:00:24. > :00:27.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. And it's Super Tuesday in the
:00:27. > :00:32.United States as Republicans choose their candidate to take on Barack
:00:32. > :00:41.Obama. But every tuesday is Super Tuesday on this programme - even if
:00:41. > :00:51.it feels like Groundhog Day in the Chamber. I think this is the third
:00:51. > :00:51.
:00:51. > :00:56.time we have the NEETs discussed in this chamber in a short period of
:00:56. > :01:01.time. We have no action plan yet. And is there a new Chuckle Brother
:01:01. > :01:04.here on the Hill? Someone's been tickling ribs. That concludes a
:01:04. > :01:07.highly entertaining question times. And with agriculture booming but
:01:07. > :01:16.with reform on the horizon, my guest is John Thompson of the
:01:16. > :01:18.Tonight, we're looking at the CAP and why perhaps it no longer fits.
:01:18. > :01:22.That's the Common Agricultural Policy and how efforts are being
:01:22. > :01:26.made to green it. It's being proposed, for example, that around
:01:26. > :01:30.a third of farm payments will be linked to green goals such as
:01:30. > :01:33.diversifying crops. A top official from the European Commission
:01:33. > :01:36.dealing with the issue was at Stormont today as the guest of the
:01:36. > :01:38.Agriculture Committee to answer questions from farmers and others.
:01:38. > :01:45.So, did he reassure them this wasn't just more bureacracy from
:01:45. > :01:52.Brussells? I'm joined by John Thompson,
:01:52. > :01:57.president of the Ulster Farmer's Union. Welcome to the programme.
:01:57. > :02:02.You attended the seminar to a yacht owned concerns. Remind us what they
:02:02. > :02:06.are. I think the new proposals... We are certainly worried about the
:02:06. > :02:13.proposals involving more bureaucracy. We are concerned about
:02:13. > :02:19.the whole transition period, about the green issues and about activity
:02:19. > :02:23.and what the definitions are. Certainly, we see these proposals
:02:23. > :02:28.being complicated and very difficult to understand from a
:02:28. > :02:34.farmer's level right up to the elders and I think we need a lot
:02:34. > :02:43.more clarification. Did you receive any assurances from the official?
:02:43. > :02:47.He's certainly given us the proposals and spelled it out why
:02:48. > :02:52.they hope going down the lines they are going down -- why they are
:02:52. > :02:56.going down the lines. From his presentation, a lot of the areas
:02:56. > :03:00.targeted are central Europe where there is very little biodiversity
:03:00. > :03:06.and hedgerows. We already meet a lot of those requirements and I
:03:06. > :03:11.think the commission recognises that. I think he also recognises
:03:11. > :03:14.that every farmer has to be seen to do something and although the Bar
:03:14. > :03:19.is fairly high already in Northern Ireland, he would still like to see
:03:19. > :03:22.them do more. What is your solution as the Ulster Farmers' Union's
:03:22. > :03:28.President? You are not opposing reform, you recognise their needs
:03:28. > :03:34.to be some measures taken. There is basically a new scheme. The old
:03:34. > :03:43.scheme, the single farm payment was based on historic payments of
:03:43. > :03:46.cattle numbers, sheep numbers. This is... Certainly, I think there is a
:03:46. > :03:51.big transition period. Agriculture is important to the Northern
:03:51. > :03:58.Ireland economy. I think people need time to move from the current
:03:58. > :04:00.system to the new system. We will have to leave it there. Thank you.
:04:00. > :04:03.Something has happened to the Regional Development Minister Danny
:04:03. > :04:06.Kennedy. Often his question time session is a little dry, but then
:04:06. > :04:09.roads don't provide many laughs. But today, the minister amused MLAs
:04:09. > :04:12.with his quick wit. But before the chuckles begin, let's begin our
:04:12. > :04:21.look at question time with justice and David Ford on the rather
:04:21. > :04:25.serious issue of redundancy plans for prison officers.
