Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 17th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Farry (North Down) (Alliance)]

5. What recent progress he has made on the restoration of political institutions in Northern Ireland.

[Sarah Jones (Croydon Central) (Lab)]

11. What steps his Department plans to take to help restore power sharing in Northern Ireland.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

13. What recent discussions he has had with party leaders on the restoration of power sharing in Northern Ireland.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and, indeed, for the way in which he and his party have conducted themselves in the talks to try to restore the Executive. The UK Government put an extremely fair and generous package for a restored Executive, worth £3.3 billion, on the table before Christmas. The money that Northern Ireland civil servants and I have available is from the budget passed in this place in the last year.

[Sarah Jones]

I was recently in County Kildare with the Minister of State and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, working to build understanding between the two countries. We heard from Irish Ministers and the ambassador about the impact of the lack of a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly. Bearing that in mind, and the struggles that we know people are having in Northern Ireland with their bills, potential strike action and all kinds of issues, can the Secretary of State say a bit more about what he is doing, and about the meetings and conversations he is having, to work at pace to try to get a solution?

[Chris Heaton-Harris]

I thank the hon. Lady both for her interest and for the sentiment behind her question. A huge amount is happening, including meetings galore with all the political parties in Northern Ireland, and especially the Democratic Unionist party, because it is the DUP that I need to get on board so that the Executive can be restored. The hon. Lady says “at pace”, and we will happily work at whatever pace we can, but it is slightly determined by our interlocutors.