BRITISH-IRISH PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY TIONÓL PARLAIMINTEACH NA BREATAINE AGUS NA hÉIREANN FORTY-SECOND PLENARY SESSION 12-14 June 2011 Cork _________________________________________________________________ OFFICIAL REPORT (Final Revised Edition) MEMBERSHIP OF THE BRITISH-IRISH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION Steering Committee Co-Chairmen Rt Hon Lord COPE Mr Joe McHUGH TD Vice-Chairmen Rt Hon Paul MURPHY MP Rt Hon Laurence ROBERTSON MP Lord DUBS Mr Robert WALTER MP A representative from the National Parliament of Scotland, and the National Assemblies of Northern Ireland, Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Members in Attendance Mr Joe BENTON MP Dr Alasdair McDONNELL MP MLA Baroness May BLOOD Mr Mattie McGRATH TD Senator Alan BRECKON Mr David MELDING AM Viscount BRIDGEMAN Senator Paschal MOONEY Mr Conor BURNS MP Mr Patrick O’DONOVAN TD Mr Willie CLARKE MLA Baroness Nuala O’LOAN Senator Paul COGHLAN Senator Joe O’REILLY Mr Oliver COLVILLE MP Ms Ann PHELAN TD Mr Seán CONLAN TD Mr John Paul PHELAN TD Ms Ciara CONWAY TD Mr John ROBERTSON MP Mr Noel COONAN TD Hon Stephen Charles RODAN MHK Senator Maurice CUMMINS Mr Chris RUANE MP Mr Jim DOBBIN MP Mr John SCOTT MSP Mr Stephen DONNELLY Mr Jim SHERIDAN MP Mr Martin FERRIS TD Lord SKELMERSDALE Mr Frank FEIGHAN TD Mr Arthur SPRING TD Mr Paul FLYNN MP Deputy Jane STEPHENS Lord GERMAN OBE Mr Jack WALL TD Senator Imelda HENRY Senator Jim WALSH Mr Martin HEYDON TD Mr Robert WALTER MP Mr Kris HOPKINS MP Mr Jim WELLS MLA Mr Seamus KIRK TD Mr Gavin WILLIAMSON MP Mr Pádraig MacLOCHLAINN TD Rt Hon Lord MAWHINNEY Mr John McCALLISTER MLA Mr David McCLARTY MLA Others Present Mr Simon COVENEY TD, Minister for Mr Frank DALY Agriculture, Food and the Marine Mr Frank RYAN Mr Niall GIBBONS An Taoiseach Mr Enda KENNY TD Mr Peter BYRNE Associate Members Mr Alex ATTWOOD MLA Ms Sandra McLELLAN TD Mr Tony BALDRY MP Mr John McFALL MP Lord Michael BATES Connetable Daniel Joseph MURPHY Mr Gordon BIRTWHISLTE MP Baroness O’LOAN Viscount BRIDGEMAN Ms Maureen O’SULLIVAN TD Mr Neil CARMICHAEL MP Mr Andrew ROSINDELL MP Ms Rosie COOPER MP Mr Jim SHERIDAN MP Mr Ian DAVIDSON MP Lord SKELMERSDALE Mr Paul FARRELLY MP Rt Hon Baroness SMITH OF BASILDON Mr Luke FLANAGAN TD Mr Brendan SMITH TD Mr Sam GARDINER MLA Mr Brian STANLEY TD Lord GERMAN OBE Mr Mel STRIDE MP Lord GORDON OF STRATHBLANE Mr Richard GRAHAM MP Deputy Jack HONEYBILL Mr Brandon LEWIS MP Mr Jack LOPRESTI MP Mr Eddie LOWEY MLC Mr Charlie McCONALOGUE Mr Jim McGOVERN MP Officials Joint Clerks to the Body Clerks of the Devolved Institutions Ms Alda Barry Mr Steven Bell Mr Michael De La Haye Mr Paul Kelly Mr Robert Lloyd-Williams Ms Sheila McClelland Ms Margaret Neal Committee Clerks to the Assembly Committee A: Sovereign Matters Committee B: European Affairs Ms Sighle Doherty Mr Eliot Wilson Mr Adrian Jenner Ms Aoife McGarry Committee C: Economic Committee D: Environmental and Social Ms Jullee Clarke Mr Nick Besly Ms Tracey Jessop Ms Jullee Clarke Irish and British Secretariats Official Reporters Ms. Émer Deane Dr Bronagh Allison Ms Jullee Clarke Mr David Hampton Mr Denis McKenna Mr Ian Lavery Ms Franca Ghelfi Ms Lesley Linchis Mrs Amanda Healy Ms Meleri Perkins Sir Michael Davies KCB Mr Francis Sheehan Monday 13 June 2011 The Assembly met at 9.40 am. PLENARY BUSINESS The Co-Chairman (The Lord Cope): Order. We just about have a quorum, so the 42nd plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly is now in public session. My first duty is to make a couple of administrative announcements. First, please make sure that you have turned off pagers, bleepers and mobile phones while you are in the Assembly. We do not wish to be interrupted unnecessarily by distractions of that sort. My second announcement is about the team photo. We like to take a picture of all who are present, so immediately after the Taoiseach has spoken and just before lunch, please all go to the area by reception and assemble for a photograph. My first important duty is to welcome to the dais the new Irish Co-Chair, Deputy Joe McHugh. It is a great pleasure to welcome him, and I look forward to working with him in trying to control events in meetings of this great Assembly. Thank you very much indeed for accepting the office, Joe. You are most welcome. The Co-Chairman (Mr Joe McHugh TD): Thank you, Lord Cope, for your welcome. I am tasked with the responsibility of officially welcoming members to Cork, but we are joined at the top table here by Minister Simon Coveney, who is a Cork man, so he will do the Cork welcome. John and I welcome you all to County Cork. It is, indeed, an honour to