Proceedings of the Regional Development Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 5 July 2000
in room 135, Parliament Buildings
1. Minutes of the Last Meeting
2. Matters Arising
3. Regional Development Strategy
4. Statutory Rules
5. New TSN Paper
6. Programme for Government
7. Any Other Business 8. Date of Next Meeting
Present were:
Mr A McFarland (Deputy Chairman)
Mr D Ervine
Mr W Hay
Mr D Hussey
Mr R Hutchinson
Mr C Murphy
Mr J Wells
In Attendance:
Mrs D Pritchard (Committee Clerk)
Mr S Fay (Assistant Clerk)
Mrs P Fisher (Assistant Clerk)
Mr N Currie (Executive Support)
Mrs S Young (Administrative Support)
Apologies:
Mr A Maginness (Chairman)
Mr PJ Bradley
Mr J Byrne
The meeting commenced at 11.07 am.
Mr Ervine joined the meeting at 11.12 am.
Mr Hutchinson joined the meeting at 11.15 am.
1. Minutes of Last Meeting
The Committee considered the minutes of the meetings of 26 and 28 June 2000.
The minutes of the meeting of 26 June were agreed.
The minutes of the meeting of 28 June were agreed, as amended.
2. Matters Arising
The Port of Belfast
The press release had been issued on 29 June as agreed at the meeting of 28 June. The Chairman and Deputy Chairman had agreed to a subsequent meeting with Belfast Harbour Commissioners on 4 July.
The Committee had received replies from the Department for Regional Development on some of the issues earmarked by the Committee for further clarification and examination in relation to Option D.
Agreed: That the Committee would seek additional information from the Department and would return to consideration of the future of the Port after the recess when the Department should have responded to the Committee's request.
3. Regional Development Strategy (RDS)
The Deputy Chairman told the Committee of the constructive meeting he and the Chairman had had with representatives of the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) on 29 June.
The Committee considered the responses it had received from other Committees regarding the RDS issues which fell to them, and the Committee's own views on the Regional Development aspects.
Agreed: That the Clerk should draft a letter for the Chairman to send to the Minister outlining the initial views of the Committee and the comments made by other Committees.
4. Statutory Rules
The Committee noted the letters from DRD of (a) Statutory Rules which it intended to make but which did not have to be laid in the Assembly and were not subject to approval by it and (b) Rules which would be sent to the Committee for scrutiny when they had been made and laid (subject to negative resolution).
The Committee further considered the Statutory Rules made under the Road Races (Northern Ireland) Order 1986.
Agreed: That the Committee would seek to identify where the responsibility for the staging of road races lay. It would then consider the matter further.
5. New TSN Paper
The Committee noted the paper circulated about DRD's draft TSN action plan.
Agreed: That the Clerk would draft a letter for the Chairman to send to the Minister listing the Committee's concerns about New TSN and pointing out that the Committee did not accept that New TSN is not relevant to large areas of the Department's work.
6. Programme for Government
The Committee considered the paper from the Minister concerning DRD's input to the Programme for Government.
Mr Wells left the meeting at 11.54 am.
Agreed: That the Clerk would draft a letter for the Chairman to send to the Minister. The response would focus on the key issues the Committee felt the Department needed to address but would not list these in any order of priority.
7. Any Other Business
The Committee noted the response to DRD from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) on the Department's draft Equality Scheme.
Mr Murphy left the meeting at 12.09 pm.
8. Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 6 September at 10.30 am in room 135, Parliament Buildings.
The meeting closed at 12.10 pm.