Browse content similar to 06/12/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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There were sharp divisions, as expected, in the chamber today | :00:25. | :00:28. | |
as Members debated the whys and wherefores of the | :00:29. | :00:30. | |
And, in the final day of scheduled business before Christmas, | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
the House also discussed teachers' pay, food hygiene standards | :00:37. | :00:38. | |
Strong opinions and fierce debate as the Social Investment Fund | :00:39. | :00:46. | |
The Social Investment Fund is marred in controversy. The public don't | :00:47. | :00:57. | |
don't have trust or confidence in its operation. SIF has been doing | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
wonderful work out there and it's been targeted. | :01:03. | :01:04. | |
The Economy Minister, Simon Hamilton, gets | :01:05. | :01:05. | |
a jab in against one of the DUP's foremost tormenters. | :01:06. | :01:08. | |
I didn't see him referring to it as squander whenever he wrote to me a | :01:09. | :01:14. | |
few weeks ago pleading for a constituent of his to be included in | :01:15. | :01:16. | |
the scheme. Joining me with his thoughts | :01:17. | :01:19. | |
on today's developments is the News Letter's political | :01:20. | :01:21. | |
editor, Sam McBride. The Executive's troubled | :01:22. | :01:31. | |
Social Investment Fund has been making headlines for several months | :01:32. | :01:37. | |
now - not because of its community work, but because of the UDA leader, | :01:38. | :01:40. | |
Dee Stitt, who's the Chief Executive of Charter NI, which has received | :01:41. | :01:43. | |
almost ?2 million from the fund. Today, the Assembly rejected a call | :01:44. | :01:46. | |
from the Alliance Party for an independent review | :01:47. | :01:48. | |
of the fund during a debate Here's Stewart Dickson | :01:49. | :01:51. | |
outlining his concerns. The overarching question is whether | :01:52. | :02:01. | |
the stated objectives of the Social Investment Fund worthy as they | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
maybe, could be more efficientively and effectively achieved through | :02:09. | :02:11. | |
other ease means and whether the Social Investment Fund is a | :02:12. | :02:17. | |
worthwhile use of public money. It's been characterised by secrecy and | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
cronyism. Indeed, in at least one respect the ongoing association of | :02:22. | :02:27. | |
DUP representatives, including the First Minister, with a current | :02:28. | :02:36. | |
paramilitary has undermined the executive committee. I have been on | :02:37. | :02:40. | |
record time and time again recognising and acknowledging there | :02:41. | :02:43. | |
are good organisations with good individuals doing great work. We are | :02:44. | :02:47. | |
supportive of these projects. Our issue is not with them, it is with | :02:48. | :02:53. | |
the process. We are on record, as far as back as 2011, raising | :02:54. | :02:57. | |
concerns about this process and the continual failure by the First | :02:58. | :03:01. | |
Minister and the Deputy First Minister to address these concerns | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
left our members in all but one of the steering groups forced with no | :03:06. | :03:12. | |
option but to resign. The Social Investment Fund is marred in | :03:13. | :03:15. | |
controversy. The public don't have confidence or trust in its | :03:16. | :03:19. | |
operation. I'm rising to oppose the motion for a up in of reasons. The | :03:20. | :03:23. | |
first of these reasons is that, you know, unlike my colleague to the | :03:24. | :03:26. | |
left, I can't agree with the assumption about deep public concern | :03:27. | :03:30. | |
out there. I do get the opposition have a role to fulfil and they need | :03:31. | :03:36. | |
to raise issues to make themselves relevant and they tried tried to use | :03:37. | :03:39. | |
this issue to do. So I've listened to them and asked the questions, | :03:40. | :03:47. | |
make their points and table their debates like a a boxing trying to | :03:48. | :03:52. | |
land his knockout punch. I have listened to answers from ministers | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
who responded to this with cold, hard facts. We are not criticising | :03:56. | :04:02. | |
the efforts of those at local community level. Sorry, what we are | :04:03. | :04:13. | |
saying is that we have legitimate concerns around the control | :04:14. | :04:24. | |
exercised by the funding. As someone who sat on the Southern Zone. Would | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
the member agree that his colleague sat on that very Board, screw | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
niedsed everything and was very, very content with the projects that | :04:35. | :04:39. | |
went forward from the Southern Zone? The member has an extra minute. | :04:40. | :04:45. | |
Clearly the member is in winter wonderful line if she thinks that | :04:46. | :04:49. | |
any representative from the Ulster unionist party would do otherwise. | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
At community level that is what supporting communities is about. I | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
don't stand here to defend the Social Investment Fund I stand here | :05:00. | :05:08. | |
today to commend. It I hope that the Executive Office has the will | :05:09. | :05:12. | |
because I think SIF has been doing wonderful work there. It has been | :05:13. | :05:14. | |
targeted by a small number of people who have went after one individual | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
who made a stupid and flip pant remark which means that everybody | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
who has benefitted from SIF are now the targets of individuals in this | :05:24. | :05:28. | |
chamber who acting out of political interests, not in the public | :05:29. | :05:32. | |
interest in this instance. What we heard from the are are, who didn't | :05:33. | :05:36. | |
want to take interventions, he never addressed the key issue - why was | :05:37. | :05:43. | |
this scheme designed to exclude competition in respect of the lead | :05:44. | :05:47. | |
partners? Isn't the answer clear, because it was always intended to be | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
a vehicle for cronyism and it couldn't be that if you dared to | :05:53. | :05:54. | |
have open competition. The rancour between the parties on | :05:55. | :06:04. | |
this issue shows no sign of disdisappearing? No. There was a | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
clear opposition Executive split on this, as with many issues over the | :06:09. | :06:11. | |
last few months. Effectively, you could have summed up today's debate | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
as one half of the chamber saying what with a is the issue here. Why | :06:16. | :06:19. | |
are you coming to the chamber with this issue in erms it of Dee Stitt? | :06:20. | :06:26. | |
The other half of the chamber saying, how can this be happening in | :06:27. | :06:31. | |
Northern Ireland in 2016. On the issue of Dee Stitt, the opposition | :06:32. | :06:35. | |
were keen to focus on that issue, unsurprisingly. The Executive rarely | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
addressed that issue, John O'Dowd addressed it, saying he has not been | :06:41. | :06:45. | |
convicted. He has a past conviction, not a current conviction, for UDA | :06:46. | :06:49. | |
membership what do you want us to do about it? Most of the DUP | :06:50. | :06:52. | |
representatives steered away saying lots of these groups are doing good | :06:53. | :06:56. | |
work. It's accepted that they are. Some of the politician want to | :06:57. | :07:00. | |
characterise the controversy as a media construct. Could they have a | :07:01. | :07:04. | |
point? I think there are points where the media is justly criticised | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
for things, I think on this issue we are probably a convenient punch bag. | :07:10. | :07:17. | |
The BBC was particular punch bag today for Mrs Cameron, she talked | :07:18. | :07:25. | |
about the Noalisation. The DUP appointed the editor of the Nolan | :07:26. | :07:30. | |
Show. It ease convenient to deflect from the actual issue by saying the | :07:31. | :07:43. | |
messager is the problem. The First and Deputy Firsters ministers | :07:44. | :07:46. | |
announced the appointment of a six person panel as part of the Fresh | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
Start Agreememt to replace the old sieve Vick forum? It is. It's a | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
shrunken form. The Civic Forum died a lonely death a long time ago. Few | :07:58. | :08:00. | |
people were clamouring to get it back. It's unclear whether this | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
group will have any clout. The people are being paid ?300 a day for | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
work which is unclear. People will expect to see something significant | :08:11. | :08:14. | |
from them. They were appointed by the First and Deputy First | :08:15. | :08:17. | |
Ministers. There was no open procurement, if that is the correct | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
phrase, for their portions. They are appointed by the DUP and Sinn Fein. | :08:24. | :08:26. | |
They will not massively rock the boat in terms of a situation where | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
the opposition is criticising the Executive for something. They will | :08:32. | :08:34. | |
contribute advice to the Executive on issues where they are seeking | :08:35. | :08:38. | |
some sort of input from outside themselves. Interesting to see what | :08:39. | :08:41. | |
their remit and range of issues they want to look at would be. Do you | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
think it will have its discussion, deliberations will have an impact on | :08:46. | :08:49. | |
public discourse? It's unclear. Not clear whether they will meet in | :08:50. | :08:54. | |
public, private, will they publish minutes of their discussions, hold | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
public meetings. The press release seems to show they | :08:59. | :09:02. | |
will have a wide remit, right down to deciding who will chair each | :09:03. | :09:05. | |
