:01:03. > :01:13.Here: The first big public service strike since the 70s. And what went
:01:13. > :01:13.
:01:13. > :34:47.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 2013 seconds
:34:47. > :34:49.on have the biggest parties annual Hello and welcome to the Politics
:34:49. > :34:55.Hello and welcome to the Politics Hello and welcome to the Politics
:34:55. > :34:58.Show in Northern Ireland. Change is imminent, and many won't like it.
:34:59. > :35:01.The words of the health minister. Edwin Poots isn't the first to
:35:01. > :35:04.attempt to restructure the health service. This week he'll take
:35:04. > :35:07.receipt of a major review that'll then go out for public consultation.
:35:07. > :35:10.In a moment we'll hear from the chair of the health committee but
:35:11. > :35:20.first here's a snapshot of some of the health stories that have been
:35:21. > :35:21.
:35:21. > :35:29.making the headlines. Another political hot potato... Anger
:35:29. > :35:38.turned to joy today for this radiotherapy unit. The most
:35:38. > :35:40.powerful advocates of are the nurses. The date for the closure
:35:40. > :35:44.for the accident and emergency department of Belfast City Hospital
:35:44. > :35:54.was confirmed today. By this time to marry evening, when the Royal
:35:54. > :36:00.Victoria Hospital becomes the main hub, this area will be available to
:36:00. > :36:07.treat the extra patients. We will have more experienced staff,
:36:07. > :36:14.working longer hours. We will engage in discussions to find a
:36:14. > :36:23.better way forward. The severe criticism comes from the General
:36:23. > :36:29.Council, whose inspectors arranged a visit at short notice. Unless
:36:29. > :36:33.resources are put in now, for integration by people affected by
:36:33. > :36:39.wealth -- grade related problems, the health service were not be able
:36:39. > :36:45.to afford to treat these patients effectively. This isn't about money,
:36:45. > :36:50.people immediately think about cuts. It is about what the health service
:36:50. > :36:58.is about. We need a public debate about what we need in our health
:36:58. > :37:04.services. So, if it's not just about money or cuts, what should we
:37:04. > :37:09.expect from the review? Michelle Gildernew is chair of the
:37:09. > :37:19.assembly's health committee. Have you accepted the possibility of
:37:19. > :37:27.hospitals closing? We accept that things should be done better. The
:37:27. > :37:30.report was back in 2000. I don't know if we can go and much lower
:37:30. > :37:34.than the number of hospitals we have, but wherever there is going
:37:34. > :37:39.to be rationalisation, the fact that you have four major hospitals
:37:39. > :37:45.within a few miles of each other in Belfast is where the
:37:45. > :37:48.rationalisation would need to look. We also need to look at how we do
:37:48. > :37:54.things better. I believe that there are people within the health
:37:54. > :38:01.services, nurses, doctors, who are our trying to do something
:38:01. > :38:06.different, more community-based health care. And with more of a
:38:06. > :38:08.prevention on keeping you well. People will admit that they drive
:38:08. > :38:18.past their local hospital to get to Belfast, where they will get the
:38:18. > :38:20.best care. The air have been teething problems, especially when
:38:20. > :38:25.rationalisation happened without the right amount of planning.
:38:25. > :38:32.However, if you look at what has happened, they don't think anybody
:38:32. > :38:36.will want to drive past bat hospital and go to another facility.
:38:36. > :38:41.Not every hospital will do everything, so there will be
:38:41. > :38:45.specialities. If you have had a strike -- a stroke, it might make
:38:46. > :38:49.sense to go to a facility in your nearest one. It is those kind of
:38:49. > :38:56.things will have to look at to make sure you get the best outcomes. We
:38:56. > :39:03.want to see more people who do suffer a life threatening losses
:39:03. > :39:06.that get the best treatment. -- life-threatening illnesses. We need
:39:06. > :39:10.to make sure people in rural communities are not left behind.
:39:10. > :39:18.Some people fear that people won't go far enough because the
:39:18. > :39:26.politicians will be looking over their shoulders. We have already
:39:26. > :39:29.seen this happening. Do politicians have responsibility to convince
:39:29. > :39:34.people of the merits of closing hospital to save money, in the same
:39:34. > :39:38.way that your Minister is going to have to close schools? If schools
:39:38. > :39:43.are closing, it is probably because they are underperforming and their
:39:43. > :39:47.children are not getting the best chance that they deserve. I know we
:39:47. > :39:51.are very anxious to ensure that every child get the best chance to
:39:51. > :40:01.achieve academically but they are able to. Some of our schools are
:40:01. > :40:06.
:40:06. > :40:10.failing our children and some of our -- but how hospitals are not.
:40:10. > :40:15.If we need to reduce the number of hospitals by one or two, then we
:40:15. > :40:17.have to look at the situation in Belfast. We also have to insure
:40:17. > :40:22.that if they are putting more services to primary care, for
:40:22. > :40:26.example, if we are asking GPs to do more, the budget needs to follow
:40:26. > :40:33.that. We cannot expect people to take on more responsibility and for
:40:33. > :40:36.the money to be in some black hole between acute and primary care.
:40:36. > :40:41.the GPS got a very generous renegotiation of the contract some
:40:41. > :40:46.years ago, and people are now saying, why should we expect to see
:40:46. > :40:50.your GP between the hours of nine- to-five, that we should have a 24
:40:50. > :40:52.are severs. Should the onus now not be on GPs to step up to the mark
:40:52. > :40:57.and take on more of the responsibility of looking after
:40:57. > :41:04.people to prevent them going into hospital? I personally think GPs do
:41:04. > :41:07.a very good service. If we look at the situation as it is, the GP
:41:07. > :41:12.contract that you talk about was seven years ago. But has not been
:41:12. > :41:19.as generous now. I have been three cuts over that seven-year period --
:41:19. > :41:23.that has not been as generous. We have 1,400 T Peter Kay, the same
:41:23. > :41:32.amount as 10 years ago. The number of consultants has or what --
:41:32. > :41:35.almost doubled, so we need to look at the support. A lot to GPs chose
:41:35. > :41:39.not to do it because they were contracted to work nights. Some
:41:39. > :41:43.people want to be able to opt out of that, and we have a lot of women
:41:43. > :41:47.who work as GPs and in have to manage that with family
:41:47. > :41:52.responsibilities. We do need to see achieve -- a situation where GPs
:41:52. > :41:57.are willing to work shifts in the evening or on the weekend. And yes,
:41:57. > :42:02.more people go to GPs and get the right level of care, so if they
:42:02. > :42:07.need a particular service, that could be provided at a GP's surgery.
:42:07. > :42:11.At the minute, a lot of things that GPs could do, they have to refer,
:42:11. > :42:21.because they don't have the facilities to do it. So all we are
:42:21. > :42:23.
:42:23. > :42:28.looking at bold measures. It won't be a one size fits all solution. We
:42:28. > :42:32.will need to see a solution adopted, one for towns and cities and a
:42:32. > :42:35.different solution for rural areas to ensure that people have access
:42:35. > :42:40.to the best quality health care that they can get. Recent figures
:42:41. > :42:44.have shown that we have the highest GP usage of anywhere else in the UK.
:42:44. > :42:48.There is an issue with the public health service about people going
:42:48. > :42:52.to end the when they don't need to. What do you think? How much should
:42:52. > :42:59.we be spending on prevention rather than cure and getting people to
:42:59. > :43:06.lose weight, stop smoking? believe those messages are the
:43:06. > :43:11.right ones to send out. Really spend quarter of a million a deer
:43:11. > :43:21.on supporting mothers to breast- feed, something that has proven to
:43:21. > :43:21.
:43:21. > :43:27.prevent child had -- childhood obesity. All these things need to
:43:27. > :43:31.be done holistically. We also need to spend money on preventative
:43:31. > :43:37.strategies, insuring people have the medication they need to avoid
:43:37. > :43:42.an outcome further down the line, more expensive and more invasive.
:43:42. > :43:45.And a situation where you might not get better to the extent where you
:43:45. > :43:51.should, so the investment in the kind of drugs that we need to keep
:43:51. > :43:54.people are out of hospital as well. We also have to look at the
:43:54. > :43:59.situation of people suffering from dementia. That number is going to
:43:59. > :44:03.go up to 60,000, so we need to read a clue look at how we deliver
:44:03. > :44:07.health care and ensure that we are planning for the future. Planning
:44:07. > :44:11.for it obesity, for example, without putting the measures then
:44:11. > :44:18.on prevention is foolish. We need to spend money on prevention to
:44:18. > :44:22.keep well aware and get the right messages across. Diet, exercise,
:44:22. > :44:26.alcohol consumption can will lead to very nasty conditions later on
:44:26. > :44:32.in life, not just cardiac, but things that have a big public loss
:44:32. > :44:40.in terms of social care as well. We need a joined-up strategy that
:44:40. > :44:44.looks at all of these things. you very much for joining us.
