Browse content similar to 05/02/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up on the programme: The | :00:25. | :00:27. | |
Health Minister moves to reassure the public following the latest | :00:27. | :00:37. | |
:00:37. | :00:39. | ||
horse meat controversy. Those who work there have no safety concerns | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
at the moment, this is more a matter of labelling and information | :00:43. | :00:48. | |
being put forward to the public. MLAs pledge to do more to tackle | :00:48. | :00:52. | |
those using social networks to spread hatred. I have been told to | :00:52. | :00:57. | |
go home on Twitter when I was actually sitting at home. I have | :00:57. | :01:03. | |
been told I have a foreign accent when I am in Ireland. And a man | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
who's dealt with issues of internet safety and exploitation - Jim | :01:06. | :01:12. | |
Gamble - joins me in the studio. The latest controversy over horse | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
meat prompted an urgent oral question to Edwin Poots this | :01:14. | :01:17. | |
afternoon. Speaking in his role as Public Safety Minister, Mr Poots | :01:17. | :01:25. | |
stressed there is no risk to human health. This is a matter for the | :01:25. | :01:30. | |
Food Standards Agency and district councils. Investigations are under | :01:30. | :01:37. | |
way in regard to product stored which tested positive for horse DNA. | :01:37. | :01:46. | |
I am not in a position to provide further details in relation to this | :01:46. | :01:53. | |
investigation because of possible legal proceedings. The FSA has said | :01:53. | :02:01. | |
this is not a food safety issue. When will the FSA alert him to the | :02:01. | :02:07. | |
concerns regarding DNA horsemeat within Northern Ireland? And can | :02:07. | :02:11. | |
the minister reassure the house everything has been done by his | :02:11. | :02:15. | |
department to make sure the authenticity of meat products | :02:15. | :02:25. | |
:02:25. | :02:26. | ||
coming through Northern Ireland are properly certified? The FSA was | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
informed that samples taken by the Republic of Ireland Department of | :02:32. | :02:41. | |
Agriculture showed levels of equine DNA up to 75%. On fourth February, | :02:41. | :02:50. | |
the FSA received samples. Of 12 samples taken, two tested positive | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
for equine DNA. What is absolutely clear here and what must be made | :02:55. | :03:02. | |
clear to the public that the standards who work in the FSA have | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
no food safety concerns that this point. It is more a matter of | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
labelling and information put forward to the public and a matter | :03:12. | :03:17. | |
of consumer confidence, but this is not a food safety issue. While it | :03:17. | :03:23. | |
might not be an issue for food safety, is there any implications | :03:23. | :03:33. | |
for public health? Can I appeal to the minister and to the relevant | :03:33. | :03:37. | |
authorities to try to get as much information out as quickly as | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
possible so we can alleviate people's fears? For at this minute | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
there are no issues of concern for public health. Horsemeat is | :03:47. | :03:53. | |
commonly used in other parts of Europe, however if people buy a | :03:53. | :03:58. | |
beefburger they expect a beefburger. If it contains horsemeat and it | :03:58. | :04:02. | |
says so, people can make their choices. The Public Safety Minister, | :04:02. | :04:09. | |
Edwin Poots. I'm joined now by our Political Correspondent, Martina | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
Purdy. First of all, how seriously is this issue being taken by | :04:12. | :04:15. | |
Ministers here at Stormont? Reputation is everything in terms | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
of the food industry and it is being taken very seriously. The | :04:19. | :04:26. | |
First Minister today said he wanted the police to investigate. The | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
agriculture minister has asked the agency to enhance its inspections | :04:30. | :04:35. | |
and has moved to reassure everyone that home-grown food in Northern | :04:35. | :04:41. | |
Ireland, local beef is very safe to eat, and there is traceability. The | :04:41. | :04:48. | |
agriculture committee heard a briefing from the Department of | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
Agriculture officials, interesting to hear the chairman of the | :04:51. | :04:55. | |
committee saying he sees this as a legacy of supermarkets driving down | :04:55. | :05:03. | |
food prices and that debate main run and run. There have also been | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
developments this evening on the flags issue at Stormont. What can | :05:06. | :05:09. | |
you tell us about that? There will be a review of the flying of the | :05:09. | :05:15. | |
Union flag and the number of days it flies. It flies on designated | :05:15. | :05:21. | |
days, around 15, but the issue erupted over the decision to | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
curtail the number of days to fly the flag. The Assembly commission | :05:26. | :05:33. | |
this evening, nationalists did not attend, but the alliance, DUP and | :05:33. | :05:38. | |
Ulster Unionist representatives decided to task officials to | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
consult about options for flying the Union flag. They will report | :05:43. | :05:47. | |