meeting. That will be for them to decide. It sounds like they have | :09:06. | :09:08. | |
been given a pretty rough idea of what they are supposed to do. They | :09:09. | :09:11. | |
have been told, you can go on and get on with it. It's not entirely | :09:12. | :09:16. | |
clear what is expected of them or how they are expected to operate. We | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
will talk to you later in the programme. | :09:20. | :09:27. | |
Who would have thought "hot air" would turn out to be such | :09:28. | :09:32. | |
But as a result of mistakes in the Renewable Heat Incentive | :09:33. | :09:36. | |
scheme, Ministers could be handing out tens of millions of pounds | :09:37. | :09:39. | |
Today, the Economy Minister revealed that he's drawing up | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
plans which could see, in his words, "a significant | :09:43. | :09:44. | |
Here's Simon Hamilton responding to a question | :09:45. | :09:47. | |
These are serious issues which I'm very sized of the importance of and | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
I'm dealing with on an ongoing basy to try to find a resolution to many | :09:53. | :09:56. | |
of the issues that have froed from the allegations and concerns there | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
have been with the Renewable Heat Incentive. My department is | :10:01. | :10:05. | |
developing a proposal for changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive which | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
would lead to a significant reduction in future costs to the | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
Northern Ireland Executivive. It requires detail discussions include | :10:13. | :10:15. | |
legal advice and further engagement with the European Commission, it | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
received approval within the state aid regime. I will bring a proposal | :10:20. | :10:24. | |
to the Assembly and issue a document as early as I can early in the new | :10:25. | :10:30. | |
year. We are pursuing stronger enforcement of the existing | :10:31. | :10:33. | |
regulations through Ofgem so that abuses of the scheme are addressed | :10:34. | :10:37. | |
as effectively as possible and that any possible fraud cases are dealt | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
with rigorously. Thank you Mr Speaker. Will the investigation | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
initiated by the minister be able to distinguish between | :10:51. | :10:52. | |
maladministration and illegitimate installations. In other words, | :10:53. | :10:55. | |
fraud, and are the police currently investigating? Mr Speaker, as I | :10:56. | :11:04. | |
pointed out to the member in my answer, these are serious | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
allegations of fraud and abuse which were received, which have been given | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
the due seriousness that such allegations would require. That's | :11:12. | :11:16. | |
why we have carried begun, commenced carried out the investigations that | :11:17. | :11:21. | |
we have. I'm absolutely adamant that where there is proof and evidence. | :11:22. | :11:24. | |
That is the important bit of this. There has to be proof and evidence | :11:25. | :11:31. | |
of abuse of the scheme, that appropriate action, all appropriate | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
angsts including if required criminal proceedings should be taken | :11:38. | :11:42. | |
for defrauding the It might cost scheme. Him his job, would the | :11:43. | :11:48. | |
minister agree that at least one of his redcressors, particularly Mrs | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
Foster, was asleep at the wheel in terms of failing to exercise | :11:54. | :11:57. | |
ministerial supervision and ensuring that there was adequate cost | :11:58. | :12:04. | |
controls in place. Can he give us an update on how much this squander | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
made in Stormont is going to cost us into the future? The minister, the | :12:10. | :12:17. | |
member, describes it as "squander" I didn't see him referring to it as | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
squander when he wrote to me a few weeks ago pleading for a constituent | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
of his to be included in the scheme. LAUGHTER. It seems... It seems it's | :12:28. | :12:35. | |
squander when it suits the member. Well, Jim Allister wasn't | :12:36. | :12:38. | |
going to let that go unchallenged and he raised a point of order | :12:39. | :12:40. | |
at the end of question time. In September and in October of this | :12:41. | :12:47. | |
year I wrote on behalf of two separate constituents who had | :12:48. | :12:51. | |
applied to the scheme back in February and had heard nothing. I | :12:52. | :12:54. | |
did what any other constituent member would have done. I wrote and | :12:55. | :13:01. | |
asked - why have these people not heard about their applications. You | :13:02. | :13:04. | |
placed your concern on-the-record. No doubt that the minister will be | :13:05. | :13:06. | |