:44:44. > :44:47.Yesterday saw the last of the big party conferences of 2011. The DUP
:44:47. > :44:50.met in Belfast for their annual gathering. In a moment we'll have
:44:50. > :45:00.some of the flavour of the conference. First, though, here's a
:45:00. > :45:01.
:45:01. > :45:04.flavour of the party leader's speech. We have set ourselves a
:45:04. > :45:13.challenging target a moderate advance education. We will increase
:45:13. > :45:17.the number of university places but economically relevant subject. And
:45:17. > :45:23.we will introduce proper sentences for those who are charged and found
:45:23. > :45:30.guilty of attacks on older people. As far as we're concerned, if you
:45:30. > :45:35.attack a pensioner, pack your bags, you're going to jail. We must work
:45:35. > :45:42.towards a more normalised form of government, with an executive and a
:45:42. > :45:45.local and honest opposition. Not for a column that operates from
:45:45. > :45:49.within the ranks of the executive in a cell. That would be a real
:45:49. > :45:54.sign of political maturity. I don't want a society where people live
:45:54. > :46:02.close together but live separate lives. The conflict of this last 40
:46:02. > :46:07.years created terrible divisions. It became a case of them and asked.
:46:07. > :46:13.And that attitude deepened divisions even further. If we want
:46:13. > :46:23.a better society, it can't be them and asked, it can only be all of
:46:23. > :46:33.
:46:33. > :46:38.last -- at them and us. When have we as Unionists actually sought to
:46:38. > :46:45.persuade? Not just bywords but by creating the kind of inviting
:46:46. > :46:53.society which everyone will want to be part of? Our determination and
:46:53. > :47:00.resolve saw us through the Troubles. Its Taurus through very well what
:47:00. > :47:08.we will were being mercilessly attacked. Happily, times have
:47:08. > :47:10.changed. And now, a new approach. Peter Robinson. Listening closely
:47:10. > :47:13.at the conference were the lobby groups hoping to influence
:47:13. > :47:23.Executive policy. Yvette Shapiro reports on how power makes you
:47:23. > :47:30.
:47:30. > :47:34.The the pique is basking in the glow of real power. It is the
:47:34. > :47:44.biggest party in the family, and its ministerial team is in charge
:47:44. > :47:47.
:47:47. > :47:52.of key departments at Stormont. Nelson, Edwin, well done all of you.
:47:52. > :47:56.This concentration of power is not lost on the lobbyists. They can't
:47:56. > :48:01.afford to miss an opportunity to bend a minister's ear. More than 70
:48:01. > :48:05.organisations are represented today, each paying between 400 and �600 to
:48:05. > :48:08.take an exhibition stand. Most of them say it is worth it because it
:48:08. > :48:15.gives them face-to-face access with ministers who were usually
:48:15. > :48:19.surrounded by advisers and civil servants. It is essential that we
:48:19. > :48:27.are seen to be there and that we build relationships with ministers,
:48:27. > :48:31.amylase, with people coming through the system -- MLAs. On the one hand,
:48:31. > :48:36.they like to be pro-business, and some of them assume that that means
:48:36. > :48:42.you have to be anti- environment. We need to break that idea that
:48:42. > :48:52.being pro development means you are anti- environment. The the P the
:48:52. > :49:02.takes strong issues -- the DUP do have strong ideas about this.
:49:02. > :49:06.Consumer Council is frequently at odds with the executive over their
:49:06. > :49:16.policies on this subject. One of the issues that we hear time and
:49:16. > :49:18.
:49:18. > :49:23.time again is that so many citizens are suffering and there is a real
:49:23. > :49:26.lack of money going around. ministers are centre-stage, but
:49:26. > :49:31.other powerful and younger figures are rising through the park --
:49:31. > :49:34.party ranks. These two men were elected to the Assembly for the
:49:34. > :49:43.first time in May, and were immediately given committee
:49:43. > :49:46.chairmanships. It is great to have young MLAs to take the roles. We
:49:46. > :49:50.will do it to the best of our abilities. It is great to see that
:49:50. > :49:54.the party can be said progressive. I have always been a member of this
:49:54. > :50:03.party. My grandfather was a founding member of the party so I
:50:03. > :50:08.am her bed -- I am a third- generation member. This woman is no
:50:08. > :50:18.stranger to political conferences, but this is her first the P event.
