:00:25. > :00:27.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up on the programme: The
:00:27. > :00:37.Health Minister moves to reassure the public following the latest
:00:37. > :00:39.
:00:39. > :00:43.horse meat controversy. Those who work there have no safety concerns
:00:43. > :00:48.at the moment, this is more a matter of labelling and information
:00:48. > :00:52.being put forward to the public. MLAs pledge to do more to tackle
:00:52. > :00:57.those using social networks to spread hatred. I have been told to
:00:57. > :01:03.go home on Twitter when I was actually sitting at home. I have
:01:03. > :01:05.been told I have a foreign accent when I am in Ireland. And a man
:01:06. > :01:12.who's dealt with issues of internet safety and exploitation - Jim
:01:12. > :01:14.Gamble - joins me in the studio. The latest controversy over horse
:01:14. > :01:17.meat prompted an urgent oral question to Edwin Poots this
:01:17. > :01:25.afternoon. Speaking in his role as Public Safety Minister, Mr Poots
:01:25. > :01:30.stressed there is no risk to human health. This is a matter for the
:01:30. > :01:37.Food Standards Agency and district councils. Investigations are under
:01:37. > :01:46.way in regard to product stored which tested positive for horse DNA.
:01:46. > :01:53.I am not in a position to provide further details in relation to this
:01:53. > :02:01.investigation because of possible legal proceedings. The FSA has said
:02:01. > :02:07.this is not a food safety issue. When will the FSA alert him to the
:02:07. > :02:11.concerns regarding DNA horsemeat within Northern Ireland? And can
:02:11. > :02:15.the minister reassure the house everything has been done by his
:02:15. > :02:25.department to make sure the authenticity of meat products
:02:25. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:32.coming through Northern Ireland are properly certified? The FSA was
:02:32. > :02:41.informed that samples taken by the Republic of Ireland Department of
:02:41. > :02:50.Agriculture showed levels of equine DNA up to 75%. On fourth February,
:02:50. > :02:55.the FSA received samples. Of 12 samples taken, two tested positive
:02:55. > :03:02.for equine DNA. What is absolutely clear here and what must be made
:03:02. > :03:08.clear to the public that the standards who work in the FSA have
:03:08. > :03:12.no food safety concerns that this point. It is more a matter of
:03:12. > :03:17.labelling and information put forward to the public and a matter
:03:17. > :03:23.of consumer confidence, but this is not a food safety issue. While it
:03:23. > :03:33.might not be an issue for food safety, is there any implications
:03:33. > :03:37.for public health? Can I appeal to the minister and to the relevant
:03:37. > :03:42.authorities to try to get as much information out as quickly as
:03:42. > :03:46.possible so we can alleviate people's fears? For at this minute
:03:47. > :03:53.there are no issues of concern for public health. Horsemeat is
:03:53. > :03:58.commonly used in other parts of Europe, however if people buy a
:03:58. > :04:02.beefburger they expect a beefburger. If it contains horsemeat and it
:04:02. > :04:09.says so, people can make their choices. The Public Safety Minister,
:04:09. > :04:12.Edwin Poots. I'm joined now by our Political Correspondent, Martina
:04:12. > :04:15.Purdy. First of all, how seriously is this issue being taken by
:04:15. > :04:19.Ministers here at Stormont? Reputation is everything in terms
:04:19. > :04:26.of the food industry and it is being taken very seriously. The
:04:26. > :04:30.First Minister today said he wanted the police to investigate. The
:04:30. > :04:35.agriculture minister has asked the agency to enhance its inspections
:04:35. > :04:41.and has moved to reassure everyone that home-grown food in Northern
:04:41. > :04:48.Ireland, local beef is very safe to eat, and there is traceability. The
:04:48. > :04:51.agriculture committee heard a briefing from the Department of
:04:51. > :04:55.Agriculture officials, interesting to hear the chairman of the
:04:55. > :05:03.committee saying he sees this as a legacy of supermarkets driving down
:05:03. > :05:06.food prices and that debate main run and run. There have also been
