:00:24. > :00:28.Two big pieces of legislation dominated proceedings in the chamber
:00:29. > :00:31.- the Budget Bill and the Employment Bill.
:00:32. > :00:34.Mervyn Storey brought his budget one step closer to becoming reality -
:00:35. > :00:38.and Stephen Farry made his position clear on zero hour contracts.
:00:39. > :00:42.Eye-watering sums of money are discussed in the chamber
:00:43. > :00:52.as the Finance Minister brings forward the Budget Bill...
:00:53. > :00:59.15 billion 770 million and of ?704,000 from the Northern Ireland
:01:00. > :01:11.2016, Consolidated fund 2016,
:01:12. > :01:13.A complete ban on zero hours contracts is ruled out
:01:14. > :01:17.And I'm joined with his thoughts on today's money matters
:01:18. > :01:29.It was the last business of the day, but perhaps the most important
:01:30. > :01:31.as the Finance Minister opened the debate on the second stage
:01:32. > :01:34.The legislation, which has already been granted accelerated passage
:01:35. > :01:37.to make sure it's completed before the end of this mandate,
:01:38. > :01:44.will cover the Executive's finances for the next twelve months...
:01:45. > :01:56.the purpose of the bill is to authorise the issue of 15 billion
:01:57. > :02:01.and 70 million and of ?704,000 from the Northern Ireland Consolidated
:02:02. > :02:08.fund in 2016, 2015, 2016. The amounts for each department are
:02:09. > :02:14.detailed this is ?359 million more than the authorised in the June
:02:15. > :02:17.estimate. This cash is drawn down on a daily basis as needed from the
:02:18. > :02:22.Northern Ireland Consolidated fund which is managed by my department on
:02:23. > :02:37.behalf of the executive. The bill also authorises the use of resources
:02:38. > :02:41.by departments and certain other around ?389 million more than
:02:42. > :03:02.authorised in the estimate. The bill also authorises 2017 vote for cash
:03:03. > :03:09.of resources of this is to allow the flow of cash and resources to flow
:03:10. > :03:16.into public services of 2017 until the main estimates are approved in
:03:17. > :03:24.June later this year. There amongst the business community and local
:03:25. > :03:36.economy for the executive to take hold of, further fiscal levers.
:03:37. > :03:42.Outlined is figures relating to the powers of revenues, in terms of
:03:43. > :03:51.spent. Across the water you had Smith, Kalman, silk so to the suite
:03:52. > :03:55.of fiscal levers that the Scottish and Welsh administrations have. We
:03:56. > :04:01.have not have that in Belfast. The life story of this budget was the
:04:02. > :04:04.disagreement over welfare. We think to in gauge with reasonable
:04:05. > :04:08.proposals, not all you would have agreed with, but the failure to even
:04:09. > :04:12.engage with those amendments, the rejection of the ideas of other
:04:13. > :04:19.parties during the talks process, then the presenting with about half
:04:20. > :04:28.an hour of parties like ours, the fresh then this budget that followed
:04:29. > :04:35.and it to the money going but there is a talk about mandates and the use
:04:36. > :04:45.wipes out and ignores the mandates of the other parties. In the budget
:04:46. > :04:55.report, we have a reference how they which comes from and I think I
:04:56. > :05:02.trotted this out about a month ago. Is 9.2 billion and I would think
:05:03. > :05:07.that taxes generated in Northern Ireland are less than that. I do not
:05:08. > :05:12.know whether it is their to ask the Minister how close that is to that.
