Part of Orders of the Day — Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Bill – in the House of Commons am 4:39 pm ar 20 Mehefin 1991.
I wish briefly, not so much to make a speech, but to put several questions to which the Minister may respond when he replies.
During an intervention I told the Minister of my general concern, and that of a large section of the community in Northern Ireland, at the practice of wearing down the security forces with various forms of restrictions, regulations and inquiries about this, that and the other, as though people in the forces had to be scrutinised the most and we should spend the majority of our time looking at what they were doing. Instead, we should concentrate on those causing death and devastation in Northern Ireland. Perhaps if the House spent as much time thinking of ways and means to take on the terrorists and remove them from our society, we should have less cause to concern ourselves with the tasks that our security forces are asked to do in the most difficult circumstances.
When I consider clause 59 and the appointment of an independent assessor, I am forced to think of the difficulties faced by the Secretary of State when he is being asked to appoint people to independent posts. During the past weeks, if not months, we have been considering the appointment of an independent chairman. If that has not acquainted the Secretary of State with the difficulties of finding someone who is deemed to be independent by all parties, perhaps nothing will. If he did not have the power that is set out in the Bill to make an appointment, I suspect that no one would be found to take on the task. It would be a long day before the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon), we who represent constituencies in Northern Ireland who sit on the Government side of the Chamber and those who similarly represent Northern Ireland constituencies but who sit on the Opposition Benches agreed on who the independent assessor might be. I have no doubt that we would have to take into consideration the views of both the Government and the Opposition.
Would the matter have to go before the Anglo-Irish conference? Will that body have a say in who the assessor will be? Under the Anglo-Irish Agreement, would the Government of the Irish Republic be entitled to make a proposal? Perhaps the Minister will tell us when he replies.
I suspect that much of what is contained in the Bill is designed for cosmetic purposes. I say that with the deepest regret.