Published Wednesday, 17 June 2009
First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness hailed the move as an encouraging step forward following talks with Mr Brown in Downing Street on Wednesday.
Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness said the Prime Minister appeared to accept a moral responsibility to help PMS savers.
While the government guaranteed deposits of up to £50,000 in banks caught in the global meltdown, it has no requirement to do so in the case of the PMS, because it was not registered with the Financial Services Authority.
Its 9,500 members - some of whom have lost their life savings - are legally treated as "investors" rather than savers.
Now Mr Brown has asked Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward to set up a group including representatives of his own department, Number 10, the Treasury, the Northern Ireland administration and eventually the FSA to look into the problem over the coming weeks.
Speaking after the talks, Mr Robinson said the establishment of the group was "as much as we would have hoped we could have succeeded in getting today".
He said: "It indicates an engagement by the Prime Minister. It indicates there is a will to assist the savers in PMS and we will be looking at a period of probably three months where we will attempt to find a way forward."
Mr McGuinness said he was "very encouraged" by the proposal.
"Even though they believe that there isn't a legal responsibility on the government, I think he recognises that many, many people have put their life savings in the PMS and found themselves victims of circumstances way beyond their control," he said.
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Dr Stafford Carson also welcomed the setting up of the working group.
"I appreciate the efforts of all involved to bring this about", he said.
"This is the best news we have had since the crisis broke and I would ask people to continue in prayer for a just and fair resolution of this matter."
The hour-long meeting also featured discussions on the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont.