Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (Northern Ireland Political Parties) Order 2008

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, for his warm welcome of this order. We have worked very hard at getting the right balance here. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Smith, for his support. ““Another member State”” is a member of the EEA, which is the European Union plus Switzerland and one other Scandinavian state. The crucial drafting, which is to stop brass-plate type institutions evading all these regulations, is the second part of paragraph 4, which refers to bodies, "““which keep an office in Ireland or Northern Ireland being an office from which the carrying on of one or more of its principal activities is directed””." The prescribed bodies are, among others: "““A company—""appearing on the Register of Companies of Ireland; and""incorporated within Ireland or another member State””." The order envisages a company that is properly registered in Northern Ireland. However, whatever the other subtleties of incorporation can mean within the EU situation, both conditions must be met, not one or the other. I withdraw my previous statement: ““another member State”” refers to members of the European Union, not the EEA. I hope that that covers the point.