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Having been present in Northern Ireland at the beginning of the Hillsborough talks, we were delighted to welcome the Prime Minister's statement of Monday 8 February 2010, in which he said that the devolution of policing and justice to the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly would take place by 12 April 2010.
We have been glad to observe the progress of devolution during the lifetime of the present Parliament. When the Committee assumed its duties in 2005, there was no functioning Northern Ireland Executive or Assembly. For two years, our remit extended across the board, and we produced a brief Report on education and a major Report on tourism, in addition to other Reports on, for example, organised crime, the Northern Ireland Prison Service, and community restorative justice.
We were pleased to welcome the establishment of the Executive and a new Assembly in 2007 and were delighted to be able to follow the development of events between then and the retirement of the First Minister, Rt Hon. and Rev. Dr Ian Paisley MLA, MP. Our Chairman represented us at the Invest Northern Ireland conference called at the end of Dr Paisley's period in office and was present throughout the following week in Northern Ireland when the Committee gave a dinner in honour of Dr Paisley and made a presentation to him.
The establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive saw our remit significantly reduced and most of our work since then has been concerned with policing and justice and with cross-border issues, although we also produced a major report on Television Broadcasting in Northern Ireland in January 2010.
We conclude by welcoming the culmination of the devolution process with the Hillsborough Castle Agreement, and we are delighted that this has taken place during the lifetime of this Parliament and of this Committee. Northern Ireland will continue to need help, encouragement and support from Westminster but in the next Parliament, this will be provided in a wholly different context, a context in which a completely devolved Administration will put the Northern Ireland Assembly on much the same footing as the Scottish Parliament and with legislative powers not yet enjoyed by the Welsh Assembly.
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