Northern Ireland (St Andrews Agreement) Bill

If the hon. Gentleman will allow me to finish what I am saying, I will give way to him shortly. I recall the decision by the then Member for West Belfast, the Minister responsible for health, to take the maternity unit to her own constituency, despite and in defiance of the view of the Assembly’s health committee and a vote by the Assembly itself. The system was clearly not accountable. Not only was it not accountable in terms of the Northern Ireland Assembly itself; it was not accountable in terms of the ““north-southery”” that went with it. The Bill, although inadequate in parts, will introduce more accountability than there was for the Belfast agreement: much-needed accountability.