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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD MEETING OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE
ON FLAGS (NI) ORDER 1. Apologies/Substitutions Present:Mr F Agnew (Chairman) In Attendance:Mr M RickardMiss J Adair The Committee met at 4.05 pm. 1.Apologies/Substitutions The Chairman welcomed Mr Doherty and Mr Tierney who were substituting for Mr McGrady and Mr Maginness. 2.Minutes of meeting of 25 September 2000 The minutes of the meeting of 25 September 2000 were agreed. 3.Matters Arising from the Minutes of Proceedings The Chairman reported that the Clerk had written on 26 September 2000 to the Secretary of State, Head of the Civil Service and the Chairperson of the Equality Commission inviting them to appear before the Committee. The Secretary of State's Office had responded saying that due to pre-existing diary commitments he would be unable to attend. This response had been copied to members. To date no response to the invitation had been received from the Head of the Civil Service. The Chairman added that Mrs Joan Harbinson, Chairperson of the Equality Commission, had agreed to attend the meeting scheduled for Thursday 5 October. To aid the preparation for the meeting Mrs Harbinson has asked that if members have any specific questions or issues they would wish to raise with the Equality Commission, it would be helpful to receive these in advance of the meeting. The Chairman asked members to pass these to the Clerk. However it was emphasised that members were free to ask any additional questions at Thursday's meeting. Mr Ervine joined the meeting at 4.12 pm. Following discussion on the interpretation of the proposal supported by the majority of members at the Committee's previous meeting it was agreed that the Clerk would obtain a transcript of that meeting for clarification. Mr Dodds joined the meeting at 4.16 pm. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the Assembly Legal Advisor was unable to attend the meeting. 4.Update on submissions received on Proposed Regulations Members had received a copy of the Press Release issued by the Chairman on 26 September seeking written submissions from organisations and individuals. To date no submissions have been received. It was acknowledged that the very short timescale precluded any further possible press coverage. Only one submission had been received from groupings within the Committee from Mr Ford of the Alliance Party. The Chairman stressed that these submissions are needed by end of business on Wednesday 4 October to enable an initial draft of the Committee's Report to be prepared to meet the deadline of 13 October. All groupings confirmed that they did intend to submit their views. It was noted that the Secretary of State had offered in his response to consider any written questions the Committee may have but given the lack of time available it was not considered to be a worthwhile exercise. However it was felt that the Head of the Civil Service should be again asked to ascertain if he was unavailable to attend the next meeting. 5.Date of Next Meeting The next meeting of the Committee is to be held on Thursday 5 October at 2.30 pm in the Senate Chamber. The meeting closed at 4.29 pm.
FRASER AGNEW |
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