:04:25. > :04:30.Will the Minister confirm that it is lawful, ethical and desirable
:04:30. > :04:36.that his department in set as a condition of severance that prison
:04:36. > :04:41.officers will be awarded generous and schemes -- that those awarded
:04:41. > :04:45.generous golden handshakes will not be able to reapply for jobs? Will
:04:45. > :04:49.he bring further legislation to prevent this happening? I note his
:04:49. > :04:53.concern and indeed the concern of other members. I can simply advise
:04:53. > :04:57.them that the legal advice that I received was that it would have
:04:57. > :05:02.been discriminatory to prevent any of those leaving from applying for
:05:02. > :05:06.the new jobs which were advertised and closed last week. I can however
:05:07. > :05:14.confirm that in the face of a very significant potential recruitment
:05:14. > :05:21.not one of the 151 officers who will be leaving service on 31st
:05:21. > :05:30.March will -- were among the 5000 applicants for the near post.
:05:30. > :05:34.the new post. Following the departure of the director general,
:05:34. > :05:38.can you outline how that will affect the staff exit scheme and
:05:38. > :05:44.take the opportunity to explain how you intend to mitigate the loss of
:05:44. > :05:53.the person setting up the entire reform of our prison service?
:05:53. > :05:58.answer to the question of how his move to Edinburgh will affect the
:05:58. > :06:02.scheme is not in any way at all. He played a vital part in setting the
:06:02. > :06:06.foundations for the reform programme which the House will know
:06:06. > :06:11.follows row under the old a programme, building on the
:06:11. > :06:15.recommendations of the report. I simply want to pay tribute to date
:06:16. > :06:20.to the work that he did in establishing that the fact that he
:06:20. > :06:23.was serving so well that he was selected for what is effectively
:06:23. > :06:31.the second most senior post in prisons within the United Kingdom
:06:31. > :06:34.to return to the Scottish Prison Service, a service three times and
:06:34. > :06:38.80 -- three times bigger than ours, that should come as no surprise.
:06:38. > :06:44.There is another team available which also contains those doing
:06:44. > :06:48.work. It was not entirely driven by one man. I have no doubt that when
:06:48. > :06:52.I discuss the arrangements for a new director general, we will
:06:52. > :06:58.ensure that the post is filled as soon as possible to enable the
:06:58. > :07:03.current team to continue working. Crime and the fear of crime. What
:07:03. > :07:07.does the Minister seek as the best way to tackle the issues? Would the
:07:07. > :07:17.Minister agree that the possible closure of rural police stations
:07:17. > :07:21.
:07:21. > :07:26.could impact on fear of crime? think what members of this have so
:07:26. > :07:30.need to do is address the rail -- reality of rural crime. It is not
:07:30. > :07:34.dealt with by having police officers sitting behind desks. It
:07:34. > :07:37.is addressed by the where the chief constable has done by putting 600
:07:37. > :07:42.officers are out on the street in response teams and neighbourhood
:07:42. > :07:48.teams. That is the best way of achieving it. The sick -- decision
:07:48. > :07:56.as to which stations are required is a decision for the chief
:07:56. > :08:00.constable. Does the Minister not recognise that the present proposal
:08:00. > :08:05.for the wholesale closure of rural police stations is very much
:08:05. > :08:08.sending out the wrong message, a message of encouragement to the
:08:08. > :08:16.perpetrators of rural crime and a message of discouragement to their
:08:16. > :08:24.victims? Having officers stationed behind a desk 20 or 30 miles away
:08:24. > :08:28.is little comfort to those who are the subject... Could we have the
:08:28. > :08:35.question, please? Does he not agree that having officers stationed
:08:35. > :08:41.there to Mars away behind a desk is a source of great annoyance --
:08:41. > :08:46.stationed 20 to 30 miles away. think the greatest comfort we can
:08:46. > :08:51.have is what I highlighted earlier. The chief constable putting 600
:08:51. > :08:56.police officers out on the streets. Onto the new joker in the assembly
:08:56. > :09:02.pack. Danny Kennedy. Here is the first joke of the day. Can I ask
:09:02. > :09:12.the minister if he has any plans to review criteria for all traffic
:09:12. > :09:15.
:09:16. > :09:22.calming measures in built up areas? Am thinking of villages. That
:09:22. > :09:28.village has a severe problem... In that it has the honour to be
:09:28. > :09:33.represented by the minister. Rural crime again. This time, cable
:09:33. > :09:37.thefts. A serious issue. I can inform the House that road service
:09:37. > :09:40.has introduced a range of measures aimed at combating this crime.
:09:40. > :09:44.Among the steps taken to date, it has changed the way new street
:09:44. > :09:49.lighting cables are laid. That is in order to make them more
:09:49. > :09:54.difficult to steal. In addition, cables at certain locations have
:09:54. > :09:59.been marked with special smart DNA Greece that allows stolen cables to
:09:59. > :10:04.be identified. Road service has also investigated the possible use
:10:04. > :10:08.of CCTV monitoring and remote alarm systems to protect cable
:10:08. > :10:13.installations. However, these options have proved to be
:10:13. > :10:20.prohibitively expensive for widespread use. My officials will
:10:20. > :10:23.continue to engage with the... To prevent further cable thefts was a
:10:23. > :10:32.can ask the Minister to give us a geographical breakdown of these
:10:32. > :10:38.deaths? I think you mentioned 76. I could probably take you to 76 lamp-
:10:38. > :10:48.posts in Derry that have been attacked. We will not ask what a
:10:48. > :10:53.DNA read-out for the member... That is a joke by the way! Such
:10:53. > :10:56.seriousness did not last long. Order. That concludes our highly
:10:57. > :10:59.entertaining question time. Nearly 50,000 young people here are
:10:59. > :11:05.classified as NEETs - that means not in employment, education or
:11:05. > :11:08.training. It is not a statistic to be proud of. And MLAs are fustrated
:11:08. > :11:14.by the lack of progress by the minister Stephen Farry. The DUP
:11:14. > :11:19.today called for a working group to be set up to tackle the problem.
:11:19. > :11:22.is my contention that although much work has been done by various
:11:22. > :11:26.agencies and educational institutions, the time has come for
:11:27. > :11:32.a more joined-up approach to tackle the barriers that exist today for
:11:32. > :11:37.hour-long people -- young people contributing effectively to act --
:11:37. > :11:40.our economy. There have been many reports about the nature of the
:11:40. > :11:46.barriers our young people face when attempting to fulfil their academic
:11:46. > :11:48.and vocational potential. The reason for disadvantages and low
:11:48. > :11:52.achievement of buried ranging from poverty and deprivation to being in
:11:52. > :11:57.our care system and getting involved in crimes. It is therefore
:11:57. > :12:02.important that all agencies in an interest with addressing these
:12:02. > :12:07.issues are involved in creating any possible solutions. I think this is
:12:07. > :12:11.the third time we have the NEETs discussed in the chamber within a
:12:11. > :12:17.short period of time. We are not seeing any action plan coming out.
:12:18. > :12:21.I think the minister needs to... He may say later on that, I needed to
:12:21. > :12:26.discuss it with the executive first. I think the minister needs to come
:12:26. > :12:30.to the house and explain to us all his intentions. We have over 40,000
:12:30. > :12:33.young people across Northern Ireland who are not in education,
:12:33. > :12:38.employment or training. With the welfare reforms coming in, Mr
:12:38. > :12:43.Speaker, there is going to be a tsunami of further young people who
:12:43. > :12:48.may be caught in the culture of benefits and forced us to seek
:12:48. > :12:56.employment or education or training. What is to be done? What I cannot
:12:56. > :13:03.stand is parochialism. This emphasis on one sub-regional
:13:03. > :13:09.college, I cannot stand it at all. At least the Alliance Party
:13:09. > :13:13.amendment try to tidy up one aspect of the original motion and it made
:13:13. > :13:16.reference to all of the further education colleges. But still no
:13:16. > :13:20.reference to the Department of Education when it strikes me as
:13:20. > :13:25.very obvious that there is a major role for the Department of
:13:25. > :13:31.Education in this matter. It would appear that in the sub-group of
:13:31. > :13:36.ministers that the proposals envisaged to join have our eyes
:13:36. > :13:46.only for certain colleges. Definitely the Department of
:13:46. > :13:47.
