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PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION
The Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission was asked--
Red Book Figures
36. Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold): What are the funding implications for the National Audit Office of its remit to evaluate the methodology of the Red Book figures. [99002]
Mr. Robert Sheldon (Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission): The commission is responsible for ensuring that the NAO has sufficient resources to carry out the statutory duties of the Comptroller and Auditor General. In our previous report to the House, the commission noted the CAG's assurance that the cost of carrying out his new statutory duties in respect of the Budget assumptions is not expected to be high or to exceed the capacity of existing expertise available within the NAO. On the basis of the current scope of Budget assumptions work by the NAO, I remain satisfied that that is the case.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: May I ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission to allocate a specific sum so that we can ensure that the figures in next year's Red Book are truly transparent and that we do not have a situation, as we have had with this Government, where the same amount of money is repeated two or three times over and is accumulated for several years before it is actually spent? The public should be able to see properly what is being spent on health and education.
Mr. Sheldon: The National Audit Office certainly carries out its remit thoroughly and properly. I am surprised by the hon. Gentleman's criticism because it is the task of the Public Accounts Commission, together with the Public Accounts Committee, to ensure that this work is done satisfactorily. I have no reason to doubt that that is still the case.
Political Progress in Northern Ireland
3.32 pm
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Peter Mandelson): With permission, Madam Speaker, I would like to make a statement on political progress in Northern Ireland.
In July, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach asked former Senator George Mitchell to facilitate a review of the implementation of the Good Friday agreement. The review was to focus on breaking the deadlock over devolution and decommissioning, which has prevented progress for many months.
Senator Mitchell concluded his review last Thursday, after 11 weeks of intensive negotiations. I would like to pay tribute to his balanced, persistent approach, which was at all times good-humoured, evidently fair and respected on all sides. For nearly five years he has devoted his time and energy to helping to resolve the most intractable of problems. Whatever now happens in the coming days, the whole House will want to join me in thanking the senator for a job extremely well done.
The review has not produced a single text like the Good Friday agreement. Instead, it has concentrated on building trust and confidence by means of a number of important steps forward rather than waiting for one giant leap that might never be made.
As a result, last week saw a series of statements by the Decommissioning Commission headed by General de Chastelain, by the parties, by the IRA, by the British and Irish Governments, and by the senator. None of these was in itself decisive. But cumulatively, I believe that these statements, together with the further steps that are planned, have created the conditions in which the agreement can now be fully implemented.
I draw the House's attention in particular to Mitchell's belief that
I plan to call a meeting of the Assembly on Monday29 November for the purpose of nominating Ministers in the new Northern Ireland Executive. Assuming that Ministers have been nominated, Parliament will be invited to approve a devolution order under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 on Tuesday 30 November, and powers will be transferred on Thursday 2 December.
Like Senator Mitchell, I believe that, with the institutions established, and everything up and running, decommissioning will happen as a natural and essential
development of the peace process. Sinn Fein has previously argued that decommissioning must take place in the context of full implementation of an overall settlement. It now has this in prospect as a result of the review. We are, therefore, planning for success, not failure.
However, if there is default, either in implementing decommissioning, or indeed for that matter devolution, it is understood that the two Governments, British and Irish, will take the steps necessary to cease immediately the operation of the institutions--the Executive, the Assembly, the North-South Ministerial Council, the British-Irish Council, the Civic Forum and the north-south implementation bodies.
Nobody should doubt my resolve to ensure that no party profits from preventing progress in all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement. Of course we are talking about voluntary action by all parties to achieve devolution and decommissioning. None the less, in terms of the steps taken and those in prospect, a heavy political price will be paid by those who default.
Unionists, and indeed nationalists, can be assured of that. It would pain me to do so, but I would not shrink from suspending the institutions if it proved necessary, thus restoring the status quo, so as to consider how to rectify the default; but as I said, we are planning for success, not failure. Whether the agreement can move forward now depends on the meeting of the Ulster Unionist council which has been called for this Saturday.
I pay tribute to the courage and leadership of the right hon. Member for Upper Bann (Mr. Trimble), who is advising his party to seize the opportunity that these developments present. It is, for the Ulster Unionist party, a decision of historic importance. A great responsibility rests on it.
I cannot take that decision for the UUP, and I would not, for a moment, overstate the merits of the deal that has now been secured. I would, however, say this. First, the Good Friday agreement is, by any standard, a good deal for Unionists. As the right hon. Member for Upper Bann said at the time, it secures the Union for as long as a majority of the people of Northern Ireland continue to support it. It brings government closer to the people in local institutions, which will be responsive to local needs. It ends the 1985 Anglo-Irish agreement, and it removes the territorial claim in the Irish constitution.
Secondly, I have already said that, in the new situation that devolution will create, I believe that decommissioning will take place. No longer are the lRA ruling out decommissioning either by the front door or the back door. I do not believe that the republican movement would have created expectations, as it has, if it did not intend to deliver.
Let us be clear, though, about one thing: the process so outlined may not be perfect, but if it is not attempted, there will be no chance whatever of any decommissioning. Critics of the right hon. Member for Upper Bann have offered no alternative way of meeting their objective, and it is certainly not for want of asking.
We will know before long whether the IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries are engaging constructively with the Decommissioning Commission. Their representatives should be appointed within hours of devolution. The commission will arrange early meetings with all the representatives of the paramilitaries, and it will issue a
further report within days of those meetings. General de Chastelain is an internationally respected figure. We can be sure that he will tell it as it is, and set the highest standards.
Finally, let me say to those critics that those who are embarking on this journey in good faith will not be left on their own. If all our expectations of the Good Friday agreement are not met, I will be seeking a way forward in co-operation with those committed to the process, based on the principles of this agreement.
We stand on the brink of a remarkable transformation in Northern Ireland. There are already signs of growing economic confidence. The security situation, while not perfect, has been transformed. Bombs and barricades no longer interrupt daily life; people can once again lead a normal existence.
"a basis now exists for devolution to occur, for the institutions to be established and for decommissioning to take place as soon as possible";
to the assumption of a more active, assertive role by the Decommissioning Commission in circumstances which it recognises will be transformed by the full implementation of the agreement; to Sinn Fein's acceptance that decommissioning is an essential part of the peace process, to be brought about under the aegis of the Decommissioning Commission in accordance with the agreement, and to its acknowledgement that conflict must be a thing of the past; to the Ulster Unionist party's recognition of the legitimacy of the peaceful pursuit of nationalist aspirations, and its commitment to the principles of inclusivity, equality and mutual respect; and lastly, to the IRA's acknowledgement of the Sinn Fein leadership, and their willingness to appoint someone as an authorised representative to enter into discussions with the Decommissioning Commission.
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