be appointed as Co-Chair. I look forward to working with Lord Cope on the Steering Committee and with all Members over the coming years. I take up this job at a time when we have had a significant and symbolic period in Ireland, with the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. It is my intention to build on the momentum and the wonderful positives that have come out of the trip by Queen Elizabeth; it is our task and responsibility as an Assembly to try to drive the tangibles that have been delivered by the good will — I suppose you might want to call that “the intangibles” — as we strive towards building better relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland and towards building on private interests, where there are business opportunities, in order to enhance trade and co-operation. I begin by introducing to the Assembly our new Irish members of the Steering Committee, Deputy Pádraig MacLochlainn and Deputy Seamus Kirk, who have been appointed as Vice-Chairs of the Assembly. Deputy Frank Feighan has been appointed as chair of Committee A, and I would also like to welcome Deputy Jack Wall as chair of Committee C. I take the opportunity to pay tribute to my predecessor, Niall Blaney — who is from my county of Donegal and will join us this evening—for his excellent chairmanship of the Assembly. I also acknowledge the work of the Irish Members of the previous Steering Committee: Seymour Crawford, Margaret Conlon and Jim O’Keeffe. I am delighted to hear that they, too, will join us for dinner this evening. Their individual and collective contributions to the Assembly are greatly valued. I remind Members that the proceedings of this Body do not attract the parliamentary privilege that we have in our own Parliaments. There are a number of new Members following elections since the last plenary session, which was held on the Isle of Man last November. I do not propose to read out the names, but a full list is in the members’ briefing pack. From speaking to a few members last night, it seems that there is a new-found enthusiasm for new members to be involved in committees, so we will provide all the encouragement that you need and we will assist you on any roads or pathways that you want to go down in terms of making valuable contributions to the committees. The Co-Chairman (The Lord Cope): I have to inform the Assembly that, in accordance with rule 2a, the following associate members have accepted the invitation of the Steering Committee to assume the powers and responsibilities of Members for the whole of this session. They are Viscount Bridgeman, Lord German, Baroness O’Loan and Jim Sheridan MP. Programme of Business The Co-Chairman (Mr Joe McHugh TD): Members will have received a copy of the proposed Programme of Business. I move formally the adoption of the proposed Programme of Business, as amended. Programme of Business agreed. Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine The Co-Chairman (The Lord Cope): We move on to next item of business, which is Minister Simon Coveney TD. He is a local man, who farms locally and has just become the Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food. He was educated, at least partially, at the agricultural college in Gloucestershire, near where my constituency was when I was in the House of Commons. He has been a member of the Dáil since 1998 and was involved with the European Parliament and Cork County Council before that. I am told that he also played rugby for Garryowen Football Club. More impressively, for me at any rate, he led the Sail Chernobyl project, which involved sailing 30,000 miles around the world for charity. It is a great pleasure, as well as a privilege, to introduce to the Assembly Minister Coveney and to ask him to address us. [Applause.] Mr Simon Coveney TD: Co-Chairman, lords, ladies, MPs, TDs, senators, honoured guests, ambassador. First, you are all very welcome to Cork, to my constituency, for the 42nd plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. This is the first British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly that I have attended, and I am delighted to have the opportunity to welcome you to my city. It is a long time since I have been introduced with reference to Sail Chernobyl, but that brings back some good memories for me. It is probably true to say that Ireland is going through stormy waters at the moment. I was reminded when I listened to the news this morning — some of you might have enjoyed the hospitality here too much last night and might therefore not have listened to the news this morning — that there was a competition in England over the last 10 days.