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

It was not a good example, but I was in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh to discuss cost-sharing and responsibility on animal disease control. I have made that lesson clear in Whitehall. I have been the spokesman effectively there for the big successes for Northern Ireland. But it is a classic case because we have discussed this. There has to be an Ireland policy on disease control. The UK has an issue here to deal with. It is right that the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, should leap on that and use that slight chink in my armour. My point about saying why I was there was that I wanted to share what I saw with Members of the Committee. Politics is working at a level that takes away popular support for those dissidents. We are confident that the Police Service of Northern Ireland is able to deal with that. However, our objective is to get all those dissident groups disarmed and decommissioned at the table, living useful and productive lives, and contributing to the community. I cannot go into the sort of things that the noble Lord, Lord Shutt, may want. In Belfast, from either party, there is a limit to the number of taxi rides that people could take, as I know from my friends who have been over there. But there are great economic and intellectual opportunities in Northern Ireland, and the people of Northern Ireland would be very unwise not to grab those opportunities. The message to those dissidents is to come and share the success with everyone else. On Question, Motion agreed to.