Consideration Stage

Part of Executive Committee Business – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:30 pm on 10 November 2009.

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Photo of Alex Maskey Alex Maskey Sinn Féin 3:30, 10 November 2009

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his reminder to Members; I will do my best to honour that commitment. I do not wish to recap to ensure that I clarify all the relevant points.

We support the sunset clause because it is very important, and we clearly support clause 2 and the Bill as a whole because we are focused on getting policing and justice powers transferred into the hands of locally elected representatives. The arrangements in clause 2 are interim and transitional, and that is verified and underscored by writing a sunset clause into the Bill that will bring those arrangements to an end by May 2012. Sinn Féin supports and will continue to support the Bill as it stands because we believe that it represents the best efforts of people to ensure that powers are transferred as soon as possible.

The time frame mentioned in some of the amend­ments has been dealt with earlier. It will come up again later, so I suppose that we can deal with it then, too. As far as Sinn Féin is concerned, the Bill does not require a time frame. Although some people want a time frame to be included, the Bill is an essential piece of enabling legislation that does not require one. The Bill needs to be passed sooner rather than later, because it is a necessary element of devolution. People who argue, inside and outside the House, in favour of powers being transferred must explain how voting against the Bill and working actively against it will serve that need.

Our party supports the Bill, and we oppose the amendments unapologetically in our relentless pursuit of having the powers of policing and justice transferred to locally elected representatives as soon as possible.