03/12/2013 Stormont Today


03/12/2013

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 03/12/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up on the programme: After an

:00:27.:00:31.

international comparison shows our education standards are being

:00:32.:00:37.

overtaken, strong words from John O'Dowd The previous results blew the

:00:38.:00:41.

myth we were world class education system. Everyone was telling us we

:00:42.:00:46.

were. We were standing up saying, no we are not but we can achieve that.

:00:47.:00:50.

And how does the Executive plan to get thousands back to work? To

:00:51.:00:54.

develop policy initiatives to help those who are long-term sick and or

:00:55.:00:59.

persons with disabilities and those with family commitments to reengage

:01:00.:01:03.

with the labour market And I'm joined by the political columnist,

:01:04.:01:12.

Brian Feeney. We start tonight with the findings of the Smithwick

:01:13.:01:15.

tribunal into the murders of RUC officers Harry Breen and Bob

:01:16.:01:21.

Buchanan. The report has found there was collusion between Gardai and the

:01:22.:01:24.

IRA, which has been described as a damning indictment by the DUP MLA

:01:25.:01:28.

Gregory Campbell. He called on the Taoiseach to issue an apology for

:01:29.:01:32.

all wrongdoings by previous Dublin governments. The report has been

:01:33.:01:37.

long-anticipated and this afternoon in the chamber, the DUP's Paul Givan

:01:38.:01:41.

raised the issue even before the findings were published. Members of

:01:42.:01:43.

the House will know that the Smithwick tribunal has been carrying

:01:44.:01:46.

out an investigation into the potential collusion between the

:01:47.:01:51.

Gardai and the IRA in respect of the murder of RUC officers. That report

:01:52.:01:55.

and its publication is imminent. I would want to establish the remit of

:01:56.:01:58.

this Assembly in being able to consider it and debate it, is that

:01:59.:02:02.

something this party would want to do?

:02:03.:02:07.

What we will do, is consult with the business office and we will be

:02:08.:02:10.

advised by them on the procedural options.

:02:11.:02:14.

Joining me to reflect on the pubcation of the Smithwick report is

:02:15.:02:18.

the political commentator Brian Feeney. Should we be surprised,

:02:19.:02:22.

first of all by the findings? I don't think so. People were

:02:23.:02:26.

surprised at the time when the then Chief Constable Sir jok Herman and

:02:27.:02:32.

the Gardai Commissioner both poo-pooed the idea that there was a

:02:33.:02:35.

mole and it was difficult to believe because this was not an operation

:02:36.:02:39.

set up by the IRA on speck. There were a lot of men involved and cars

:02:40.:02:42.

involved and they knew which road the two police officers were

:02:43.:02:45.

travelling on. It wasn't something done within half an hour. We have

:02:46.:02:50.

seen unionists welcoming the report, a statement from Tom Elliot of the

:02:51.:02:56.

Ulster Unionist Party. And we had comments from Gregory Campbell no.

:02:57.:02:59.

Surprises there, I suppose of the No. I think unionist also try to use

:03:00.:03:03.

this to widen the whole area and look at other occasions when there

:03:04.:03:07.

were suspicious activity on both sides of the bored other which may

:03:08.:03:10.

have been because of Gardai telling the IRA that something was happening

:03:11.:03:13.

and they will ask for more inquiries, I should imagine. And

:03:14.:03:17.

some of the unionists will be trying to widen it out to the role of the

:03:18.:03:22.

Irish government as far back as 1969. What sort of reaction do you

:03:23.:03:25.

expect from the nationalist community? I think there will be a

:03:26.:03:30.

more guarded response from the nationalist community. I don't

:03:31.:03:33.

expect much from Sinn Fein at all. Their relationship with the Gardai

:03:34.:03:36.

was very fraught indeed. Afterall they did kill some Gardai and a lot

:03:37.:03:41.

of IRA men ended up in jail and the IRA always sought to intimidate gar

:03:42.:03:46.

vaghy Road die who lived among the community and didn't have the sword

:03:47.:03:53.

of protection that RUC officers had - to intimidate the Gardai who lived

:03:54.:03:57.

among the community. Do you think it'll be difficult for

:03:58.:04:01.

