OFMDFM Committee

MLAs heard a plea for the setting-up of an assembly committee dedicated to European issues, on 2 February 2011.

Sinn Fein's Francie Molloy was giving evidence to the OFMDFM committee in his role as a member of the EU's Committee of the Regions.

He said there was a need for an assembly European committee in order to keep abreast of some of the issues that were emerging in the EU.

Mr Molloy and fellow Committee of the Regions member Jonathan Bell, from the DUP, explained the advisory role of the committee in influencing and shaping EU legislation.

Committee members were regarded as the guardians of "subsidiarity", defending the role of regional assemblies and local government.

The OFMDFM committee also discussed the lack of business it had to deal with.

The SDLP's Dolores Kelly wanted to know why this was the only assembly committee with no forward work programme.

She said she did not see the point in being there on a Wednesday afternoon with what the committee had before them.

Jimmy Spratt of the DUP suggested that the clerk's office could be more proactive about retrieving information from the department.

Members agreed to call in the permanent secretary of the OFMDFM to discuss areas of interest to the committee.