Select Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 40 - 41)

MONDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2005

MR WILLIAM YOUNG, MR PETER COSGROVE, SIR KENNETH BLOOMFIELD, MR FINBAR MCCALLION AND DR HUGH MORRISON

  Q40  Chairman: We can all give anecdotal evidence of that. You talked about bright and dim. I think we have got bright on this side of the table and very much brighter on that. Thank you very much indeed for your evidence. I know that there will be points that you will wish to have made and you must feel completely free, Mr Young and all your colleagues, to send us supplementary evidence, and we may well wish to send you some questions to which we want answers when we have our private deliberative session. I am sorry that this has, by the very nature of things, had to be a relatively brief session, but you have put your case with panache and based on a lot of experience and we are very grateful to you.

  Mr Young: Finally, two very important areas that I had hoped we would get on to were population figures and projections given in Costello that are totally wrong and, secondly, no costing. That is a very serious matter. Both those we have not talked about but your committee need to look at that.

  Q41  Chairman: Indeed, and you must send us that information. Any information that you feel has not been adequately put or put at all you must feel free to send to us and we will look at it. We are very grateful to all five of you gentlemen.

  Sir Kenneth Bloomfield: Chairman, one last word. We are so grateful to be heard. We feel at times we have been engaged in a dialogue of the deaf. We plead not to be overtaken by events. It would really be extraordinary when you have been taking this evidence from us if early next month we have some binding decision taken by the Minister and the whole thing proves to have been a waste of time. We sincerely hope that is not going to happen.

  Chairman: We hope so too. The Minister is coming before the committee on 14 December. There is a draft order going to be published for consultation. I am assured it is indeed a draft order for consultation and this committee will certainly treat it as a draft order for consultation. We shall want to make representations to the Minister based on what we have heard. I cannot tell you what representations the committee will make because we shall want to hear the other witnesses today and we shall want to deliberate among ourselves. You have put up a very good show, if I may say so. Thank you very much indeed for coming.






 
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