Sinn Fein to deal with politically. It is a party that made so much of

:04:02.:04:05.

alleged collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and authorities in

:04:06.:04:08.

the north. It will be difficult and an added difficulty is that the

:04:09.:04:12.

judge rejected the testimony of former IRA men who went to the

:04:13.:04:15.

tribunal and gave their version of what happened. Not only did he

:04:16.:04:18.

reject their testimony but he accepted the testimony of assistant

:04:19.:04:23.

Chief Constable Drew Harris who was strongly criticised by counsel for

:04:24.:04:28.

the Gardai Commissioner and Smithwick accepted Drew Harris'

:04:29.:04:32.

opinions. It is interesting. It was a fairly lengthy tribunal. That is

:04:33.:04:37.

he at first thing to say and judge Smithwick scathing about some of the

:04:38.:04:40.

evidence that witnesses gave to the tribunal, not least from the former

:04:41.:04:49.

gar guy detective Owen Carrigar. -- Gardai. He said it was he lusive,

:04:50.:04:54.

vague and inconsistent. It is damning. Union Unionists politicians

:04:55.:05:00.

have always pointed the finger at Corrigan and a couple of other

:05:01.:05:06.

figures have been named. Another Gardai Colton who was said to have

:05:07.:05:09.

inappropriate relations with the IRA but the judge did not name anyone as

:05:10.:05:13.

guilty of collusion. He simply said, on the balance of probabitity there

:05:14.:05:17.

was collusion and that these two Gardai had inappropriate relations

:05:18.:05:20.

with the IRA. Finally and briefly, what are the implications, do you

:05:21.:05:23.

think, of the tribunal for the wider, current political debate?

:05:24.:05:29.

Haas goes into the final stage next week? Interesting, judge Smithwick

:05:30.:05:33.

actually suggested that in future if there was to be any inquiry, there

:05:34.:05:38.

should be documents that could be compelled from both jurisdictions

:05:39.:05:42.

which is a dig at the fact that the British Government didn't pass stuff

:05:43.:05:46.

over on the Dublin Monaghan bombings. Lots more to come on that

:05:47.:05:51.

in the next few days. For the moment, thank you very much.

:05:52.:05:57.

Education standards here are not world class - but they could be,

:05:58.:06:01.

says the Education Minister, John O'Dowd. His comments come after an

:06:02.:06:03.

international comparison of 15-year-old pupils showed Northern

:06:04.:06:05.

Ireland's school performance slipping down the league tables.

:06:06.:06:08.

It's not that we are necessarily getting worse, though, it's that

:06:09.:06:11.

other countries have improved their performance. So, should we have

:06:12.:06:14.

expected to do better? Martina Purdy has been talking to the Minister.

:06:15.:06:17.

Well, we are involved here in a programme of change. That programme

:06:18.:06:19.

has to continue. The previous results blew the myth we are a world

:06:20.:06:23.

class education system. Everyone was telling us we were. We were standing

:06:24.:06:26.

up on our own saying no we are not but we can achieve that. The

:06:27.:06:29.

programmes have -- the programmes of change we have been bringing in need

:06:30.:06:33.

to continue and it'll show results in years to come. But maths is a

:06:34.:06:37.

major problem. The Chief Inspector has said so. What can be done to

:06:38.:06:41.

change things? We've identified through our own Chief Inspectors

:06:42.:06:44.

report that maths continues to prove a challenge for us. It is also the

:06:45.:06:49.

calibre of new students into maths in terms of the teaching profession

:06:50.:06:53.

we want. Those who are highly-motivated when the maths

:06:54.:06:56.

subjects are being snapped up in the private sector and industries, etc,

:06:57.:06:59.

we want to motivate those and be able to afford to bring those

:07:00.:07:03.

students into our system. I'm looking at options around how we

:07:04.:07:07.

promote students coming into maths teaching. How we keep them there.

:07:08.:07:13.

