:00:45. > :00:50.Better education for our young people, creating jobs and boosting
:00:50. > :00:54.the private sector. All key promises in this week's Programme
:00:54. > :01:04.For Government, but is it realistic? We will hear from those
:01:04. > :01:04.
:01:04. > :38:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2231 seconds
:38:15. > :38:18.Hello and welcome to the Politics Show in Northern Ireland. We now
:38:18. > :38:23.have a Programme for Government. The First Minister says, "Judge us
:38:23. > :38:28.on delivery," but just what can it deliver? Day we do not need any
:38:28. > :38:33.more Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets, or Morse -- supermarkets. What we
:38:33. > :38:36.need to do is export. And as members of the TUV gathered
:38:36. > :38:42.for their annual conference, Jim Allister calls on the SDLP and the
:38:42. > :38:52.Ulster Unionists to pull out of the Executive and form an opposition.
:38:52. > :38:57.
:38:57. > :39:00.The result is that they are the From investment in creative
:39:00. > :39:03.industries to the justice system, the Programme for Government it
:39:03. > :39:06.sets out a broad vision. We will be probing Executive pledges with two
:39:06. > :39:14.MLAs from the Education Committee in a moment but first Mark
:39:14. > :39:18.Devenport has a quick reminder of the big bullet points.
:39:18. > :39:22.Around this time of the year, a lot of children have been sitting
:39:22. > :39:28.transferred tests. This week, politicians face the test of their
:39:28. > :39:35.own, announcing a plan -- programme for government. It will provide the
:39:35. > :39:41.blueprint for this for a year Assembly term. So what are they
:39:41. > :39:46.headline grabbers? Education, free places for playgroups are nurseries
:39:46. > :39:49.for young children. At the other end of the scale, there is
:39:49. > :39:53.confirmation that university fees will remain frozen. Politicians
:39:53. > :39:58.will be hoping that that is the only thing frozen this winter. When
:39:58. > :40:04.it comes to running water, most people will be happy with the
:40:04. > :40:07.confirmation that there will be no water charges. They will be fewer
:40:07. > :40:15.politicians around. Small or medium-sized buildings --
:40:16. > :40:20.businesses get a new fund. There is a pledge to build affordable public
:40:20. > :40:27.housing. And a promise to double glaze all housing Executive
:40:27. > :40:31.property, making those homes more energy efficient. Justice is the
:40:31. > :40:36.one of the more contentious areas. A pledge to introduce more
:40:36. > :40:40.effective sentencing for those who attack all people is likely to draw
:40:40. > :40:46.widespread support. At the same time, there is more than a nod
:40:46. > :40:52.towards the importance of tourism, with a pledge to bring a major
:40:53. > :40:57.golfing tournament to these shores. I do not think that is what the
:40:57. > :41:03.SDLP leader said when -- meant when he said the programme was full of
:41:03. > :41:06.holes. Given that there are targets of the creation of 25,000 jobs,
:41:06. > :41:10.you're not going to achieve anything like that overnight. We
:41:10. > :41:14.will only be able to judge the success of this programme when we
:41:14. > :41:17.near the end of the Assembly term. School closures, redundancies and a
:41:17. > :41:20.cut in budgets. That's the reality facing our education system with
:41:20. > :41:25.50,000 empty school places. The Programme for Government is pushing
:41:25. > :41:32.for shared education, but what exactly does that mean? Let's hear
:41:32. > :41:36.from Mervyn Storey from the DUP and the Ulster Unionist David McNarry.
