07/05/2013 Stormont Today


07/05/2013

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on the programme: Last week he wasn't happy with how the health

:00:30.:00:34.

trust's handled the issue of closing care homes. Today the Health

:00:34.:00:36.

Minister disagreed with recommendations for the future of

:00:36.:00:41.

child heart services. Don't want to go down the road recommended by the

:00:41.:00:47.

board. I want to go down the road that I've outlined to you today. I

:00:47.:00:51.

need the cooperation of colleagues and Republic of Ireland to do that.

:00:51.:00:55.

As clear as mud, if the politicians don't understand it, what hope have

:00:55.:01:00.

we? I'm sure like many here I'm now completely confused on the heads of

:01:00.:01:06.

agreement. Your state of confusion never ceases to amaze me. I don't

:01:06.:01:12.

think you're as confused as you led on to be confused. The political

:01:12.:01:15.

commentator and columnist Alex Kane gives us his thoughts on the day's

:01:16.:01:23.

proceedings. Just a week into May and it's been a

:01:23.:01:26.

tough month so far for the Health Minister, Edwin Poots. Today in the

:01:26.:01:30.

Assembly he was questioned on care home closures and the proposal to

:01:30.:01:35.

move child heart surgery to Dublin. First up for the minister, after

:01:35.:01:38.

apologising to elderly people for the upset last week, he updated the

:01:38.:01:43.

Assembly on the issue of care home consultations. I met with senior

:01:43.:01:48.

members of the trust and HSC board on Friday May 3. I said it was

:01:48.:01:52.

unacceptable that any older person or their families should be left

:01:52.:01:56.

upset by the process of consultation of closure of residential homes. I

:01:56.:02:01.

indicated to the HSE that the policy has not and will not change. I now

:02:01.:02:06.

want to state clearly to the Assmebly Members that I am fully in

:02:06.:02:08.

support of transforming your care approach regarding the care of older

:02:08.:02:15.

people. That is promoting independence, social inclusion, and

:02:15.:02:18.

support in the community as long as is possible. The process of

:02:18.:02:22.

engagement with older people, their families annal the public has got to

:02:22.:02:26.

change. The pace of change needs to be planned in a coordinated way

:02:26.:02:30.

across all of the trusts that. Was not clear. There foreon Friday, I

:02:30.:02:34.

called a halt to individual trusts consulting on proposed closures

:02:34.:02:40.

within the area. We will now make a fresh start. Consultation on change

:02:40.:02:45.

will still be necessary, but the pace of change will be clearly

:02:45.:02:48.

defined and is likely to be over a longer period of time. The statement

:02:48.:02:53.

is very useful, but the reality is there's still a lot of confusion out

:02:53.:02:58.

there among families but indeed among those who are currently in

:02:58.:03:01.

residential homes. If you had indicated that you weren't informed

:03:01.:03:06.

about this until I think you said last Wednesday, was there any senior

:03:06.:03:10.

officials informed about this either within the HSC board or within your

:03:10.:03:15.

department? The current process has been halted, end of. I believe that

:03:15.:03:18.

the current process got out of kilter with transforming your care

:03:18.:03:23.

and as a consequence of that, I made the decision that the process needed

:03:23.:03:31.

to be halted. So, these facilities are under proposals for closure at

:03:31.:03:36.

this time, but as we look to the future some of these facilities will

:03:36.:03:40.

have considerably less numbers in them in due course. The consequence

:03:40.:03:43.

of that will be that there will be a discussion with the remaining

:03:43.:03:47.

residents in those circumstances to provide the best possible care for

:03:47.:03:53.

them as individuals. In terms of the management of this, I think that we

:03:53.:04:02.

will have to take a closer role in terms of how it is dealt with.

:04:02.:04:07.

Account minister advise us why were they not treated with sensitivity

:04:07.:04:16.

and dignity and who is accountable for that? Well, I see that the silly

:04:16.:04:18.

remark almost implying that I personally caused the distress in

:04:18.:04:25.

these homes. Let me make it clear that I got a e-mail on Wednesday

:04:25.:04:30.

informing us of the Nolan Trust's intention on Thursday. It was a

:04:30.:04:34.

heads up. Let me further explain, because I think the Ulster Unionist

:04:34.:04:38.

