Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“This morning in the Assembly we heard a statement from the new DSD Minister Lord Morrow on a meeting of the British – Irish Council held in Edinburgh on 4th November last year.
“While the current Minister, who has been in post for less than a week, can hardly be held accountable for the delay it is nonetheless remarkable that there should be a delay of more than two months between the meeting taking place and the Department’s Minister reporting it to the Assembly.
“What makes this situation all the more remarkable is that the statement delivered today is virtually identical to the communiqué issued by the British – Irish Council in the immediate aftermath of the meeting!
“You can read Lord Morrow’s statement to the Assembly here and the communiqué here.
“The fact that they are to all intents and purposes identical shows that the delay in bringing the statement certainly wasn’t caused by civil servants in DSD trying to put it together.
“This incident highlights the fact that the British-Irish Council is very much the poor relation to the North-South Ministerial Council. In fact, it appears that the Minister completely forgot about it! In contrast to the North/South meetings which take place across government in plenary, institutional and sectoral format on a regular basis.”