:41:36. > :41:41.I think everybody except that we cannot continue with the situation
:41:41. > :41:44.that we have, with an education system which is dominated by
:41:44. > :41:50.different sectors. I think if we want to ensure that our young
:41:50. > :41:53.people get the best possible education, given the tight and it
:41:53. > :41:56.difficult financial circumstances we find herself in, it is not
:41:56. > :42:01.appropriate to continue with a situation whereby we have a
:42:01. > :42:06.multitude of providers doing the same thing. Your party leader
:42:06. > :42:12.wanted a commission and what he has is an advisory group. It sounds
:42:12. > :42:17.like a talking shop and it is short on specifics. I think if you look
:42:17. > :42:22.at where we came from when it first Peter Robinson mentioned the idea
:42:22. > :42:27.of their sheer dedication, we had various sectors that came out very
:42:27. > :42:30.much opposed to the idea. Now we have a situation where we have it
:42:31. > :42:35.mentioned in the programme for government, we had a conference
:42:35. > :42:39.recently in it Belfast where it was clear from those who participated
:42:39. > :42:44.that there was a desire to move towards that particular type of
:42:44. > :42:48.model. Clearly, over the next number of weeks and months, we'll
:42:48. > :42:52.be continued to work to put more meat on the bones to make sure that
:42:52. > :42:58.people clearly understand that shared education is not about
:42:58. > :43:05.playing to one or another sector, not about you if -- replicating the
:43:05. > :43:14.sectors. It is about shared education. It is something that is
:43:14. > :43:19.different from what people might previously have preceded it was.
:43:19. > :43:26.Her tenure have shared education and the still support the transport
:43:26. > :43:29.-- transfer test? I told about state education four years ago. In
:43:29. > :43:38.political terms, that is a relatively short period to find
:43:38. > :43:44.other people talking about it. When you see what is happening in
:43:44. > :43:47.Ireland with that some authorities. Piquancy divergence. I think people
:43:47. > :43:52.were motivating this. The parents want the best education they can
:43:52. > :43:58.get for their children. A lot of parents still want a religious
:43:58. > :44:08.education. What we see now is a couple of interesting revelations.
:44:08. > :44:21.
:44:21. > :44:26.First of all, the statement that something would be so absent. --
:44:26. > :44:33.CCS see would be subsumed. And then there was a discussion of their
:44:33. > :44:37.assets. They would say that their assets are not going in and it
:44:37. > :44:43.would be up to the state to pay for them to come in. That is where we
:44:43. > :44:48.get into the detail. That is what we take best. The interesting thing
:44:48. > :44:54.is, in terms of selection, it is not on the agenda. It is not being
:44:54. > :45:01.discussed. The Education Committee, which and privilege to serve on, is
:45:01. > :45:06.working very well in getting down to the details, of getting
:45:06. > :45:10.underneath what the department or really saying. I was amazed to find
:45:10. > :45:15.that a couple of weeks ago the financial their tourist telling us
:45:15. > :45:23.that the department was in poverty. Now all this it may have found �40
:45:23. > :45:27.million. Where has that come from and what does that do? Last
:45:27. > :45:31.Thursday was a better than average day for the Stormont Assembly and
:45:31. > :45:36.we have said that the targets now and we have to deliver them. I am
:45:36. > :45:46.in this committee to deliver on education and we'll deliver what
:45:46. > :45:50.
:45:50. > :45:55.the parents, what most of the parents want. The difference
:45:55. > :46:00.between the DUP and Sinn Fein on this is quite significant. We have
:46:00. > :46:04.a status quo being a man -- maintained on transfer. You're not
:46:04. > :46:07.patient to have brought back end and they are not pushing to have it
:46:07. > :46:11.scrapped completely. We have these tests that children still have to
:46:11. > :46:19.fall every year. If you look at the legal position, this is why we
:46:20. > :46:28.always have to start, it is very clear. The 2006 order has made
:46:28. > :46:33.legally permissive for schools to use academic criteria for transfer.