How we, in terms of around stimulus of pay, etc. But the report shows

:07:14.:07:17.

too many 15-year-olds are formering at the lowest level in these key

:07:18.:07:21.

areas. That's your quote much it is not good enough. What are you going

:07:22.:07:25.

to do? Average is not good enough for our education or our young

:07:26.:07:28.

people and we have to learn from world leaders. Whether it is an

:07:29.:07:33.

uncomfortable conversation to have or not. What many of the world lead

:07:34.:07:38.

remembers showing us, is that academic assessment is unnecessary,

:07:39.:07:42.

social division at 11 is unnecessary and those who do not carry out those

:07:43.:07:46.

functions are moving ahead. The other reforms will take a number of

:07:47.:07:51.

reforms to imbed but I think will pay dividends. If, not next report,

:07:52.:07:56.

there isn't an improvement. Will you take responsibility? Of course I

:07:57.:07:59.

will, I'm the Education Minister. As with many social policies, whether

:08:00.:08:02.

it is through education or health t takes a number of years for those

:08:03.:08:05.

policies to bed in and pay dividends. I believe the policies we

:08:06.:08:09.

have are the right policies. We have to continue to imbed them in our

:08:10.:08:18.

system. Martina Purdy quizzing the Education Minister there. By

:08:19.:08:22.

coincidence, a Sinn Fein debate was scheduled for today, questioning

:08:23.:08:25.

whether or not school terms, opening hours, holidays and teacher training

:08:26.:08:28.

days were delivering for pupils. It also called on the Minister to

:08:29.:08:31.

ensure they were in line with international best practice. With me

:08:32.:08:34.

now is one of the proposers of that motion, Sinn Fein's Chris Hazzard.

:08:35.:08:38.

Thank you for coming in to join us on the programme. What is wrong with

:08:39.:08:40.

the current system, first of all? We have a situation where we need to

:08:41.:08:43.

look at educational culture of our society. Too often we find different

:08:44.:08:46.

parts of the education system not in harmony. They need to be synced. Be

:08:47.:08:51.

that the straight-forward issue of school holidays, school starting

:08:52.:08:54.

times. Even the subject we touched on today, the school starting age,

:08:55.:08:58.

but the wider issues of the effects perhaps of an over-ly long summer

:08:59.:09:02.

holiday. International research would show us we need to have a

:09:03.:09:07.

conversation - we should talk to all aspects of community and society to

:09:08.:09:11.

see what is it we wanted from our education system. A lot of people

:09:12.:09:13.

might think about the issues you have talked about, of irritations of

:09:14.:09:18.

minor setbacks but mieted not see them as more significant than that.

:09:19.:09:21.

You are saying they are. I think they are very significant. When we

:09:22.:09:26.

look at, for example, the OEC d. Report that comes out today. We see

:09:27.:09:29.

various countries improving by a long way. Poland, for example, in

:09:30.:09:36.

the mid-1990s, Poland sat back and zoomed out. They got away from

:09:37.:09:44.

tinkering the systems. They said what can they do differently? They

:09:45.:09:48.

looked at the school day and looked at how instruction was delivered

:09:49.:09:52.

most effectively to the schools. We have seen over the last ten years it

:09:53.:09:57.

has made a big difference. You have also talked about the difference of

:09:58.:10:02.

socio economic issues as far as a child's performance is concerned.

:10:03.:10:06.

What evidence would you point to there? International evidence, there

:10:07.:10:09.

is various American reports that have been done that suggest children

:10:10.:10:14.

from a more wealthy background have the opportunity to attend summer

:10:15.:10:20.

camp and museums, go on holiday, pick up books, whereas kids from

:10:21.:10:23.

socially disadvantaged areas don't have the same chances. So when they

:10:24.:10:26.

looked at end of June reports compared to end of September, it was

:10:27.:10:34.

clear to see that kids from the sociodeprived backgrounds had

:10:35.:10:37.

continued to gross. It is hard to do something about that. It is hard to

:10:38.:10:40.

put your finger on to what needs to be done to turn that around. It is a

:10:41.:10:44.

perennial problem. It is a change to the culture. Not tinkering and

:10:45.:10:48.

tweaking of the system or the finer detime of it is the sitting back and

:10:49.:10:52.

zooming out progress. We said today - lets a very a conversation,

:10:53.:10:56.

parents, families, teachersers trade unions, everybody involved and say -

:10:57.:10:59.

what st we sfwhant are the strategic aims of our education system? Let's

:11:00.:11:03.

tie them to the economic situation of the country as a whole. -- what

:11:04.:11:13.

are the aims? Ulster Bank's latest IT problems

:11:14.:11:16.

have caused damage to the organisation's reputation, the

:11:17.:11:18.

