:00:48. > :00:54.And in Northern Ireland, heavy- drinking is costing our economy a
:00:54. > :00:59.fortune. An economy that is already under severe pressure, so which
:00:59. > :01:09.sector could save her bacon? We will hear from the farming Minister
:01:09. > :01:09.
:01:09. > :25:54.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1485 seconds
:25:54. > :25:59.Hello and welcome to the Politics Show in Northern Ireland.
:25:59. > :26:03.What is the real cost of alcohol? Retail prices are at a 30 year low
:26:03. > :26:08.but the effects of trendy are costing the Government �900 million
:26:08. > :26:12.a year. Now the Executive wants change. We should not have to
:26:12. > :26:17.intervene. But the irresponsible to us of a markets is causing the
:26:17. > :26:22.situation where we do. And farming - it is one of her most important
:26:22. > :26:26.sectors. But will the grass a greener with new plans by the
:26:26. > :26:31.European Union to manage farm payments. Is the so-called European
:26:31. > :26:36.Gravy Train coming to an end. We will hear the views of Agriculture
:26:36. > :26:40.Minister Michelle O'Neill. It is keeping tens of thousands of
:26:40. > :26:45.people in work at a time when unemployment is growing. It is
:26:45. > :26:48.attracting more students than ever before. But farming is facing new
:26:48. > :26:53.European legislation which some says threatens the livelihoods of
:26:53. > :26:57.many of our farmers. Michelle O'Neill joins me. When you call it
:26:57. > :27:02.to the negotiations Minister for the common agricultural policy
:27:02. > :27:07.reforms, will you be Team Ireland our team UK? We need to play it
:27:07. > :27:15.that to all of her strengths. There are obvious benefits of going with
:27:15. > :27:20.the team Ireland approach. Where 15 Irish MPs strong to help us get a
:27:20. > :27:24.great -- the best deal for our farmers. I will work with the
:27:24. > :27:28.English Minister, with everybody that will give us the best deal
:27:28. > :27:35.that we can get in Europe,. Jim Alastair says you have met the
:27:35. > :27:41.southern agricultural Minister seven times. I am meeting Caroline
:27:41. > :27:46.Spelman and October. She had to cancel. There is no agenda there.
:27:46. > :27:52.It is just how it has happened. I will continue to work with deaf
:27:52. > :27:56.rough. We need to go out, get the strongest voice out there and get
:27:56. > :28:01.the best deal for our farmers. it comes to the All Ireland
:28:01. > :28:08.approach, we have seen in the past with port contamination scares, the
:28:08. > :28:13.Republic do not necessarily see it as Northern Ireland -- one Ireland.
:28:13. > :28:18.We have the fortress island approach. When we had a scare with
:28:18. > :28:24.foot-and-mouth in 2004, the fortress island approach kicked 10
:28:24. > :28:32.immediately. -- Island. There have been good examples of how would we
:28:32. > :28:36.have worked in the past. There is a willingness to work together. We
:28:36. > :28:41.have strategies in place to make sure we protect the country if
:28:41. > :28:46.there is any outbreak of disease and the future. When it comes to
:28:46. > :28:53.processing the payments, how do you square that circle? How do you make
:28:53. > :28:59.things better if farmers are going to get less money? The pup --
:28:59. > :29:05.proposals have been published this week. What I am concerned about is
:29:05. > :29:09.away are looking from changing from one single payment to five are six
:29:09. > :29:17.individual payments. Farmers are concerned about that. It becomes
:29:17. > :29:21.too much hard work. We need to talk to you have about that to find a
:29:21. > :29:26.what they mean by that. One payment excess and it means you can get
:29:26. > :29:31.them out quicker. The Northern bankers saying that the new reforms,
:29:31. > :29:37.it is A1 size fits all. That will not tell farmers here. All we have
:29:37. > :29:41.done is that we need a flexible cap. We need a well-funded cap. Cut out
:29:41. > :29:45.the red tape, let's get the money out directly as quick as you can.
:29:45. > :29:49.We want to make sure we do not all were duplicate things that are
:29:49. > :29:54.already done. We do not want to over complicate things that are
:29:54. > :29:59.already there. That is what we need to talk to them about. We are going
:29:59. > :30:02.out in November to start the niggles stations. It is about all
:30:02. > :30:12.the administration's going out together with one voice. When it
:30:12. > :30:13.
