§ Mr. William Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the draft Orders in Council relating to Northern Ireland published since the Northern Ireland Act 1974 became law which were found by the Hybrid Instruments Committee of the House of Lords to be hybrid orders; and what steps were taken in each case to make the nature of such orders known to those affected by them.
§ Mr. PriorThe following draft Orders in Council under the Northern Ireland Act 1974 have been declared hybrid in the opinion of the Chairman of Committees (House of Lords):
- The Draft Ship Building Industry (No. 2) Order 1975;
- The Draft Queen's University of Belfast (NI) Order 1981; and
- The Draft University of Ulster (NI) Order 1984.
Once the draft orders were declared hybrid, notices were published in the press explaining the procedures to be followed for the presentation of petitions to the Lords. Copies of these press notices were distributed to the bodies involved, who were asked to draw them to the attention 440W of interested individuals. In the case of the two most recent draft orders, copies of the press notices were also distributed to all those who commented on the published proposals for the draft orders and to all those to whom the proposals were sent originally.