Electoral Administration Act 2006 (Regulation of Loans etc.: Northern Ireland) Order 2008

My Lords, I should like first to apologise to the Minister for missing the first two minutes of his speech—which again, as in July last year when we discussed these cognate issues, was very fair and effective. I wish to speak in broad agreement, as has the noble Lord, Lord Laird. I do not want to revisit any issue from last July when we talked about the family legislation which dealt with donations. It is now 10 months on. It is now May 2008, and there is an awkward symbolism in the fact that the Government are telling us that they still believe that it is necessary to keep donations or loans secret because of the safety factor for individuals. At the same time, this is the month that our Government had said was in principle the right moment for the devolution of policing and justice for Northern Ireland. There is an awkward symbolism there. There is nothing to be done about it, but I think it should be noted this evening. There is also the fact that this issue is becoming more important in Northern Irish politics because of the increased discussion of the role that Fianna Fail might play in the politics of Northern Ireland. Some of our concerns regarding donations and loans from outside Northern Ireland seemed somewhat academic 10 months ago but now seem considerably less so. We are in a new place in both those respects. None the less, broadly, I have to concede that there are anomalies in life and particular anomalies in the peace process, and what the Government are doing tonight is acceptable. I only ask the Minister to reassure us that the intention is for the Government to look at this again in 2010 and that their view at this point is not that these arrangements are in any sense permanent.