back in three months, not just about options for how many days the | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
flag should be flown. Also how the public consultation might be | :05:53. | :06:03. | |
handled. So what is the nationalist view of this? They are boycotting | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
that body and today Sinn Fein asked for a motion to be tabled with a | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
view to setting up an ad hoc committee to deal with flags, | :06:12. | :06:17. | |
emblems and language. There was knocked back and tonight I spoke to | :06:17. | :06:20. | |
a Sinn Fein representative who said they are questioning whether the | :06:20. | :06:30. | |
:06:30. | :06:31. | ||
decision is valid. We will have to wait and see how this turns out but | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
the DUP say there is progress being made and they are looking forward | :06:35. | :06:44. | |
to the report. Thank you. The dark side of the | :06:44. | :06:48. | |
internet was one of the themes of the day here on the hill. There | :06:48. | :06:51. | |
were two motions on the topic, the first expressing a desire to see | :06:51. | :06:53. | |
social networking sites better regulated by the law. When children | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
go out of their house, the parents want to know where they are going, | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
who will be with them, and who they are meeting. We need to view the | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
internet in much the same way. Hate crime is another aspect of social | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
networking sides which has created a space for those who perpetrate | :07:11. | :07:15. | |
hatred and violence attacks feeling they can do so with impunity. | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
would he care to comment on the fact that Sinn Fein website there | :07:19. | :07:27. | |
is now appeared deep excerpt "Boycott's all orange owned | :07:27. | :07:35. | |
businesses". Does she take the view that is an attempt to direct people | :07:35. | :07:40. | |
to discriminate in their business practices, and then its own way a | :07:40. | :07:45. | |
propagation of hatred? A as far as I am aware, that is not a Sinn Fein | :07:45. | :07:50. | |
website. If to be able to democratise communication and | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
remove barriers for free speech, to allow people to interact with other | :07:55. | :08:01. | |
people irrespective of any type of restriction is indeed a very | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
beautiful Thing, but with that right comes a responsibility to do | :08:07. | :08:13. | |
so in a respectful way and in a manner which is consistent with the | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
values and standards of modern society. I have been told to go | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
home on Twitter when I was actually sitting at home. I have been told I | :08:23. | :08:29. | |
have a foreign accent when I am in Ireland. One well known commentator | :08:29. | :08:33. | |
who rides for a well-known newspaper said on his Facebook page | :08:33. | :08:40. | |
that my whole party were a bunch of... The word can't be repeated in | :08:40. | :08:50. | |
this house. Is that for me? Acceptable? Is it smart? Mr | :08:50. | :08:57. | |
Humphrey seems to think so. You do think so? That is sad. Everyone in | :08:57. | :09:06. | |
this house, Facebook and Twitter has been used to describe us in | :09:06. | :09:13. | |
derogatory terms and I support people's right to be able to | :09:13. | :09:19. | |
express themselves. I do not support for social media to be used | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
in an illegal form and their members of this house where | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
prosecutions have been brought because it has overstepped the line | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
and it is in that respect better regulation I support because | :09:30. | :09:35. | |
undoubtedly Facebook is slow in my review to respond to the way in | :09:35. | :09:42. | |
which it is used by individuals of whatever particular grievances. | :09:42. | :09:48. | |
There have been slow to respond and there forums have been used to | :09:48. | :09:53. | |
Inside violence. I have come under serious abuse on the social | :09:53. | :10:02. | |
networking field, and somewhat from other MLAs in this chamber. I know | :10:02. | :10:09. | |
we are in the cut and thrust of politics, but it is not always the | :10:09. | :10:19. | |
:10:19. | :10:20. | ||
most appropriate talk. The platform has been created on which abusive, | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
threatening the use can be easily voiced to individuals and groups. | :10:24. | :10:28. | |
Recently we have seen a mixture of what can be described as legal and | :10:28. | :10:34. | |
illegal activities in social media in Northern Ireland, whipping up a | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
frenzy of hatred and mistrust. We have heard stories about people | :10:38. | :10:43. | |
taking their own lives after a sickening and horrible messages are | :10:43. | :10:48. | |
left on their social media pages. The Alliance Party's Stewart | :10:48. | :10:54. | |
Dickson. Now staying on a similar theme, the First and Deputy First | :10:54. | :10:57. | |
Ministers have agreed to take the lead on a strategy to help children | :10:58. | :11:00. | |
enjoy the internet safely. A cross- party motion asked the Assembly to | :11:01. | :11:03. | |
recognise the dangers the internet can pose to children and to build | :11:04. | :11:06. | |