Party have suffered from a little amnesia, the current policy in

:04:39.:04:43.

relation to Trusts, the establishment of the existing Trusts

:04:43.:04:47.

and the authority of the existing Trusts were established by none

:04:47.:04:53.

other than the minister before me of the Ulster Unionist Party. The steps

:04:53.:05:00.

I took on Friday, Mr Speaker, were unprecedented. Because it was the

:05:00.:05:04.

responsibility of the Trust to do what they were doing. I stepped in

:05:04.:05:08.

and used ministerial authority to stop it, but it was very clearly the

:05:08.:05:12.

responsibility of the Trusts and they were at liberty to do what they

:05:12.:05:16.

were doing as a result of the way that they were established by their

:05:16.:05:20.

own minister. Given his commitment to the document, account minister

:05:20.:05:24.

therefore confirm that it is still his intention to close 50% of

:05:24.:05:29.

residential care homes? I don't want any member of my family in a

:05:29.:05:34.

residential care facility in a cramped room, sharing toilets and

:05:34.:05:38.

bathrooms with quite a number of other elderly people. I want them to

:05:38.:05:41.

be in the best possible facilities. That's what I want to provide.

:05:41.:05:46.

That's what transforming care is about. It will inevitably lead to a

:05:46.:05:49.

reduction in those kinds of facilities. We need to do it without

:05:49.:05:53.

causing the distress that was caused to elderly people last week. Is it

:05:53.:05:59.

not clear from his statement today that ultimately he wants to maximise

:05:59.:06:06.

the closure of care homes through Stealth, Stealth of stopping new

:06:06.:06:10.

admissions and stealth of continuing not to invest in these homes. Where

:06:10.:06:15.

does the buck stop in the Health Service? Well, not for the first

:06:15.:06:19.

time the member gets it wrong, sometimes I think he knows when he's

:06:19.:06:21.

getting it wrong but does it nonetheless to score a political

:06:22.:06:26.

point. Political point scoring was one thing the minister said was off

:06:26.:06:30.

the agenda when it came to a debate on child heart services. Emotion

:06:30.:06:34.

calling for services to be retained in Belfast was put forward by the

:06:34.:06:39.

Ulster Unionists. It is with regret that I have to move this motion.

:06:39.:06:45.

It's regrettable that the recommendation to remove paediatric

:06:45.:06:48.

cardiac surgery has even been considered never mind recommended. I

:06:48.:06:52.

do hope the minister makes it down before I finish. As previously in

:06:52.:06:55.

this House I will declare an interest in the subject. As the

:06:55.:07:00.

father of a three-month-old son currently awaiting cardiac surgery.

:07:00.:07:05.

The safety of children and adults in Northern Ireland relies on continued

:07:05.:07:10.

congenital heart surgery at the royal Victoria Hospital. I place --

:07:10.:07:17.

I hope to ensure that this World Service will continue. I will vote

:07:17.:07:21.

against any move to remove this surgery from Belfast. These aren't

:07:21.:07:25.

just my words. These are the words of the children's heart beat trust

:07:25.:07:31.

pledge, which has been signed by 87 MLAs including ministers to date.

:07:31.:07:35.

This pledge is entwined and is sub-Stantive to the motion before us

:07:35.:07:42.

today. It's not up to me to remind other MLAs of their own conscience

:07:42.:07:45.

or individual pledges when they speak and vote on this motion.

:07:45.:07:54.

you outline to us where the thinking of the hate minister in -- Health

:07:54.:07:59.

Minister is around this? It seems a reasonable solution. As I say,

:07:59.:08:02.

vulnerable voices were heard last week. You've listened to them.

:08:02.:08:07.

You've took it on the chin. You've had a bloody nose all week. Let's

:08:07.:08:11.

ensure that the vulnerable voices of our future, of the next generation,

:08:11.:08:15.

that they're heard and their parents are heard. It's very unpleasant

:08:15.:08:19.

situation, we simply do not have enough procedures in Northern

:08:19.:08:23.

