THE NORTHERN IRELAND EXECUTIVE (Hansard, 3 July 1973)

§ Mr. Peter Mills
I beg to move Amendment No. 7, in page 7, line 28, at end insert: '(7) Before making any appointment under this section (otherwise than by virtue of subsection (6)) the Secretary of State shall so far as practicable consult with the parties represented in the Assembly'. This amendment is the result of my right hon. Friend's undertaking in Committee, when my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, North (Mr. Stratton Mills) moved an amendment to require an appointment to the Northern Ireland Executive to be made only after consultation with the parties in the Assembly. My right hon. Friend has of course looked carefully into this matter and has taken note of what was said. We hope that the amendment will be very useful.
The amendment uses very similar wording to that suggested by my hon. Friend, but it puts it in a separate subsection, instead of adding it to subsection (3). Subsection (6) provides for the appointment of caretaker members of the Executive in a situation in which it is not possible to make appointments to the Executive that conform to the criteria in Clause 2(1)(b). This power, we hope, will be rarely used, but it should be there because serious difficulties in the formation of an Executive might arise from the filling of a particular post.
My right hon. Friend is required to consult parties represented in the Assembly only "so far as practicable". There is no mystery behind these words. They are inserted merely to ensure that the Secretary of State is not required to go to extraordinary lengths to contact the parties in the Assembly. Obviously, 344 some party might refuse to meet him or place impossible conditions in the way of such a meeting. These things have to be taken care of, and that is the reason for these words, which are a useful contribution to the Bill.

§ Mr. Stratton Mills
I thank the Under-Secretary for the way in which he has moved the amendment and the Secretary of State for following up his undertaking in Committee in response to my amendment. Obviously, everyone hopes that it will be possible for the parties themselves to agree on the filling of the portfolios. In that situation, as the Secretary of State has made clear, his rule would be largely that of formal appointment.
But my right hon. Friend has extensive powers under the Bill, so I felt it right—I am glad that this has been accepted—that it should be written into the Bill that a process of consultation should take place between the parties so that people who are brought into the Executive represent their parties to a greater or smaller extent and are not purely political nominees of the Secretary of State. I am glad that that has been made absolutely clear.
On the other point, I had intended to query the words "so far as practicable". However, the gloss that my hon. Friend has put on them, and which is clearly in the record, is valuable. I thank him again.

§ Captain Orr
I am not really pleased with the amendment, but that is not surprising, because I do not happen to believe in the concept behind Clause 2. Consequently, it could hardly be expected that I would approve a system whereby, before a Cabinet could be formed, all the parties in the Parliament had to be consulted. I simply want to put it on record that I and my hon. Friends would not approve of this. But, of course, we will not vote against it, because the nonsense is already in the Bill.