:50:18. > :50:20.
:50:20. > :50:23.She has just defected to the party. -- the P. He wants all the people
:50:23. > :50:28.in Northern Ireland to come together, to work together, for
:50:28. > :50:38.Catholics to vote for the DP. I do have Catholic friends who were
:50:38. > :50:47.
:50:47. > :50:51.Unionists, I don't know if they will vote for the the DUP. Some are
:50:51. > :50:55.undoubtedly singing from the same song sheet as Peter Robinson. But
:50:55. > :51:00.it is what the party does, and not what its leader says that will
:51:00. > :51:02.count with the electorate. Wednesday, thousands of public
:51:02. > :51:05.sector workers are expected to strike. It will affect schools,
:51:05. > :51:08.transport and even Stormont where debates have been raging over
:51:08. > :51:10.whether to cross the picket line. I'm joined by Raymond McFeeters,
:51:10. > :51:20.President of the National Association of Head Teachers and
:51:20. > :51:25.chair of the CBI, Terence Brannigan. Raymond, you're taking action for
:51:25. > :51:34.the first time in the Union's 114 year history. Why has this is so
:51:34. > :51:39.important? We see that the cuts that the making at the moment as a
:51:39. > :51:42.real attack on our profession, and on our peoples. All we are
:51:42. > :51:47.interested in is protecting quality education for all of our young
:51:47. > :51:51.people in Northern Ireland. As you said, it is 114 years without
:51:51. > :51:55.taking any industrial action, for our members have voted very clearly
:51:55. > :51:58.as to how important they feel this issue is at this time. Most of the
:51:58. > :52:05.other unions are striking on the pensions, and you're not going to
:52:05. > :52:13.get much sympathy from the people that parents represents. I would
:52:13. > :52:18.say that the pensions issue it is a complicated one. The government
:52:18. > :52:23.reassessed our pensions issue in 2007 and were happy with that. They
:52:23. > :52:28.have now tried to make huge changes to it after that, so this is an
:52:28. > :52:32.unfair pay cut because they're coming back and trying to take more
:52:32. > :52:36.money from the public sector pension scheme, which we feel is
:52:36. > :52:43.viable. We have asked the government to Bally that pension
:52:43. > :52:45.scheme and they have refused. buried divide going on here? You do
:52:45. > :52:49.get the feeling that the private and public sectors are very much
:52:49. > :52:56.been pitted against one another with the pensions issue in
:52:56. > :53:04.particular? I'm not sure that is true. We may have different views.
:53:05. > :53:13.My view is that the situation where the public sector in Northern
:53:13. > :53:21.Ireland on average and 28 % more than in the private sector, and in
:53:21. > :53:26.the regard to pensions, 91 % of private sector organisations
:53:26. > :53:29.actually had to leave those behind because they were unsustainable. We
:53:30. > :53:38.have got a situation now where there is the gap between the amount
:53:38. > :53:43.that is paid into the pension scheme. It is 10 billion a year. It
:53:43. > :53:50.is unsustainable at the current level. Within the public sector
:53:50. > :53:57.pension scheme, my understanding is that they pay one-and-a-half %,
:53:57. > :54:01.whereas the employer pays 19 %. The employer has in fact the public.
:54:01. > :54:06.But at the same time the banks were bailed out and nobody was jumping
:54:06. > :54:10.up about that and the private sector. Absolutely, and no one
:54:10. > :54:16.could argue that banks did not create or help to create the
:54:16. > :54:26.current situation that we find ourselves in. Also, per would point
:54:26. > :54:31.out that the banks were the only people. They were under a Labour
:54:31. > :54:36.government backed by the unions, and bail-out these things to happen.
:54:36. > :54:40.It is not just the banks, although they have a major part to play, but
:54:40. > :54:50.it is in fact Labour politicians who created this situation backed
:54:50. > :54:50.
