:00:30. > :00:35.Welcome to Stormont Today. As the Queen looks back on 60 years on the
:00:35. > :00:39.throne, she can rest assured that there were a kind words for most of
:00:39. > :00:44.the house. I am convinced that everybody in
:00:44. > :00:52.Northern Ireland will respect be significant role she has played
:00:52. > :01:00.over such a long period of time. part of the Republican tradition
:01:00. > :01:06.and I represent, I wish to acknowledge the role of the Queen.
:01:06. > :01:13.Our Northern Irish firms being smart -- snubbed for wards?
:01:13. > :01:19.All of the judges are from the public a violent -- the Republic of
:01:19. > :01:25.Ireland. With me throughout tonight, heather
:01:25. > :01:32.Crawford of the world carriage of speech therapists. -- and Royal
:01:32. > :01:38.College of Speech therapists. Ian Paisley is in intensive care at
:01:38. > :01:45.the Ulster Hospital. At the former First Minister and long-term leader
:01:45. > :01:50.of the DUP was admitted to A&E yesterday. His wife, Baroness
:01:50. > :01:55.Paisley, has described it as a difficult time. It has been the
:01:55. > :02:02.talk of Stormont today. Whilst the politicians have been getting on
:02:02. > :02:07.with the business on their diary, all of the talk has not been about
:02:07. > :02:11.-- has been about the former First Minister. He is in intensive care,
:02:11. > :02:17.it is said it might be a heart issue but we don't have any more
:02:17. > :02:22.details. It is not the first time he has been ill. If you think back
:02:22. > :02:26.to the political negotiations that led up to the power-sharing deal
:02:27. > :02:32.between the DUP and Sinn Fein, Dr Paisley was involved in some of
:02:32. > :02:36.those negotiations in Kent. He had a period where he disappeared from
:02:36. > :02:43.view for a while and later he revealed that he had been, as he
:02:43. > :02:47.put it, walking in death's shadow. Last year it was confirmed that he
:02:47. > :02:52.had been fitted with a heart pacemaker after falling ill in the
:02:52. > :03:00.House of Lords, where he now sits, having given up his Westminster
:03:00. > :03:06.seat for North Antrim. Concern from well beyond the DUP today. It was
:03:06. > :03:10.obviously mentioned in the DUP's statement and prayers were said for
:03:10. > :03:14.the former party leader but of course over the last remarkable
:03:14. > :03:18.five or six years he has made friendships and relationships
:03:18. > :03:22.beyond the ranks of the DUP and other people are hoping for the
:03:22. > :03:30.best tonight. Not wanting to say too much because they want to see
:03:30. > :03:34.how things develop at a hospital. Our local -- are local business --
:03:34. > :03:42.business is losing out in a local ward programme? Eileen Foster has
:03:42. > :03:46.her suspicions, has she revealed at Question Time. Here is a question
:03:46. > :03:52.on the sexual orientation strategy which Peter Robinson batted to his
:03:52. > :03:59.junior minister. As I have said in previous answers, it is our
:03:59. > :04:04.intention to publish a sexual orientation strategy during 2012.
:04:04. > :04:11.Stakeholders and organisations from this sector will be encouraged to
:04:11. > :04:16.contribute to the consultation process. I would like to thank the
:04:16. > :04:26.junior minister for his answer. It is important that it will be
:04:26. > :04:26.
:04:26. > :04:34.published this coming year. Candour junior minister advise that it will
:04:34. > :04:44.be revised in line with the programme drafted by five bodies? -
:04:44. > :04:46.
:04:46. > :04:55.- can the junior minister. development of that, it is obvious
:04:55. > :05:01.the five-party matter and we are waiting for responses from some of
:05:01. > :05:07.the parties. But everybody will have the opportunity to contribute.
:05:07. > :05:16.Can I ask the junior minister what is their position on civil
:05:16. > :05:20.partnerships and adoption be gay couples? Civil partnerships are the
:05:20. > :05:25.responsibility of finance and personnel. In relation to adoption,
:05:25. > :05:35.it is my understand and that the judicial review of the existing
:05:35. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:38.adoption policy is on going. -- my understanding. Can I ask him
:05:38. > :05:43.whether it in the sexual orientation strategy there will be
:05:43. > :05:50.any mention of gay marriage and has any progress being made in
:05:50. > :05:55.providing full and equal rights to gay couples? The questions in
:05:55. > :06:00.relation to those are the subject of much discussion and have been in
:06:00. > :06:06.the media over recent weeks. It is not an issue that is under current
:06:06. > :06:16.consideration. On to the enterprise minister, who was in strident form.
:06:16. > :06:20.Shoot fired a warning shot to the bank's. -- she fired. Small and
:06:20. > :06:25.medium-sized businesses are being continually pressed in relation to
:06:25. > :06:30.access to finance and banks and even those who have a banking
:06:30. > :06:35.relationship and I use the term relationship very loosely, because
:06:35. > :06:39.some of the banks at present are bearing down very heavily on some
:06:39. > :06:43.of our companies and I think it is a matter that everybody in this
:06:43. > :06:47.House should be very concerned about. I say to the banks that if
:06:47. > :06:52.you put businesses that are trying to get through difficult times out
:06:52. > :06:58.of future then in the future you will not gain finance from those
:06:58. > :07:04.businesses and the consequent job losses that will occur and our
:07:04. > :07:09.economy will not be able to sustain it. The banks have to work with the
:07:09. > :07:15.rest of us to take our economy through very difficult times. Short
:07:15. > :07:19.term measures are not going to help in the medium to longer term.
:07:19. > :07:27.next finance minister will be Simon Hamilton and he wanted to know what
:07:27. > :07:37.the minister thought of an All- Ireland awards scheme. Northern
:07:37. > :07:44.
:07:44. > :07:50.Ireland does not have a monopoly on innovation. Food producers say that
:07:50. > :07:55.there is an increasingly protectionist stance. I am hugely
:07:55. > :07:59.disappointed that there is only one Northern Ireland company
:07:59. > :08:04.shortlisted. As I understand it, this is not a new phenomenon. When
:08:05. > :08:09.I looked into this matter there were only two listed last year.
:08:09. > :08:18.There is a pattern here and I have to ask why this is the case. When I
:08:18. > :08:23.asked about who was judging these awards, apart from a few, all of
:08:23. > :08:31.the judges were from the Republic of Ireland. This causes me great
:08:31. > :08:38.concern and it is something I am writing to the new chairman about.
:08:38. > :08:43.I was astonished about the nomination, giving what I said
:08:43. > :08:52.about the protectionist prices in relation to Northern Ireland food.
:08:52. > :08:56.I am taking this up with the new chair and the chief Executive.
:08:56. > :09:00.Could I thank the Minister for her answer in relation to this question.
:09:00. > :09:08.I would also share your disappointment that there are not
:09:08. > :09:16.more Northern Ireland firms being nominated to the short list, but
:09:16. > :09:20.the minister is not in any way, I would think, the value of having
:09:20. > :09:26.such competitions, particularly for innovations, which provide an
:09:26. > :09:33.excellent basis for the development of industry, both north and south.
:09:33. > :09:37.Would the Minister agree? Certainly a welcome any competition that
:09:37. > :09:41.encourages and it -- innovation but surely the chair of the committee
:09:41. > :09:47.must be concerned that only one of our companies have been put forward
:09:47. > :09:53.into the short list for this award. I have task, why is this the case?
:09:53. > :09:56.Is at the judging panel, is it the media partner, the Irish Times?
:09:56. > :10:02.What is the problem in relation to getting more companies from
:10:02. > :10:07.Northern Ireland? The previous question about the important --
:10:07. > :10:11.importance of innovation, it is massively important for our
:10:11. > :10:15.economic development to continue to encourage companies and they get
:10:15. > :10:22.encouraged by short lists and all those things. The education
:10:22. > :10:26.minister has set out his plans to help children with special needs in
:10:26. > :10:33.schools. Heather Crawford, what is your take on the proposals he has
:10:33. > :10:39.outlined? The proposals are actually quite confusing for us as
:10:39. > :10:44.professionals in the field because they are wide and varied. I think
:10:44. > :10:50.there are lot of positives include -- in them, inclusion being one,
:10:50. > :10:56.support for children with all difficulties in schools being
:10:56. > :11:03.another, the plan to include parents' health, that is all very
:11:03. > :11:07.positive, but what I think we would say is lacking is confirmation that
:11:07. > :11:12.it is going to work absolutely smoothly and effectively for the
:11:13. > :11:16.people concerned. There is going to be a huge amount of responsibility
:11:16. > :11:21.put into individual schools. Individual school principles will
:11:21. > :11:28.have to look at those children with special needs in their schools,
:11:29. > :11:31.devolve their budgets, and they have a total budget for all of the
:11:31. > :11:40.children in the schools and a certain amount will be ring-fenced
:11:40. > :11:48.for children with special needs. How do you prioritise to get the
:11:48. > :11:54.priority in terms of money? We have particular concerns about hidden --
:11:54. > :11:59.be hidden disability of speech and communication problems. I heard on
:11:59. > :12:03.Radio Ulster this morning about visual disabilities where, if you
:12:03. > :12:07.can see there is something wrong with somebody, that can be
:12:07. > :12:10.addressed, but for children with difficulties with speech and
:12:10. > :12:15.language and particularly the social use of those things, unless
:12:15. > :12:22.you're have learnt to recognise those, you might not see them. --
:12:22. > :12:25.unless you have learnt. It can have an impact not just on school life,
:12:25. > :12:31.the social life, but long-term effects on behaviour and social
:12:31. > :12:37.interaction. Thank you. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Queen
:12:37. > :12:41.as ceding to the throne when her father, George VI, died in his
:12:41. > :12:45.sleep. Members today were keen to pay their tributes, with a
:12:45. > :12:54.representative of each party offering congratulations. Well, not
:12:54. > :12:59.all parties. The Queen's public life has spanned that of 12 prime
:13:00. > :13:09.ministers in the UK and 140 prime ministers in the Commonwealth rain
:13:10. > :13:10.
:13:10. > :13:17.-- realms. It has included six prime ministers, 3 First Ministers
:13:17. > :13:23.and 17 secretaries of state. In Northern Ireland there are
:13:23. > :13:29.different perspectives of royalty but I am convinced that everybody
:13:29. > :13:34.in Northern Ireland will respect the significant role played by her
:13:34. > :13:41.Majesty the Queen a lot -- such a long period of time, will recognise
:13:41. > :13:45.the many achievements that she has, not least her recent visit to the
:13:45. > :13:54.Republic of Ireland and the ceiling of better relationships between our
:13:54. > :14:00.two countries. I believe that the Queen's visit to the Republic of
:14:00. > :14:04.Ireland last year signalled new relationships for two nations that
:14:04. > :14:11.are so close geographically but maybe so far apart in other
:14:11. > :14:16.circumstances. I welcome that moved and that visit. It may encourage
:14:16. > :14:26.the Republic of Ireland to look good possibilities to rejoin the
:14:26. > :14:34.
:14:34. > :14:39.My non-violent republican tradition aspires to and works well a
:14:39. > :14:44.republican model of government. My political tradition understands
:14:44. > :14:49.there are a large number of people in Northern Ireland who value the
:14:49. > :14:56.link with Britain, the monarchy and the contribution of Queen Elizabeth
:14:56. > :15:01.the second. We acknowledge that and respected. The Alliance Party
:15:01. > :15:06.leader and the Davids voiced their tributes but nothing from the Green
:15:06. > :15:09.Party or the other Green Party, Sinn Fein. The Justice Minister
:15:09. > :15:14.David Ford promises to cut the time young people wait before their
:15:14. > :15:19.cases come to court. Young offenders often wait as long as a
:15:19. > :15:24.year. The minister told me what will change. Since I became
:15:24. > :15:29.Minister we have seen work across the agencies to speed up justice,
:15:29. > :15:33.some improvements and other things have not improved. We now need a
:15:33. > :15:40.specific time limit to underpin the good work elsewhere and inshore
:15:40. > :15:45.young people are in court when they can remember what they have done
:15:45. > :15:49.and have not reoffend. What will the time limit be? I have asked the
:15:49. > :15:54.board to look at the detail and expect a report in the near future.
:15:54. > :15:59.The board brings together the justice agencies say they will make
:15:59. > :16:04.a formal recommendations which I would take to the committee as we
:16:04. > :16:09.look at what we can do. I am determined to see progress in the
:16:09. > :16:13.next few years and the lifetime of the Assembly. What about adults,
:16:14. > :16:19.many people are spending lengthy periods in remand. We need to look
:16:19. > :16:23.at adults but the key issue from the reports I see is the youth
:16:23. > :16:27.court because there is a problem with young offenders. If we can
:16:27. > :16:32.deal with that and learn the lessons I hope we will move on to
:16:32. > :16:38.address the issues for adults as well. What time, you have to put it
:16:38. > :16:43.out to consultation but are you thinking of 100 days? At the moment,
:16:43. > :16:47.I am open to see what the consultation produces. That is a
:16:47. > :16:54.figure which applies in other jurisdictions but we need something
:16:54. > :16:59.challenging and realistic. If the air in either direction they could
:16:59. > :17:02.be progress. Another concern about the special educational needs has
:17:02. > :17:08.been schools would have the money to spend but there doesn't seem to
:17:08. > :17:14.be any compulsion expenditure on special educational needs. That is
:17:14. > :17:20.very important and we would want to see some levels of accountability
:17:20. > :17:25.put in place if there is a budget to schools to be spent on children
:17:25. > :17:29.with special needs, there must be assurances the money is spent and
:17:29. > :17:34.targeted towards those children. That will require training and
:17:34. > :17:39.monitoring. And a collaborative approach between schools and
:17:39. > :17:44.agencies. The consultation has taken a long period and 90% of
:17:44. > :17:49.people were not happy with the proposals. It is a difficult
:17:49. > :17:59.situation, you want people to comment but it appears the views
:17:59. > :18:03.are ignored. Well, I think that we would be saying there were many
:18:03. > :18:09.responses to the consultation, I understand from colleagues in
:18:09. > :18:13.education they have had many responses. As we understand it, the
:18:13. > :18:20.document lists some of the responses but not all of them have
:18:20. > :18:23.been taken on board. Again, we are hearing that parents have concerns
:18:23. > :18:28.about how they will be guaranteed the budget will go directly to
:18:29. > :18:33.children. The high level of youth unemployment continues to worry
:18:33. > :18:42.members and it was on the agenda today. A discussion on widening
:18:42. > :18:46.access to education maintenance allowance. The words neat macro is
:18:47. > :18:54.not the most attractive of words. It is better than the alternative
:18:54. > :18:59.which is zeros. It is an issue that we have to deal with. The cost of
:18:59. > :19:03.youth unemployment in Northern Ireland alone is someone in the
:19:03. > :19:08.region of �250 million. Some young people have seen emigration as the
:19:08. > :19:12.only option while others have disengaged from education and
:19:12. > :19:16.training and also society. In the current economic climate where they
:19:17. > :19:22.are so few jobs for young school leavers we must help and encourage
:19:22. > :19:29.students to stay on and get the best education available. The
:19:29. > :19:33.statistics show 87% of young people in full-time education are in
:19:33. > :19:38.receipt of the allowance which proves the need for the allowance.
:19:38. > :19:42.Our party has always argued that access to education is a right not
:19:42. > :19:48.a privilege. It should be based on the ability to learn and develop
:19:48. > :19:52.not the ability to pay. I did not think the government should be
:19:52. > :19:59.looking to simply give young people checks for getting involved in
:19:59. > :20:03.education to attend college and school. To do that is to create a
:20:03. > :20:08.culture almost this says as long as you turn up and clock in you
:20:08. > :20:15.receive a payment irrespective of whether you go to learn or not. It
:20:15. > :20:19.is something to be cognisant of. Ali serious about this issue
:20:19. > :20:24.because on the information we have gathered to date in the absence of
:20:24. > :20:28.tracking facilities, and in the urgency that seems to have attended
:20:28. > :20:35.any investigation of how this programme could be improved, we
:20:35. > :20:42.seem to be demonstrating an almost horizontal attitude rather than a
:20:42. > :20:50.proactive one. And that, I think, is a tragedy for the young people
:20:50. > :20:56.in this country many of whom are struggling with eight morale issue
:20:56. > :21:02.about how they are ever going to make it in society and a society
:21:02. > :21:08.dares do what it can, it cannot spoon-feed a society but it does no
:21:08. > :21:13.to do what it can to help young people into employment and E M A
:21:13. > :21:18.may be working, the truth is we do not adequately know because we do
:21:18. > :21:24.not track its implementation. support can and should be better
:21:24. > :21:31.targeted. Any expansion of the scheme needs to be governed by
:21:31. > :21:36.affordability. There is pressure on the existing budgets due to the
:21:36. > :21:40.economic downturn. The forthcoming review and any additional savings
:21:40. > :21:45.realised from this are linked to the bass lines of departmental
:21:45. > :21:53.budgets. However, if members are prepared to be more radical in the
:21:53. > :21:56.nature of reform then further savings can be made. I would like
:21:56. > :22:02.to see those savings redirected into other vehicles to support from
:22:02. > :22:07.people. How important in speech and therapy turns his early
:22:07. > :22:11.intervention to get speech improved? Well, the earlier we can
:22:11. > :22:15.intervene with young children with speech language and communication
:22:15. > :22:21.problems the better because speech and language is the most important
:22:21. > :22:25.development scale we have to learn. We do know that one in seven
:22:26. > :22:29.children in primary school will have problems, we want to avoid
:22:30. > :22:37.that and get into the nursery schools and pre-school places and
:22:37. > :22:45.this report does talk about the place is in pre-school settings, we
:22:45. > :22:47.would like to work collaboratively to develop the most effective
:22:47. > :22:51.communicative environment the children will offer right in and
:22:51. > :22:57.for those children who cannot understand or pay attention we need
:22:57. > :23:01.to put in strategies to change the way we communicate to facilitate
:23:01. > :23:07.more effective communication skills and teach them how to communicate,
:23:07. > :23:14.lots of children learn those naturally but up to 50% in some
:23:14. > :23:18.areas do not. Did you know how healthy the health service is?
:23:18. > :23:23.Apparently the best in the world in many areas. That is what the
:23:23. > :23:27.British Medical Association has been telling MLAs. It came in an
:23:27. > :23:34.answer to the health committee. know it has exercised the committee
:23:34. > :23:43.in the past. 10.5 million consultations a year we provide in
:23:43. > :23:48.Northern Ireland, 30% above the average. 20 million tests, 25
:23:49. > :23:58.million prescriptions, that is what we provide, above what everybody
:23:59. > :23:59.
:23:59. > :24:04.else provides. I refer you to the Commonwealth report, just published,
:24:04. > :24:10.shows the best access same day and next day access in the world is
:24:10. > :24:16.here, 79% in the UK and we are better than the UK average. 79% of
:24:16. > :24:23.patients get same day or next day access. The lowest percentage the
:24:23. > :24:27.waited six days or more is 2%, these are facts. This is data. Out
:24:27. > :24:32.of hours actress, best in the world, reviews, best in the world,
:24:32. > :24:42.communication with patients best in the world. I will not bore you.
:24:42. > :24:50.
:24:50. > :24:57.it fair to say you are selling it, is there a fair hearing? We had
:24:57. > :25:01.meetings with members but there has been sufficient consultation. We
:25:01. > :25:09.felt they should have been wider consultation. We put our views
:25:09. > :25:13.forward. We have not had the opportunity to critique that final
:25:13. > :25:20.report and give feedback and a professional opinion. Members of
:25:20. > :25:24.the panel met with GPs and elements of GP fraternity and we did not
:25:24. > :25:31.deny opportunities to meet with anyone. We responded to any request
:25:31. > :25:36.made to us and I can say that after the clinical meetings there was
:25:36. > :25:41.general practice involved in all the meetings which were handled and
:25:41. > :25:50.sponsored by some of the review team. We also had specific meetings
:25:50. > :25:54.in Belfast where we had GPS and doctors to discuss issues that were
:25:54. > :25:59.pertinent as far as they were concerned. Then maybe some
:25:59. > :26:02.individuals that would have liked more contact and engagement but we
:26:02. > :26:12.can arrange for continued engagement. That is where we would
:26:12. > :26:12.
:26:13. > :26:19.would be. Regarding... I do not agree. Some individuals, that is
:26:19. > :26:26.dismissive. The comments came from the chair of the practitioners, it
:26:26. > :26:30.is not about a disgruntled doctor. It was very clear... I met the
:26:30. > :26:36.chair and he seemed entirely satisfied with the meeting I had
:26:36. > :26:39.and it no point did he ask or request further meetings. I met
:26:39. > :26:42.with the BMA and other representatives and they asked for
:26:42. > :26:45.further meetings and they were arranged. Had there been asked for
:26:45. > :26:52.further meetings I would have arranged it. You may have spotted
:26:52. > :26:57.the crutches, she has been hobbling around for two weeks and her
:26:57. > :27:03.committee colleagues were curious as to what happened. What happened,
:27:03. > :27:09.I fell down the stairs. I did, a fortnight ago. I broke a leg but I
:27:09. > :27:15.had a good pair of boots. I did not realise it was broken. So, I got
:27:16. > :27:24.the cast. It happened in Dublin. it happened in -- at home I would
:27:24. > :27:28.not have to drive. I got the cast on and eventually I went in
:27:28. > :27:33.Thursday and was plastered down to the knee. There was her last
:27:33. > :27:40.committee meeting. She has stood down. I think she will be laid up
:27:40. > :27:45.for a few weeks. In terms of how we go forward with
:27:45. > :27:48.the strategy and in a general sense, do we need to set targets for
:27:49. > :27:54.schools to say you need to reach this level and to ensure children
:27:54. > :28:00.get the help they need? I think to reassure parents, and to be a
:28:00. > :28:04.support to teachers and principles, we need to set out what it is we
:28:04. > :28:09.need to achieve with children within schools. That will require
:28:09. > :28:14.collaboration between all parties and an agreed set of how we do it,
:28:14. > :28:20.what we do, and how we know we make a difference. Does the document we
:28:20. > :28:23.have been talking about, does that reassurance? There is lots of
:28:23. > :28:26.examples of good practice across Northern Ireland, good
:28:27. > :28:31.collaborative practice between health and education and we need to