Finance Minister told the Assembly today. Simon Hamilton was responding

:11:19.:11:21.

to a question and told the Assembly he has spoken to bank officials. But

:11:22.:11:25.

first the Finance Minister revealed more details about

:11:26.:11:26.

It is expected onstruction of the new community training college will

:11:27.:11:33.

commence in the new year. This delivery of this new Police Fire and

:11:34.:11:37.

Prison training college is a key programme for Government commitment

:11:38.:11:40.

and it'll deliver a world class training facility for essential

:11:41.:11:45.

public services which have suffered from underinvestment by direct rule

:11:46.:11:48.

ministers. Can I thank the minister for that announce am. Obviously this

:11:49.:11:51.

has been a project we have been pursuing for a long period of time

:11:52.:11:55.

and it has been bedevilled by delays but finally the minister has been

:11:56.:12:00.

able to announce that progress has been made. In terms of Her Majesty

:12:01.:12:05.

Treasury funding, how much is tied up in this project and when does it

:12:06.:12:09.

need to be paid for? I thank the member for his follow-up. I'm very

:12:10.:12:12.

glad we are able to announce that we have been able it make gross on this

:12:13.:12:18.

scheme. It is - what is proposed and the member will know through his

:12:19.:12:22.

chairmanship on the Justice Committee it is a world class

:12:23.:12:25.

facility and a facility I'm certain that police forces and Fire Services

:12:26.:12:28.

from around the world will want to come and visit and use as a facility

:12:29.:12:32.

to train their own staff in. He is right to raise the issue about Her

:12:33.:12:36.

Majesty's Treasury funding. Under the devolution of policing and

:12:37.:12:40.

justice settlement, Her Majesty Treasury provided some ?70.3 million

:12:41.:12:46.

which is in a ring-fenced fund for the Northern Ireland Community

:12:47.:12:50.

Safety College. It enjoys end-year fliblingts for these funds and will

:12:51.:12:53.

continue to do so until the end of this budget period in 2015. It is my

:12:54.:12:57.

understanding of it, if these funds are not utilised by April 2015, then

:12:58.:13:02.

there is a possibility that some of this ring-fenced element may be lost

:13:03.:13:05.

to the Treasury. I have agreed with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury

:13:06.:13:08.

we will continue to closely monitor the delivery of this project but the

:13:09.:13:12.

message I want to send to the Department of Justice is they need

:13:13.:13:16.

to proceed posthaste. I appreciate there have been delays not all of

:13:17.:13:19.

their making by any means whatsoever but they need to ensure that in

:13:20.:13:23.

order to access that ?07.3 million of funding that is ring-fenced and

:13:24.:13:27.

set aside for this project, that they need to proceed post-Hayes with

:13:28.:13:33.

this project. -- ?7 o 0.3. Can I ask the minister if he has had any

:13:34.:13:37.

discussions with the Ulster Bank in light of the recent glitches in

:13:38.:13:41.

their IT machines and what was the outcome of those discussions and did

:13:42.:13:45.

he receive any reassurances? I thank the member for the question, a very

:13:46.:13:50.

topical question. Probably the first topical question I have had in

:13:51.:13:53.

topical questions, even though this is my fourth go at it. I have had

:13:54.:13:57.

discussions, as soon as I became aware there were problems developing

:13:58.:14:02.

last night and that customers were expressing concern they couldn't

:14:03.:14:04.

make payments and couldn't access their own money out of cash machines

:14:05.:14:09.

and the embarrassment it was causing some in stores when they couldn't

:14:10.:14:11.

pay or whenever they needed emergency access from to their own

:14:12.:14:17.

cash from a hole in the wall they couldn't get it. I made

:14:18.:14:19.

communication overnight and early this morning with Ulster bang. I

:14:20.:14:25.

have this afternoon spoken to the head of retail banking in the Ulster

:14:26.:14:28.

