Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Northern Ireland Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-01-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent progress her Department has made on cross-border policing arrangements.

Mrs Theresa Villiers

Following the Fresh Start Agreement I attended a tri-lateral cross-border Ministerial meeting along with the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government on 21 December. At the meeting, and in accordance with the Fresh Start Agreement, we agreed new measures to enhance law enforcement co-operation aimed at tackling organised crime and criminality, including that linked to paramilitarism. In a concerted effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime, a Joint Agency Task Force has been announced by the United Kingdom Government, the Irish Government and the NI Executive.