:13:47. > :13:51.Education needs to be represented. While I welcome the suggestion, it
:13:51. > :13:55.would be premature to establish the second group dealing with an area
:13:55. > :13:59.that is an integral part of existing and planned future
:13:59. > :14:03.structures. In conclusion I have listened with interest the members'
:14:03. > :14:06.views on this extremely important issue. I particularly welcome the
:14:06. > :14:09.acknowledgement that the problems being encountered by young people
:14:09. > :14:16.as they make a transition from school can't be solved by one
:14:16. > :14:20.department alone. It is incumbent on us all, working within service
:14:20. > :14:23.deliverers and stakeholders, to a line of our services in the best
:14:23. > :14:28.way to support every young person on their journey from school or
:14:28. > :14:34.college into the world of work. discuss the problem, I am joined by
:14:34. > :14:39.Basil McRae who chairs the employment and learning committee.
:14:39. > :14:43.Much hand-wringing, but why has it taken so long to Agate progress?
:14:44. > :14:48.That is where the committee are so disappointed. Not just with needs,
:14:48. > :14:52.but also with the skills agenda for young people. Youth unemployment
:14:52. > :14:56.soaring. We don't seem to be getting much progress. We've said
:14:56. > :14:59.repeatedly to the minister and the department that this is a matter
:14:59. > :15:04.that is really urgent and the need to take action. Is this the failure
:15:04. > :15:12.by the minister? He is ultimately responsible. Although we have
:15:12. > :15:15.cordial relations with him, it is simply not acceptable that we have
:15:15. > :15:21.almost 50,000 that we are not doing anything for. The way youth
:15:21. > :15:25.unemployment is going, one in five young people. It is simply
:15:25. > :15:29.unacceptable for us to do nothing. We need to sort something out.
:15:29. > :15:34.this a matter solely for Steven Farrer? We had some mention in the
:15:34. > :15:38.debate that other ministries should be involved, perhaps the Department
:15:38. > :15:42.of Education should be involved? what was interesting about the
:15:42. > :15:45.debate was the emphasis on F E colleges. They have a good pastoral
:15:45. > :15:50.care system where they check whether you have been to college
:15:50. > :15:54.and if not, why not. They make sure young people turn up. If it happens
:15:54. > :16:00.earlier, in school, the key statistics are that people drop out
:16:00. > :16:04.between 14 and 16. Nobody picks it up and it can go even earlier.
:16:04. > :16:07.People that are known to the police or people a nursery school. The
:16:07. > :16:13.problem with the system is we run into difficulties at every stage
:16:13. > :16:19.and yet nobody picks it up. Do you support the call for a Working
:16:19. > :16:25.Group? What we thought... The motion was a bit awkward in trying
:16:25. > :16:28.to put in all sorts of people. What is clear is you need a co-ordinated
:16:28. > :16:34.response across multiple agencies, multiple departments, and you
:16:34. > :16:37.probably need one department to take the lead. The Department of
:16:37. > :16:42.Employment and learning is about to go so what difference will that
:16:42. > :16:46.make? Will it end up in the Department of Enterprise or the
:16:46. > :16:50.Department of Education? department going has not helped. If
:16:50. > :16:55.the department does, the issues will still remain. Wherever they go,
:16:55. > :16:59.will they have the same priority? We do think these issues do need
:16:59. > :17:02.priority, they are probably the single most important issue the
:17:02. > :17:07.executive and the assembly can tackle. We are removing the one
:17:07. > :17:11.department looking at it. We also have welfare reform coming down the
:17:11. > :17:16.pipeline and we heard Pat Bradley are talking about a tsunami of
:17:16. > :17:19.people looking for jobs. Are we prepared for this? It is a tsunami
:17:19. > :17:23.and I don't think we are prepared. I don't think we are doing enough
:17:23. > :17:27.and in three or four years, people will look back and say why did you
:17:27. > :17:30.take so long? They will point the finger rightly at the executive and
:17:30. > :17:33.the assembly and say you did not done enough. What is the
:17:33. > :17:38.committee's next move? We are bringing the minister in front of
:17:38. > :17:41.us. We want to ask him in detail. We have already demanded his
:17:41. > :17:44.officials turn up, but we want to see the minister and he will get a
:17:44. > :17:48.fairly rough ride. Healthy eating seems to be less
:17:48. > :17:52.likely that more money you have. That link was a concern for the
:17:52. > :17:55.health minister as he reported back from a North-South meeting. He
:17:55. > :18:01.expressed his concerns that skills were being lost through the
:18:01. > :18:07.generations. One of the concerns we have associated between food and
:18:07. > :18:13.poverty is that many people who don't have a lot of income are
:18:13. > :18:20.spending it in them -- on the wrong types of food. Very often they will
:18:20. > :18:25.go up to the supermarkets or the pound shops and they will buy the
:18:25. > :18:30.wrong sorts of food. That contributes to obesity and ill
:18:30. > :18:37.health. We do need to encourage people to get back to basics.