Ireland to warrant the continuation of the service we have had for so

:08:23.:08:28.

long. In Ireland as a whole, there's just about enough specialist

:08:28.:08:31.

procedures to warrant the provision of that service. The committee has

:08:31.:08:36.

looked at this issue and no later than last Wednesday and we all

:08:36.:08:41.

wanted to have some hope that there was a way of retaining the present

:08:41.:08:45.

service, but I have to say, under quite stiff questioning from all

:08:45.:08:49.

members of the committee, many of whom had a huge degree of sympathy

:08:49.:08:53.

for the parents groups who are concerned about this, I have to say,

:08:53.:08:57.

in my own mind, that really, we have a terribly difficult position we're

:08:57.:09:03.

in. The opportunity for us is crystal clear. It is to develop

:09:03.:09:08.

Belfast, to continue to develop Belfast as a training centre. To

:09:08.:09:12.

retain Belfast as a surgical centre for children from Northern Ireland

:09:12.:09:17.

and most likely from the border counties of the Republic of Ireland.

:09:17.:09:23.

It is to integrate our clinical teams so as others have suggested

:09:23.:09:29.

clinicians move, not children. service was sustainable in Belfast,

:09:29.:09:37.

I would need to have more procedures. If I am to have more

:09:37.:09:43.

procedures, in true north/south cooperation, will the south give us

:09:43.:09:48.

procedures? For example, children in the border counties, if we provide

:09:48.:09:55.

an enhanced cardiology service with facilities avail available in the

:09:56.:09:59.

south-west, I don't want to go down the route that is recommended by the

:09:59.:10:05.

board. I want to go down the route that I have outlined to you today.

:10:05.:10:10.

But I need the cooperation of colleagues in the Republic of

:10:10.:10:16.

Ireland to do that. So there is a range of options for parents, but

:10:16.:10:20.

the one option that many parents want to see is an option of surgical

:10:20.:10:25.

care being provided in Belfast. I -- surgical care being provided in

:10:25.:10:31.

Belfast. I can't stand here and say that I can deliver that, but I will

:10:31.:10:35.

honestly stand before the House and say I will give it my best shot.

:10:35.:10:41.

joined now bit political commentator Alex Kane. Let's talk about Edwin

:10:41.:10:45.

Poots' performance today. Two big issues- care homes and paediatric

:10:45.:10:48.

heart surgery. Did he help his cause today do you think? He's had a tough

:10:48.:10:54.

week? I think he's had an enormously tough week. He's been saying that

:10:54.:10:58.

none of this amounts to a U-turn, but the number of times he's had to

:10:58.:11:03.

say this is not a U-turn I've been misunderstood or other people have

:11:03.:11:06.

gone behind his back and done something without his permission,

:11:06.:11:11.

it's a moment when a minister fears most that everything conspires to go

:11:11.:11:16.

against him. I think he's in a sense lost control of his own agenda.

:11:16.:11:19.

gives the impression of sometimes not knowing what was coming next.

:11:19.:11:25.

Get a sense that what's we've seen in the past 48, 72 hours are two

:11:25.:11:29.

U-turns on two separate health issues in that time? I think they

:11:29.:11:34.

are. Whatever he is saying now, the fact this he has to say it's not a

:11:34.:11:38.

U-turn, which suggests it is. Unless I got him completely wrong my

:11:38.:11:42.

understanding was, particularly on the cardiac thing, yes, it's going

:11:42.:11:48.

to be transferred to Dublin. Seemed to suggest he was relaxed with that

:11:48.:11:52.

all Ireland dimension and today it seems he's anything but. He's

:11:52.:11:56.

determined to retain some kind of surgery, paediatric heart surgery in

:11:56.:12:00.