:46:33. > :46:38.I am clear that there needs to be a discussion between the two
:46:38. > :46:43.organisations that have organised the tests. But there have been
:46:43. > :46:47.discussions. There have been discussions but recently in
:46:47. > :46:50.discussions with the First Minister, we will shortly initiate
:46:50. > :46:54.discussions between those organisations, to bring them
:46:54. > :47:04.together, to show that the challenge that parents face in
:47:04. > :47:08.relation to two separate organisations can be minimised. I
:47:08. > :47:13.think that any other attempts by those to undermine that will be
:47:13. > :47:17.seen as not fitting in with the purpose of parental choice.
:47:17. > :47:21.Remember that the previous Education Minister said that
:47:21. > :47:26.transfer will become a legal minefield. Will we have just one
:47:26. > :47:30.Test? I think that is a we have to come to. That is the point we have
:47:30. > :47:34.to get to. The previous Education Minister said that the transfer
:47:34. > :47:37.process would be a legal minefield. Will the person taken to court
:47:37. > :47:44.during this process was the Department of Education and the
:47:44. > :47:49.previous Education Minister when the legalities of what they had
:47:49. > :47:55.done would -- was challenged. The legitimacy of the right to that to
:47:55. > :48:05.be part of the education system, are we in a perfect relation to
:48:05. > :48:12.
:48:12. > :48:16.what we should have? We're not. Now the political conference season
:48:16. > :48:19.is continuing. This weekend, it is the turn of the Traditional
:48:19. > :48:27.Unionist Voice. Stephen Walker has been to Cookstown to hear from the
:48:27. > :48:31.party faithful. His report contains flash photography.
:48:31. > :48:37.Will the old there were a dozen speakers at this gathering, it was
:48:37. > :48:40.Jim Allister many had come to hear. His speech was typical political
:48:40. > :48:45.knockabout and it was the DUP that were mostly in the firing line,
:48:45. > :48:54.including their plans to charge �50 for a seminar at their annual
:48:54. > :49:04.conference. The Elmley thing I can say about this latest BP venture it
:49:04. > :49:05.
:49:05. > :49:11.is the first thing in years that will not be a sell-out! The TUV
:49:11. > :49:21.leader at scribes dormant as a SDLP cocaine. He appealed to the SDLP
:49:21. > :49:27.
:49:27. > :49:32.and the Aston Unionists to go into opposition. -- cocoon. They are but
:49:32. > :49:40.the fodder of the DUP and Sinn Fein, who, when it suits them, uses them
:49:40. > :49:48.and when it suits them, abuses them. How long can they put up with the
:49:48. > :49:55.humiliation to which they are subjected? For the party faithful,
:49:55. > :49:59.this speech appeared to to hit all the right note. This is the first
:49:59. > :50:06.major TUV gathering since the Assembly elections. Whilst the
:50:06. > :50:12.party on least the one at nominee elected, they remain convinced that
:50:12. > :50:16.their message is still relevant. One MLA who has done the work that
:50:16. > :50:21.Jim has done in the last few weeks is a credit to 30 or 40 of the
:50:21. > :50:23.others that have done absolutely nothing. I do not think there is
:50:23. > :50:28.another party in Northern Ireland politics that is as United and
:50:28. > :50:33.focused and committed to change as a Traditional Unionist Voice.
:50:33. > :50:38.it matter that you only have a single MLA? Of course it matters.
:50:38. > :50:43.But there will be an election in four years and we might have more
:50:43. > :50:49.voices then. Jim Allister has made much play of being a lone voice at
:50:49. > :50:55.Stormont, but he knows that if his party is to advance, he cannot fed.
:50:55. > :50:58.-- fight political battles on his own.