Bank. I think, you know, they accept and understand this that this has

:14:29.:14:32.

been bad news for their cows o tomorrow Merse. It is the third time

:14:33.:14:37.

-- for their customers. It is the tired time this has happened

:14:38.:14:42.

although not as bad nas June of 2012. We can see some solace in the

:14:43.:14:47.

fact that I'm told it is not the same IT issue - I'm not sure whether

:14:48.:14:51.

that is something to seek solace from, but it is not the same

:14:52.:14:55.

problem, so one wouldn't expect the reoccurrence and longevity of the

:14:56.:14:58.

last problem. I'm informed all problems have been overcome and that

:14:59.:15:07.

the problem, that arose last evening, now seems to be fixed

:15:08.:15:10.

although there are some indications in RBS across the water that some

:15:11.:15:14.

problems do still exist. Other banks have had similar issues, I know but

:15:15.:15:20.

this is the third third ti for Ulster Bank. I don't think they need

:15:21.:15:24.

me to tell them it causes damage to their reputation and causes concern

:15:25.:15:35.

for their customers. The Tobacco Retailers Bill has been

:15:36.:15:38.

making its way through the various stages on its way to eventually

:15:39.:15:42.

being signed into law, and today it was back in the chamber for its

:15:43.:15:45.

consideration stage. The bill is intended to crack down on

:15:46.:15:48.

shopkeepers selling tobacco to young people with a "three strikes and

:15:49.:15:51.

you're out of business" policy. Much of today's debate was procedural

:15:52.:15:54.

with a series of amendments, mostly based around setting up a central

:15:55.:15:57.

registration system and there wasn't a dissenting voice to be heard.

:15:58.:16:00.

Here's are some of the contributions. Amendment 1 basically

:16:01.:16:01.

creates a registration authority which must maintain a register of

:16:02.:16:04.

persons who are carrying on a tobacco business. The original

:16:05.:16:07.

clause 1 proposed that there would be 26 separate registers, one for

:16:08.:16:12.

each council area. The committee was concerned that a lack of a

:16:13.:16:16.

centralised system could result in information not being shared between

:16:17.:16:20.

councils as efishtedly as it could be. In particular, members were

:16:21.:16:26.

concerned that details of people convicted of or given fixed penalty

:16:27.:16:31.

notices for tobacco offences and people convicted of illicit tobacco

:16:32.:16:35.

offences would not be routinely shared between the councils. The

:16:36.:16:38.

committee, therefore, ask the department to explore having a

:16:39.:16:44.

central register. Either as or in place of the 26 council registers.

:16:45.:16:49.

We were pleased, therefore, that the department accepted the committee's

:16:50.:16:52.

point of view and a registration authority is now to be established.

:16:53.:16:58.

The fundamental ten at of the legislation is a "three strikes and

:16:59.:17:03.

you're out principle" that's as a result of a mystery shopper, a young

:17:04.:17:07.

person being sent by the environmental health department of

:17:08.:17:10.

the local council. If in three occasions the person within five

:17:11.:17:13.

years is discovered to be selling tobacco products to young people, he

:17:14.:17:18.

or she loses their licence to sell tobacco. I think that's a very, very

:17:19.:17:22.

powerful deterrent. Tobacco retail in Northern Ireland is not so much

:17:23.:17:27.

the profit made in the cigarettes or tobacco sold but tobacco attracts

:17:28.:17:31.

people in to buy other products, more profitable products within the

:17:32.:17:34.

retail situation, be it newspapers or grossries or sweets or whatever.

:17:35.:17:38.

So, therefore, the right to say tobacco is absolutely crucial to the

:17:39.:17:43.

small retailer. They could never survive alone on simply selling

:17:44.:17:48.

tobacco products. 2,300 people die each year in Northern Ireland as a

:17:49.:17:53.

result of smoking. It is too many. And of course many more suffer very

:17:54.:17:57.

long-term illnesses as a result. The bill is timely and welcome and with

:17:58.:18:03.

amendment, will help regulate smoking and curb the growing trend

:18:04.:18:07.

in young people and that's the particular direction of this, that

:18:08.:18:10.

it attempts to prevent younger people gaining access to

:18:11.:18:15.

cigarette-smoking. It does strike me that if someone was convicted of

:18:16.:18:20.

serious offence of smuggling, they obviously would have no regard for

:18:21.:18:25.

the law. They were willing to profit by smuggling in illegal cigarettes.