aware of your concerns, Mr Allister. Meanwhile, Simon Hamilton's DUP | :13:07. | :13:11. | |
colleague, Peter Weir, was also on his feet | :13:12. | :13:14. | |
at the despatch box today. The Education Minister fielded | :13:15. | :13:16. | |
questions yet again about industrial action being taken by some teaching | :13:17. | :13:18. | |
unions over pay. Mr Weir was also asked what steps | :13:19. | :13:21. | |
were being taken in schools to highlight the risks | :13:22. | :13:23. | |
of social media. In 2015 the executive commissioned | :13:24. | :13:33. | |
the developmentment of a new safety strategy an action plan for Northern | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
Ireland. This was a recognition of the rising concern of parents, | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
carers, professionals and broader society for the safety of children | :13:43. | :13:47. | |
and young people when using the internet and encouraging with social | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
media. There are aims within the strategy which are applicable to | :13:52. | :13:56. | |
schools, which include developing a consistent approach to E safety in | :13:57. | :14:00. | |
schools through technical provision. Education of our young people and | :14:01. | :14:03. | |
children and those who work with them. Developing a consistent | :14:04. | :14:11. | |
approach to E safety messages for children, young people, parents, | :14:12. | :14:15. | |
embedding a culture of E safety within schools, colleges, youth | :14:16. | :14:19. | |
services and organisations and practicer ins who work with young | :14:20. | :14:23. | |
children and families. Would he ensure such a strategy is live. | :14:24. | :14:29. | |
Technology changes consistently and be sure the strategy keeps up to | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
day? An implementation plan is critical. We have something which is | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
live and has a level of flexibility within it that can ensure that | :14:38. | :14:41. | |
whatever changes there are in technology or changes in terms of a | :14:42. | :14:48. | |
cultural change. Sometimes it's less direct technology the way it essay | :14:49. | :14:52. | |
dapted and use. We can have the flexibility so things can respond | :14:53. | :14:53. | |
fairly quickly. Did I ask the Minister to provide an | :14:54. | :15:05. | |
update on the teacher's dispute? There has been a call that has gone | :15:06. | :15:10. | |
out to try to sit down and see if we can provide a long-term solution for | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
this. The reality is that within the 20000 and 16-20,017 -- 2016-2017 | :15:17. | :15:24. | |
budget, there have been some issues raised in relation to this in terms | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
of parity but an offer has been made which was greater than parity and | :15:30. | :15:33. | |
they said no to it. There is a situation in which within the | :15:34. | :15:40. | |
current constraints, what was put in place for the next year was | :15:41. | :15:43. | |
ultimately within the current constraints a fair offer in that | :15:44. | :15:52. | |
regard. The Minister won't be aware of the recent strike and he has | :15:53. | :15:55. | |
taken a rather obdurate mission in relation to it. Given that and given | :15:56. | :15:59. | |
the fact that the other three teacher's unions are presently | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
balloting for strike action, would he agree with me that the best | :16:03. | :16:05. | |
veggie teachers might adopt in order to shift the Minister from his | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
present obstinate position would be for them to strike together? No. I | :16:14. | :16:20. | |
suspect he has not changed his position in the last half-century in | :16:21. | :16:26. | |
regards to being obdurate. To be fair, whatever other criticism I | :16:27. | :16:34. | |
would make... A bit like Castro, you have been consistent in your | :16:35. | :16:38. | |
position for the last half-century. But I think my main concern is the | :16:39. | :16:47. | |
children. And think it is highly responsible of the member to | :16:48. | :16:52. | |
centrally encourage people to go out on strike, particularly in | :16:53. | :16:54. | |
circumstances where there is not additional money that is there. It | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
is not a question of obduracy. It is a question of there is not money | :16:59. | :17:01. | |
within the budget to be able to provide for this. | :17:02. | :17:03. | |
Peter Weir, refusing to give any ground | :17:04. | :17:05. | |
Food hygiene stickers on display in cafes and restaurants have become | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
Today the Health Minister outlined the fines for non-display - | :17:09. | :17:14. | |
and how much it will cost for businesses to get re-rated. | :17:15. | :17:18. | |
Michelle O'Neill said the aim is to help consumers | :17:19. | :17:21. | |
make an informed choice about where to eat and, ultimately, | :17:22. | :17:23. | |
In summary, the key provisions of the act require all food businesses | :17:24. | :17:35. | |