:05:06. > :05:09.developments this evening on the flags issue at Stormont. What can
:05:09. > :05:15.you tell us about that? There will be a review of the flying of the
:05:15. > :05:21.Union flag and the number of days it flies. It flies on designated
:05:21. > :05:26.days, around 15, but the issue erupted over the decision to
:05:26. > :05:33.curtail the number of days to fly the flag. The Assembly commission
:05:33. > :05:38.this evening, nationalists did not attend, but the alliance, DUP and
:05:38. > :05:43.Ulster Unionist representatives decided to task officials to
:05:43. > :05:47.consult about options for flying the Union flag. They will report
:05:47. > :05:53.back in three months, not just about options for how many days the
:05:53. > :06:03.flag should be flown. Also how the public consultation might be
:06:03. > :06:07.handled. So what is the nationalist view of this? They are boycotting
:06:07. > :06:12.that body and today Sinn Fein asked for a motion to be tabled with a
:06:12. > :06:17.view to setting up an ad hoc committee to deal with flags,
:06:17. > :06:20.emblems and language. There was knocked back and tonight I spoke to
:06:20. > :06:30.a Sinn Fein representative who said they are questioning whether the
:06:30. > :06:31.
:06:31. > :06:35.decision is valid. We will have to wait and see how this turns out but
:06:35. > :06:44.the DUP say there is progress being made and they are looking forward
:06:44. > :06:48.to the report. Thank you. The dark side of the
:06:48. > :06:51.internet was one of the themes of the day here on the hill. There
:06:51. > :06:53.were two motions on the topic, the first expressing a desire to see
:06:53. > :06:56.social networking sites better regulated by the law. When children
:06:56. > :07:01.go out of their house, the parents want to know where they are going,
:07:01. > :07:07.who will be with them, and who they are meeting. We need to view the
:07:07. > :07:11.internet in much the same way. Hate crime is another aspect of social
:07:11. > :07:15.networking sides which has created a space for those who perpetrate
:07:15. > :07:19.hatred and violence attacks feeling they can do so with impunity.
:07:19. > :07:27.would he care to comment on the fact that Sinn Fein website there
:07:27. > :07:35.is now appeared deep excerpt "Boycott's all orange owned
:07:35. > :07:40.businesses". Does she take the view that is an attempt to direct people
:07:40. > :07:45.to discriminate in their business practices, and then its own way a
:07:45. > :07:50.propagation of hatred? A as far as I am aware, that is not a Sinn Fein
:07:50. > :07:55.website. If to be able to democratise communication and
:07:55. > :08:01.remove barriers for free speech, to allow people to interact with other
:08:01. > :08:06.people irrespective of any type of restriction is indeed a very
:08:07. > :08:13.beautiful Thing, but with that right comes a responsibility to do
:08:13. > :08:18.so in a respectful way and in a manner which is consistent with the
:08:18. > :08:23.values and standards of modern society. I have been told to go
:08:23. > :08:29.home on Twitter when I was actually sitting at home. I have been told I
:08:29. > :08:33.have a foreign accent when I am in Ireland. One well known commentator
:08:33. > :08:40.who rides for a well-known newspaper said on his Facebook page
:08:40. > :08:50.that my whole party were a bunch of... The word can't be repeated in
:08:50. > :08:57.this house. Is that for me? Acceptable? Is it smart? Mr
:08:57. > :09:06.Humphrey seems to think so. You do think so? That is sad. Everyone in
:09:06. > :09:13.this house, Facebook and Twitter has been used to describe us in
:09:13. > :09:19.derogatory terms and I support people's right to be able to
:09:19. > :09:22.express themselves. I do not support for social media to be used
:09:22. > :09:26.in an illegal form and their members of this house where
:09:26. > :09:30.prosecutions have been brought because it has overstepped the line
:09:30. > :09:35.and it is in that respect better regulation I support because
:09:35. > :09:42.undoubtedly Facebook is slow in my review to respond to the way in
:09:42. > :09:48.which it is used by individuals of whatever particular grievances.
