§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Prime Minister what progress there has been towards establishing the possible new institutional structures mentioned in the joint communique of 6 November 1981 issued following her meeting with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Eire.
401W
§ The Prime MinisterFollowing the agreement which the Taoiseach and I reached on 6 November to establish an Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council, which I reported to the House on 10 November 1981, the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Council met for the first time at official level in Dublin recently. The first meeting at ministerial level is to take place tomorrow. It will involve the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Lord Privy Seal and the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs. Officials have exchanged views on the steps necessary to establish an Anglo-Irish encounter organisation, proposed in the joint studies as an interim measure pending the establishment of an advisory committee. As I said on 10 November 1981, the suggestion of an inter-parliamentary body is a matter for the two Parliaments to pursue
§ Mr. Kilfedderasked the Prime Minister what progress has been made in the establishment of a formal scheme for the interchange of officials with the Republic of Ireland as envisaged in the joint communique of 6 November 1981; and whether she will take steps to ensure that hon. Members for Northern Ireland constituencies are informed of the names of the Republic of Ireland officials concerned and where they are located.
§ The Prime MinisterThe two Governments have accepted the proposal contained in the joint study on measures to encourage mutual understanding, Cmnd. 8414, that there should be a scheme for the interchange of British and Irish officials. Details of this scheme are now under discussion with the Irish authorities. The scheme is likely to be similar to those already operating between this country on the one hand and the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada on the other. Under those schemes it is normal only to provide details of the number of officials involved and the departments to which they have been attached.