to display a valid food hygiene rating sticker. Relevant employees | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
within a food business must on request in farmed the person making | :17:42. | :17:46. | |
the request of the food hygiene rating. It requires all online | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
businesses selling food to display a rating on their platform and | :17:51. | :17:54. | |
introduces offences in relation to non-display of valid rating | :17:55. | :17:59. | |
information. And allow for a fixed penalty notices to be applied for | :18:00. | :18:03. | |
not showing their rating. Allow the charging of a fee in relation to | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
conducting a request for a re-rating visit. Specifies time schools in | :18:09. | :18:15. | |
which it must be completed by. The order specifies the amount of the | :18:16. | :18:18. | |
fixed penalty and the fee in relation to conducting a requested | :18:19. | :18:23. | |
rating visit. The advantages of introducing the rating penalty | :18:24. | :18:28. | |
notices are twofold. They provide officers with an additional | :18:29. | :18:31. | |
enforcement tool and they reduce the burden on the North of Ireland Court | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
service by reducing the number of prosecutions taken. It therefore | :18:36. | :18:38. | |
follows that the amount of the expelled the notice applied must be | :18:39. | :18:41. | |
at a sufficient level to deter people from committing the offence, | :18:42. | :18:43. | |
but not so they would encourage offenders to aim for a better | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
outcome from a court hearing. Our officers to that a strong penalty is | :18:50. | :18:53. | |
more suitable. They were still retain the opportunity of | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
prosecuting the offender. Considering the food hygiene rating | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
Bill, the previous health committee supported the overarching aim of the | :19:04. | :19:08. | |
bill to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness through the | :19:09. | :19:10. | |
introduction of the mandatory food hygiene rating scheme. It was | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
accepted that this would not only help businesses to achieve and | :19:15. | :19:17. | |
maintain compliance with food hygiene law. It would also allow | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
consumers to make informed choices about where they wished to eat or | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
shop for food. When considering the statutory role before the Assembly | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
today, the committee noted the importance if guards for businesses | :19:30. | :19:32. | |
within the act to allow businesses to request a rating of their | :19:33. | :19:36. | |
premises again and accepted that the fee of ?150 setup in these reflected | :19:37. | :19:42. | |
the cost that would be incurred by district councils. In conducting | :19:43. | :19:47. | |
this inspection. The committee also noted and had no objection to the | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
fixed penalty amount of ?200, which would be payable by businesses were | :19:52. | :19:55. | |
a fixed penalty notice was served. The committee further noted that the | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
examiner of statutory rules confirmed in the report issues on | :20:00. | :20:04. | |
the 21st of October 2016 that she has no issues to raise with regard | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
to the technical aspect. A recent survey demonstrated how 90% of | :20:10. | :20:12. | |
consumers look at the meeting of the premise compared to the 22% who look | :20:13. | :20:16. | |
online. I also welcome the fact that this will allow for an authorised | :20:17. | :20:20. | |
officer of the distant Council to issue a fixed penalty notice for | :20:21. | :20:25. | |
offences related to non-display of valid food hygiene rating. As this | :20:26. | :20:28. | |
will undoubtedly succeed in reducing the number of offences having to be | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
dealt with through the courts. I also want to note the largely | :20:34. | :20:36. | |
positive consultation responses. With regards to the fee, I will | :20:37. | :20:46. | |
leave the positives for it with the opportunity for an upgraded rating | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
will encourage -- encourage businesses to make the necessary | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
improvements. I encourage the public to make the most of the new | :20:56. | :20:57. | |
measures. Sound advice from the Minister | :20:58. | :20:57. | |
if you're planning to head The Ulster Unionists have called | :20:58. | :21:00. | |
on the Executive to nominate a Northern Ireland representative | :21:01. | :21:03. | |
to the UK-wide Armed Forces Covenant reference group - | :21:04. | :21:05. | |
the covenant states that veterans "should face no disadvantage | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
compared to other citizens in Opening the debate, Doug Beattie | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