on the work already underway at both Westminster and Stormont. | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
internet and social networking is a wonderful tool and the digital | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
revolution is as important as all the period of technological change | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
in our history. We can't imagine life without Facebook, Twitter, e- | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
mail, the internet and the way it enriches lives and are so much part | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
of day-to-day life, but the internet and social media has a | :11:30. | :11:35. | |
more sinister side and there are risks to young people in the online | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
world. I am indebted to the NSPCC for the briefing paper on this | :11:41. | :11:47. | |
issue which categorises some of these challenges into content Hahn, | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
things Basie, conduct issues - of the way they behave, and contact | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
harm - people they may meet. I am one of those mothers who refuses to | :11:56. | :12:06. | |
:12:06. | :12:06. | ||
allow her children to have a Facebook profile, yet 88% of people | :12:07. | :12:16. | |
use Facebook just five to minimum age of 18. It is often the case | :12:16. | :12:22. | |
that young people know more about how to work online than parents do, | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
yet parents need to be responsible and find out more about how to | :12:26. | :12:32. | |
protect young people and provide help and guidance. The culture, | :12:32. | :12:41. | |
arts and leisure committee are looking at education and safe use | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
of the internet for young people and parents. That is part of our | :12:45. | :12:51. | |
investigation into the constituency around child protection. The | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
internet is an amazing tool for everyone and it is really for | :12:56. | :13:00. | |
sharing information and learning, but society is rapidly changing in | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
terms of how many people socialise and many in this chamber used | :13:06. | :13:12. | |
Facebook and Twitter, but there are also other social platforms such as | :13:12. | :13:16. | |
Google Plus, YouTube, and many others. The internet is becoming | :13:16. | :13:20. | |
much more accessible through tablets and smartphones and with | :13:20. | :13:28. | |
the introduction of 3G. This is for the benefit of a faster and broader | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
internet, and therein lies potential dangers including | :13:33. | :13:38. | |
grooming and access to an appropriate content as well as the | :13:38. | :13:43. | |
risks of self generation of images. This can have a devastating effect | :13:43. | :13:47. | |
on a child in his or her development. The common message I | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
hear on this issue is that we need to be talking to children with a | :13:52. | :13:57. | |
very clear message on internet safety and we need to have been | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
making parents, teachers and careers aware of the signs and | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
symptoms of cyber bullying. For the many children who benefit from | :14:06. | :14:12. | |
internet use, there are those who are subjected to horrific examples | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
of cyber bullying and exploitation. The approach should be one which | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
empowers parents and carers to be able to engage with confidence with | :14:22. | :14:27. | |
the new medium. Taking schools as an example, there is a general | :14:27. | :14:31. | |
consensus from those I have spoken to that we need to be providing | :14:31. | :14:36. | |
more education on the responsible use of the technology. Jim Gamble | :14:36. | :14:41. | |
advocates prioritising which aspects refocus resources upon and | :14:41. | :14:46. | |
suggests a curriculum is built around this with regards to online | :14:46. | :14:52. | |
conduct, content and contact. Does a child, parent and Karen know the | :14:52. | :14:57. | |
answers to questions such as how to block online, have to support a | :14:57. | :15:04. | |
friend, have to report to were responsible adult, how to report to | :15:04. | :15:14. | |
:15:14. | :15:33. | ||
He is spaeging to the prism of someone who is younger than most | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
parents. As a parent myself when this issue first arose that the | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
vast majority of over 50 this is a complete nightmare. Parents are in | :15:42. | :15:45. | |
no position to control their children's internet access because | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
they don't have the scientific or knowledge to do so. Therefore, it's | :15:50. | :15:55. | |
uncouple bent upon society to place restrictions at a general level so | :15:55. | :15:58. | |
parents aren't being forced into this situation where they have to | :15:58. | :16:02. | |
take on something they haven't a clue to do anything with. | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
The DUP's Jim Wells. The motion was passed with | :16:04. | :16:06. | |
unanimous support. Jim Gamble, the former Chief | :16:06. | :16:08. | |
Cxecutive of CEOP, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection | :16:08. | :16:17. | |
Centre, is with me now. Time and again today MLAs made the point | :16:17. | :16:22. | |