:09:48. > :09:53.There have been slow to respond and there forums have been used to
:09:53. > :10:02.Inside violence. I have come under serious abuse on the social
:10:02. > :10:09.networking field, and somewhat from other MLAs in this chamber. I know
:10:09. > :10:19.we are in the cut and thrust of politics, but it is not always the
:10:19. > :10:20.
:10:20. > :10:24.most appropriate talk. The platform has been created on which abusive,
:10:24. > :10:28.threatening the use can be easily voiced to individuals and groups.
:10:28. > :10:34.Recently we have seen a mixture of what can be described as legal and
:10:34. > :10:38.illegal activities in social media in Northern Ireland, whipping up a
:10:38. > :10:43.frenzy of hatred and mistrust. We have heard stories about people
:10:43. > :10:48.taking their own lives after a sickening and horrible messages are
:10:48. > :10:54.left on their social media pages. The Alliance Party's Stewart
:10:54. > :10:57.Dickson. Now staying on a similar theme, the First and Deputy First
:10:58. > :11:00.Ministers have agreed to take the lead on a strategy to help children
:11:01. > :11:03.enjoy the internet safely. A cross- party motion asked the Assembly to
:11:04. > :11:06.recognise the dangers the internet can pose to children and to build
:11:07. > :11:11.on the work already underway at both Westminster and Stormont.
:11:11. > :11:15.internet and social networking is a wonderful tool and the digital
:11:15. > :11:21.revolution is as important as all the period of technological change
:11:21. > :11:26.in our history. We can't imagine life without Facebook, Twitter, e-
:11:26. > :11:30.mail, the internet and the way it enriches lives and are so much part
:11:30. > :11:35.of day-to-day life, but the internet and social media has a
:11:35. > :11:41.more sinister side and there are risks to young people in the online
:11:41. > :11:47.world. I am indebted to the NSPCC for the briefing paper on this
:11:47. > :11:51.issue which categorises some of these challenges into content Hahn,
:11:51. > :11:56.things Basie, conduct issues - of the way they behave, and contact
:11:56. > :12:06.harm - people they may meet. I am one of those mothers who refuses to
:12:06. > :12:06.
:12:07. > :12:16.allow her children to have a Facebook profile, yet 88% of people
:12:16. > :12:22.use Facebook just five to minimum age of 18. It is often the case
:12:22. > :12:26.that young people know more about how to work online than parents do,
:12:26. > :12:32.yet parents need to be responsible and find out more about how to
:12:32. > :12:41.protect young people and provide help and guidance. The culture,
:12:41. > :12:45.arts and leisure committee are looking at education and safe use
:12:45. > :12:51.of the internet for young people and parents. That is part of our
:12:51. > :12:56.investigation into the constituency around child protection. The
:12:56. > :13:00.internet is an amazing tool for everyone and it is really for
:13:00. > :13:06.sharing information and learning, but society is rapidly changing in
:13:06. > :13:12.terms of how many people socialise and many in this chamber used
:13:12. > :13:16.Facebook and Twitter, but there are also other social platforms such as
:13:16. > :13:20.Google Plus, YouTube, and many others. The internet is becoming
:13:20. > :13:28.much more accessible through tablets and smartphones and with
:13:29. > :13:33.the introduction of 3G. This is for the benefit of a faster and broader
:13:33. > :13:38.internet, and therein lies potential dangers including
:13:38. > :13:43.grooming and access to an appropriate content as well as the
:13:43. > :13:47.risks of self generation of images. This can have a devastating effect
:13:48. > :13:52.on a child in his or her development. The common message I
:13:52. > :13:57.hear on this issue is that we need to be talking to children with a
:13:57. > :14:01.very clear message on internet safety and we need to have been
:14:02. > :14:06.making parents, teachers and careers aware of the signs and
:14:06. > :14:12.symptoms of cyber bullying. For the many children who benefit from
:14:12. > :14:18.internet use, there are those who are subjected to horrific examples
:14:18. > :14:22.of cyber bullying and exploitation. The approach should be one which
:14:22. > :14:27.empowers parents and carers to be able to engage with confidence with
:14:27. > :14:31.the new medium. Taking schools as an example, there is a general
:14:31. > :14:36.consensus from those I have spoken to that we need to be providing
:14:36. > :14:41.more education on the responsible use of the technology. Jim Gamble
:14:41. > :14:46.advocates prioritising which aspects refocus resources upon and
:14:46. > :14:52.suggests a curriculum is built around this with regards to online
:14:52. > :14:57.conduct, content and contact. Does a child, parent and Karen know the
:14:57. > :15:04.answers to questions such as how to block online, have to support a
:15:04. > :15:14.friend, have to report to were responsible adult, how to report to
:15:14. > :15:33.