:18:26.:18:31.

Many of those cigarettes may even be counterfeit cigarettes, so they

:18:32.:18:35.

would have no regard f individual's health and as such, I would say

:18:36.:18:39.

there would be a high risk of those individuals having no regard to

:18:40.:18:46.

whether they sold cigarettes to young people. Every Dee attempt to

:18:47.:18:50.

deter our young people from starting such a filthy habit in the first

:18:51.:18:54.

place and warn them of the deadly dangers must be strongly supported

:18:55.:18:58.

and this Assembly is, as our deputy Chair of the committee has said, is

:18:59.:19:02.

leading on this very important issue.

:19:03.:19:09.

Kieran mar Karthi making his feelings clear. That has moved

:19:10.:19:16.

another step closer to becoming law. The Stormont Executive has unveiled

:19:17.:19:19.

a strategy to get 30,000 more people into work over the next ten years.

:19:20.:19:28.

The plans are targeted at what's known as "the economically inactive"

:19:29.:19:32.

- that is people who are not in work or claiming benefit. The rate of

:19:33.:19:35.

economic inactivity is higher here than in other parts of the UK.

:19:36.:19:38.

Here's the Employment and Learning Minister outlining the aims of the

:19:39.:19:41.

scheme. To develop policy initiatives to spe specificically

:19:42.:19:43.

help those who are long-term sick and/or persons with disabilities and

:19:44.:19:45.

those with family commitments to reedge gauge with the labour market

:19:46.:19:47.

to. Help older workers back into work through dabbingling

:19:48.:19:48.

discrimination barriers, increasing opportunities and addressing issues

:19:49.:19:52.

of self-confidence and skill levels. To utilise the outcomes of in-depth

:19:53.:19:56.

analysis in order to pinpoint specific policy areas for

:19:57.:19:59.

intervention. To develop initiatives with key stakeholders, including

:20:00.:20:03.

health professionals, that will motivate the economically enactive

:20:04.:20:06.

to adopt a positive approach to work and to help women and lone parents

:20:07.:20:12.

to move into employment. The over-arching goal is to

:20:13.:20:15.

contribute towards a stable and competitive employment rate of over

:20:16.:20:21.

7 0% by 2023 through a reduction in the proportion of the working-aged

:20:22.:20:25.

population classified as "economically enactive." This

:20:26.:20:28.

reflects our assessment of what constitutes a more balanced labour

:20:29.:20:32.

market in terms of more fully engaging people and utilised their

:20:33.:20:34.

skills and talents. That all sounds good in theory from

:20:35.:20:48.

Stephen Farry, but how will it translate into real life? With me is

:20:49.:20:52.

Susan Russam from GEMS NI, an organisation which helps get people

:20:53.:20:54.

back into work. Welcome to the programme. Thank you for ginning us.

:20:55.:20:57.

Let's be clear. Who precisely are "economically enactive" people? They

:20:58.:20:59.

can be students, they can be people who have caring responsibilities.

:21:00.:21:01.

They can be people who are sick, unwell, who are not actively seeking

:21:02.:21:06.

work. They are mot mandated by the current benefit they have, be that

:21:07.:21:14.

Incapacity Benefit another range of benefits, so they are not mandated

:21:15.:21:20.

as if they would be on Jobseeker's Allowance which means they must

:21:21.:21:23.

report to the jobs and benefits office and explain they are actively

:21:24.:21:27.

seeking work. Is the point is that this is an untapped well of talent,

:21:28.:21:31.

potentially? Absolutely. It is very welcome and very heart-warming to

:21:32.:21:35.

hear the minister announce this. I think, as you intimated there that

:21:36.:21:39.

the devil will very much be in the detail. It's interesting to note

:21:40.:21:43.

that the minister places employers at the central tenant of this and

:21:44.:21:48.

looks at things such as inSeptemberives for employers. We

:21:49.:21:50.

need to have a balanced incentive for people who are currently

:21:51.:21:54.

economically enactive. If you are going to hit that target of 30,000

:21:55.:21:58.

more people into work in the next ten years, you need to be doing

:21:59.:22:01.

something and you need to be doing it quite quickly. Quite an ambitious

:22:02.:22:05.

target, do you think? It is. It makes we wonder whether or not

:22:06.:22:10.

that's 30,000, less the 25,000 targeted for new new jobs that the

:22:11.:22:14.