:18:37. > :18:43.There's an awful lot of skills that have been lost in the last two to
:18:43. > :18:48.three generations. As a consequence of that, people don't seem to know
:18:48. > :18:52.how to go to the local greengrocer and buy good quality vegetables, to
:18:52. > :18:56.actually buy some of the cheaper cuts of meat and prepare that for a
:18:56. > :19:04.nutritious dinner for their family. To me, there's a course of work
:19:04. > :19:08.that needs to be done, training and educating young people in providing
:19:08. > :19:13.good quality food within their own homes. Unless we get this through
:19:13. > :19:17.to young people, we will be defeated because the skills are not
:19:17. > :19:23.being passed on within the homes any more. Therein lies the
:19:23. > :19:27.challenge. There's a challenge there. Back-to-basics. Is there a
:19:27. > :19:31.gap in the market the farmers' union should be encouraging the
:19:31. > :19:35.health minister to speak to the farming minister? I think the
:19:35. > :19:40.minister has a point. A lot of people have got into the habit of
:19:40. > :19:47.using convenience food. Sometimes that is a lot more expensive. It is
:19:47. > :19:53.handy. It is easy to prepare. But if they bought local produce and
:19:53. > :19:58.made up their meals, it would work out quite a bit cheaper, maybe 30
:19:58. > :20:03.to 40% cheaper. He has a point. sells like you might be talking
:20:03. > :20:07.yourself into a scheme to promote local produce. We have every right
:20:07. > :20:11.to remote local produce. It is excellent quality. I would
:20:11. > :20:16.encourage everybody to use it. Returning to the issue of the
:20:16. > :20:18.reform. What impact do you think those changes might have on food
:20:18. > :20:26.prices when you are encouraging farmers to think more about
:20:26. > :20:35.diversity? With our system in Northern Ireland, about a third of
:20:35. > :20:45.our land... Not being allowed to plough, not being allowed to seed,
:20:45. > :20:49.
:20:49. > :20:52.we will lose productivity and the ability to produce. That will
:20:52. > :20:55.decrease the amount of production we can obtain. Thank you.
:20:55. > :20:57.Many schools are now under stress according to the Department of
:20:57. > :20:59.Education. Figures released today show 8.4% of secondary schools are
:20:59. > :21:01.experiencing difficulties with either the quality of their
:21:01. > :21:09.education, budgets or enrolments.35% of grammar schools
:21:09. > :21:17.and half of primary schools are suffering the same fate. Stephen
:21:17. > :21:21.Walker asked the Education Minster what action he was going to take.
:21:21. > :21:25.My job is to put in place a plan to ensure we have a sustainable
:21:25. > :21:29.schools system where parents can be confident their children are being
:21:29. > :21:33.taught in schools to a very, very high level. When it comes to
:21:33. > :21:37.educational criteria, there is a huge gulf between the controlled
:21:37. > :21:41.sector and the maintained sector. Presumably you find that worrying?
