Mr Ford was speaking after questioning Secretary of State James Brokenshire at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in Cardiff today (Monday) on the funding for the Executive’s anti-paramilitarism action plan, which Mr Brokenshire confirmed the Executive had not applied for this year.
“While the Secretary of State claimed the Executive has taken important actions, he didn’t explain what they were,” said Mr Ford.
“What is clear, is Ministers have not agreed the detailed action plan they were supposed to develop by the end of June. The three-person panel delivered their report on time by the end of May. Six months later, the Executive has failed to deliver the follow-up the DUP and Sinn Fein committed to prepare within a month in their so-called Fresh Start agreement a year ago.
“At a time when we face a threat from both republican and loyalist terrorism, there seems to have been a lack of concern on behalf of Ministers to build on the panel report and take the lead in tackling those who are trying to drag us back.
“No amount of fine words by the Secretary of State can obscure the continuing failure of the Executive. It is long past time all Ministers lived up to their responsibilities.”