that parents need to be stpobl for their children's online activities. | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
They know very little about the internet and social networking | :16:26. | :16:30. | |
sites. What is the answer to that conundrum? The Assembly has it | :16:30. | :16:34. | |
within their gift to support parents more effectively. I have | :16:34. | :16:39. | |
been talking to the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister | :16:39. | :16:42. | |
about this issue. I believe it's the partnership between education, | :16:42. | :16:47. | |
schools, children themselves and parents that allows you to create | :16:47. | :16:51. | |
this cycle where homeworks over a period of time children and parents | :16:51. | :16:55. | |
learn together. You need to educate children about internet safety much | :16:55. | :17:00. | |
you also need to Keat parents about what to look out for in terms of | :17:00. | :17:05. | |
protecting their children online? You give the children a homework | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
that they are to deliver with their parent to explain something about | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
social media. To get feed back from the parent so that they understand | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
privacy settings or terms or conditions on a social networking | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
site. As you build the parental competence in this area, and that | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
moves on, you change the emphasis towards the parent sharing safety | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
information with the child. Jim We wills made the point that for | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
parents of a certain age this is a bit of a nightmare. It's a big | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
hurdle for lots of people to overcome? It is. Today is Safer | :17:40. | :17:46. | |
Internet Day we have to applaud the Assembly for taking time out to | :17:46. | :17:52. | |
give this the attention it deserves. On Safer Internet Day you hear | :17:52. | :17:55. | |
white noise and sometimes it turns into a photo opportunity. People | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
will hear about the risks. What is it that parents need to concentrate | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
on? Bullying. Bullying undermines the quality of life for children. | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
Children in this country and across the bored ver actually been bullied | :18:10. | :18:15. | |
to death -- boarder have actually been bullied to death. That is | :18:15. | :18:20. | |
everybody's business. You talk about the three Cs, conduct, | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
content and contact? Absolutely. How they treat other people online. | :18:24. | :18:31. | |
The content they create by sexting images or pornographic material | :18:31. | :18:36. | |
which is ill advised to do. Contact, people they will meet or go offline | :18:36. | :18:43. | |
to meet. Schools are ahead of the game. They focus on the three Cs we | :18:43. | :18:47. | |
have to put the detail into the hands of parents so they are | :18:47. | :18:49. | |
empowered to work with their children. Is your message to | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
parents is that they don't have a choice. They have to take it | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
seriously whether they want to or not? They can be a good parent or a | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
bad parent. To be a good parent you need to do what our parents did | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
many years ago, sitting down and talking with your child. Learning | :19:05. | :19:10. | |
the things that will have an impact on how safely they live their lives. | :19:10. | :19:14. | |
There was discussion last night about the ramifications of the | :19:14. | :19:16. | |
National Crime Agency not getting the green light to operate in | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
Northern Ireland. What are the implications as far as child abuse | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
online is concerned if that green light doesn't happen? I heard the | :19:25. | :19:29. | |
debate. I heard it stated if it doesn't happen we will not be able | :19:29. | :19:32. | |
to protect our children because Child Exploitation and Online | :19:32. | :19:36. | |
Protection Centre won't operate here. We never deployed officers in | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
the field. We supported education inititives and provided information | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
to local police and local child protection teams so they could | :19:44. | :19:49. | |
deliver local support and protection for kids. That hasn't | :19:49. | :19:55. | |
changed as far as I'm aware. They need political reconciliation about | :19:55. | :19:57. | |
accessing National Crime Agency services here in Northern Ireland. | :19:57. | :20:00. | |
Local is the key to understanding the protection we need in this part | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
of the world? Absolutely. Local accountability and local | :20:05. | :20:08. | |
information delivered to local protection teams. That is how you | :20:08. | :20:13. | |
do it best. That is what CEOP has always done well. Thank you very | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
much for joining us tonight. Earlier today, the Health Minister | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
announced he's bringing forward a public consultation on how best to | :20:20. | :20:22. | |
maximise organ donation rates. During a visit to Belfast City | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