:50:58. > :51:01.Back to the economy now and our reporter Yvette Shapiro has been
:51:01. > :51:08.sounding out captains of industry on just how we get to the other
:51:08. > :51:15.side of the downturn. Belfast port, the departure point
:51:15. > :51:19.for many of Ireland's largest exports. Because of the recession,
:51:19. > :51:23.sales to many markets are well down and companies are having to go
:51:23. > :51:26.further afield in search of business. The Executive wants to
:51:26. > :51:30.see a rebalancing of the Northern Ireland economy with more export
:51:30. > :51:35.sales delivering employment growth. But in current conditions, is that
:51:35. > :51:40.realistic? It will not happen on my watch. I think Peter needs to come
:51:40. > :51:45.down. They may be at odds over the future name of the Prison Service,
:51:45. > :51:54.but on one issue they are rude -- United. It is the importance of
:51:54. > :51:58.boosting the economy. Inward investors like these, creating 180
:51:58. > :52:04.jobs, will be harder to secure in the future. Under new European
:52:04. > :52:09.rules, generous grant aid is no longer available to overseas firms.
:52:09. > :52:13.So what is the alternative for employment growth? Any implement
:52:13. > :52:18.like ours is dependent on growth and exports for wealth and economy
:52:18. > :52:22.in the future. A Bar's response in terms of attracting investors that
:52:22. > :52:27.there exporters and working with there hasto help them crowed their
:52:27. > :52:33.exports. They take their cheese- making seriously here. In five
:52:33. > :52:37.years, turnover has quadrupled and Employment has doubled. There is a
:52:37. > :52:42.message about sustainability. We want to offer employment and make
:52:42. > :52:45.sure it is for the long term, not just for the extra months. There
:52:45. > :52:52.are growing sales in Ireland and Europe, but other firms are not
:52:52. > :52:56.doing as well in these recession- hit market. By far the most
:52:56. > :53:06.products go to Great Britain. Sales you're worth �7 billion last year.
:53:06. > :53:06.
:53:06. > :53:13.That was up 8%. Cross-border sales were worth �1.5 billion. Exports to
:53:13. > :53:16.the rest of Europe were worth �1.1 billion, a massive drop in sales.
:53:16. > :53:19.Exports to the rest of the world that totalled 2.7 billion and if
:53:19. > :53:26.you're looking for some green shoots, that figure was very
:53:26. > :53:30.slightly up. This for a man a quarry has been in the family for
:53:30. > :53:40.three generations. The collapse of traditional market in Ireland and
:53:40. > :53:42.
:53:42. > :53:45.Britain has led to a drop in productivity. We feel that
:53:45. > :53:49.international companies get a lot of attention and right Basal, but
:53:49. > :53:53.we think that the medium-sized businesses, family-owned,
:53:53. > :53:59.traditional businesses, should get a bit more help and a bit more
:53:59. > :54:04.encouragement to go and find work outside of Ireland. But companies
:54:04. > :54:11.in China and India report annual economic growth of around 10% and
:54:11. > :54:15.they present local companies with massive opportunities. What we to
:54:15. > :54:19.see is more support being given to those companies. The programme for
:54:19. > :54:25.government pledges to help with exports. There's a fund for small
:54:25. > :54:35.companies. It has real potential. This is one of their deals -- few
:54:35. > :54:35.