said he recognised that reaching agreement across the chamber | :21:13. | :21:16. | |
may be difficult. I fully understand that you feel | :21:17. | :21:27. | |
that those who you represent and many of the communities that you | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
represent had been brutalised by the British military, certainly in the | :21:33. | :21:36. | |
70s and in the early 80s. I can fully understand that. The covenant | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
fund is ?10 million per year that we are able to bid for. We do get our | :21:42. | :21:49. | |
fair share and in the last 12 months, we have had ?450,000 that | :21:50. | :21:53. | |
has gone to combat stress and we have had ?600,000 which is gone to | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
nursing homes and mental health. There is a defence community mental | :21:59. | :22:03. | |
health facility which is underused. It has had four people go to it | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
because nobody knows about it. I visit my constituents in prison. I | :22:09. | :22:12. | |
visit them in hospital, where they have attempted suicide. I go with | :22:13. | :22:15. | |
them to reviews with a try to keep hold of the children and I attend | :22:16. | :22:18. | |
police stations with them when they have issues with domestic violence | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
through issues of PTSD. I do not question the fact that more needs to | :22:24. | :22:26. | |
be done in Northern Ireland to make veterans await the services, | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
charities and apartment that they can access. Even whilst I would | :22:31. | :22:37. | |
dispute what political and military leadership do, there are many people | :22:38. | :22:40. | |
in the British Army who fought in good faith and in sincere belief. | :22:41. | :22:48. | |
Wherever they went around the world over the years, I do not dispute the | :22:49. | :22:56. | |
contribution of individual members of the Army for the is as they | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
believe in. And I say that because I have said it before because my great | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
uncle I am named after lies in an unmarked grave on the Belgian coast | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
at a place called Newport, having been killed in July 1917 in the | :23:11. | :23:16. | |
First World War, and I have visited and visited with pride the memorial. | :23:17. | :23:21. | |
I want to assure the members that I did as Doug Beattie asked and I | :23:22. | :23:25. | |
listened to to the contributions and I want to assure everybody that my | :23:26. | :23:28. | |
opposition to this motion isn't based on my own very negative | :23:29. | :23:31. | |
experiences of the British Army. Nor is it based on my antipathy to the | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
actions of engaged in by the British army across the globe in recent | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
years. My opposition is political, though. It is very political. It is | :23:43. | :23:46. | |
political in a sense that my opposition to supporting this is | :23:47. | :23:49. | |
based on the protection of rights and entitlements, fair access to | :23:50. | :23:52. | |
servers for every citizen who lives here in Northern Ireland. Due to do | :23:53. | :23:59. | |
nations being scarce, they have been forced into a decision to withdraw | :24:00. | :24:02. | |
their welfare support for the front line and I think it has been | :24:03. | :24:07. | |
revealed that nearly 3000 individuals who rely upon that | :24:08. | :24:09. | |
service will be impacted. And these are issues that can be raised within | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
the common reference group. In terms of the issue of equality and equal | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
treatment, let's be clear. They are not the same thing. If we want a | :24:20. | :24:22. | |
more equal society then treating everybody the same way will not get | :24:23. | :24:25. | |
us there. Because those with an advantaged will continue to be | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
advantaged and those with a disadvantage will continue to be | :24:30. | :24:32. | |
disadvantaged. The only way we can bring about a more equal society is | :24:33. | :24:35. | |
a special consideration, targeting objective need, not just assessing | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
it but targeting it. What I am arguing for is that the same | :24:41. | :24:43. | |
treatment is given to other people and in particular those who have | :24:44. | :24:51. | |
gone through similar experiences. I understand absolutely that people | :24:52. | :24:55. | |
have suffered. What I am arguing is that it can't be specific... It can | :24:56. | :25:04. | |
be giving the British Armed Forces and advantage above others. That is | :25:05. | :25:14. | |
the argued. -- and timid. -- argument. I would have to say that | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
it doesn't say that. It actually says that the disadvantage that | :25:21. | :25:23. | |
