§ 11. Mr. Farrasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will arrange to make public advice which periodically may be given to him by the Northern Ireland Economic Council.
§ Mr. ConcannonTo date, all the advice which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has been given by the council has been made public, although circumstances could arise in which it would be desirable to preserve the confidentiality of work carried out on his behalf. In the case of research carried out or commissioned on the council's own initiative, the decision on whether to publish the findings rests with the council itself.
§ Mr. FarrThe Council has already made reports to the Minister on energy and on agriculture. It is at present engaged in studying external links between Europe and the United Kingdom, and it is also studying industrial matters. Would it not help the country generally if this advice were made more readily available? What has happened to the Northern Ireland plan? Does it still exist? Will he say something about it?
§ Mr. ConcannonI thought that the reports were readily accessible. If there are problems, I shall examine them and make sure they are sorted out. The programmes already considered by the Economic Council have been published. Work is still proceeding on the five-year plan. Discussions are taking place with interested parties. I hope that the assessment of the Northern Ireland economic situation will be published shortly.