North-South Ministerial Council - Implementation Bodies

Details of the North-South Implementation Bodies

Under the North-South Ministerial Council, six new North-South Implementation Bodies {external_link}, established by international agreement between the British and Irish Governments, came into being on 2 December 1999. These bodies will implement policies agreed by Ministers in the North-South Ministerial Council. The new bodies are:

The bodies will be funded from grants made by the relevant government departments, North and South. They will be staffed by a combination of civil servants (either transferred or seconded from their parent Departments, North and South) and directly recruited staff. With the agreement of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Oireachtas it will be open to the North-South Ministerial Council to set up more Implementation Bodies in the future.

In addition to the six Implementation Bodies an initial six areas have been identified for co-operation between existing government departments and other bodies, North and South. They cover aspects of transport, agriculture, education, health, environment, and tourism.