:05:13. > :05:22.My own feeling is it is light years away from 9.2 billion. The Alliance
:05:23. > :05:26.that was the time when there was still an opportunity for an
:05:27. > :05:30.alternative to be agreed. Now that these democratic decisions have been
:05:31. > :05:34.taken for better or worse we have a duty to support the measures that
:05:35. > :05:40.have put in place the finance for our government departments and
:05:41. > :05:44.agencies. We recognise that 2016 and 2017 is transitional and it will be
:05:45. > :05:47.followed by a four year budget and I have some hope that when the
:05:48. > :05:48.rationalised apartments are in place and a new programme for government
:05:49. > :06:03.is agreed that we will see a regard for
:06:04. > :06:14.displaying at this regard for Judith Cochrane - and the economist
:06:15. > :06:17.John Simpson is with me now... There were some enormous numbers
:06:18. > :06:33.there from Mervyn Storey, it is a large sum. The difficulty is
:06:34. > :06:37.breaking down the prove. It is at a standstill budget, the first budget
:06:38. > :06:42.after the new government elected at Westminster and in real terms, after
:06:43. > :06:49.you allow for putting money across for welfare reform, it is a budget
:06:50. > :06:57.that is broadly speaking, do you think they have got the way in which
:06:58. > :07:11.it is to be they have kept on the mechanism from the previous year. It
:07:12. > :07:20.is there will be significant. The budget has been reduced not just in
:07:21. > :07:25.monetary terms but in real terms. We to the election. We will now watch
:07:26. > :07:29.and what they will promise after the election and one of the things I
:07:30. > :07:33.will be looking at, we know the amount they will have, the two
:07:34. > :07:37.parties have agreed they will live within the Westminster allocation of
:07:38. > :07:40.the Barnett Formula. You know what the ceiling is, now if you're
:07:41. > :07:45.proposing to change bending, you not only had to say what more you want
:07:46. > :07:49.to do, but you will have to say what you're going to take out a more you
:07:50. > :07:57.will make savings. That is the challenge. The legislation is last
:07:58. > :08:04.year we were talking about a fantasy budget and now about a compromise
:08:05. > :08:08.budget. The parties have said we have to get the show on the road, we
:08:09. > :08:13.need to get a fresh start, the show is now rolling through a process in
:08:14. > :08:18.which there will be many things that can go wrong. An interesting point
:08:19. > :08:24.you make, it is a budget for one year, Judith Cochrane referred to it
:08:25. > :08:28.as a transitional budget, it is not the way ideally you would plan the
:08:29. > :08:30.finances of the country. No, after the last British election we were
:08:31. > :08:53.told what our Barnett what are these parties
:08:54. > :09:00.going to suggest coming up to the election? You know what you have to
:09:01. > :09:03.live with them, that that is unlikely to I would like the economy
:09:04. > :09:10.but there to be high-profile but there
:09:11. > :09:12.Thanks John - we'll hear more from you later.
:09:13. > :09:14.Another big piece of legislation in the Assembly today
:09:15. > :09:17.was the Employment Bill and during the debate Stephen Farry
:09:18. > :09:20.told MLAs that a complete ban on zero hours contracts would lead
:09:21. > :09:22.to the loss of the thousands of jobs here.
:09:23. > :09:24.The bill covered a variety of aspects of employment law
:09:25. > :09:26.but the main arguments centred on the sometimes controversial
:09:27. > :09:30.The Employment Minister told the house that more professions
:09:31. > :09:33.than you might think work under similar circumstances...
:09:34. > :09:39.indeed there are some immediate risks that could arise from an
:09:40. > :09:43.outright ban. Once any measure became law employers would be faced
:09:44. > :09:46.with changing the nature of employment contracts, that may not
:09:47. > :09:51.be feasible in every situation particularly where flexibility is of
:09:52. > :09:59.a premium. Therefore there is a prospect of an outright ban leading
:10:00. > :10:04.to the loss of thousands of -- my understanding is that this could be
:10:05. > :10:08.construed as zero hours contracts. There are also over 10,000 names on
:10:09. > :10:14.the substitute teachers register who can be regarded as being on these
:10:15. > :10:22.contracts together with a number of contracts in further an outright ban
:10:23. > :10:29.of that was to be adopted would be to create chaos in both the health
:10:30. > :10:32.how can people get a mortgage on the zero hour contract? When the
:10:33. > :10:42.minister brought forward proposals on how to tackle this, one of the
:10:43. > :10:46.issues along that are in low paid jobs and their ability to access
:10:47. > :10:50.benefits and working tax credits and the ministers are us that there are
:10:51. > :10:57.department and the Department for social development were working on a
:10:58. > :11:01.joint approach to tackle out. No update on how the benefit system is
:11:02. > :11:04.going to be changed to meet the flexibility of employees who may be
:11:05. > :11:09.one week get 30 hours and for the next 34 weeks do not get any hours
:11:10. > :11:13.per because that is the case, they do not get benefits. We have a
:11:14. > :11:16.responsibility as a community to try and create appropriate implement
:11:17. > :11:19.opportunities and to have those presented in such a way that those
:11:20. > :11:21.young people are treated early and that they can at least, even if they
:11:22. > :12:07.are on a relatively low salary, that think what would happen if we
:12:08. > :12:37.could encourage They have no idea what their order
:12:38. > :12:43.sheet will be like months in advance. They very often take an
:12:44. > :12:48.order on Monday for that weekend, so they depend on a short term order
:12:49. > :12:52.book. Zero hours contracts allows them to take that work knowing they
:12:53. > :13:00.have a list of people who can come in at short notice and help them do
:13:01. > :13:03.that catering job. We all know what zero hours contracts looked like,
:13:04. > :13:12.but I don't think an outright ban is appropriate. It has allowed me to
:13:13. > :13:15.prioritise something that was more important in my life whilst being
:13:16. > :13:20.able to work and earn something to pay for any bills that I had.
