from the Secretary of State on 25 March, almost five months after our suggestions were sent to the NIO. The letter stated:"““Thank you for your letter of 2 November setting out your suggestions for increasing parliamentary scrutiny of Northern Ireland business. I apologise for the long delay in sending you this for the reply."" I fully agree that the current arrangements are not ideal, particularly during Direct Rule. So, I welcome your constructive suggestions.""As you know I have made it clear that we have to make progress towards devolution during 2006 and that the scheduled elections cannot take place in May 2007 if the Assembly is not restored. I remain hopeful of making the progress that will pave the way, restoration, which in turn, would clearly change the terms of discussion about making significant changes to the way in which we legislate for Northern Ireland at Westminster.""I expect an announcement by the two Prime Ministers shortly, on which I will of course brief you in detail nearer the time.""I will review the situation again later this year when we should have a clearer idea as to the chances of success. If there appears to be little prospect for a successful restoration of the devolved institutions at that juncture, I will want to talk to you and the other parties to discuss the necessary changes””." In other words, in the event of the Assembly not forming an Executive in November, a year will have passed since we made our suggestions before any action will be taken even to consider what we proposed. We cannot go on like this. We cannot keep legislating for Northern Ireland by the Order in Council process. It is totally ineffective. I know that the Minister understands our deep frustration. I hope that it will not be necessary to continue to legislate here for much longer, but the only way to ensure that the Assembly gets back up and running and remains up and running is if all the parties sit down together and come to an agreement together. It is only by achieving such an agreement that we will get a settlement that is stable and durable.