Belfast. That was clear. It's like he's been forced into. It this was a

:12:00.:12:06.

man who twice under pressure on two cases, this isn't small stuff, it's

:12:06.:12:10.

huge, emotional stuff. He comes under pressure, he buckled. Call it

:12:10.:12:13.

a U-turn, the minister on both occasions clearly buckled and

:12:13.:12:18.

yielded. He didn't make any economic defence or moral defence. Simply

:12:18.:12:23.

said, no, I wasn't planning that. The interesting thing is that the

:12:23.:12:26.

leader of the Ulster Unionists broke cover and demanded that Poots should

:12:27.:12:31.

go. That can have the opposite effect sometimes in politics. What

:12:32.:12:36.

happens is the party circles the wagons. Yes but not only that, the

:12:36.:12:42.

DUP have turned their fire on Danny Kennedy over the A 5 thing. When you

:12:43.:12:47.

don't have an opposition no-one can formally put down a motion of no

:12:47.:12:50.

confidence. In the DUP were in the opposition the leader of that party

:12:50.:12:53.

asking for someone to resign makes more sense than being in the

:12:53.:12:57.

executive and saying, oh, well you should be out of it. It doesn't make

:12:57.:13:02.

any sense. OK. For now, Alex, thank you very much. The deputy First

:13:02.:13:05.

Minister was fielding questions this afternoon. Martin McGuinness stood

:13:05.:13:12.

aside for his junior colleague when the issue of equal pay was raised.

:13:12.:13:17.

In 1997 for example average weekly earnings for women were 74% of the

:13:17.:13:21.

corresponding figure for men. By 2012 the female average had

:13:21.:13:25.

increased to 90% of the male average. While this is now,

:13:25.:13:32.

obviously not good enough. We remain committed to eliminating the gender

:13:32.:13:38.

pay gap. This is a key action area for gender equality strategy. The

:13:38.:13:41.

equality commission's revised code of practice on equal pay will be

:13:41.:13:44.

published shortly, having been approved bit First Minister and

:13:44.:13:48.

deputy First Minister and led in the Assembly. This will provide updated

:13:48.:13:55.

practical guidance to employers and employees on how to facilitate

:13:55.:14:05.
:14:05.:14:07.

gender equality on pay structures. It will also bring equal treatment.

:14:07.:14:11.

Can the junior minister outline what initiatives are planned to introduce

:14:11.:14:16.

or to introduce to plan to be introduced to eradicate this impact?

:14:16.:14:21.

Well, I think again, you know when we look at the strategy we look on

:14:21.:14:27.

it as in the round. Obviously part of that, while the child will be

:14:27.:14:30.

child centred and it's the child's development we'll be looking at, we

:14:30.:14:33.

will lock at how to encourage particularly women back into

:14:33.:14:38.

training or into the workforce. A key area there is to make that child

:14:38.:14:47.

care affordable. As OFMDDFM tasked with equality issues, does the

:14:47.:14:52.

junior minister agree that welfare reform will have a disproportionate

:14:52.:14:56.

impact on women and what measures are they considering to alleviate

:14:56.:15:03.

this threat? I would agree with the member that it will have an adverse

:15:03.:15:06.

impact, more serious impact on women and as a result of having that

:15:06.:15:10.

impact, it will have an impact on children as well, because it will

:15:10.:15:20.

impact the family. I think one of the issues that will have

:15:20.:15:27.

particularly adverse impact is around the split payments. And we

:15:27.:15:33.

would be advocating that the payment would go to the person who would

:15:33.:15:38.

have the general care careers role in the family. I think that the

:15:38.:15:43.

child care, going back to it again, you know, again that's why we need

:15:43.:15:48.

this strategy in place. That's going to have an impact on women who will

:15:48.:15:54.

have to look for work. They're going to need that affordable, accessible

:15:54.:15:58.

and flexible child care in order to do that. The DUP never misses an

:15:58.:16:03.

opportunity to have a go at the Education Minister over academic

:16:03.:16:07.

selection. Something that unites the House is the issue of educational

:16:07.:16:10.

under achievement. Today John O'Dowd announced an investment to help

:16:10.:16:15.

improve standards. I have earmarked two million to be spent in each of

:16:15.:16:18.

the next two years on a community education issue to address the high

:16:18.:16:21.

levels of under achievement in working class communities. The

:16:21.:16:26.