:15:33. > :15:37.He is spaeging to the prism of someone who is younger than most
:15:38. > :15:42.parents. As a parent myself when this issue first arose that the
:15:42. > :15:45.vast majority of over 50 this is a complete nightmare. Parents are in
:15:45. > :15:50.no position to control their children's internet access because
:15:50. > :15:55.they don't have the scientific or knowledge to do so. Therefore, it's
:15:55. > :15:58.uncouple bent upon society to place restrictions at a general level so
:15:58. > :16:02.parents aren't being forced into this situation where they have to
:16:02. > :16:04.take on something they haven't a clue to do anything with.
:16:04. > :16:06.The DUP's Jim Wells. The motion was passed with
:16:06. > :16:08.unanimous support. Jim Gamble, the former Chief
:16:08. > :16:17.Cxecutive of CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection
:16:17. > :16:22.Centre, is with me now. Time and again today MLAs made the point
:16:22. > :16:26.that parents need to be stpobl for their children's online activities.
:16:26. > :16:30.They know very little about the internet and social networking
:16:30. > :16:34.sites. What is the answer to that conundrum? The Assembly has it
:16:34. > :16:39.within their gift to support parents more effectively. I have
:16:39. > :16:42.been talking to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister
:16:42. > :16:47.about this issue. I believe it's the partnership between education,
:16:47. > :16:51.schools, children themselves and parents that allows you to create
:16:51. > :16:55.this cycle where homeworks over a period of time children and parents
:16:55. > :17:00.learn together. You need to educate children about internet safety much
:17:00. > :17:05.you also need to Keat parents about what to look out for in terms of
:17:05. > :17:09.protecting their children online? You give the children a homework
:17:09. > :17:13.that they are to deliver with their parent to explain something about
:17:13. > :17:17.social media. To get feed back from the parent so that they understand
:17:17. > :17:22.privacy settings or terms or conditions on a social networking
:17:22. > :17:26.site. As you build the parental competence in this area, and that
:17:26. > :17:31.moves on, you change the emphasis towards the parent sharing safety
:17:31. > :17:34.information with the child. Jim We wills made the point that for
:17:35. > :17:40.parents of a certain age this is a bit of a nightmare. It's a big
:17:40. > :17:46.hurdle for lots of people to overcome? It is. Today is Safer
:17:46. > :17:52.Internet Day we have to applaud the Assembly for taking time out to
:17:52. > :17:55.give this the attention it deserves. On Safer Internet Day you hear
:17:55. > :18:00.white noise and sometimes it turns into a photo opportunity. People
:18:00. > :18:05.will hear about the risks. What is it that parents need to concentrate
:18:05. > :18:10.on? Bullying. Bullying undermines the quality of life for children.
