§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what recommendations on cross-border security co-operation were presented to the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 17 June 1986;
(2) if he will publish the reports on further studies carried out by three separate joint working parties established by the two police forces, as mentioned in the joint statement of 6 October 1986;
(3) what proposals the Irish side put forward relating to the advantages of a Bill of Rights and what difficulties the British side saw with these proposals, as stated in the joint statement of 6 October 1986; what comments they made on the consultative paper on equality of opportunity at the meeting on 6 October 1986; and if he will make a statement;
(4) if he will publish in the Official Report the progress reports of the groups of officials set up under article 8 of the Anglo-Irish Agreement which are mentioned in the joint statement of 9 May 1986; and what advantages and disadvantages of a Bill of Rights in Northern Ireland have been set out by the officials as mentioned in paragraph 5 of the joint statement ;
(5) what views and proposals were put forward by Mr. Peter Barry designed to give substantial expression to the aim of ensuring public confidence in the administration of justice, as mentioned in the joint statement of 31 December 1985; and if he will make a statement ;
(6) what possible areas of harmonisation of areas of the criminal law were discussed at the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 13 February 1986; and if he will make a statement;
(7) if he will make a statement on the work of the sub-group of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference; 582W what views and proposals have been put forward by the Irish side; and what has been the response of his Department.
§ Mr. Tom King[holding answer 13 November 1987]: As I explained to the hon. Gentleman on 29 June it has not been our practice to make public details of discussions in the Intergovernmental Conference, nor of papers passed through the secretariat, beyond the summaries contained in the joint statements issued after each meeting, copies of which are placed in the Library. Such confidentiality is usual in discussions between Governments. But I remain ready, as I said in my earlier reply, to discuss with the hon. Gentleman, or with any other representatives of the constitutional political parties in Northern Ireland, the Government's policies on any subject, including those discussed or to be discussed at meetings of the conference.