Speaker
Secretary General, Mr Arthur Donahoe
David Ford MLA
Jim Wells MLA
Roy Beggs MLA
Rev Bob Coulter MLA
Mrs Eileen Bell MLA
Mr Derek Hussey MLA
Mr Alban Maginness MLA

Mrs Debbie Pritchard
Mrs Georgie Campbell
Mr Allan Black

Mr Sam Foster MLA
Rt Hon John Taylor MLA

The Secretary General welcomed the resolution of the Assembly to apply for membership of the CPA. This is now on the agenda for the next meeting of the CPA Executive Committee in April/early May in Barbados. The application would be considered at the General Assembly in Australia in September - the Secretary General would like a delegate from the NI Assembly to be at the General Assembly when the application is formally considered.

The CPA has 164 Branches in 51 out of the 54 Commonwealth countries and a membership of around 16000 Parliamentarians. The General Assembly, attended by 400 members, meets each year. Each region also meets annually and the regional meeting of the British Isles and Mediterranean Region will take place in Scotland this year in June. The NI Assembly may be invited to send observers to the regional meeting and to the General Assembly.

The CPA is financed by subscriptions paid by member Parliaments - the Assembly's annual subscription will be around £5500 per annum. Some Branches levy a membership charge and that is a matter for them. Once the Assembly's application has been agreed, the Assembly will be entitled to send one voting delegate to the General Assembly. Observers can also be sent but the number depends on the ability of the host to accommodate them. Part of the subscription is used as a subsidy to send delegates to seminars. The same arrangements apply to the regional meetings.

The Secretary General confirmed that a legislature has to have executive powers to qualify for membership of the CPA; if these were suspended then membership would be in a state of abeyance until executive powers were returned. However it would not be necessary to go through the formal application process again. The Secretary General confirmed that a legislature applied for Branch membership of the CPA. Individual members were anyone whom the Branch recognised as a member.

The draft Constitution was then discussed. It was agreed that the Assembly would consider, at a later stage, the issue of life and temporary membership. The Office Holders for the two Vice-Presidents of the Branch would be the First Minister and Deputy First Minister. It was also agreed that further consideration would be given to the questions of fees for individual members of the Branch and the post of Treasurer.

It was noted that there were a few typographical errors in the draft - the reference in Rule 5 to the life membership fee should be to Rule 12 and not Rule 13; the reference in Rule 13 to the enrolment of members under Rule 4 should probably be to Rule 3.

Mr Maginness proposed that the draft Constitution should be accepted. Mrs Bell seconded: Agreed.

The Speaker advised that the Constitution would be typed up and circulated to Assembly members.

The Speaker presented the Secretary General with a numbered print of the watercolour of Parliament Buildings painted by a local schoolboy, as a memento of the occasion.