:18:10. > :18:15.Children in this country and across the bored ver actually been bullied
:18:15. > :18:20.to death -- boarder have actually been bullied to death. That is
:18:20. > :18:24.everybody's business. You talk about the three Cs, conduct,
:18:24. > :18:31.content and contact? Absolutely. How they treat other people online.
:18:31. > :18:36.The content they create by sexting images or pornographic material
:18:36. > :18:43.which is ill advised to do. Contact, people they will meet or go offline
:18:43. > :18:47.to meet. Schools are ahead of the game. They focus on the three Cs we
:18:47. > :18:49.have to put the detail into the hands of parents so they are
:18:49. > :18:53.empowered to work with their children. Is your message to
:18:53. > :18:58.parents is that they don't have a choice. They have to take it
:18:58. > :19:01.seriously whether they want to or not? They can be a good parent or a
:19:01. > :19:05.bad parent. To be a good parent you need to do what our parents did
:19:05. > :19:10.many years ago, sitting down and talking with your child. Learning
:19:10. > :19:14.the things that will have an impact on how safely they live their lives.
:19:14. > :19:16.There was discussion last night about the ramifications of the
:19:17. > :19:21.National Crime Agency not getting the green light to operate in
:19:21. > :19:25.Northern Ireland. What are the implications as far as child abuse
:19:25. > :19:29.online is concerned if that green light doesn't happen? I heard the
:19:29. > :19:32.debate. I heard it stated if it doesn't happen we will not be able
:19:32. > :19:36.to protect our children because Child Exploitation and Online
:19:36. > :19:40.Protection Centre won't operate here. We never deployed officers in
:19:40. > :19:44.the field. We supported education inititives and provided information
:19:44. > :19:49.to local police and local child protection teams so they could
:19:49. > :19:55.deliver local support and protection for kids. That hasn't
:19:55. > :19:57.changed as far as I'm aware. They need political reconciliation about
:19:57. > :20:00.accessing National Crime Agency services here in Northern Ireland.
:20:00. > :20:05.Local is the key to understanding the protection we need in this part
:20:05. > :20:08.of the world? Absolutely. Local accountability and local
:20:08. > :20:13.information delivered to local protection teams. That is how you
:20:13. > :20:17.do it best. That is what CEOP has always done well. Thank you very
:20:17. > :20:20.much for joining us tonight. Earlier today, the Health Minister
:20:20. > :20:22.announced he's bringing forward a public consultation on how best to
:20:22. > :20:25.maximise organ donation rates. During a visit to Belfast City
:20:25. > :20:28.Hospital with the First and Deputy First Ministers, Edwin Poots said
:20:28. > :20:30.he wants to gauge opinion on moving to an opt-out scheme.
:20:30. > :20:32.That means people will automatically give their consent to
:20:33. > :20:35.donating their organs unless they specifically say otherwise.
:20:35. > :20:42.Meantime, the issue of organ donation was also a hot topic
:20:42. > :20:47.during this afternoon's health questions. I'm pleased to inform
:20:47. > :20:51.the member that the recent NHS blood and transplant activity date
:20:51. > :20:53.for Northern Ireland indicates that transplants for Northern Ireland
:20:53. > :20:58.residents have increased in recent years whilst the number of people
:20:58. > :21:02.on the active transplant waiting list is falling. It is note worthy
:21:02. > :21:06.that 30% of the Northern Ireland population have now added their
:21:06. > :21:10.name to the organ donor register. This is a huge achievement, I
:21:10. > :21:15.recognise that more needs to be done as there are still around 200
:21:15. > :21:18.people actively waiting for an organ transplant. In June 2012 I