Hospital with the First and Deputy First Ministers, Edwin Poots said | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
he wants to gauge opinion on moving to an opt-out scheme. | :20:28. | :20:30. | |
That means people will automatically give their consent to | :20:30. | :20:32. | |
donating their organs unless they specifically say otherwise. | :20:33. | :20:35. | |
Meantime, the issue of organ donation was also a hot topic | :20:35. | :20:42. | |
during this afternoon's health questions. I'm pleased to inform | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
the member that the recent NHS blood and transplant activity date | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
for Northern Ireland indicates that transplants for Northern Ireland | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
residents have increased in recent years whilst the number of people | :20:53. | :20:58. | |
on the active transplant waiting list is falling. It is note worthy | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
that 30% of the Northern Ireland population have now added their | :21:02. | :21:06. | |
name to the organ donor register. This is a huge achievement, I | :21:06. | :21:10. | |
recognise that more needs to be done as there are still around 200 | :21:10. | :21:15. | |
people actively waiting for an organ transplant. In June 2012 I | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
established the Northern Ireland Committee for organ donation and | :21:18. | :21:24. | |
transplantation which is made up of commissioners, clinicians, NHS | :21:24. | :21:27. | |
representatives and the voluntary sector to ensure the momentum of | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
progress in the field of organ donation is maintained and built | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
upon. My department has also been working with NHS BT in conjunction | :21:37. | :21:40. | |
with the other health UK administrations in the development | :21:40. | :21:46. | |
of a new UK organ donation and transplantation strategy designed | :21:46. | :21:52. | |
to build upon the momentum of the original organ donor task force. I | :21:52. | :22:00. | |
suspect to have a draft within the next few weeks. As there is a | :22:00. | :22:05. | |
strange -- as there is sustained interest in the introduction of an | :22:05. | :22:09. | |
opt-out system I'm proposing a public survey oned a tuets towards | :22:09. | :22:14. | |
an opt-out system and the views of the transplant-related charities, | :22:14. | :22:19. | |
donor families and those on waiting lists and the health service | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
community will be sought. Can I welcome the fact that the Health | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
Minister, First Minister and Deputy First Minister recognised this | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
morning, conveniently enough, the need for change. As the Minister | :22:30. | :22:35. | |
will be aware I'm bringing a private members bill to this House | :22:35. | :22:39. | |
and today is a very personal day for me as its the fouth anniversary | :22:39. | :22:43. | |
of my son's transplant. Does the Minister support the broad policy | :22:43. | :22:48. | |
intent of my Bill and that a soft opt-out system is the best solution | :22:48. | :22:54. | |
to help save lives here in Northern Ireland? Willing, this isn't | :22:54. | :22:59. | |
something that my interest has been aroused in recently. One of my | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
relatives is actually one of the longest surviving donor transplants | :23:04. | :23:09. | |
in Northern Ireland. Last year, my best man's sister was buried | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
because she didn't get a liver transplant early enough. And, these | :23:15. | :23:21. | |
are all things that we have grave concerns about. That is why | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
whenever David Cameron came to visit here, the only time he came | :23:24. | :23:30. | |
to visit here, that I raised the UK of the -- interest of the UK | :23:30. | :23:33. | |
introducing a scheme right across the UK. That would be the most | :23:33. | :23:38. | |
successful scheme given the numbers of people potential participants | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
across the UK. I further raised it with the Health Minister in England | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
and he indicated that they weren't prepared to move forward at that | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
time. We have been having conversations with our Welsh | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
counterparts on how to move this forward. Indeed, we have been | :23:58. | :24:04. | |
pursuing the issue in recent days. In all of that, I believe that we | :24:04. | :24:10. | |
can continue to drive organ donation upwards. I do believe that | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
an opt-out scheme can help to maximise that. I believe that an | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
opt-out scheme with a strong educational emphasis will actually | :24:20. | :24:23. | |
fully maximise the number of organ donation that is we will actually | :24:23. | :24:27. | |
have in Northern Ireland. Maybe the minister could tell us what | :24:27. | :24:30. | |
developments he had with the rest of Britain and also with Dublin in | :24:30. | :24:35. | |
terms if there is some way in which we can create greater efficiencies | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
in matching donors? In terms of deseized donors we are at 30%, | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
