The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee is appointed
to examine on behalf of the House of Commons the expenditure,
administration and policy of the Northern Ireland Office; administration
and expenditure of the Crown Solicitor's Office (but excluding
individual cases and advice given by the Crown Solicitor); and
other matters within the responsibilities of the Secretary of
State for Northern Ireland (but excluding the expenditure, administration
and policy of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions,
Northern Ireland and the drafting of legislation by the Office
of the Legislative Counsel.) Its constitution and powers are set
out in House of Commons Standing Order No. 152.
The Committee has a maximum of thirteen members,
of whom the quorum for any formal proceedings is four. The members
of the Committee are appointed by the House and unless discharged
remain on the Committee until the dissolution of this Parliament.
The present membership of the Committee, appointed on 28 July
1997 except where stated, is as follows:[1]
Mr Harry Barnes, Labour,
North East Derbyshire
Mr Roy Beggs, Ulster Unionist Party, East Antrim
Mr Peter Brooke, Conservative, Cities of London and Westminster
Mr Colin Burgon, Labour, Elmet (added 3 April 2000)
Mr Tony Clarke, Labour, Northampton South (added 24 January
2000)
Mr John Grogan, Labour, Selby
Mr Andrew Hunter, Conservative, Basingstoke
Mr Stephen McCabe, Labour, Birmingham, Hall Green (added
9 November 1998)
Mr Eddie McGrady, Social Democratic and Labour Party, South
Down
Dr Nick Palmer, Labour, Broxtowe (added 13 December
1999)
Mr Stephen Pound, Labour, Ealing North (added
14 June 1999)
Mr Peter Robinson, Democratic Unionist Party, Belfast
East
Mr William Thompson, Ulster Unionist Party, Tyrone West
(added 12 June 2000)
On 30 July 1997, the Committee elected Mr Peter Brooke
as its Chairman.
The Committee has the power to require the submission
of written evidence and documents, to examine witnesses, and to
make Reports to the House. In the footnotes to this Report, references
to oral evidence are indicated by 'Q' followed by the question
number, and references to written evidence printed with it are
indicated by 'Ev' followed by the page number.
The Committee may meet at any time (except when Parliament
is prorogued or dissolved) and at any place within the United
Kingdom. The Committee may meet concurrently with other committees
or sub-committees established under Standing Order No. 152 for
the purpose of deliberating, taking evidence or considering draft
reports, and with the House's Environmental Audit Committee or
with the European Scrutiny Committee (or any of its sub-committees)
for the purpose of deliberating or taking evidence. The Committee
may exchange documents and evidence with any of these committees,
as well as with the House's Public Accounts and Deregulation Committees.
The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published
by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications
of the Committee (including press notices) may be accessed on
the Internet through www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/niahome.htm.
A full list of the Committee's Reports in the present Parliament
is included in this volume.
All correspondence should be addressed to The Clerk
of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, Committee Office, House
of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general
inquiries is 020 7219 2172; the Committee's fax number is 020
7219 0580; and the Committee's e-mail address is: northircom@parliament.uk.
1 In the course of the Parliament the following Members,
appointed on 28 July 1997, have also served: Mr Desmond Browne
(until 9 November 1998), Mr Jeffrey Donaldson (until 12 June 2000),
Mr Ken Livingstone (until 14 June 1999), Ms Margaret Moran (until
19 February 1998), Mr Martin Salter (until 13 December 1999) and
Mr Tony McWalter (until 3 April 2000). Mr Stephen Hesford served
from 19 February 1998 to 24 January 2000. Back
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