Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 (Amnesty Period) Order 2008

I, too, thank the Minister for setting out the order. I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Trimble, on his first outing as a Front-Bencher with his new cause, even if it is in well-worn territory; I know that he is moving on to other pastures before the day is out. The only constant thing in our consideration of Northern Ireland matters is our need for patience. There is something inevitable about this order being brought before us. In a couple of months’ time, it will be 10 years since the Good Friday agreement; I am amazed by how time flies. The noble Lord, Lord Trimble, referred to the IRA decommissioning, as did the Minister, which goes back to September 2005. Yet we have the latest monitoring report of the present position stating that, although there appears to be willingness, decommissioning is not happening at present on the loyalist side. What pressure are the Government bringing to bear on the paramilitary organisations in Northern Ireland that still have not got on with the show? Is there anything that the Minister can do? The noble Lord, Lord Trimble, spoke about ““state of mind””. One of the problems is what is the future is for people who have made it just about the career of their adult lifetimes to be involved in paramilitary activity? I have heard it expressed that perhaps there should be some old comrades’ organisation set up—a billiards saloon or whatever. It may well be that something must be done, but that would be down to the devolved Assembly. Is that which the Minister and his colleagues have to do in representing the Northern Ireland Office, and that which could and should be done by the devolved Assembly and its Ministers, properly working in parallel to achieve the objectives that we all wish to see? Clearly, shuffle diplomacy and patience are still required. I hope that there are some answers to that. We urge the Government to put pressure on the loyalist paramilitary groups to move away from crime and to decommission their weapons. Can more be done by the Government and the devolved Assembly, working together, to make another move forward? We support the order, which has to happen, but I would not mind teasing out whether things could be pushed that little bit further.