:00:33. > :00:36.Hello, and welcome to Stormont Today. And while Tara takes a well-
:00:36. > :00:40.earned break, I'll be your guide through the high points of the
:00:40. > :00:50.Assembly proceedings. Last week, the Oscars, this week, yet another
:00:50. > :00:58.
:00:58. > :01:04.His girlfriend was there, but we were not.
:01:04. > :01:09.Pack your bags - mart inMcGuinness and Peter Robinson were on tour.
:01:09. > :01:14.Here's where you'll see them... Northern India, Dubai, China.
:01:14. > :01:20.all strictly business of course. With me throughout is Professor
:01:20. > :01:25.Michael O' Flaherty of the Human Rights Commission.
:01:25. > :01:29.A stark message was delivered to our lawmakers today - laws and
:01:29. > :01:34.regulations are falling short when it comes to protecting older
:01:34. > :01:37.residents in nursing homes. Indeed, a catalogue of concerns was
:01:37. > :01:41.revealed in a new report from the Human Rights Commission. Your
:01:41. > :01:51.report in defence of dignity found serious shortcomings when it came
:01:51. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :01:54.to caring for our elderly. Yes, indeed. There are somewhere between
:01:54. > :01:59.10-11 million people living in nursing homes in Northern Ireland.
:01:59. > :02:07.We all know somebody who is in a nursing home. We ourselves may end
:02:07. > :02:12.up in one. There have been concerns reaching the commission over the
:02:12. > :02:17.years about some inappropriate behaviour that undermines dignity.
:02:17. > :02:21.It's on this basis we set about the study. We found, on one hand, low-
:02:21. > :02:26.grade abuse and denial of the basic dignity of the old people, on the
:02:26. > :02:32.other hand, serious concerns about matters such as getting your last
:02:32. > :02:36.meal at 4.30pm, not eating again until 10.00am the next morning, the
:02:36. > :02:40.use of incontinence pads instead of bringing people to the toilet, use
:02:40. > :02:43.of inappropriate restraints and so on. A lot of concern raised through
:02:43. > :02:47.this trawl for evidence and an investigation in a number of holes
:02:47. > :02:50.as well as gaps in the law and procedures and regulations where we
:02:50. > :02:54.need to put human rights in the centre of the story. The Minister
:02:54. > :02:58.has been saying these cases have been dealt with. Is that correct?
:02:58. > :03:05.welcome the fact the Minister has engaged the issue so extensively
:03:05. > :03:08.today. He attended our launch today, spoke so effectively. He made a
:03:08. > :03:17.commitment he'd look seriously at what the commission has found. That
:03:17. > :03:22.is a good starting point. He -- uses the term historic. Nine out of
:03:22. > :03:26.the 80 cases we felt the immediate risk of harm to an individual was
:03:26. > :03:30.such we should bring the individuals directly to the trust.
:03:30. > :03:34.Some of the matters were historic, but the underlying patterns and
:03:34. > :03:38.lack of regulation hasn't gone away. Thank you. Here's what the Health
:03:38. > :03:42.Minister said to me when I bumped into him in the great hall a little
:03:42. > :03:46.while ago. We're talking about a very few facilities, that there are
:03:46. > :03:50.thousands of staff in nursing homes that provide really good quality
:03:50. > :03:53.care in hundreds of nursing homes across Northern Ireland for very
:03:53. > :03:57.many people and many of the families recognise that and
:03:57. > :04:01.appreciate that standard of care. Of course, this cannot be tolerated
:04:01. > :04:06.even if it is a very small number of cases, and we will go after
:04:06. > :04:12.those nursing homes. We'll still provide the best quality of care.
:04:12. > :04:17.That's why we have an independent regulatory body. That's why we have
:04:17. > :04:20.had 1,100 inspections of the nursing homes last year, so we do
:04:20. > :04:24.take these matters seriously in providing the best quality of care
:04:24. > :04:29.for elderly people. You heard the Minister there. He's going to go
:04:29. > :04:32.after these homes that don't ensure dignity for the elderly. Are you
:04:32. > :04:39.satisfied? Are you reassured? That's encouraging, but more is
:04:39. > :04:43.needed. We need to change the regulation as well. Now you can't
:04:43. > :04:48.restrain an older person in a home without good cause. The regulations
:04:48. > :04:52.don't define what restraint is. We had one case in which a nursing
:04:52. > :04:55.home staff member shoved a table against a chair. The person was
:04:55. > :05:01.effectively a prisoner. When we challenged that was restraint and
:05:01. > :05:06.had to comply with the rules, the staff member said, "I had no idea
:05:06. > :05:10.this was restraint". So we need a definition of that we need a
:05:10. > :05:14.definition of what making a best decision in the case of the
:05:14. > :05:19.resident means - in some cases, like dementia, the person cannot
:05:19. > :05:22.make their own mind up, so you have to decide what's best for them. But
:05:22. > :05:27.there is no guidance in the regulation of what best interests
:05:27. > :05:31.looks like and how it would work this practising. We need a change
:05:31. > :05:36.in the regime. We'll certainly keep an eye on what they do about those
:05:36. > :05:38.regulation. There was a big Assembly or ray for
:05:38. > :05:44.Hollywood golfer Rory McIlroy this morning. He became the world's
:05:44. > :05:48.number one golfer at the weekend, and our First and Deputy First
:05:48. > :05:53.Ministers, delighted at the news, congratulated him along with other
:05:53. > :05:57.MLAs, but while he was on top form, one member claimed our executive
:05:57. > :06:00.efforts to promote Northern Ireland as a golfing destination was way
:06:00. > :06:04.below par. What an ambassador, Mr Speaker. He did it with the support
:06:04. > :06:12.of his father Gerry, his mother Rosie. His girlfriend was there,
:06:12. > :06:19.but we were not, Mr Speaker, and Mr Speaker, I was in Valencia in 1982
:06:19. > :06:21.reporting on Northern Ireland in the World Cup finals when the late
:06:21. > :06:26.Harold McKusker lambasted the tourist board and everybody else
:06:26. > :06:32.who was not there to support the team. 30 years on I make this plea
:06:32. > :06:41.- let's stop making this mistake. I know the tourism Minister has said
:06:41. > :06:51.she's reserved half a million pounds to promote Northern Ireland
:06:51. > :06:51.
:06:51. > :06:57.at Port Rush. May I suggest she takes the BA flight tomorrow and
:06:57. > :07:01.send an executive where Rory tees off as world golf's number one
:07:01. > :07:07.player and Northern Ireland's number one ambassador. The reality
:07:07. > :07:13.is there has been a considerable amount of support from Invest MNI
:07:13. > :07:20.including it going live on the PGA tour which runs until June. The
:07:20. > :07:26.reception that was held on the 9th of January in conjunction with
:07:26. > :07:30.David Faherty with the executives at Pebble Beach - we'll also - the
:07:30. > :07:39.investment and I will also be hosting hospitality at the US Open
:07:39. > :07:44.putting us pretty much at the heart of golf and world golf. Leaving
:07:44. > :07:48.aside the petty sniping of Mr Nesbitt in relation to this I would
:07:48. > :07:54.like to say this House is united as party. We're sending out a clear
:07:54. > :08:00.signal, well done, Rory. You have done us all proud. In case Mike
:08:00. > :08:06.Nesbitt didn't give the message, Peter Robinson was to drive it
:08:06. > :08:10.again home in Question Time. Peter Robinson is off travelling in the
:08:10. > :08:16.next few months. In support of the economy, the Deputy First Minister
:08:16. > :08:21.and I will be participating at a number of programmes in the coming
:08:21. > :08:25.months, including to North America, India, Dubai and even China. We
:08:25. > :08:29.believe that there is an important role that inward investment plays
:08:29. > :08:33.in growing the Northern Ireland economy and we welcome the
:08:33. > :08:36.opportunity to support, invest in Northern Ireland's activities in
:08:36. > :08:41.overseas markets. Our first overseas visit of the year will be
:08:41. > :08:47.to North America where we'll meet with a number of potential and
:08:47. > :08:52.existing investors and key business influencers in Washington, DC and
:08:52. > :08:56.Canada. North MAmerica is of course a significant source of FDI and
:08:56. > :09:01.we'll take the opportunity to reinforce the message we have a
:09:01. > :09:04.superb track record in supporting investors to grow Northern Ireland.
:09:04. > :09:06.We'll share this at the highest levels within the Obama
:09:06. > :09:11.administration. We're scheduled to meet with the President and
:09:11. > :09:16.Secretary of State Clinton around the St Patrick's Day celebration.
:09:17. > :09:22.We also plan to lead and invest an Northern Ireland Trade and Invest
:09:22. > :09:28.mission set to visit India and the united Arab Emirates in April. This
:09:28. > :09:32.will be part of the Opportunity India campaign and will be the
:09:32. > :09:39.first mission to visit the market in 2012. Indian companies are major
:09:39. > :09:42.investors in the United Kingdom and a growing source of FDI. Again,
:09:42. > :09:44.we'll communicate the message the Northern Ireland executive is pro-
:09:45. > :09:50.business and committed to growing the economic. We'll continue to
:09:50. > :09:53.look for opportunities to support the economy Minister and invest
:09:53. > :10:01.Northern Ireland in order to attract high-quality investment.
:10:01. > :10:07.Will the First Minister join me in congratulating the successes over
:10:07. > :10:15.the weekend by Rory McIlroy? Does he believe this success can be used
:10:15. > :10:18.to help Invest Northern Ireland? Invest Northern Ireland plan to
:10:18. > :10:23.arrange to promote golfing activities. For the third year it
:10:23. > :10:27.will be involved in corporate hospitality at the US Open, which
:10:27. > :10:30.is being held in San Francisco, and they will have that corporate
:10:30. > :10:38.hospitality in each of the four days of the competition. Beyond the
:10:38. > :10:44.US Open, Invest Northern Ireland is advertising on the PGA tour dot com
:10:44. > :10:50.website this week. Indeed, I hear from our colleagues at Tourism
:10:50. > :10:56.Ireland that they have produced a new 60-second commercial featuring
:10:56. > :11:01.Rory McIlroy which will air on the Golf Channel this week. I has that
:11:01. > :11:07.excellent commercial line from Rory saying how much he loves being from
:11:07. > :11:10.Northern Ireland. And all of that helps problems as far as
:11:10. > :11:12.international investors and tourists are concerned. On a more
:11:13. > :11:16.sombre note, it was the Health Minister next, and the first
:11:16. > :11:21.question he faced was on his department's attempts to reduce the
:11:21. > :11:25.suicide rates. The Protect Life strategy was launched in the midst
:11:25. > :11:30.of unprecedented increases in suicide rates. This has had almost
:11:30. > :11:34.an immediate impact on the potential for achieving the 15%
:11:34. > :11:38.reduction in suicide. The reduction target is based on a three-year
:11:38. > :11:42.rolling average. Therefore it will not be known for definite until
:11:42. > :11:49.December 2013 whether the target has been met. However, given recent
:11:49. > :11:58.trends in suicide rates, it is most unlikely that target will be
:11:58. > :12:03.achieved. Suicide is a sad issue and many social factors beyond the
:12:03. > :12:11.Protect Life strategy influence suicide. The Northern Ireland Home
:12:11. > :12:15.Office noticed the suicide rate alone is difficult to - in view of
:12:15. > :12:23.this, new objectives and measures are being developed which will
:12:23. > :12:26.allow for a more balanced assessment of Protect Life whilst
:12:26. > :12:36.retaining the goal of reducing suicide this will set out a
:12:36. > :12:37.
:12:37. > :12:43.strategy that is to be published Can I thank the Minister for his
:12:43. > :12:48.answer. Can he outline, is he confident that the measures he now
:12:48. > :12:54.has in place will ensure the 15 % reduction will be met in the coming
:12:54. > :13:00.years? Regrettably, as it would appear in this moment in time, that
:13:00. > :13:05.will not be the case. There may be a range of reasons associated with
:13:05. > :13:15.it. However, actions that have been taken had been hoped for and I
:13:15. > :13:24.
:13:24. > :13:29.trust they will prove to be helpful in terms of the work being done.
:13:29. > :13:34.Speaker, question number three. I can confirm there are no plans to
:13:34. > :13:42.sell Belfast City Hospital. Can I ask the Minister what discussions,
:13:42. > :13:46.if any, have taken place concerning the City Hospital site, including
:13:46. > :13:56.the medical school, Cancer Centre and blood transfusion centre with
:13:56. > :13:57.
:13:57. > :14:06.the private sector, either for sale and leaseback or private, public
:14:06. > :14:16.partnership? If these have taken place, I am not aware of it and I
:14:16. > :14:26.had not approved it. What about resources? Can that assist in the
:14:26. > :14:28.
:14:28. > :14:33.care of the elderly? Improving a regulation does not cost a penny.
:14:33. > :14:42.Changing the culture of the nursing home sector does not cost anything
:14:42. > :14:49.at all. In other cases, it is about reallocation of current resources.
:14:49. > :14:59.Ultimately, there is going to be a need for some resources. We, as the
:14:59. > :15:00.
:15:00. > :15:10.Human Rights Commission, have no confidence in our finances. -- had
:15:10. > :15:11.
:15:11. > :15:19.no competence in Abbey's finances. However, if extra resources are
:15:19. > :15:29.needed, can you think of anything better to spend it on than the
:15:29. > :15:36.elderly? Main points of the Bill be guarding marine waters were set out
:15:36. > :15:46.today. It provides greater protection for the marine
:15:46. > :15:52.environment. It will establish a streamlined system of marine
:15:52. > :16:01.planning. It will introduce conservation measures that will
:16:01. > :16:07.seek to ensure that biodiversity is protected and international and
:16:07. > :16:11.European commitment are met. Northern Ireland supports Heart Of
:16:11. > :16:21.Our biodiversity, including a threatened marine animals and
:16:21. > :16:23.
:16:23. > :16:30.plants. Some of the species have only been discovered. 22 species of
:16:30. > :16:35.sponges have just been discovered. Stephen Agnew says the Bill does
:16:35. > :16:40.not go far enough. He is with me now. What is wrong with the bill?
:16:40. > :16:45.One thing that does not appear in the Bill is marine management
:16:45. > :16:53.organisation. At the moment, five different departments have bury its
:16:53. > :16:58.responsibilities in terms of marine management. It is unwieldly and
:16:58. > :17:08.expensive. Critics would say it would add to bureaucracy and the
:17:08. > :17:10.
:17:10. > :17:20.cost. It will bring those strands into one organisation. Eight recent
:17:20. > :17:23.
:17:23. > :17:28.report -- a recent report says the upfront cost would be around
:17:28. > :17:32.�650,000. We will save �200,000 a year by the rationalisation of all
:17:32. > :17:37.these different strands of work. But is the money argument, but what
:17:37. > :17:43.difference would an organisation like this make? What it means is
:17:44. > :17:47.you have one body with experts and a clear policy objective of
:17:47. > :17:55.promotion, protection and enhancement of the marine
:17:55. > :18:05.environment and biodiversity. We have had the situation which has
:18:05. > :18:08.
:18:08. > :18:13.been to date a permissive state of regulation. We are in threat of
:18:13. > :18:20.European sanctions because of the damage that has been done to the
:18:21. > :18:26.reefs. We cannot keep doing what we have been doing. Globally, we are
:18:27. > :18:30.losing up to 200 plant and animal species a day and if we do not stop
:18:30. > :18:35.this biodiversity loss, it is not any conservation that will lose out,
:18:35. > :18:45.but the fishing industry as well. One do you like about the bill? It
:18:45. > :18:49.
:18:49. > :18:54.does include offences against damaging and marine areas. Yes,
:18:55. > :18:59.there are protection zones. We need to see what those are really like,
:18:59. > :19:03.and the Minister has said there will not be a one size fits all
:19:03. > :19:11.approach. That is good as long as we see the Right protections in the
:19:11. > :19:15.right place. Thank you. Would you fancy moving to Canada? My parents
:19:15. > :19:24.took to the idea back in the 1970s, but I made it back to my native
:19:24. > :19:29.land, a refugee from the Canadian winter. But it is the land of
:19:29. > :19:33.opportunity, so says the Canadian High Commissioner. There are about
:19:33. > :19:43.2.5 million people in Canada who have direct links back to Northern
:19:43. > :19:46.
:19:46. > :19:54.Ireland. There is a new mine that will create around 350 new jobs.
:19:54. > :19:56.There are connections between our universities and there are huge
:19:57. > :20:02.opportunities on the Canadian Studies Programme for Irish
:20:02. > :20:09.students to go to Canada. What kind of opportunities are there for
:20:09. > :20:13.people to work in Canada? We had a very good programme between Canada
:20:13. > :20:19.and the United Kingdom which is the Youth Experience programme. Young
:20:19. > :20:22.people can go to Canada for two years. There are lots of jobs,
:20:22. > :20:31.especially in the construction industry. There are opportunities
:20:31. > :20:38.in the tourism industry. A lot of people go to ski resorts, golf
:20:38. > :20:43.resorts and they can work and lived there. There are jobs in the
:20:43. > :20:46.aerospace industry. There is a rich array of choices for young people
:20:46. > :20:56.wanting to go to Canada, and some people who want to go for the
:20:56. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:07.longer period. Our First Minister and betty macro turd -- and Deputy
:21:07. > :21:07.
:21:07. > :21:16.First Minister are heading out to Canada. What can they expect?
:21:16. > :21:22.that there are a lot of tourism opportunities. We need to open up
:21:22. > :21:32.their access between Northern Ireland and Canada. Golf will be a
:21:32. > :21:35.
:21:35. > :21:45.huge attraction and the countryside, the culture here. It all speaks
:21:45. > :21:45.
:21:45. > :21:55.well to Canadians. But as a -- let's look at Our weekly round-up
:21:55. > :21:57.
:21:57. > :22:06.of the committees. A focus is the justice committee. This is not a
:22:06. > :22:09.new-fangled notion. The reality is it gives the opportunity to.
:22:09. > :22:17.Evidence that the court would not otherwise here about major
:22:17. > :22:27.criminals. You can understand what the public perspective can come
:22:27. > :22:32.
:22:32. > :22:38.from in terms of two high-profile cases recently. The confidence in
:22:39. > :22:48.BPP s has been rocked by that. Acting that is undeniable. People
:22:49. > :22:55.
:22:55. > :22:58.are looking for explanations. People do look for a response.
:22:58. > :23:03.There does seem to be a gap in people coming forward and
:23:03. > :23:07.explaining themselves to the public. Is that an area you feel that you
:23:07. > :23:17.as Minister can address and a better fashioned than has been the
:23:17. > :23:21.
:23:21. > :23:31.case, -- better fashioned than has been the case. We do not have the
:23:31. > :23:33.
:23:33. > :23:39.legislation. B P P S cant converse directly with the Assembly of. --
:23:39. > :23:42.can converse directly with the Assembly. That will assist the
:23:43. > :23:49.openness and transparency, which the directors that this morning he
:23:49. > :23:59.is committed to. Does it mean that you are beyond criticism? The you
:23:59. > :24:01.
:24:01. > :24:09.mean me personally? This concept of this judiciary being open and
:24:09. > :24:13.independent. Cumnock criticised then? Individuals have a right to
:24:13. > :24:23.state their opinion, but one needs to be careful about how that is
:24:23. > :24:24.
:24:24. > :24:32.expressed. It can come from any one of us and it will look as if we are
:24:32. > :24:40.trying to second-guess a charge of the chief constable. That is a
:24:40. > :24:50.question we talked about last week. There have been many miscarriages
:24:50. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :24:58.of justice, so obviously something went wrong. There is a difference
:24:58. > :25:03.between the individual and any question why it would be seen as
:25:03. > :25:10.the Minister posing the question. Your department last week warned us
:25:10. > :25:14.off. I would say it differently. The common that was passed was
:25:14. > :25:21.passed in response to a direct statement that David Ford as
:25:21. > :25:31.Minister should be taking actions on. It was not an attempt to warn
:25:31. > :25:36.
:25:36. > :25:43.anyone off. It was framed in that way. It was not a phrase elegantly,
:25:43. > :25:48.but this committee and its members for under the set obligation.
:25:49. > :25:58.Pied believe a judicial decision is wrong, I should not raise my voice
:25:59. > :25:59.
:25:59. > :26:02.in concern? You have the right to do that, but big role of the judge
:26:02. > :26:09.who took that decision is to be respected. I cannot understand what
:26:09. > :26:16.that means. It has been a long week but progress is being made on the
:26:17. > :26:23.new Victims and Survivors Service. For the latest on this, I caught up
:26:23. > :26:27.with our political editor. You have news for us on the victims service.
:26:27. > :26:33.Peter Robinson said they are on track to get this new service which
:26:33. > :26:37.is meant to be delivering various services to victims up and running
:26:38. > :26:43.by 2nd April. He also made a reference to the victims
:26:43. > :26:49.commissioners. Four of them were appointed when Ian Paisley was in
:26:49. > :26:52.charge. That has gone down to three. Mr Robinson said that he and Martin
:26:52. > :26:57.McGuinness had agreed a number of commissioners and the future, but
:26:57. > :27:03.he would not say what it was. many commissioners do you think we
:27:03. > :27:07.will end up with? That term is up at their end of May. You would
:27:07. > :27:13.think that Stormont would want to go in the direction of reducing the
:27:13. > :27:20.number because it was sometimes felt that for was too many. Maybe
:27:21. > :27:25.they will go for only two. You have been reading in the routine answers
:27:25. > :27:30.about a project that has been abandoned for older prisoners.
:27:30. > :27:35.is is a quirky one. This was a proposal for a bowling green inside
:27:35. > :27:40.a jail. It made its way into the Sunday papers. It was floated
:27:40. > :27:46.inside the jail and then removed. But in they realise there would
:27:46. > :27:50.have been a public response to that. The Justice Minister confirmed that
:27:50. > :27:57.no work had been carried out, no money had been paid out to contract
:27:57. > :28:04.has in relation to this proposed, but now abandoned bowling green.
:28:04. > :28:11.You have been heard about another drama about one of the ministers
:28:11. > :28:17.been cast as Robin Hood. There was a news release today in regards to
:28:17. > :28:21.an industrial tribunal regarding inspectors. They were the birds --
:28:21. > :28:26.they were representing a young local actor who had not been paid
:28:26. > :28:36.for his part in the film of Robin Hood. They manage to get him his
:28:36. > :28:48.
:28:48. > :28:53.We're concerned with human rights, a programme for Government, making
:28:53. > :28:56.sure human rights is at the centre of that, focusing on the most
:28:56. > :28:59.marginalised and disadvantaged. Welfare cuts are of enormous
:28:59. > :29:02.concern for us. We're working hard there to do a human rights analysis
:29:03. > :29:09.and to bring our advice to Government to make sure that the
:29:09. > :29:13.way in which they implement these severe cuts is human rights
:29:13. > :29:20.compliant. We'll be watching that bell ourselves. Thank you very much.