Vol. 535 No. 5
73 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when it is planned to establish the North-South Independent Consultative Forum which the Government was committed to consider under the Good Friday Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12930/01]
The Good Friday Agreement provided that consideration be given to the establishment of an independent consultative forum, appointed by the two administrations, North and South. In addition, in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness the Government gave a commitment to work towards the early establishment and effective functioning of the forum. The Deputy will appreciate that the process of consideration of the establishment of a North-South forum must naturally take place in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive.
At the last plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council – NSMC – in Dublin on 26 September 2000, the council agreed that a joint working group, comprising officials of both administrations, be tasked with studying the establishment of the forum and reporting to the next plenary.
The joint working group has made good progress with its study and plans to report to the next plenary meeting of the NSMC, when convened.
