The meeting fulfils a commitment under the Fresh Start & The Stormont Agreement and Implemenation Plan. Commenting following the meeting, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon Theresa Villiers MP said:
I welcome the establishment of this Joint Agency Task Force, which strongly reaffirms the commitment from the United Kingdom Government, the Irish Government and NI executive to doing all we can to crack down on criminality by paramilitaries and make it absolutely clear that in no circumstances will paramilitary activity be tolerated.
In a concerted effort to tackle cross-jurisdictional organised crime, the Joint Agency Task Force is a positive step towards implementing the Fresh Start Agreement.