The North/South institutions of the Good Friday Agreement
North/South Ministerial Council and Implementation Bodies
61. Under the programme of activity ahead in this Sector, a Joint Health Technology Group is being set up to draw up protocols for the assessment/evaluation of emerging and new technology in relation to large high-technology equipment and to identify a programme of work for such evaluations. In the light of the significant expenditure North and South on goods and services, the Regional Supplies Services and the Healthcare Material Board will explore the scope for co-operation in procurement and the achievement of VFM.
62. ENVIRONMENT: Research into environmental protection; water quality management and waste management in cross-border context.
Lead Ministers in the NSMC:
Northern Ireland Executive: Mr Sam Foster, MLA, Minister of the Environment
Irish Government: Mr Noel Dempsey, TD, Minister for the Environment and Local Government
63. To date, the Council in this Sector has:
· adopted a Situation Report on the seven areas for co-operation agreed
at the Inaugural Plenary in Armagh; and
· identified Environmental Research, Water Quality Management and Waste
Management as initial priorities for co-operation and approved action on
taking them forward. On Environmental Research, this will include the establishment
of a joint register of current research projects and identifying new technologies
for monitoring. On Water Quality, this will include the taking forward of
activity by a newly established North/South Working Party on water quality
matters in relation to the Erne and Foyle catchments and the implementation
of the EU Water Framework Directive which came into force on 22 December
2000. On Waste Management, this will include officials working together
to encourage the expansion of waste cycling in Ireland, North and South.
· approved the joint collaboration by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and the Environment and Heritage Service (EHS) in tendering for a
jointly funded contract to develop an interactive website of current environmental
research. The contract has been advertised and will be awarded by June 2001;
· endorsed a report commissioned by the Working Group on Water Quality,
from Consultants Kirk, McClure, Morton (KMM). The Report made recommendations
for the implementation of Erne/Foyle catchment management strategies in
the context of the EU Water Framework Directive, which came into force on
22 December, 2000;
· approved for publication and placing on the relevant agency websites,
a joint report on 'New Technologies for Monitoring: Status and Prospects',
prepared jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Environment
and Heritage Service (EHS);
· agreed that co-operation on new technologies for monitoring be referred
to the Working Group on Water Quality to advance work in respect of three
areas identified for particular concentration. The three areas are (i) chemical
monitoring of surface waters (ii) biological monitoring of surface waters
and (iii) fish stocks;
· agreed that a database development and co-operation programme should be
taken forward on a progressive basis by the EPA and the EHS with particular
emphasis on (a) examination of the options for completing the Corine Land
Cover Project 2000 on an all island basis and (b) development and integration
of a number of key databases (e.g. river water quality, air quality, groundwater,
register of environmental data sources). The co-operation would begin with
agreement on a suitable framework for a register of environmental data sources
and then populate the register through a phased approach, and
· that a joint internet portal for providing customers with information
on environmentally related data will be developed when the register of environmental
data sources has been established;
· agreed terms of reference for a proposed scoping study on environmental
impacts of agriculture, including an inventory of relevant environmental
management practices and controls currently applied to agriculture, North
and South, with a view to the development of co-operation arrangements in
respect of (a) nutrient management planning in agriculture and (b) controls
on cross border management/movement of slurries, particularly in the context
of the EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control; and
· agreed that officials would work together to identify options to encourage the expansion of waste recycling in Ireland, North and South, in particular a joint approach to market and manufacturing development for secondary materials and recyclates.
64. TOURISM:
Lead Ministers in the NSMC:
Northern Ireland Executive: Sir Reg Empey, MLA, Minister of Enterprise,
Trade and Investment (normally accompanied by Dr Seán Farren, MLA, Minister
of Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment who has responsibility
in Northern Ireland for aspects of the Area of co-operation).
Irish Government: Dr Jim McDaid, TD, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation
65. In the case of Tourism, it was agreed that a publicly-owned limited company would be established by Bord Fáilte éireann and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to promote the island of Ireland overseas as a tourist destination. The establishment of this new company, known as Tourism Ireland Ltd, was formally approved by the first NSMC meeting in the Tourism Sector on 27 October 2000. The remit of Tourism Ireland will include international tourism marketing programmes, publication of information on tourism and market research. The Company will have a marketing budget of approx IR£30 million per annum to carry out these activities and will have its headquarters in Dublin as well as a regional office in Coleraine.
66. The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the new company have been filed in the Companies Registration Office in Dublin and the new company was formally incorporated on 11 December 2000.
67. A project team of officials drawn from Bord Fáilte éireann and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has been established to take forward the set-up arrangements for the new Company with a view to having it up and running as soon as possible.
68. On 19 December 2000, a twelve-member Board of Directors was appointed by the NSMC. The Board is Chaired by Mr Andrew Coppel, Group Chief Executive of Queens Moat Houses plc, and the vice-Chairperson is Ms Ann Riordan of Microsoft Ireland. Tourism Ireland operates under the overall policy direction of the NSMC.
Joint Secretariat, North/South Ministerial Council
69. The North/South Ministerial Council is supported by a standing Joint Secretariat , drawn from the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Irish Government Civil Service. The task of the Joint Secretariat is to facilitate the operation of the NSMC - e.g. the preparation and organization of Council meetings (documentation, practical arrangements, etc). It also has responsibility for monitoring the implementation of decisions of the Council and, in that capacity, liaises closely with the Cross-Border Bodies and with the Departments North and South. The Secretariat is jointly led by Joint Secretaries Dick Mackenzie (North) and Tim O'Connor (South), assisted by Deputy Joint Secretaries Derek Wheeler (North) and Helen Browne (South), and other colleagues drawn from the two Civil Services. The Joint Secretariat is located in Armagh.
Prepared by:
Joint Secretariat
North/South Ministerial Council
39 Abbey Street
Armagh BT61 7EB
Phone: 028/ 048 37 511 470
Fax: 028/048 37 511 874
12 March 2001
1 The 12 Sectors include (a) six Implementation Bodies: Waterways Ireland,
the Food Safety Promotion Board, the Trade and Business Development Body
'InterTrade Ireland', the Special EU Programmes Body, the North/South Language
Body incorporating the Irish Language Agency and the Ulster Scots Agency,
and the Foyle, Carlingford and Irish Lights Commission, comprising the Loughs
Agency and the Lights Agency - and (b) six agreed priority areas for enhanced
co-operation through existing mechanisms covering aspects of Agriculture,
Education, Environment, Health, Tourism and Transport. |