higher than any other part of the UK. We are not satisfied with being | :24:45. | :24:48. | |
the best in the UK. We want to be Bert and continue to drive this up. | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
We will work closely with others. We won't allow ourselves to be held | :24:54. | :24:57. | |
back by others. The Health Minister, Edwin Poots. | :24:57. | :25:00. | |
The Justice Minister, David Ford, got a pat on the back from the | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
Speaker after he managed to get through an impressive 15 questions | :25:03. | :25:05. | |
in his session today. Among the issues raised, a funding | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
shortfall in the civil legal aid budget. Deputy Speaker the main | :25:09. | :25:12. | |
course of the legal aid funding pressure relates to civil legal aid | :25:12. | :25:16. | |
as the changes I have made to criminal legal aid are beginning to | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
take effect. Expenditure on criminal legal aid has reduced from | :25:20. | :25:27. | |
�60 million in 2009/10 and is further forecast to reduce to �35 | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
million by 2014/15. Civil legal aid expenditure has continued to | :25:33. | :25:35. | |
increase, contributing to the shortfall in legal aid allocation | :25:36. | :25:40. | |
for this year. Prior to devolution net expenditure on civil legal aid | :25:41. | :25:49. | |
increased from �11.4 million in 199/2000 to �36 million and has | :25:49. | :25:54. | |
continued to rise to �53.3 million in 2012. This underlines the | :25:54. | :25:58. | |
importance of the civil legal aid reforms I'm bringing forward. With | :25:58. | :26:06. | |
regard to the 2012/13 pressure a budget cover has been provided to | :26:06. | :26:12. | |
cover the shortfall. We are working to identify further funding. We are | :26:12. | :26:16. | |
in strapped economic climate, and there are inevitable job losses | :26:16. | :26:20. | |
likely in relation to, I wanted to ask the minister when does he hope | :26:20. | :26:26. | |
that he will be able to bring forward proposals in order to | :26:26. | :26:32. | |
alleviate future problems? Well, I appreciate the point. When she | :26:32. | :26:36. | |
talks about substantive proposals there are a number of substantive | :26:36. | :26:39. | |
proposals underway at the moment to deal with the issue of civil legal | :26:39. | :26:43. | |
aid expenditure. As far as this year is concerned, we, at this | :26:43. | :26:49. | |
point, have effectively ensured 94% of the anticipated costs which | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
given the very significant increase under anticipated in year, I | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
believe shows good work being done by my officials. There is more work | :26:57. | :27:02. | |
to be done. The substantive issue is to tackle the cost of civil | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
legal aid. We have shown over the last two years that the efforts | :27:06. | :27:09. | |
made to tackle criminal legal aid have resulted in reduced | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
expenditure. With the support of the justice committee and the | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
Assembly I believe we will be able to ensure we also tackle the civil | :27:15. | :27:21. | |
side. Could I ask the minister, there has been a substantial | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
backlog of payments to practitioners and, in consequence, | :27:26. | :27:29. | |
the legal services commission have advised that some of that will not | :27:30. | :27:36. | |
be cleared up until the new financial year on check runs which | :27:37. | :27:43. | |
begin then. Can I ask the minister, will legal aid then be subject to | :27:43. | :27:48. | |
late payment commercial debt facilities? Are those obtainable | :27:48. | :27:54. | |
from the legal aid services in respect of late payments? Will that | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
add to the cost? He declares a former interest which shows she | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
better informed on the mechanics on receiving legal aid than I am. The | :28:03. | :28:08. | |
reality is that I have highlighted having on taind �16 million against | :28:08. | :28:11. | |
an unforeseen pressure of �22 million, there will be a very small | :28:11. | :28:15. | |
sum of money not paid. I'm also well aware of the fact that in many | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
cases lawyers do not submit their bills for legal aid for some months | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
and some occasions some years after the event. I'm not sure if lawyers | :28:24. | :28:28. | |
have their parents delayed by a matter of a week or two they would | :28:28. | :28:32. | |
necessarily have any justified case for seeking additional payments. | :28:32. | :28:36. | |
The Justice Minister, David Ford. Now, just before we go, we thought | :28:36. | :28:40. | |
we'd let you know about a visitor who dropped in to pay a courtesy | :28:40. | :28:41. | |
call at Parliament Buildings this afternoon. | :28:41. | :28:45. | |
The President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq caused a bit of a | :28:45. | :28:47. | |
stir when he arrived in the Great Hall. | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
His Excellency Masoud Barzani was met by the Speaker, Willie Hay, and | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
the Trade and Investment Minister, Arlene Foster, as part of a two-day | :28:53. | :29:01. | |
visit organised by Invest NI. Smiles all round. | :29:01. | :29:03. | |
Well, that's all the excitement for this evening. | :29:03. | :29:06. |