:13:21. > :13:23.And the Sinn Fein amendments on zero hours contracts fell.
:13:24. > :13:25.There was no rest for Stephen Farry who also faced Question Time
:13:26. > :13:32.The Employment and Learning Minister was asked about student
:13:33. > :13:34.accommodation being built in Belfast city centre and,
:13:35. > :13:36.first of all, the expansion of the Magee campus
:13:37. > :13:46.The oversight and stewardship of the business case always going to be
:13:47. > :13:50.critically important in the uncertain context of moving from one
:13:51. > :13:52.department to a new department. Can the minister give the house
:13:53. > :14:01.assurance that the same team will be working on the business plan?
:14:02. > :14:05.Starting from the back, the same unit as transfers into the new
:14:06. > :14:09.department on this, there may be some change of personnel as is the
:14:10. > :14:11.case with every aspect of Government, but there will be no
:14:12. > :14:21.more or less continuity than anything else. I do take issue with
:14:22. > :14:26.the point around the false dawns. I haven't been involved in. Is around
:14:27. > :14:35.this. I support the expansion of Ulster University, it is clear that
:14:36. > :14:42.we do need to be producing more graduates, particularly those
:14:43. > :14:50.identified as needed by our economy. But we cannot expand the University
:14:51. > :14:54.of Ulster at ID unless more resources are allocated towards
:14:55. > :15:05.higher education. I welcome his continuing support for expansion of
:15:06. > :15:10.Maghee. We have already been down this road, and it was raised in what
:15:11. > :15:14.we produced in the summer of last year. It took quite some time before
:15:15. > :15:18.the revised business case came back to the department, so whether this
:15:19. > :15:21.is the final stage of the process that we are now in, or whether we
:15:22. > :15:29.have to go through another iteration depends upon the tick killer point
:15:30. > :15:35.around scrutiny, but the issue isn't one about the capacity of the
:15:36. > :15:40.Council of consultants or the university to produce a business
:15:41. > :15:43.case. The answer the of whether Maghee will expand is how it will be
:15:44. > :15:50.resourced by the executive, and they will have to be done in a way that
:15:51. > :15:54.is sustainable. In relation to student accommodation in Belfast
:15:55. > :16:00.University students, with the minister like to comment on what
:16:01. > :16:06.appears to be a frenzy of planning applications in relation to student
:16:07. > :16:12.accommodation, both in North Belfast and also in south Belfast? And the
:16:13. > :16:18.fact that it appears that the universities are simply allowing
:16:19. > :16:24.these applications to develop in a free market without any plan or
:16:25. > :16:27.control? In terms of accommodation, we are seeing different approaches
:16:28. > :16:31.depending on which of the universities we are talking about.
:16:32. > :16:37.Obviously Queens have moved ahead with their own projects in terms of
:16:38. > :16:39.their own managed accommodation, and Ulster University is adopting a
:16:40. > :16:45.situation where the private sector is responding. I wouldn't say it is
:16:46. > :16:47.fair to say that there is no control in that regard, but there is
:16:48. > :16:53.controlled by planning in terms of land use and the recommendation of
:16:54. > :16:58.individual applications, and Belfast City Council is the lead authority
:16:59. > :17:03.with the responsibility. The council goes through their own processes.
:17:04. > :17:05.Stephen Farry on the challenge of providing adequate student
:17:06. > :17:09.As we come towards the end of the mandate there are a lot
:17:10. > :17:11.of T's being crossed and I's being dotted.