:21:41. > :21:46.It is. But there's good and bad in each sector and sometimes these
:21:46. > :21:51.figures hide the good and bad. In the controlled sector, there's been
:21:51. > :21:55.an ongoing debate about educational under-achievement, particularly in
:21:55. > :22:00.working-class communities. The report highlighted that. I would
:22:00. > :22:04.like to see the debate continuing, I want to hear the voices of the
:22:04. > :22:09.community from all sectors coming forward and the debate around
:22:09. > :22:13.education. In many ways, there is working-class communities that have
:22:13. > :22:18.been left behind in this debate. You haven't ruled up school
:22:18. > :22:22.closures. Does this report reinforced this view? This isn't
:22:22. > :22:25.about school closures, it is about ensuring young people receive
:22:25. > :22:29.greater education. If I have to make a decision around the future
:22:29. > :22:33.of a school based on the needs of young people, I will close that
:22:33. > :22:39.school. You have said you want swift action, but when will we
:22:39. > :22:43.start to see action? You've seen the results of the audit. I will be
:22:43. > :22:46.writing to the managing authorities of a number of schools, asking them
:22:46. > :22:50.what immediate action they are taking to protect the education of
:22:50. > :22:54.young people. We currently have a plan which will see a sustainable
:22:54. > :22:59.schools estate going into the future with high quality education
:22:59. > :23:03.at the centre of that. You talk about hastening it. I know you say
:23:03. > :23:08.it is not primarily about closures, but is it likely that in the next
:23:09. > :23:11.two to three years we will see schools merging, closing? Yes. That
:23:11. > :23:17.is the way forward in terms of the direction this report is pointing a
:23:17. > :23:22.sin. It's an action which the modern curriculum is pointing a sin.
:23:22. > :23:25.Let's ensure we do that. Schools have history, there's an emotional
:23:25. > :23:29.connection with schools and those things go with it. But the school
:23:29. > :23:32.is a building and it is to provide education to young people. If that
:23:32. > :23:36.building is no longer fit for purpose in terms of size or if it
:23:36. > :23:40.is not attractive -- attracting enough pupils to make it
:23:40. > :23:45.educationally viable, let's move on. Let's ensure we have an education
:23:45. > :23:49.system which is fit for purpose going into the 21st century. That
:23:49. > :23:52.will mean amalgamations in some instances, and also closures.
:23:52. > :23:55.The Chair of the Education Committee said the findings of the
:23:55. > :24:02.report are worrying. Mervyn Storey said more needs to be done to
:24:02. > :24:07.address educational decline. What it does is it gives us a picture of
:24:07. > :24:12.the crisis there is a cross our schools. Both primarily in
:24:12. > :24:16.educational terms, because while it is very easy to look at the numbers
:24:16. > :24:20.and whether schools measure up to the intake and all of that, the key
:24:20. > :24:24.issue for educationalists surely has to be the quality of education
:24:24. > :24:30.to children are getting. Clearly this report is saying there are
:24:30. > :24:34.major problems in the educational outcomes in some schools. That is
:24:34. > :24:41.very worrying and the question is, what is being done to address that
:24:41. > :24:45.educational decline? What I would encourage parents not to do is go
:24:45. > :24:50.through this audit and look for their school and come to the wrong
:24:50. > :24:54.conclusion solely on the basis of the figures as they are presented.
:24:54. > :24:58.The figures have to be presented in some context around the school. I
:24:58. > :25:03.would encourage parents to support their local school, to ensure their
:25:03. > :25:08.school get all the support it can. In some places, and I'm well aware
:25:08. > :25:12.my own constituency of particular problems and particular issues, we
:25:12. > :25:16.have to find a different solution. That solution is not simply just
:25:16. > :25:19.about rubbing this call-out and starting over again. We have
:25:19. > :25:24.recently produced figures that clearly indicates there is minimal
:25:24. > :25:29.savings to be had if you just close schools. Let's concentrate on
:25:29. > :25:32.educational outcomes and let's put the resources up. This is a time
:25:32. > :25:35.for more teachers. Now to Cafe Recess, where Stephen
:25:35. > :25:37.Walker, who usually hangs out with our MPs on the terraces at
:25:37. > :25:41.Westminister, has been filling me in on the latest talks on
:25:41. > :25:48.corporation tax. I asked him if we can expect anything dramatic when
:25:48. > :25:58.they get round the table at the Treasury tomorrow. This is a
:25:58. > :25:58.