:30:13. > :30:20.comes to money, are you open to the new headquarters being in Bally
:30:20. > :30:24.Kelly? They are standing up for their constituency. There is office
:30:24. > :30:31.space there. You would not need to build a new building. What I intend
:30:31. > :30:40.to do is bring good quality, high quality public sector jobs to her
:30:40. > :30:44.community. I have not set up -- set my mind on one area. People come
:30:44. > :30:50.forward with different ideas. I will have to consider it in the
:30:50. > :30:57.context of a business case. It is a good opportunity for the Executive
:30:57. > :31:02.to show their commitment era a rural economy. What about the
:31:02. > :31:07.justification for the cost? There will be people watching today who
:31:07. > :31:10.have children in schools that are earmarked for closure. How
:31:10. > :31:15.justified can we be in spending more money on a new building when
:31:15. > :31:21.we have one here already? There is a building here already that is no
:31:21. > :31:30.longer fit for purpose, so we need a new building. We have set aside
:31:30. > :31:36.money in this budget for it. It has been arranged. It is not to it
:31:36. > :31:44.disadvantage anybody. It will bring those jobs into the rural area. It
:31:44. > :31:47.will bring spend at into the local economy and will help everybody.
:31:47. > :31:52.The rough and tumble of the presidential race in the Republic
:31:52. > :31:57.seemed to get to the rougher this week. Here is a Dublin reporter
:31:58. > :32:02.Julie Kerr beat's snapshot of the Poll for the Park.
:32:02. > :32:07.For a position of such relatively power, the viciousness of the
:32:07. > :32:11.presidential campaign is nothing short of surprising. At this stage,
:32:11. > :32:19.all of the candidates except of one has been affected by the digging of
:32:19. > :32:23.dirt. This week's debate was a classic. Some had to deal with the
:32:23. > :32:27.damage caused by their own actions, some dealing with the actions of
:32:27. > :32:31.others. Some damaged by a new association with the political
:32:31. > :32:35.party are people they know. Afterwards, Martin McGuinness
:32:35. > :32:39.complained of a show trial by television. But all was
:32:39. > :32:46.overshadowed by others. The irony is that once the lucky candidate on
:32:46. > :32:51.the presidential mantle, he or she will never have to debated again.
:32:51. > :32:55.Julie Kirby reporting. According to the Scottish First Minister Alex
:32:55. > :32:59.Salmond, alcohol as the scourge of society. And our Health Secretary
:32:59. > :33:03.Edwin Poots agrees with them. Heavy drinking is costing the Northern
:33:03. > :33:06.Ireland economy a fortune and the Executive are set to follow its
:33:06. > :33:16.Scottish counterpart by trying to tackle the problem with legislation.
:33:16. > :33:22.
:33:22. > :33:25.Yvette Shapiro has been talking to health professionals and drinkers.
:33:25. > :33:31.Serious conditions like liver damage are being seen in much
:33:31. > :33:35.younger groups than they were before. I would call on those who
:33:35. > :33:45.are selling cheap alcohol to reflect on the damage they are
:33:45. > :33:47.
:33:47. > :33:53.doing to society. It is an average night. These foreign students have
:33:53. > :34:01.been observing the drinking habits of locals. You can seas from young
:34:01. > :34:09.people being wasted in the streets and 9pm. It is dazzling Ferme, you
:34:09. > :34:18.are so young. -- it is dazzling for me. The statistics paint a
:34:18. > :34:25.revealing, some would say alarming picture. The sows chevron out of 10
:34:25. > :34:30.-- seven out of ten drinkers but beyond the recommended limit. There
:34:30. > :34:38.is a price to pay, it is estimated that alcohol misuse costs up to 900
:34:38. > :34:48.millions pounds a year in Northern Ireland. This covers the Bill far
:34:48. > :34:49.
:34:49. > :34:54.are all alcohol-related damage. Alcohol has quite a heavy burden on
:34:54. > :34:59.an already pressurise system. You have got what is known as hazardous
:34:59. > :35:04.triggers. That tends to be the under 25 and the 10 to fall victim
:35:04. > :35:07.to injuries so you may have people who are a victim of assaults. We
:35:07. > :35:13.would be able to deliver appropriate care to patients who
:35:13. > :35:23.did not have self-inflicted illness or injury if the public use alcohol
:35:23. > :35:25.