:54:35. > :54:38.sectors that is growing. In Scotland, the SNP government has
:54:38. > :54:42.went big on the green economy and the seen the benefits. They are
:54:42. > :54:49.creating the jobs. This business seminar in Belfast put together
:54:49. > :54:53.experienced exporters and first times. This man sells close that
:54:53. > :54:58.excesses for dogs to customers worldwide. He was to see targeted
:54:58. > :55:03.support from government. We do not seem -- we do not need to see more
:55:03. > :55:09.Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet or supermarkets. What we need to do is
:55:09. > :55:14.export. We need to have their new modern technologies, the new ways
:55:14. > :55:17.are actually selling, the Internet and all those things that will
:55:17. > :55:23.enable the Batista up a business and easily reached a worldwide
:55:23. > :55:25.audience. As these business people were mingling, the Executive was
:55:25. > :55:29.hammering out its programme for government. There was one thing
:55:29. > :55:34.missing. The single most important thing that the Executive could do
:55:34. > :55:41.would be to reduce corporation tax. We would see jobs created and we
:55:41. > :55:44.would see significant increased to exports we Riddell What -- elevate
:55:44. > :55:47.Northern Ireland in the market generally and we would be
:55:47. > :55:50.attractive to investors. We have just seen how important the
:55:50. > :55:52.export market could be to our economy, so are we doing enough to
:55:52. > :55:54.support it? I'm joined by marketing analyst and business development
:55:54. > :56:03.advisor Michael Maguire and Professor Tony Gallagher from
:56:03. > :56:07.Queen's University. You have walked the walk in it some
:56:07. > :56:10.respects, what the EU make of this programme for government? First of
:56:10. > :56:18.all I think we need to welcome the fact that the MLAs have put a
:56:18. > :56:21.cohesive effort together. They have created a plan. There are huge
:56:21. > :56:26.omissions and that process and I would like to have seen a more
:56:26. > :56:30.robust efforts to try to address to the requirement of the next 10 or
:56:30. > :56:34.20 years, not just the next three or four years. They would argue
:56:34. > :56:38.that the investment strategy looks much further down the line, up to
:56:38. > :56:41.30 years. In terms of specifics, what could they have brought in
:56:41. > :56:45.that they did not cure back the big omission at the moment is the issue
:56:45. > :56:49.of corporation tax. It is very clear that they have decided to
:56:49. > :56:53.park that for a period of time. One must remember that that was the
:56:53. > :57:01.single big issue that most of the business community have put forward
:57:01. > :57:05.as as a suggestion. In a way it is out of their hands because that is
:57:05. > :57:09.up to Westminster and the Treasury to give us those powers. That said,
:57:09. > :57:12.one has to look to the south of the border to a friend and the Republic
:57:12. > :57:17.of Ireland and their export generation taking place just now is
:57:17. > :57:22.reaching something close to an all- time high, because, irrespective of
:57:22. > :57:26.the circumstances down there, they are able to offer a deal that
:57:26. > :57:29.attracts good f d I. In the United Kingdom we have to look at what is
:57:29. > :57:33.happening in Scotland I did it is highly likely that they are going
:57:33. > :57:41.to seek to assume responsibility for corporation tax, probably
:57:41. > :57:44.sooner than we will. Education is obviously a key theme. You can get
:57:44. > :57:53.students and and prepare them for the work market, but as the
:57:53. > :58:01.entrepreneurial spirit not have to start much at -- earlier? There are
:58:01. > :58:07.a lot of initiative stride to do this with young people. -- trying
:58:07. > :58:10.to do this with young people. We're trying to develop or programmes at
:58:10. > :58:14.university as well. We have recently opened an Executive
:58:14. > :58:22.education and Leadership Institute and we have tried to build
:58:22. > :58:26.entrepreneurship into as many of our programmes as possible. Can you
:58:26. > :58:31.do more? What we're doing at the moment is that now that the whole
:58:31. > :58:41.situation around funding and fees has been stabilised, wheel and
:58:41. > :58:42.
:58:42. > :58:52.AT&T's -- we will enhance our links to ensure that the steady stream of
:58:52. > :58:55.
:58:55. > :59:00.graduates that we are producing a in line. So that we can debate
:59:00. > :59:06.exactly what consumers need. We had done the report saying that they do
:59:06. > :59:16.not get enough attention or help -- we heard in the report one small
:59:16. > :59:17.
:59:17. > :59:22.businessman saying that they do not get enough attention or help.
:59:22. > :59:28.think there is a good track record of supporting. Will the 50 million
:59:28. > :59:34.help? Ensure it will. We are in a looking economy, we are in
:59:34. > :59:37.difficult times. One of the issues that will affect us during the next
:59:37. > :59:46.three or four years, during the lighting of the programme is that
:59:46. > :59:49.we will end up with employment would he age. -- leakage. The
:59:49. > :59:53.Government needs to think much more deeply about how the address