:21:18. > :21:24.established the Northern Ireland Committee for organ donation and
:21:24. > :21:27.transplantation which is made up of commissioners, clinicians, NHS
:21:27. > :21:31.representatives and the voluntary sector to ensure the momentum of
:21:31. > :21:37.progress in the field of organ donation is maintained and built
:21:37. > :21:40.upon. My department has also been working with NHS BT in conjunction
:21:40. > :21:46.with the other health UK administrations in the development
:21:46. > :21:52.of a new UK organ donation and transplantation strategy designed
:21:52. > :22:00.to build upon the momentum of the original organ donor task force. I
:22:00. > :22:05.suspect to have a draft within the next few weeks. As there is a
:22:05. > :22:09.strange -- as there is sustained interest in the introduction of an
:22:09. > :22:14.opt-out system I'm proposing a public survey oned a tuets towards
:22:14. > :22:19.an opt-out system and the views of the transplant-related charities,
:22:19. > :22:24.donor families and those on waiting lists and the health service
:22:24. > :22:27.community will be sought. Can I welcome the fact that the Health
:22:27. > :22:30.Minister, First Minister and Deputy First Minister recognised this
:22:30. > :22:35.morning, conveniently enough, the need for change. As the Minister
:22:35. > :22:39.will be aware I'm bringing a private members bill to this House
:22:39. > :22:43.and today is a very personal day for me as its the fouth anniversary
:22:43. > :22:48.of my son's transplant. Does the Minister support the broad policy
:22:48. > :22:54.intent of my Bill and that a soft opt-out system is the best solution
:22:54. > :22:59.to help save lives here in Northern Ireland? Willing, this isn't
:22:59. > :23:04.something that my interest has been aroused in recently. One of my
:23:04. > :23:09.relatives is actually one of the longest surviving donor transplants
:23:10. > :23:15.in Northern Ireland. Last year, my best man's sister was buried
:23:15. > :23:21.because she didn't get a liver transplant early enough. And, these
:23:21. > :23:24.are all things that we have grave concerns about. That is why
:23:24. > :23:30.whenever David Cameron came to visit here, the only time he came
:23:30. > :23:33.to visit here, that I raised the UK of the -- interest of the UK
:23:33. > :23:38.introducing a scheme right across the UK. That would be the most
:23:38. > :23:44.successful scheme given the numbers of people potential participants
:23:44. > :23:47.across the UK. I further raised it with the Health Minister in England
:23:48. > :23:52.and he indicated that they weren't prepared to move forward at that
:23:52. > :23:58.time. We have been having conversations with our Welsh
:23:58. > :24:04.counterparts on how to move this forward. Indeed, we have been
:24:04. > :24:10.pursuing the issue in recent days. In all of that, I believe that we
:24:10. > :24:15.can continue to drive organ donation upwards. I do believe that
:24:15. > :24:20.an opt-out scheme can help to maximise that. I believe that an
:24:20. > :24:23.opt-out scheme with a strong educational emphasis will actually
:24:23. > :24:27.fully maximise the number of organ donation that is we will actually
:24:27. > :24:30.have in Northern Ireland. Maybe the minister could tell us what
:24:30. > :24:35.developments he had with the rest of Britain and also with Dublin in
:24:35. > :24:40.terms if there is some way in which we can create greater efficiencies
:24:40. > :24:44.in matching donors? In terms of deseized donors we are at 30%,
:24:45. > :24:48.higher than any other part of the UK. We are not satisfied with being
:24:48. > :24:54.the best in the UK. We want to be Bert and continue to drive this up.
:24:54. > :24:57.We will work closely with others. We won't allow ourselves to be held
:24:57. > :25:00.back by others. The Health Minister, Edwin Poots.
