Written questions by Eastwood.

With reference to the Written Statement of 21 January 2025 on Stormont Brake: Response to the notification made under Schedule 6B Northern Ireland Act 1998, HCWS374, what recent steps he has taken to progress the consultation on a consistent regime for the classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals.

Further to the answer provided by Noble Friend in UIN HL4285, on 20 January the Government set out its commitment to take any future steps necessary to avoid new barriers that would affect supplies of such products into Northern Ireland, and to consult on whether to apply a consistent regime across the UK. Work on this consultation is ongoing and it will happen as soon as possible. The output from the consultation will determine what further actions are considered necessary to safeguard the UK internal market.

If he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the time taken to appoint commissioners under the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022.

The Northern Ireland Executive is responsible for implementing the provisions of the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022, including those provisions which allow for the establishment of an Irish Language Commissioner and a Commissioner for t...

With reference to figure 19.6 of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office’s annual report 2022, published on 26 March 2024, if he will hold discussions with the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland on the potential merits of launching a public inquiry on the alleged surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland.

Figure 19.6 of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office’s annual report 2022 refers to statistics for communications data authorisations involving members of a sensitive profession between 2018 and 2022. These are statistics for the whole of the UK, not specific to Northern Ireland.Oversight of the use of Investigatory Powers is provided by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office who ensure that such use is necessary and proportionate, and used in accordance with the law.There are ongoing Investigatory Powers Tribunal proceedings in relation to the alleged surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland. As such it would be inappropriate to comment further or to consider other routes of investigation until those proceedings have concluded.