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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

My Lords, I understand that, under the rules governing Report, I am not required to answer those questions. However, I want to co-operate, so I will try to answer them. If the noble Lord is concerned about discussions between the United Kingdom Government and the Government of the Republic over this matter, he will be more worried after 24 November if the Assembly does not return, because discussions will deepen. Economic forces are at work that are causing more co-operation between north and south than ever before, leaving aside the political considerations. The rules are that Irish citizens anywhere in the world can donate to Irish political parties; therefore, donations can come from abroad. Company legislation is much more constrained. You cannot put a brass plate on the Dublin office of a foreign company and use that as a basis for making donations. You have to have a significant commercial enterprise in the Republic to be able to donate. The noble Lord has no grounds for asserting which political parties the money will go to. We are regulating individuals and they are entitled to send their money to whichever political party they want. It is their choice whether it is a unionist or nationalist party.