programme will join up community based and school activity in a

:16:26.:16:31.

coherent way, promote partnership between community organisations for

:16:31.:16:34.

schools with particularly concentrations of educational

:16:35.:16:40.

disadvantage. The projects delivered will include high quality education

:16:40.:16:44.

after school programmes, parent programmes, GCSE Easter schools and

:16:44.:16:50.

summer schools to support the transition of pupils from primary to

:16:50.:16:54.

post primary school. We want an effective evidence based

:16:54.:16:58.

intervention that breaks the cycle of deprivation on educational under

:16:58.:17:03.

achievement in some communities. four of my children came from a

:17:03.:17:07.

working-class home in a terraced house and went to a grammar school.

:17:07.:17:12.

Account minister ensure that the two million that he's alluded to each

:17:12.:17:20.

year will widen, narrow the gap, and widen the availability of grammar

:17:20.:17:26.

school places so that other working class children can get access to

:17:26.:17:33.

grammar school schools? Well, I learned a long time ago that hatred

:17:33.:17:39.

is a wasted energy. That might be something the member might want to

:17:39.:17:43.

contemplate as well. It crepts your mind. I'd suggest that the member

:17:43.:17:48.

goes away and looks up what is happening in education now. This

:17:48.:17:52.

talk about grammar schools and non-grammar schools, actually the

:17:52.:17:56.

lines are becoming so blurred now that it is almost unrecognisable.

:17:56.:18:00.

Academic selection is the wrong way forward. Because it benefitted your

:18:00.:18:07.

children, I'm glad it did, it is not benefitting all children. That's the

:18:07.:18:13.

problem. I'm now completely confused on the heads of agreements. Does the

:18:13.:18:16.

minister feel that the heads of agreement are workable or are they

:18:16.:18:22.

being rewritten or have they been rewritten? Your state of confusion

:18:22.:18:29.

never ceases to amaze me. I don't think there's you're as confused as

:18:29.:18:34.

you lead on to be confused. As a political manoeuvre your party has

:18:34.:18:42.

decided they will oppose EASA. They believe it as a battering ram

:18:42.:18:47.

against the DUP. Your decision is political. The education arguments

:18:47.:18:50.

I'm putting forward aren't going to make sense because I'm not answering

:18:50.:18:54.

your question. The Education Minister John O'Dowd. Staying with

:18:54.:18:56.

education the minister has said he wants to see action over the

:18:56.:19:01.

construction of a new primary school in south Belfast. With me now the

:19:01.:19:05.

south Belfast MLA Jimmy Spratt of the DUP. This is a plan to build a

:19:05.:19:10.

new school on the City Hospital site in place of three existing schools.

:19:10.:19:17.

Just talk us through how the plan would work. In terms of the three

:19:17.:19:23.

existing schools, both of these schools are under review for amall

:19:23.:19:30.

gu Maciol. Since 2008, the Belfast City Hospital site is the preferable

:19:30.:19:35.

site for a new, sustainable school in the area, which would be

:19:35.:19:40.

sustainable in terms of the major regeneration, the more than �100

:19:40.:19:43.

million regeneration that's going into the village area at present,

:19:43.:19:47.

which will bring in hopefully more children. So some of the schools now

:19:47.:19:53.

are run down. All three are reasonably old buildings. Really

:19:53.:19:59.

they aren't fit for modern day education. The sticking point is

:19:59.:20:01.

that the City Hospital and the Department of Health haven't

:20:01.:20:07.

actually said at this point that the site is available. Now where do we

:20:07.:20:11.

go, you raise today under private members business. The Education

:20:11.:20:14.