:17:12. > :17:13.Today it was the turn of the Environment Minister,
:17:14. > :17:18.He brought the final stage of a bill to simplify environmental
:17:19. > :17:27.Aristotle is credited with saying that even when laws have been
:17:28. > :17:33.written down, they ought not always to remain unaltered. Currently
:17:34. > :17:41.Northern Ireland environmental regulators operate under some 230
:17:42. > :17:46.pieces of environmental legislation. This has produced a complex and
:17:47. > :17:50.unwieldy legislative landscape which is difficult for the regulated to
:17:51. > :17:58.understand, and for the regulators to enforce. This is clearly a system
:17:59. > :18:03.which should no longer remain unaltered. The environmental better
:18:04. > :18:09.regulation Bill aims to harmonise and simplify aspects of this body of
:18:10. > :18:14.environmental legislation. Better environmental legislation will mean
:18:15. > :18:23.a cleaner, safer environment for all. The committee recognises that
:18:24. > :18:29.as environmental legislation has developed, it has become complex
:18:30. > :18:32.with different rules and regimes, making it confusing for businesses.
:18:33. > :18:38.The committee is aware that the bill is one aspect of a wider regulatory
:18:39. > :18:46.transformation programme aimed at reducing the burden of regulation on
:18:47. > :18:54.business. Mr Speaker, the bill is in essence a Skeleton Bill, meaning
:18:55. > :19:01.that the real operation of the act would be made entirely by the
:19:02. > :19:06.regulations under it. 20 pollution incidents have occurred in five
:19:07. > :19:12.years, decimating fish stocks, and yet only half of these resulted in
:19:13. > :19:17.prosecution, and such incidents happen across Northern Ireland, with
:19:18. > :19:24.the Paul Cook continually going unpunished -- the culprits
:19:25. > :19:26.continually going unpunished. We would like to use additional
:19:27. > :19:32.resources to swiftly bring them to justice. It will be less burden to
:19:33. > :19:34.businesses, but it is key when we bring it forward before the
:19:35. > :19:44.regulations that we talk to businesses, engage them and through
:19:45. > :19:46.the scrutiny process bring forward some suggested amendments for
:19:47. > :19:54.consideration stage is brought forward by the Minister, and that is
:19:55. > :19:58.to be welcomed. The Department of the Environment will be subsumed and
:19:59. > :20:07.divided into three parts, but it will continue to exist, and in
:20:08. > :20:13.successive departments, and it is very important that we in dealing
:20:14. > :20:20.with the environment set the proper regulatory and legal basis for it to
:20:21. > :20:25.continue its good work. The Bill sounds well-meaning, but is
:20:26. > :20:33.undoubtedly liked an actual detail in terms of new policy direction.
:20:34. > :20:36.Having read the committee report, I realise that the Bill is what is
:20:37. > :20:44.considered enabling legislation, and I therefore wish the new department
:20:45. > :20:45.well in its efforts to reform and modernise our new regulatory
:20:46. > :20:48.framework. Alastair Patterson making his first
:20:49. > :20:50.contribution to a debate in the chamber - and here's a little
:20:51. > :20:58.more of his maiden speech... Representing Fermanagh and South
:20:59. > :21:05.Tyrone, an area of outstanding natural beauty, where tourism is
:21:06. > :21:10.extremely important, I pledge myself, Mr Speaker, to working with
:21:11. > :21:17.all members of this house to promote when and whatever we can Northern
:21:18. > :21:23.Ireland has to offer. Especially in this year of food and drink. I
:21:24. > :21:30.appeal to this house. We must ensure that we promote hospitality to all.
:21:31. > :21:37.I have to confess to having a vested interest in this area of hospitality
:21:38. > :21:41.as my wife, Olga, as chair of hospitality Ulster. Trust me, Mr
:21:42. > :21:47.Speaker, going home doesn't bring about quietness as I have often
:21:48. > :21:52.lobby Dominique Gisin the hospitality industry, and I will be
:21:53. > :21:58.pressing our health Minister on the need for more resources, in
:21:59. > :22:02.particular for the South West acute hospital, which sadly doesn't even
:22:03. > :22:09.have full-time doctor cover at weekends, which is extremely sad, it
:22:10. > :22:13.seems that you are not allowed to be sick at weekends. I wanted to be
:22:14. > :22:18.clear to all members of this house that I will extend the hand of
:22:19. > :22:24.friendship to all members to work for the benefit of all the people.
:22:25. > :22:27.Alastair Patterson, keen to forge friendships across the House.