:25:00. > :25:03.The Justice Minister, David Ford, got a pat on the back from the
:25:03. > :25:05.Speaker after he managed to get through an impressive 15 questions
:25:05. > :25:09.in his session today. Among the issues raised, a funding
:25:09. > :25:12.shortfall in the civil legal aid budget. Deputy Speaker the main
:25:12. > :25:16.course of the legal aid funding pressure relates to civil legal aid
:25:16. > :25:19.as the changes I have made to criminal legal aid are beginning to
:25:20. > :25:27.take effect. Expenditure on criminal legal aid has reduced from
:25:27. > :25:32.�60 million in 2009/10 and is further forecast to reduce to �35
:25:33. > :25:35.million by 2014/15. Civil legal aid expenditure has continued to
:25:36. > :25:40.increase, contributing to the shortfall in legal aid allocation
:25:41. > :25:49.for this year. Prior to devolution net expenditure on civil legal aid
:25:49. > :25:54.increased from �11.4 million in 199/2000 to �36 million and has
:25:54. > :25:58.continued to rise to �53.3 million in 2012. This underlines the
:25:58. > :26:06.importance of the civil legal aid reforms I'm bringing forward. With
:26:06. > :26:12.regard to the 2012/13 pressure a budget cover has been provided to
:26:12. > :26:16.cover the shortfall. We are working to identify further funding. We are
:26:16. > :26:20.in strapped economic climate, and there are inevitable job losses
:26:20. > :26:26.likely in relation to, I wanted to ask the minister when does he hope
:26:26. > :26:32.that he will be able to bring forward proposals in order to
:26:32. > :26:36.alleviate future problems? Well, I appreciate the point. When she
:26:36. > :26:39.talks about substantive proposals there are a number of substantive
:26:39. > :26:43.proposals underway at the moment to deal with the issue of civil legal
:26:43. > :26:49.aid expenditure. As far as this year is concerned, we, at this
:26:49. > :26:52.point, have effectively ensured 94% of the anticipated costs which
:26:52. > :26:57.given the very significant increase under anticipated in year, I
:26:57. > :27:02.believe shows good work being done by my officials. There is more work
:27:02. > :27:06.to be done. The substantive issue is to tackle the cost of civil
:27:06. > :27:09.legal aid. We have shown over the last two years that the efforts
:27:09. > :27:12.made to tackle criminal legal aid have resulted in reduced
:27:12. > :27:15.expenditure. With the support of the justice committee and the
:27:15. > :27:21.Assembly I believe we will be able to ensure we also tackle the civil
:27:21. > :27:26.side. Could I ask the minister, there has been a substantial
:27:26. > :27:29.backlog of payments to practitioners and, in consequence,
:27:30. > :27:36.the legal services commission have advised that some of that will not
:27:37. > :27:43.be cleared up until the new financial year on check runs which
:27:43. > :27:48.begin then. Can I ask the minister, will legal aid then be subject to
:27:48. > :27:54.late payment commercial debt facilities? Are those obtainable
:27:54. > :27:58.from the legal aid services in respect of late payments? Will that
:27:58. > :28:03.add to the cost? He declares a former interest which shows she
:28:03. > :28:08.better informed on the mechanics on receiving legal aid than I am. The
:28:08. > :28:11.reality is that I have highlighted having on taind �16 million against
:28:11. > :28:15.an unforeseen pressure of �22 million, there will be a very small
:28:15. > :28:19.sum of money not paid. I'm also well aware of the fact that in many
:28:19. > :28:24.cases lawyers do not submit their bills for legal aid for some months
:28:24. > :28:28.and some occasions some years after the event. I'm not sure if lawyers
:28:28. > :28:32.have their parents delayed by a matter of a week or two they would
:28:32. > :28:36.necessarily have any justified case for seeking additional payments.
:28:36. > :28:40.The Justice Minister, David Ford. Now, just before we go, we thought
:28:40. > :28:41.we'd let you know about a visitor who dropped in to pay a courtesy
:28:41. > :28:45.call at Parliament Buildings this afternoon.
:28:45. > :28:47.The President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq caused a bit of a
:28:47. > :28:50.stir when he arrived in the Great Hall.
:28:50. > :28:53.His Excellency Masoud Barzani was met by the Speaker, Willie Hay, and
:28:53. > :29:01.the Trade and Investment Minister, Arlene Foster, as part of a two-day
:29:01. > :29:03.visit organised by Invest NI. Smiles all round.
:29:03. > :29:06.Well, that's all the excitement for this evening.