Minister is supportive. Does the Health Minister have to give the

:20:14.:20:19.

green light? The Health Minister indeed has not ruled out the site as

:20:20.:20:23.

a possibility for the school. That's a matter for the Trust. What has

:20:24.:20:31.

happened at present is the Belfast education and library board have

:20:31.:20:34.

plan planning application for that site. That would be a matter then

:20:34.:20:39.

for the Department of Education and DFP in terms of economic appraisal

:20:39.:20:43.

if planning permission is given for the site. Then a decision has to be

:20:43.:20:47.

made. Hopeful that it is achievable? I think we achieved quite a bit

:20:47.:20:52.

today. O'Dowd indicated that he was going off to talk to Edwin Poots in

:20:52.:20:56.

terms of that particular site. I think we made progress today. I hope

:20:56.:21:01.

that progress continues. We'll see. No doubt you'll keep us abreast of

:21:01.:21:06.

developments. Thank you very much. Glentoran's weekend win was a

:21:06.:21:09.

talking point for questions to the culture minister. First questions to

:21:09.:21:12.

the agriculture minister. Michelle O'Neill is responding to a question

:21:13.:21:17.

about rural Broadband services. pleased to announce to the House

:21:17.:21:22.

today that the �5 million that I'm committing to Broadband delivery

:21:22.:21:26.

project will be used exclusively to target rural areas of high

:21:26.:21:30.

deprivation that have no fixed wire infrastructure to access Broadband.

:21:30.:21:34.

I hope this will stimulate companies supplying Broadband to get it into

:21:34.:21:38.

rural areas and to use the infrastructure to provide access to

:21:38.:21:42.

rural dwellers and businesses to use Broadband. I want the investment to

:21:42.:21:47.

stimulate rural businesses and give rural dwellers wider access to

:21:47.:21:56.

services. There are 4,000 premises listed in Fermanagh as being rural.

:21:56.:21:59.

While initially areas of high deprivation will be funded as a

:21:59.:22:04.

priority, funding will be rolled out across as many spots as possible.

:22:04.:22:08.

will thank the minister for her answer and the announce demand this

:22:08.:22:12.

is going to be finally investmented. I thought the minister was going to

:22:12.:22:16.

say it was exclusively for Fer man ya. Can the minister provide an

:22:16.:22:20.

update as to when the initiative will begin and when we can expect to

:22:20.:22:24.

see an improvement on the ground? thank the member for his question.

:22:24.:22:29.

I'm sure he's glad to hear this is a project that's going to benefit all

:22:29.:22:36.

the rural dwellers of the north and not just those in Fermanagh.

:22:36.:22:44.

questions for culture arts and leisure. I wonder has the minister

:22:44.:22:48.

any plans to invite Glentoran football club up to the Assembly for

:22:49.:22:53.

a reception and honour them in their great achievement? I thank the

:22:53.:22:58.

member for his question, indeed an invitation has been issued this

:22:58.:23:08.
:23:08.:23:08.

morning to Glentoran. I'd like to put on the record congratulates --

:23:08.:23:15.

Greeks -- congratulations. I'm sure the member will perhaps, you know,

:23:15.:23:20.

accept an invitation to receive Cliftonville football club tonight

:23:21.:23:25.

in Parliament buildings, as ever other member is open to. I think

:23:25.:23:29.

particularly the achievements in soccer of recent times is a good

:23:29.:23:34.

reflection on the level of sport. Now how are women progressing in the

:23:34.:23:40.

judiciary here? In the upper echelons not great. It's an issue on

:23:40.:23:43.

which the Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan briefed the Justice

:23:43.:23:46.

Committee last week. First up, members of the education committee

:23:46.:23:50.

were given feedback on a consultation on the future of

:23:50.:23:53.

A-levels here. First, very little support to moving to linear

:23:53.:23:58.

assessment at the end of two-year course. Some school Prince pals were

:23:58.:24:05.

in favour of maintaining exams being taken at the end of each year. There

:24:05.:24:10.

was some support for retention over January assessment, mainly from the

:24:10.:24:17.

non-selective sector and FE sector. Secondly in relation to AS level

:24:17.:24:21.

courses, high level support for maining the status quo where the AS

:24:21.:24:27.

can be taken as part of a full A-level course or a stand-alone

:24:27.:24:37.
:24:37.:24:52.

Cornwallification. Thirdly -- serve a number of purposes and not

:24:52.:24:59.

just for Russell group University. We do not want our system to end up

:24:59.:25:04.

becoming the Ulster Bank five pound note. You go into a shop and in the

:25:04.:25:08.