Assembly has already set. So are we really talking about 5,000 or is it

:22:15.:22:19.

going to be a 55,000? What is your hunch? Those two figures are pretty

:22:20.:22:22.

different, aren't they? Well, I think that all of us have spooblt,

:22:23.:22:26.

Mark, to do all we can to help people to get into work. We know the

:22:27.:22:30.

damage that being economically enactive and long-term unemployed

:22:31.:22:34.

can do to a person's health and well-being and to their lf-esteem

:22:35.:22:40.

and to their ability to access work and to their ability to think that

:22:41.:22:43.

work can actually be for them. What is your answer? What is your

:22:44.:22:47.

organisation's approach to it? We start where the person is at. We use

:22:48.:22:51.

our skills and our knowledge and our networks and community grassroots'

:22:52.:22:57.

work to ensure that we can help that person to, first of all feel that

:22:58.:23:01.

they can become employable. To lack at the barriers that are actually

:23:02.:23:05.

preventing them to become employable. To look at the skills.

:23:06.:23:08.

To look at opportunities and one thing that I would say is that one

:23:09.:23:13.

of the opportunities that this Government, this administration must

:23:14.:23:16.

look at is what opportunities are there in the public sector for

:23:17.:23:20.

people who are economically enactive? Particularly our young

:23:21.:23:24.

people but not exclusively as well. Well a very interesting question.

:23:25.:23:28.

Perhaps we will return to that in the future. For now, thank you very

:23:29.:23:30.

much. The Health Minister says he hopes to

:23:31.:23:34.

reveal the future of Northern Ireland children's heart surgery

:23:35.:23:37.

later this week. He told question time he is still in

:23:38.:23:41.

talks with health officials on both sides of the border as he seeks a

:23:42.:23:44.

resolution to the issue. He was expected to announce his decision in

:23:45.:23:49.

the July but it has been postponed sefshl occasions. I'm continuing my

:23:50.:23:53.

discussions with the Republic of Ireland's minister for both Dr James

:23:54.:23:58.

Riley TD to establish whether it'll be possible to establish a

:23:59.:24:03.

two-centre model within the island of Ireland to be located in Belfast

:24:04.:24:08.

and Dublin. My overriding concern is the safety of the children and

:24:09.:24:10.

obtaining the best-possible care for them. I am iming to make my final

:24:11.:24:16.

decisions on this as soon as possible.

:24:17.:24:22.

I thank the minister for that. Can I ask the minister, given the real

:24:23.:24:26.

public concern around the timeline on this issue, can he confirm that

:24:27.:24:31.

there will be a decision that will involve surgery being maintained in

:24:32.:24:35.

Belfast, and can he confirm the timeline on that decision? I would

:24:36.:24:42.

hope to be in a position to do it this week and to make my

:24:43.:24:45.

announcement. But discussions are industrial ongoing. I think that

:24:46.:24:49.

people should nted underestimate how difficult this process has been. The

:24:50.:24:55.

challenges that have been involved in it. And we need everybody singing

:24:56.:25:01.

off the same hymn sheet, working very hard on achieving that,

:25:02.:25:05.

hopefully quite close to getting that. And, as soon as I can, I will

:25:06.:25:10.

bring the information to the House and to the public. And I trust that

:25:11.:25:15.

that will be very, very soon, as I indicated, I had hoped to do it this

:25:16.:25:19.

week but I don't believe that of it should be necessarily much longer

:25:20.:25:25.

and we will need to be getting that message out to the people who have

:25:26.:25:28.

real and genuine concerns and obviously real needs.

