Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he plans to take to safeguard the implementation bodies set up under the Belfast Agreement 1998 after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

The implementation bodies set up under the auspices of the North South Ministerial Council provided for in the Belfast Agreement are a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland, in line with the traditional three-stranded approach.

As I said to the House on 10 January, the Government remains committed to the Belfast Agreement and want to see a return to strong and stable devolved government in Northern Ireland, to continue to implement that Agreement and its successors. The UK’s departure from the EU does not change this commitment.