United Kingdom and somebody says, that's not legal tender, even though

:25:08.:25:12.

it's stamped that it is the case. We don't want that situation. We want

:25:12.:25:19.

to maintain the high quality and outcome that I think our A-level

:25:19.:25:25.

results and benefits for our pupils has had. We certainly don't want to

:25:25.:25:29.

be in a position of blindly following changes being made

:25:29.:25:39.
:25:39.:25:41.

elsewhere. If those changes actually don't have a solid rational that we

:25:41.:25:48.

would recognise as use villi. last time I was here I reflected on

:25:48.:25:53.

the steps I would take to encourage women to apply for Judicial Office.

:25:53.:25:57.

The president of the law society, with my support, has had a very

:25:57.:26:01.

successful conference on women in the law. The liaison group between

:26:01.:26:05.

the legal profession and judicial appointments commission is well

:26:05.:26:11.

established. It's at the High Court level where there's a very clear

:26:11.:26:17.

problem. There is no female judges in the High Court at all. That

:26:17.:26:22.

symbolically is something that needs to be addressed. I have made, I

:26:22.:26:31.

think, a very determined attempt to change the culture and the views

:26:31.:26:34.

about whether the back corridor is welcoming of women. The fact that I

:26:34.:26:40.

made the position of women within the law as the centrepiece really of

:26:40.:26:46.

my speech at the start of the year was highly unusual. Nobody has done

:26:46.:26:49.

that before. At the end of the day, you'll have to judge me on whether

:26:49.:26:55.

or not we manage to achieve that. The Lord Chief Justice. Just time

:26:55.:27:01.

for a final work from my guest Alex Kane. We heard today about the

:27:01.:27:05.

Finance Minister's plans to fly the Union flag on designated days from

:27:05.:27:10.

buildings controlled by his department. That has met an

:27:10.:27:14.

avalanche of criticism from certain quarters. Were you surprised at the

:27:14.:27:18.

decision to go down this route? No, I wasn't. It's one of those moments

:27:18.:27:21.

in Northern Ireland politics just when you think it can't become more

:27:21.:27:26.

bizarre, it exceeds all expectations. It's point scoring.

:27:26.:27:30.

It's trying to appeal to a section of the DUP which is very

:27:30.:27:34.

disappointing with Peter Robinson's approach to loyalism and

:27:34.:27:37.

working-class unionism. It's a matter of Sammy trying to say look,

:27:37.:27:42.

I can do this, so I'm going to do it. I think it's unhelpful. There is

:27:42.:27:48.

an interesting cost point here. We gather it's five buildings, up to

:27:48.:27:51.

�2,000 per flag to erect the flag pole and so forth, depending on

:27:51.:27:55.

what's necessary. There's a potential cost of �10,000 here,

:27:55.:28:01.

which is quite a lot of money in these lean times. I'm shocked that

:28:01.:28:04.

it costs �2,000 for a pole. Particularly at a time when they're

:28:04.:28:08.

saying they can't afford, I mean �10,000 in the great scheme of

:28:08.:28:11.

things in politics doesn't sound a huge amount, but it could have been

:28:11.:28:15.

used for something more useful. Again people will say what's the

:28:15.:28:19.

point of the flag and spending money on the flag. Some of the politicians

:28:19.:28:22.

pointed out today that there was a suggestion there should be a review

:28:22.:28:27.

of public pension provision, public sector pensions, the department said

:28:27.:28:32.

no because it would cost �10,000 to do that. The budget is controlled

:28:32.:28:37.

bit Finance Minister so it comes full circle. The flag will fly on

:28:37.:28:40.

one building controlled by the department of finance, but onning

:28:40.:28:45.

piled by the SDLP environment minister. I'm sure again he will see

:28:45.:28:50.

that as a bit of point scoring for no good reason zpl. We will hear

:28:50.:28:53.

more about it in the days to come. That's all for tonight. We're back

:28:53.:28:59.

at the usual time next Monday night. Make a point of joining me for the

:28:59.:29:02.

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