:35:25. > :35:30.more responsibly. Addiction problems has doubled in recent
:35:30. > :35:34.years. But funding has not. would see people, a different
:35:34. > :35:40.pattern of drinking now. We would see younger people drinking more
:35:40. > :35:47.spirits. Younger people drinking before they go out to bars and
:35:47. > :35:53.clubs, which we call pre-loading. In 1980, the ratio people drinking
:35:53. > :35:58.in bars compared to home was 10-1. Now it is one-1. That has been a
:35:58. > :36:03.big behaviour will change that we have seen. That behaviour is driven
:36:03. > :36:08.by price. In Northern Ireland, the cost of drink has decreased by 65%
:36:08. > :36:11.of the past 30 years, a downward trend driven mainly by the
:36:11. > :36:15.expansion of national supermarket chains. I have had a look at
:36:16. > :36:21.Tesco's and the best offers around the strong laggers and ciders with
:36:21. > :36:27.probably the stand out deal being a boxer Budweiser, 20 bottles for �10.
:36:27. > :36:33.The bottle -- the society - facts of a market says that works out at
:36:33. > :36:36.50p a bottle. Similar deals are available at all the supermarkets.
:36:36. > :36:40.That has put them in conflict with the Health Minister.
:36:40. > :36:44.supermarkets are the main contributors to the problem. What
:36:44. > :36:48.they are doing is unacceptable. We need to challenge the situation, we
:36:48. > :36:52.should not have to intervene. But the responsibility of supermarkets
:36:52. > :36:59.and others it is causing the situation of were we do. Alcohol
:37:00. > :37:02.robs us of dignity. Our Executive is taking its lead from Scotland
:37:02. > :37:08.where the SNP Government is introducing legislation to raise
:37:08. > :37:13.the minimum price of a unit of alcohol. Stormont is due to follow
:37:13. > :37:17.suit in spring. Academic research shows that rare thing that --
:37:17. > :37:27.raising the price of a borehole will reduce they were people drink.
:37:27. > :37:32.
:37:32. > :37:38.By raising it by 25% -- 45p could reduce it by 4.7%. We're probably
:37:38. > :37:48.looking at the 45p to 50p mark. What concerns us at the moment is
:37:48. > :37:50.
:37:50. > :37:56.that alcohol is available at as much as 14 cancer unit. -- 14p a
:37:56. > :38:00.minute -- a year net. I do not over a drink. If I have to pay more, I
:38:00. > :38:07.would have to less than other things. I would still go out and
:38:07. > :38:15.buy the same amount. It is still the choice you have. It is a choice
:38:15. > :38:19.thing. I think it is a good idea. It will make it difficult for
:38:19. > :38:24.people to drink so much if it cost more. So people would consider
:38:24. > :38:31.drinking less. I do not think everyone will go along with it.
:38:31. > :38:36.There will always be offers in pubs and promotions. We have been
:38:36. > :38:42.supportive end the price of a minimum pricing. We believe a
:38:43. > :38:46.licence comes with responsibility. We have to live up to that.
:38:46. > :38:51.British Retail Consortium which represents the server markets has
:38:51. > :38:55.met the Health Minister to state its opposition to the price rise.
:38:55. > :38:59.It says a drinking as an alcohol -- cultural issue. The Executive has
:38:59. > :39:05.made clear that when it comes to low prices, the supermarkets are
:39:05. > :39:11.drinking in the last saloon. It has not been a good week for the
:39:11. > :39:14.economy. Shops are suffering a 10% drop in sales, compared with a
:39:14. > :39:18.slight increase in the rest of the UK. The Bank of England is printing
:39:18. > :39:28.more money to try and help. But there is there anything more that
:39:28. > :39:30.
:39:30. > :39:36.Stormont can do? Neil Gibson and Dominic Bradley join us now.
:39:36. > :39:40.It feels as if it is. That is disappointing. When we talk about
:39:40. > :39:43.the retail figures, the most important thing is that people have
:39:43. > :39:49.jobs and therefore they have the wages to spend. There are not a
:39:49. > :39:53.huge amount of ideas out there as to how we can create jobs. This is
:39:53. > :39:57.probably once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of devolving powers and
:39:57. > :40:02.it is now that we should be making a strong case to get the powers and
:40:02. > :40:07.then we can decide what we see the cost is. Dominic, D think the
:40:07. > :40:12.committee is doing enough to put the pressure on you Minister to get
:40:12. > :40:17.this corporation tax cuts sooner rather than later? I think the
:40:17. > :40:21.committee is making strong attempts. We did have a debate earlier run in
:40:21. > :40:26.this term on corporation tax and I think that served to highlight the
:40:26. > :40:31.issue to bring it to the fore. The Minister had to come to the chamber
:40:31. > :40:38.to respond to that debate. We led out the arguments very clearly.
