2. The Irish Government was represented by Dermot Ahern TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs, who chaired the meeting. The Northern Ireland Executive was represented by the First Minister, the Rt Hon Dr Ian Paisley MP MLA and the deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness MP MLA, Junior Minister Ian Paisley MLA and Minister of Education, Caitríona Ruane MLA.
3. At the meeting, Ministers expressed their regret at the decision of Seagate to close its plant at Limavady. They recognised that because Seagate’s workforce at Limavady comes from a wide area on a cross-border basis, Seagate’s decision will have serious implications for both the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government. They agreed to co-operate closely in the coming weeks in their efforts to address the situation. They welcomed the announcement of three hundred new jobs in Norbrook Laboratories in Newry.
Boards of the North/South Bodies
4. The Council noted that the terms of office of the Boards of the North South Implementation Bodies and Tourism Ireland Limited will expire in December 2007 and requested that work be taken forward to ensure that the NSMC can put new Boards in place by November 2007.
5. The Council expressed its appreciation of the work and the commitment of the outgoing Chairs, Vice Chairs and Board members of the North South Implementation Bodies and Tourism Ireland Limited.
European Union matters
6. The Council welcomed the opportunity to consider the EU dimension of its work and agreed to consider this further at its next Plenary meeting.
Obstacles to cross border mobility
7. The Council noted progress on the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Study of Obstacles to Mobility commissioned by the NSMC, including: progress on the mutual recognition of qualifications, including in the education and health areas; the introduction of single tariffs by some mobile phone operators; and the greater availability of public service information for people who wish to cross the border to live, work and study.
8. The Council launched the Cross-Border Mobility Website ( www.crossbordermobility.info ) which provides a central access point for information on a range of issues for people who wish to move across the border to live, work and study. The Council requested the Secretariat to keep the website’s operation, development, marketing and management under review and to examine options for its future funding, including possible EU funding, and report back to a future NSMC meeting.
9. The Council agreed that the NSMC Secretariat should convene two working groups – one to explore options for going forward on the transfer of pension rights on a cross-border basis and the other to examine cross-border banking issues, including transaction charges. Both groups will report back to a future NSMC meeting.
New accommodation for NSMC joint secretariat
10. The Council noted the progress to date in acquiring permanent accommodation for the NSMC Joint Secretariat in Armagh.
11. The Council agreed that once evaluation of the short-listed bidders is completed, subject to the appropriate internal processes in each administration, officials should enter into contractual negotiations with the preferred bidder to provide leased accommodation and report progress to a future NSMC meeting.
North South implementation bodies and tourism Ireland Ltd – Human resource issues
12. The Council discussed a number of human resource issues in the North South Implementation Bodies and Tourism Ireland Ltd., including the regrading of posts and pay issues raised in a paper prepared by the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Bodies.
13. The Council agreed that officials from the Department of Finance and the Department of Finance and Personnel will advise their Ministers of the issues and consider the CEO Pay Paper together with the additional information provided by the Bodies, in the context of relevant national pay policies. Conclusions will be reported to a future NSMC meeting.
14. The Council agreed a Framework for the approval of regrading of certain posts in the North South Implementation Bodies and Tourism Ireland Limited. It agreed that providing the principles set out in the Framework are adhered to, the approval of NSMC to such regradings can be deemed to have been given.
Date of next meeting
15. The Council noted that progress in all of the matters discussed at today’s Institutional meeting will be reported to the next NSMC Plenary and agreed that the Council will meet again in Institutional format as appropriate in 2008.
Joint Secretariat
30 October 2007
Notes to Editors:
Launch of new cross border mobility website
Ballymascanlon hotel, Dundalk, 30 October
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Dermot Ahern T.D., First Minister Dr. Ian Paisley MP MLA and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness MP MLA today launched a new cross border mobility website which provides detailed easily accessible information for people who cross the border to live, work or study.
Did you know that 14 million cars cross the border between Dundalk and Newry every year? That at least 18,000 workers and 5,200 students cross the border every day to work or study? That 1.7 million people cross the border by bus or train every year for short-term visits? These statistics are contained in a brand new website – being launched by the North/South Ministerial Council on 30 October – which aims to provide information for people crossing the border to live, work or study.
About the website
The Cross-Border Mobility Website will give access to high quality information that will help people find answers to questions associated with moving across the border in either direction to live, work and study. It will include information on taxation, health care, social services, education and banking.
In 2001 the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) published a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Indecon Economic Consultants based on a comprehensive study of Obstacles to Mobility between the two parts of the island of Ireland. This study looked at a broad range of obstacles which hinder people moving across the border in either direction. Among the categories examined were taxation, social security, pensions, health services, childcare, housing, transport, education and training, employment law, recruitment practices, telecoms, banking and insurance. The report made a number of recommendations aimed at lowering cross-border mobility obstacles and identified two main information problems when trying to deal with cross-border mobility on the island:
The complexity and difficulty in accessing information affecting people crossing the border to live, work and study.
The lack of accurate and up-to-date data about the extent of cross-border mobility.
In response to the study’s recommendations, NSMC agreed to work towards establishing a website to act as a central point for cross-border mobility information in both jurisdictions. In January 2007 the NSMC Joint Secretariat, on behalf of the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister and Department of Foreign Affairs, secured funding from the Special European Union Programmes Body under Measure 5.2 of the Peace II Programme to develop the website. Following a public procurement exercise, a two-year contract to manage the development of this website was awarded to the Centre for Cross Border Studies. The Delivery and Innovation Division of the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and Personnel are providing graphic design, web design, software development and maintenance services, and are hosting the website.
Mobility obstacles
There are a number of common difficulties faced by people moving across the border to work, live, study or retire which are caused by information problems. Among these are the difficulty of knowing where to start when inquiring about specific cross-border issues; the absence of advisers in public offices who know the two jurisdictions well; the need for a leaflet “in plain English” for cross-border workers; the unfamiliar requirements of having to complete self-assessment tax forms; the lack of knowledge about how educational qualifications translate across the border; the absence of portable pensions, and the difficulties of accessing information about social welfare and health care entitlements.
In recent years the Citizens Advice Northern Ireland and Citizens Information Board (Ireland) have recognised the need to respond to the growing volume of requests for complex information and advice from the public which are of a cross-border nature. Working in partnership in the EU Peace Programme-funded Borderwise Project, they have identified two main groups of cross-border information seekers. Firstly, ‘frontier workers’ – those living on one side of the border and working on the other, who frequently request information relating to tax liability, health service entitlements and family payment claims. Secondly, people who have moved or are planning to move across the border on retirement, and who have queries relating to possible loss /retention of existing benefits and the availability of welfare benefits and services in the jurisdiction to which they are retiring.
Using the information
The Cross-Border Mobility Website provides a central access point for information on a wide range of issues concerning people crossing the border to live, work, study and retire. It signposts people to the most relevant information sources and provides ‘case studies’ illustrating the dilemmas facing such people and suggesting ways to resolve these. The website is structured around the four concepts of ‘Commute’, ‘Work’, ‘Live’ and ‘Study’, and includes information on areas ranging from taxation, job seeking, social security, health and education to housing, banking and telecommunications.
The website is a tangible and practical example of the two Governments working together for mutual benefit. A person who is moving with his family from Northern Ireland to live and work in Ireland (or vice-versa) can access information on general living standards, job vacancies, equivalence of education qualifications, purchasing property, opening a bank account, moving financial assets, transferring social welfare benefits, importing a car, and registering for tax. A ‘frontier worker’ who lives and works in both jurisdictions can get cross-border information on income tax, pensions, social welfare benefit, and how to claim unemployment benefit.
