Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on its plans to remove all peace walls in Northern Ireland by 2023.

The Northern Ireland Executive’s plan to remove peace walls in Northern Ireland by 2023 formed part of its wider ‘Together: Building a United Community’ Strategy which set out proposals for tackling the entrenched sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland and for building a shared society.

In 2013, the UK Government announced an economic pact ‘Building a Prosperous and United Community’ which specifically provided for a £100m extension of Executive borrowing powers to help rebalance the economy and to assist in the delivery of their plans to build a shared future. Subsequent to this, as part of the Fresh Start Agreement, the UK Government provided additional funding of £60m over five years to ensure the Executive expedited its commitments under the ‘Together: Building a United Community’ Strategy, including those relating to peace walls.

I have had a number of discussions with members of the Northern Ireland Executive in relation to the implementation of both the Stormont House and Fresh Start Agreements, and I will continue to do so.