:40:38. > :40:43.There would be very few economic leverage here. Corporation tax
:40:43. > :40:50.would be a huge boost for us. We live cheek-by-jowl with the
:40:50. > :40:53.jurisdiction which has have that we have. We have a huge competitive
:40:53. > :40:56.disadvantage when it comes to bidding for those businesses. We
:40:57. > :41:02.saw an example of that recently when a business which might
:41:02. > :41:07.otherwise have gone to Derry with 300 jobs ended up elsewhere. That
:41:07. > :41:11.illustrates very well the need that there is. We are not talking about
:41:11. > :41:14.lining the pockets of big businessmen. We're talking about
:41:14. > :41:18.bringing more jobs into Northern Ireland. We're talking about
:41:18. > :41:24.enriching local companies fear that will give them the tide of resource
:41:24. > :41:29.that they need to invest further in their businesses and then turn to
:41:29. > :41:32.create more jobs again. In terms of the Department of Agriculture
:41:32. > :41:38.headquarters, things like that are difficult for the public. They see
:41:38. > :41:43.vast sums of money being built on a new building at the same time as
:41:43. > :41:49.schools are closing. One of the major things they impacted on the
:41:49. > :41:54.public consciousness here was the fact that invests Northern Ireland
:41:54. > :41:58.handed back �17.5 million to the Department of Enterprise and trade.
:41:58. > :42:04.I think people who are unemployed see that money as money which was
:42:04. > :42:09.set aside to create jobs, to bring jobs here, they are sitting
:42:09. > :42:14.unemployed and they are wondering who is taking care of us.
:42:14. > :42:19.Unfortunately, the Executive have not developed a very effective job
:42:19. > :42:23.creation strategy. In fact, there is no job-creation strategy. When
:42:23. > :42:28.it comes to the programme for Government, that is an element
:42:28. > :42:33.which must be very strongly included a net. I think that that
:42:33. > :42:39.money which has come back, indicates that the focus of invest
:42:39. > :42:43.Northern Ireland is out of stew and we need to focus that investment,
:42:43. > :42:49.that resource, on areas which will bring back the tide of returns in
:42:49. > :42:56.terms of jobs. Briefly, you're party is in the Executive. What is
:42:56. > :42:59.the SDLP doing? We have a draft programme of Government that was
:42:59. > :43:03.published a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it was couched in
:43:03. > :43:10.generalities and away have said that those bonds need to be fleshed
:43:10. > :43:16.out. We have responded within the time limit to that. One of those
:43:16. > :43:20.things of this size is the need for the Government from the Executive
:43:20. > :43:25.develop -- to develop an effective job creation strategy. How do you
:43:25. > :43:28.create jobs? As they are quick to point out, the money comes from
:43:28. > :43:33.London and their hands are effectively tied when it comes to
:43:33. > :43:37.the amount they get. It is very difficult and we have to remember
:43:37. > :43:45.that there ever is no ideas coming forward then you cannot give the
:43:45. > :43:53.money awaited bad ideas. We have to wait and find out what they can do.
:43:53. > :43:57.Business rates, how it in -- how competitive can be made for her
:43:57. > :44:02.first time businesses? They have a limited set of powers but they can
:44:02. > :44:07.be doing things to get the cost of doing business down, putting
:44:07. > :44:13.pressure on this. Is that doing all the recant to make sure that
:44:13. > :44:19.insurance costs, all the things that mean businesses and consumers
:44:19. > :44:23.have more in their pockets. They cannot buy jobs to bad ideas.
:44:23. > :44:31.Various people were in touch saying there we had good ideas but we were
:44:31. > :44:37.turned down because we dead -- because they did not fit into the
:44:37. > :44:44.areas mentioned. There is a need to have the best people in her agency
:44:44. > :44:49.is so they can understand business needs. We sometimes have crude
:44:49. > :44:55.tools to make those decisions. I would be happy for an appeals
:44:55. > :44:58.committee. They could look at ideas that came back. But it would be
:44:58. > :45:05.false to assume that all the money they came back was because they
:45:05. > :45:13.turned down many good ideas. The real danger is in tough times you
:45:13. > :45:19.star reducing your criteria are in giving money to businesses. We have
:45:19. > :45:24.to be very careful how we deploy our limited resources. Dominic,
:45:24. > :45:31.when will we see the programme for Government? I hope we see it sooner
:45:31. > :45:38.rather than later. We have already waited seven months. I brought a