:54:50. > :54:53.by our unions. So now we have a situation where they are crying,
:54:53. > :54:59.and I would rather see a situation where we work together to resolve
:54:59. > :55:03.this. Whether it is unions, the private sector, government,
:55:03. > :55:09.employers, a voluntary sector, the think this dividing conquer it is
:55:09. > :55:15.not helpful for any of us. It is certainly not helpful for the most
:55:15. > :55:19.vulnerable in our society. We have to create the future for our school
:55:19. > :55:25.children and protect those who are most vulnerable. The only way will
:55:25. > :55:30.do that is to work together. We do need to stand on the sidelines --
:55:30. > :55:35.we don't need to stand on the sidelines and throw punches. We
:55:35. > :55:43.could work together to protect our young people in the future. Raymond,
:55:43. > :55:51.striking isn't really the right way to go about it. We deeply regret
:55:51. > :56:00.school closures, will bring never want us -- we never want to close
:56:00. > :56:04.schools. I think what I would say to parents who are going to be
:56:04. > :56:13.inconvenienced by this, of his sleek industrial action is designed
:56:13. > :56:19.to be disruptive -- obviously industrial action. I would say that
:56:19. > :56:23.they should look towards the long- term gains. The majority of those
:56:23. > :56:27.people who will be involved and inconvenience will have children of
:56:27. > :56:30.school age. If you were to ask them what was really important to them,
:56:30. > :56:35.they with they are a quality education for their young people
:56:35. > :56:40.and life opportunities following from that. The skills and
:56:40. > :56:45.qualifications that we need in the business world. Most people would
:56:45. > :56:50.agree, but at the same time, there is this issue that in the past may
:56:50. > :56:55.take a job in the public sector and to accept that you're slightly less
:56:55. > :57:05.well paid, but now you're not less well paid than the private sector.
:57:05. > :57:05.
:57:06. > :57:13.28 % more. It is difficult to justify why it all tax payers
:57:13. > :57:19.should then pay your pensions. we look at the people that I
:57:19. > :57:23.represent, the principles and vice principles in schools, if you were
:57:23. > :57:27.to compare what they do and the complex organisations that they run
:57:27. > :57:30.with no finance department, dealing with the academic needs of young
:57:30. > :57:35.people and their social and emotional needs which are becoming
:57:35. > :57:38.increasingly complex come with a run very complex organisations. If
:57:38. > :57:44.they were managing directors in similar Forest organisations in the
:57:44. > :57:49.private sector compared there would be paid considerably more. What
:57:49. > :57:55.impact you can the strike will have on Wednesday? Incredibly disruptive.
:57:55. > :58:02.We have got a situation where parents with children will have to
:58:02. > :58:08.take care of them and have to take a day off work. They will lose work,
:58:08. > :58:12.pay, productivity, it will have an impact of hundreds of millions of
:58:12. > :58:16.pounds on our economy at a time when we can least afford it. It
:58:16. > :58:22.will be disruptive in terms of not just parents with children, but
:58:22. > :58:29.because of transport. We're talking about old people being
:58:29. > :58:34.inconvenienced, people who was sick, who cannot be treated, people who
:58:34. > :58:44.have already had operations that had been put off. But what other
:58:44. > :58:44.
:58:44. > :58:50.options to people have a worker and the public sector? -- what other
:58:50. > :58:55.options do people have who work in the public sector? We have a
:58:55. > :58:59.situation where there is an ongoing negotiation, before it conclusion.
:58:59. > :59:06.I find that quite strange and absolutely unreasonable. It seems
:59:06. > :59:10.to me to be bully boy tactics. It seems that we are going to impose
:59:10. > :59:15.ourselves in order to get bought we want, and indeed, in a situation
:59:15. > :59:23.where there Roy unions. I'm talking about major public sector unions
:59:23. > :59:30.have got less than the 22 % Monday. For a 78 % of the people did not
:59:30. > :59:37.vote for the strike. Raymond, what with the mandate in your
:59:37. > :59:44.organisation? Are they bully boy tactics? Not at all. We have a 51 %
:59:44. > :59:50.return. That is a very strong statement and a very strong mandate
:59:50. > :59:54.to take the action. What I would say is that nobody is ignorant of
:59:54. > :59:58.the fact that we are in very difficult times. Everybody accepts
:59:58. > :00:04.that. We were talking before the show started, I have a lot of
:00:04. > :00:08.family and friends to a private sector and have seen the pain of
:00:08. > :00:12.the cuts that are going on, but in this extremely difficult times,
:00:12. > :00:16.what government and society have to do is to look at what is really
:00:16. > :00:19.important and look at what needs to be protected. We feel the
:00:19. > :00:23.government is not protecting the education system for young people.
:00:23. > :00:26.And young people that we are educating her the young people they
:00:26. > :00:31.will bring his country out of recession. Thank you very much
:00:31. > :00:34.indeed. We will be talking about the pros and cons of this week's