people have suffered is to be addressed, not that they are | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
advantaged. Special consideration is not advantage. It is to consider the | :25:28. | :25:30. | |
special conditions in which they have lived. | :25:31. | :25:31. | |
Naomi Long - and that motion was carried by 58 votes to 20. | :25:32. | :25:34. | |
It's one of the most contentious issues for our MLAs, | :25:35. | :25:36. | |
and attempts to change the law surrounding abortion in cases | :25:37. | :25:39. | |
of fatal foetal abnormality failed in the last mandate. | :25:40. | :25:42. | |
We're currently waiting for the Health Minister to bring | :25:43. | :25:45. | |
forward proposals resulting from a working group set up | :25:46. | :25:47. | |
to look into the issue, but today the former | :25:48. | :25:49. | |
Justice Minister, David Ford, brought forward | :25:50. | :25:50. | |
I begged to introduce the abortion fatal little abnormality built. I | :25:51. | :26:04. | |
would ask the clerk to please read the long title. A Bill to make | :26:05. | :26:11. | |
provision to decriminalise medical termination of a pregnancy in those | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
circumstances where the foetus is diagnosed with fatal abnormality. | :26:15. | :26:21. | |
That constitutes the first stage of the bill and it churn out be | :26:22. | :26:23. | |
printed. And obviously that bill will be | :26:24. | :26:23. | |
debated during its second And that is likely to | :26:24. | :26:25. | |
be a lively debate - because opinion is deeply divided | :26:26. | :26:32. | |
on this issue amongst the parties. Yes, and I think this will be one of | :26:33. | :26:42. | |
the defining issues of this mandate in terms of the Assembly, that there | :26:43. | :26:45. | |
is of course as you mentioned the option of this coming from the | :26:46. | :26:49. | |
executive, of them winning forward a bill based on their working group. I | :26:50. | :26:53. | |
think that is probably unlikely in the sense that the DUP have seemed | :26:54. | :26:57. | |
pretty and reluctant to move on that issue. This is going to get a lot of | :26:58. | :27:03. | |
scrutiny. I think there was a letter that came out today from the medics | :27:04. | :27:07. | |
raising the question of whether the term fatal fatal abnormality which | :27:08. | :27:10. | |
is in the long title of the bill is even the right term to use here. And | :27:11. | :27:13. | |
these can be very difficult issues to go through to decide what exactly | :27:14. | :27:17. | |
are the conditions which are covered by this. At what point after birth | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
when somebody is believed by doctors to not have a chance of life should | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
they be allowed to have an abortion. That is going to be very difficult. | :27:29. | :27:34. | |
And I think central to this will be the DUP. Other parties will also | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
have a lot of debate about this. Just a quick word about the debate | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
on the military covenant. It divided the chamber along well-established | :27:45. | :27:47. | |
lines. Yes, and that is not a surprise. It was a measured debate | :27:48. | :27:52. | |
both from Doug Beattie and from Sinn Fein. It basically comes down to | :27:53. | :27:57. | |
where one possible definition of equality is different from others. | :27:58. | :28:00. | |
Sinn Fein said it would be in equitable to give preferential | :28:01. | :28:05. | |
treatment for the point of view of the military. This is about soldiers | :28:06. | :28:14. | |
who will be leaving the military and there has to be consideration taken | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
of his circumstances, but there was a scathing review from Lord Ashcroft | :28:20. | :28:26. | |
and the DUP is under a bit of pressure. Today was meant to be the | :28:27. | :28:29. | |
last sitting before Christmas. There are strong rumours we could be back | :28:30. | :28:35. | |
for the first budget on the 19th of December. That seems very likely. It | :28:36. | :28:39. | |
seems to be that it will be a one-year budget in terms of the | :28:40. | :28:43. | |
current resource account. We will also be looking to see whether there | :28:44. | :28:47. | |
are any hints about corporation tax, whether that will definitely be cut | :28:48. | :28:49. | |
from next's budget. That's it for tonight | :28:50. | :28:51. | |
and perhaps for 2016, depending on whether or not that | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
budget happens on Monday week - In the meantime, do join me | :28:55. | :28:57. | |
for The View on Thursday night, Until then, from everyone | :28:58. | :29:01. | |
in the team, bye-bye. 'Sometimes all that's needed | :29:02. | :29:13. | |
is a helping hand...' It wouldn't be Christmas | :29:14. | :29:18. | |
without her. Ah. '..recognising someone's value | :29:19. | :29:26. | |
and seeing when they need help. 'A few minutes of our time | :29:27. | :29:32. | |
or one small gesture 'may be all that it takes - | :29:33. | :29:34. | |
playing our part.' We're doing something to support | :29:35. | :29:38. | |
older people this Christmas. | :29:39. | :29:47. |