:25:29.:25:33.

I would also remind the member that there is not and never has been a

:25:34.:25:41.

been on donations from gay pain, and the restriction relates to

:25:42.:25:45.

behaviour, as opposed orientation. A number of other categories of

:25:46.:25:49.

individuals are excluded from do donating. The judge included any

:25:50.:25:56.

change in Northern Ireland to the donation of men having sex with

:25:57.:26:03.

other men, was not my responsibility. Unfortunately I did

:26:04.:26:08.

not have the confidence, of having to make findings against the highest

:26:09.:26:11.

judicial figures in the land. I did not feel confident I would succeed,

:26:12.:26:17.

nor did my skilled QCs, David Schofield QC and Mick Hannah QC.

:26:18.:26:25.

Those aren't the words of Edwin Putts, they are the words of his

:26:26.:26:29.

honour. Does the minister think an

:26:30.:26:34.

investigation by the IQIA is independent or objective? Well, I

:26:35.:26:40.

could comment further on that happening in other places, but I'll

:26:41.:26:47.

refrain. In terms of independence regulation of health care, it

:26:48.:26:51.

certainly is a big issue. I'm very happy for independent regulation of

:26:52.:26:56.

health care. I think it is important that there is independent regulation

:26:57.:27:03.

and we fund RQIA. But RQIA are responsible for their own actions

:27:04.:27:06.

and activities, so we don't give them direction as to what to do. I

:27:07.:27:11.

have to admit, it is a challenge to get aed abouty which is wholly

:27:12.:27:14.

independent of Government because the truth is - who is going to pay

:27:15.:27:19.

for it? You know, people will always be of the opinion, he who pays the

:27:20.:27:23.

Piper calls the tune. I genuinely want independent regulation because

:27:24.:27:28.

I think that it is good to keep everybody aware that that can be

:27:29.:27:32.

carried out and to keep people on top of their game. The Health

:27:33.:27:35.

Minister. Now, flooding, frozen pipes and

:27:36.:27:39.

faulty heating. All potential problems in the winter. But would

:27:40.:27:43.

you know what to do? Well our MLAs should, after being shown today how

:27:44.:27:46.

to winter had of proof their homes by NI Water. Our Political

:27:47.:27:51.

Correspondent Gareth Jordan spoke to Jimmy Spratt about being prepared

:27:52.:27:56.

for winter. Since three years ago #2340r8d Water have been very good

:27:57.:28:03.

in terms of actually promoting an educational spoeous -- Northern

:28:04.:28:05.

Ireland Water have been very good in terms of promoting an educational

:28:06.:28:09.

influence to their warnings. And indeed the bus is here today so that

:28:10.:28:14.

MLAs from all the various areas around the province can come on and

:28:15.:28:18.

get some literature so that they and their staff and assembly staff are

:28:19.:28:24.

aware of the preparings being made. I feel they were slightly unfairly

:28:25.:28:28.

vilified for what happened three years ago, do you think they have a

:28:29.:28:31.

point? I think there were serious issues three years ago. I think

:28:32.:28:36.

those issues have now been addressed and since three years ago, Northern

:28:37.:28:41.

Ireland Water, the staff of Northern Ireland Water and the senior

:28:42.:28:44.

management team of Northern Ireland Water have made major advances in

:28:45.:28:48.

terms of making sure the same mistake didn't happen twice and I

:28:49.:28:51.

think they need to be applauded. What has prompted that change? I

:28:52.:28:54.

think that change was prompted through the work of the Department,

:28:55.:28:58.

through the work of the Minister and, indeed, through the work of the

:28:59.:29:01.

committee, because the committee took the issues very seriously, as

:29:02.:29:06.

did the Executive at that particular period of time and it shows you,

:29:07.:29:11.

that local people, local democracy actually pays in situations such as

:29:12.:29:15.

this. Jimmy Spratt talking to Gareth

:29:16.:29:20.

Gordon. That's it for Stormont Today this week. Join me on Thursday

:29:21.:29:25.

evening for the View on BBC One at 10.35pm. Until then, from all of us,

:29:26.:29:27.

goodbye.

:29:28.:29:31.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS