06/02/2012 Stormont Today


06/02/2012

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Welcome to Stormont Today. As the Queen looks back on 60 years on the

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throne, she can rest assured that there were a kind words for most of

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the house. I am convinced that everybody in

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Northern Ireland will respect be significant role she has played

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over such a long period of time. part of the Republican tradition

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and I represent, I wish to acknowledge the role of the Queen.

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Our Northern Irish firms being smart -- snubbed for wards?

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All of the judges are from the public a violent -- the Republic of

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Ireland. With me throughout tonight, heather

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Crawford of the world carriage of speech therapists. -- and Royal

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College of Speech therapists. Ian Paisley is in intensive care at

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the Ulster Hospital. At the former First Minister and long-term leader

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of the DUP was admitted to A&E yesterday. His wife, Baroness

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Paisley, has described it as a difficult time. It has been the

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talk of Stormont today. Whilst the politicians have been getting on

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with the business on their diary, all of the talk has not been about

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-- has been about the former First Minister. He is in intensive care,

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it is said it might be a heart issue but we don't have any more

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details. It is not the first time he has been ill. If you think back

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to the political negotiations that led up to the power-sharing deal

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between the DUP and Sinn Fein, Dr Paisley was involved in some of

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those negotiations in Kent. He had a period where he disappeared from

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view for a while and later he revealed that he had been, as he

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put it, walking in death's shadow. Last year it was confirmed that he

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had been fitted with a heart pacemaker after falling ill in the

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House of Lords, where he now sits, having given up his Westminster

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seat for North Antrim. Concern from well beyond the DUP today. It was

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obviously mentioned in the DUP's statement and prayers were said for

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the former party leader but of course over the last remarkable

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five or six years he has made friendships and relationships

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beyond the ranks of the DUP and other people are hoping for the

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best tonight. Not wanting to say too much because they want to see

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how things develop at a hospital. Our local -- are local business --

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business is losing out in a local ward programme? Eileen Foster has

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her suspicions, has she revealed at Question Time. Here is a question

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on the sexual orientation strategy which Peter Robinson batted to his

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junior minister. As I have said in previous answers, it is our

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intention to publish a sexual orientation strategy during 2012.

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Stakeholders and organisations from this sector will be encouraged to

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contribute to the consultation process. I would like to thank the

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junior minister for his answer. It is important that it will be

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published this coming year. Candour junior minister advise that it will

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be revised in line with the programme drafted by five bodies? -

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- can the junior minister. development of that, it is obvious

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the five-party matter and we are waiting for responses from some of

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the parties. But everybody will have the opportunity to contribute.

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Can I ask the junior minister what is their position on civil

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partnerships and adoption be gay couples? Civil partnerships are the

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responsibility of finance and personnel. In relation to adoption,

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it is my understand and that the judicial review of the existing

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adoption policy is on going. -- my understanding. Can I ask him

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whether it in the sexual orientation strategy there will be

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any mention of gay marriage and has any progress being made in

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providing full and equal rights to gay couples? The questions in

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relation to those are the subject of much discussion and have been in

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the media over recent weeks. It is not an issue that is under current

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consideration. On to the enterprise minister, who was in strident form.

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Shoot fired a warning shot to the bank's. -- she fired. Small and

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medium-sized businesses are being continually pressed in relation to

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access to finance and banks and even those who have a banking

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relationship and I use the term relationship very loosely, because

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some of the banks at present are bearing down very heavily on some

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of our companies and I think it is a matter that everybody in this

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House should be very concerned about. I say to the banks that if

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you put businesses that are trying to get through difficult times out

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of future then in the future you will not gain finance from those

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businesses and the consequent job losses that will occur and our

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economy will not be able to sustain it. The banks have to work with the

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rest of us to take our economy through very difficult times. Short

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term measures are not going to help in the medium to longer term.

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next finance minister will be Simon Hamilton and he wanted to know what

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the minister thought of an All- Ireland awards scheme. Northern

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Ireland does not have a monopoly on innovation. Food producers say that

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there is an increasingly protectionist stance. I am hugely

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disappointed that there is only one Northern Ireland company

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shortlisted. As I understand it, this is not a new phenomenon. When

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I looked into this matter there were only two listed last year.

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There is a pattern here and I have to ask why this is the case. When I

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asked about who was judging these awards, apart from a few, all of

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the judges were from the Republic of Ireland. This causes me great

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concern and it is something I am writing to the new chairman about.

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I was astonished about the nomination, giving what I said

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about the protectionist prices in relation to Northern Ireland food.

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I am taking this up with the new chair and the chief Executive.

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Could I thank the Minister for her answer in relation to this question.

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I would also share your disappointment that there are not

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more Northern Ireland firms being nominated to the short list, but

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the minister is not in any way, I would think, the value of having

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such competitions, particularly for innovations, which provide an

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excellent basis for the development of industry, both north and south.

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Would the Minister agree? Certainly a welcome any competition that

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encourages and it -- innovation but surely the chair of the committee

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must be concerned that only one of our companies have been put forward

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into the short list for this award. I have task, why is this the case?

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Is at the judging panel, is it the media partner, the Irish Times?

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What is the problem in relation to getting more companies from

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Northern Ireland? The previous question about the important --

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importance of innovation, it is massively important for our

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economic development to continue to encourage companies and they get

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encouraged by short lists and all those things. The education

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minister has set out his plans to help children with special needs in

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schools. Heather Crawford, what is your take on the proposals he has

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outlined? The proposals are actually quite confusing for us as

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professionals in the field because they are wide and varied. I think

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there are lot of positives include -- in them, inclusion being one,

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support for children with all difficulties in schools being

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another, the plan to include parents' health, that is all very

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positive, but what I think we would say is lacking is confirmation that

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it is going to work absolutely smoothly and effectively for the

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people concerned. There is going to be a huge amount of responsibility

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put into individual schools. Individual school principles will

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have to look at those children with special needs in their schools,

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devolve their budgets, and they have a total budget for all of the

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children in the schools and a certain amount will be ring-fenced

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for children with special needs. How do you prioritise to get the

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priority in terms of money? We have particular concerns about hidden --

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be hidden disability of speech and communication problems. I heard on

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Radio Ulster this morning about visual disabilities where, if you

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can see there is something wrong with somebody, that can be

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addressed, but for children with difficulties with speech and

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language and particularly the social use of those things, unless

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you're have learnt to recognise those, you might not see them. --

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unless you have learnt. It can have an impact not just on school life,

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the social life, but long-term effects on behaviour and social

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interaction. Thank you. Today marks the 60th anniversary of the Queen

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as ceding to the throne when her father, George VI, died in his

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sleep. Members today were keen to pay their tributes, with a

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representative of each party offering congratulations. Well, not

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all parties. The Queen's public life has spanned that of 12 prime

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ministers in the UK and 140 prime ministers in the Commonwealth rain

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-- realms. It has included six prime ministers, 3 First Ministers

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and 17 secretaries of state. In Northern Ireland there are

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different perspectives of royalty but I am convinced that everybody

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in Northern Ireland will respect the significant role played by her

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Majesty the Queen a lot -- such a long period of time, will recognise

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the many achievements that she has, not least her recent visit to the

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Republic of Ireland and the ceiling of better relationships between our

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two countries. I believe that the Queen's visit to the Republic of

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Ireland last year signalled new relationships for two nations that

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are so close geographically but maybe so far apart in other

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circumstances. I welcome that moved and that visit. It may encourage

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the Republic of Ireland to look good possibilities to rejoin the

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My non-violent republican tradition aspires to and works well a

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republican model of government. My political tradition understands

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there are a large number of people in Northern Ireland who value the

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link with Britain, the monarchy and the contribution of Queen Elizabeth

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the second. We acknowledge that and respected. The Alliance Party

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leader and the Davids voiced their tributes but nothing from the Green

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Party or the other Green Party, Sinn Fein. The Justice Minister

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David Ford promises to cut the time young people wait before their

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cases come to court. Young offenders often wait as long as a

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year. The minister told me what will change. Since I became

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Minister we have seen work across the agencies to speed up justice,

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some improvements and other things have not improved. We now need a

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specific time limit to underpin the good work elsewhere and inshore

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young people are in court when they can remember what they have done

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and have not reoffend. What will the time limit be? I have asked the

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board to look at the detail and expect a report in the near future.

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The board brings together the justice agencies say they will make

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a formal recommendations which I would take to the committee as we

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look at what we can do. I am determined to see progress in the

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next few years and the lifetime of the Assembly. What about adults,

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many people are spending lengthy periods in remand. We need to look

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at adults but the key issue from the reports I see is the youth

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court because there is a problem with young offenders. If we can

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deal with that and learn the lessons I hope we will move on to

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address the issues for adults as well. What time, you have to put it

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out to consultation but are you thinking of 100 days? At the moment,

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I am open to see what the consultation produces. That is a

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figure which applies in other jurisdictions but we need something

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challenging and realistic. If the air in either direction they could

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be progress. Another concern about the special educational needs has

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been schools would have the money to spend but there doesn't seem to

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be any compulsion expenditure on special educational needs. That is

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very important and we would want to see some levels of accountability

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put in place if there is a budget to schools to be spent on children

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with special needs, there must be assurances the money is spent and

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targeted towards those children. That will require training and

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monitoring. And a collaborative approach between schools and

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agencies. The consultation has taken a long period and 90% of

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people were not happy with the proposals. It is a difficult

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situation, you want people to comment but it appears the views

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are ignored. Well, I think that we would be saying there were many

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responses to the consultation, I understand from colleagues in

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education they have had many responses. As we understand it, the

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document lists some of the responses but not all of them have

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been taken on board. Again, we are hearing that parents have concerns

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about how they will be guaranteed the budget will go directly to

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children. The high level of youth unemployment continues to worry

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members and it was on the agenda today. A discussion on widening

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access to education maintenance allowance. The words neat macro is

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not the most attractive of words. It is better than the alternative

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which is zeros. It is an issue that we have to deal with. The cost of

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youth unemployment in Northern Ireland alone is someone in the

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region of �250 million. Some young people have seen emigration as the

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only option while others have disengaged from education and

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training and also society. In the current economic climate where they

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are so few jobs for young school leavers we must help and encourage

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students to stay on and get the best education available. The

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statistics show 87% of young people in full-time education are in

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receipt of the allowance which proves the need for the allowance.

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Our party has always argued that access to education is a right not

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a privilege. It should be based on the ability to learn and develop

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not the ability to pay. I did not think the government should be

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looking to simply give young people checks for getting involved in

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education to attend college and school. To do that is to create a

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culture almost this says as long as you turn up and clock in you

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receive a payment irrespective of whether you go to learn or not. It

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is something to be cognisant of. Ali serious about this issue

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because on the information we have gathered to date in the absence of

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tracking facilities, and in the urgency that seems to have attended

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any investigation of how this programme could be improved, we

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seem to be demonstrating an almost horizontal attitude rather than a

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proactive one. And that, I think, is a tragedy for the young people

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in this country many of whom are struggling with eight morale issue

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about how they are ever going to make it in society and a society

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dares do what it can, it cannot spoon-feed a society but it does no

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to do what it can to help young people into employment and E M A

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may be working, the truth is we do not adequately know because we do

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not track its implementation. support can and should be better

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targeted. Any expansion of the scheme needs to be governed by

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affordability. There is pressure on the existing budgets due to the

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economic downturn. The forthcoming review and any additional savings

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realised from this are linked to the bass lines of departmental

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budgets. However, if members are prepared to be more radical in the

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nature of reform then further savings can be made. I would like

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to see those savings redirected into other vehicles to support from

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people. How important in speech and therapy turns his early

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intervention to get speech improved? Well, the earlier we can

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intervene with young children with speech language and communication

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problems the better because speech and language is the most important

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development scale we have to learn. We do know that one in seven

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children in primary school will have problems, we want to avoid

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that and get into the nursery schools and pre-school places and

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this report does talk about the place is in pre-school settings, we

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would like to work collaboratively to develop the most effective

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communicative environment the children will offer right in and

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for those children who cannot understand or pay attention we need

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to put in strategies to change the way we communicate to facilitate

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more effective communication skills and teach them how to communicate,

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lots of children learn those naturally but up to 50% in some

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areas do not. Did you know how healthy the health service is?

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Apparently the best in the world in many areas. That is what the

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British Medical Association has been telling MLAs. It came in an

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answer to the health committee. know it has exercised the committee

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in the past. 10.5 million consultations a year we provide in

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Northern Ireland, 30% above the average. 20 million tests, 25

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million prescriptions, that is what we provide, above what everybody

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else provides. I refer you to the Commonwealth report, just published,

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shows the best access same day and next day access in the world is

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here, 79% in the UK and we are better than the UK average. 79% of

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patients get same day or next day access. The lowest percentage the

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waited six days or more is 2%, these are facts. This is data. Out

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of hours actress, best in the world, reviews, best in the world,

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communication with patients best in the world. I will not bore you.

:24:32.:24:42.
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it fair to say you are selling it, is there a fair hearing? We had

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meetings with members but there has been sufficient consultation. We

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felt they should have been wider consultation. We put our views

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forward. We have not had the opportunity to critique that final

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report and give feedback and a professional opinion. Members of

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the panel met with GPs and elements of GP fraternity and we did not

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deny opportunities to meet with anyone. We responded to any request

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made to us and I can say that after the clinical meetings there was

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general practice involved in all the meetings which were handled and

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sponsored by some of the review team. We also had specific meetings

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in Belfast where we had GPS and doctors to discuss issues that were

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pertinent as far as they were concerned. Then maybe some

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individuals that would have liked more contact and engagement but we

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can arrange for continued engagement. That is where we would

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would be. Regarding... I do not agree. Some individuals, that is

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dismissive. The comments came from the chair of the practitioners, it

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is not about a disgruntled doctor. It was very clear... I met the

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chair and he seemed entirely satisfied with the meeting I had

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and it no point did he ask or request further meetings. I met

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with the BMA and other representatives and they asked for

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further meetings and they were arranged. Had there been asked for

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further meetings I would have arranged it. You may have spotted

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the crutches, she has been hobbling around for two weeks and her

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committee colleagues were curious as to what happened. What happened,

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I fell down the stairs. I did, a fortnight ago. I broke a leg but I

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had a good pair of boots. I did not realise it was broken. So, I got

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the cast. It happened in Dublin. it happened in -- at home I would

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not have to drive. I got the cast on and eventually I went in

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Thursday and was plastered down to the knee. There was her last

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committee meeting. She has stood down. I think she will be laid up

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for a few weeks. In terms of how we go forward with

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the strategy and in a general sense, do we need to set targets for

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schools to say you need to reach this level and to ensure children

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get the help they need? I think to reassure parents, and to be a

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support to teachers and principles, we need to set out what it is we

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need to achieve with children within schools. That will require

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collaboration between all parties and an agreed set of how we do it,

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what we do, and how we know we make a difference. Does the document we

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have been talking about, does that reassurance? There is lots of

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examples of good practice across Northern Ireland, good

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collaborative practice between health and education and we need to

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