:25:58. > :26:02.routine meeting, a meeting between Stormont ministers. Basically it is
:26:02. > :26:06.an opportunity to get down and talk about the nuts and bolts of
:26:06. > :26:11.devolving corporation tax, the timescale and exactly how much it
:26:11. > :26:14.would cost. One DUP source has told me this is routine, they are not
:26:14. > :26:19.expecting anything dramatic. Another DUP source there's an
:26:19. > :26:23.element of frustration creeping in because we've been talking about
:26:23. > :26:26.devolving corporation tax for some time now and there is a feeling
:26:26. > :26:29.from the DUP quarters and perhaps from the Sinn Fein quarters that
:26:29. > :26:34.people want to see a bit of action now. How significant is Scotland in
:26:34. > :26:37.this? People in the Treasury are looking over their shoulder at
:26:37. > :26:42.Scotland and wondering if Northern Ireland gets these tax-raising
:26:42. > :26:46.powers and the ability to vary the rate of corporation tax, clearly
:26:46. > :26:50.Scotland will want to. People from Scotland are looking to Northern
:26:50. > :26:54.Ireland. It has muddy the waters. It will be a busy day in London
:26:54. > :26:58.because the DUP have secured a debate dealing with the issue of
:26:58. > :27:02.promoting Northern Ireland as a tourist destination. The DUP get an
:27:02. > :27:06.opportunity to hold debates. They can choose debates on any topic. On
:27:06. > :27:12.this occasion they have chosen the topic of Northern Ireland and they
:27:12. > :27:14.are using the strap line, our time, our place, 2012. They want to
:27:14. > :27:17.showcase Northern Ireland during this debate and tried to encourage
:27:17. > :27:22.people to come to Northern Ireland and use Northern Ireland as a
:27:22. > :27:27.tourist destination. You'll see reference to centenaries and the
:27:27. > :27:33.Titanic, the Ulster Covenant. From the DUP point of view, it is an
:27:33. > :27:36.opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland and they see it as a debate.
:27:36. > :27:41.You have news of the special visitors to storm of later this
:27:41. > :27:45.week. Stormont get a lot of visitors and very often in Stormont,
:27:45. > :27:48.politicians like to regard themselves as being the people that
:27:48. > :27:53.get all the attention. On Thursday there is going to be a lot of
:27:53. > :27:57.attention here. Terry George, the Oscar winner and his daughter, are
:27:57. > :28:02.coming to us Stormont. There will be a lot of attention on them. And
:28:02. > :28:05.a little golden statuette. And like many American visitors to
:28:05. > :28:12.these shores, Oscar has Irish roots - his designer Cedric Gibbons was
:28:12. > :28:15.born in Dublin. So there you go. John, Stephen was talking about
:28:16. > :28:18.tomorrow's meeting on corporation tax in London. That is something
:28:18. > :28:28.the farmers union has been encouraging, but it doesn't sound
:28:28. > :28:28.
:28:28. > :28:32.like Scotland is making things even more complicated. With us having a
:28:32. > :28:36.land border with another member state with a different rate of
:28:36. > :28:41.corporation tax, we feel it is a disadvantage and veena -- in these
:28:42. > :28:47.times we think we are competing in a lot of the same markets. If we
:28:47. > :28:52.had lower tax, nearer the level they have, it would be to our
:28:52. > :28:58.advantage. We're disappointed it is not moving quicker. Be seen as
:28:58. > :29:04.Scotland is a fly in the ointment. Yes. Alex Salmond has pushed for an
:29:04. > :29:08.independence vote and that is one of the issues. Thank you.