:22:28. > :22:29.The Enterprise Minister was on his feet at Question Time
:22:30. > :22:34.The old faithfuls Corporation Tax and the EU referendum not
:22:35. > :22:36.surprisingly made an appearance, but Jonathan Bell also had
:22:37. > :22:38.to respond to a question from the Ulster Unionist,
:22:39. > :22:40.Ross Hussey, about recently published statistics
:22:41. > :22:55.We have experienced growth in three of the last four quarters, with an
:22:56. > :23:00.annual increase of 1.6%. Despite those positives, the figures for the
:23:01. > :23:06.latest quarter were negative, and these findings are disappointing. I
:23:07. > :23:08.think most economists that are advising me say don't get too
:23:09. > :23:17.fixated on just one single quarter's data. There are relatively small
:23:18. > :23:22.quarterly statistics and can be volatile. If you look at quarterly
:23:23. > :23:27.figures, I do see concerns. I take the advice to look at those but also
:23:28. > :23:35.to note the volatility, Inoha look at the annual change, services were
:23:36. > :23:45.1% at a manufacturing output were 2.9% up, and construction output
:23:46. > :23:48.were 3.7% up. This change in corporation tax is described as a
:23:49. > :23:57.game changer. Why did it not change the game in my constituency by the
:23:58. > :24:01.large companies who are leaving our shores at precisely the time when a
:24:02. > :24:04.reduction in corporation tax will come? I spent time with the Michelin
:24:05. > :24:08.management and I asked them if there was anything more the Government
:24:09. > :24:13.could have done, and they told me know. But what I can tell members is
:24:14. > :24:17.there is a huge interest in Northern Ireland. When companies come to me
:24:18. > :24:24.and say, we came for the costs, we stayed for your people. When other
:24:25. > :24:29.companies like City come to provide hundreds of jobs, they now provide
:24:30. > :24:37.somewhere in the region of 2000 jobs. When we see the large
:24:38. > :24:41.companies tripling their profits and talking about what they could do
:24:42. > :24:47.into the future, I think of we present that collective message of
:24:48. > :24:50.low-cost low tax and excellent work forced, we have a winning message
:24:51. > :24:55.that the economy of Northern Ireland. Perhaps you could outline
:24:56. > :24:58.for us and tell the House the representations that you have
:24:59. > :25:02.received from business and industry about their concern of the negative
:25:03. > :25:10.impact of an exit of the United Kingdom from the EU. I made a
:25:11. > :25:13.mistake last week and talked about the nature of the quest, and I
:25:14. > :25:18.should have said the nature of the terms, I will correct that record.
:25:19. > :25:20.Business has spoken to me, not exclusively with one voice. There
:25:21. > :25:27.are differing approaches that are being made. What I have tried to do
:25:28. > :25:30.is say to people that we have commissioned Oxford economics to try
:25:31. > :25:36.to provide the best information for people to examine against what may
:25:37. > :25:45.or may not come next week. First supplementary. Minister, with the
:25:46. > :25:49.first Minister leading towards out, is it likely that you will be the
:25:50. > :25:55.only enterprise minister in the United Kingdom who is an TEU, and
:25:56. > :26:03.will be leading the charge against business and industry in Northern
:26:04. > :26:08.Ireland? -- who will be Tabac to? I support the position that has been
:26:09. > :26:16.adopted 100%. What I have asked people to do is to look seriously at
:26:17. > :26:18.the information that we are commissioning from Oxford economics
:26:19. > :26:21.on the range of options, and to examine it against the terms that
:26:22. > :26:24.come through. Jonathan Bell suggesting it's better
:26:25. > :26:27.to wait and see when it comes for discussion in the chamber
:26:28. > :26:34.on an almost daily basis - with the House pretty divided -
:26:35. > :26:44.what way do you think any For the United Kingdom, I think
:26:45. > :26:48.there is a real doubt about which way the vote will go, but I will say
:26:49. > :26:52.it looks to me as if the Scots will vote quite clearly to stay within
:26:53. > :26:57.the European Union. If the English, and I use the word meaning England,
:26:58. > :27:02.if they vote to come out, that is the equivalent of saying they are
:27:03. > :27:06.allowing the United Kingdom to break up, because the Scots will then go
:27:07. > :27:10.for a new referendum, and I have no doubt they will win it. I was
:27:11. > :27:14.frightfully worried about the referendum. Never mind that. In
:27:15. > :27:17.terms of Northern Ireland, I am quite clear in my own mind the right
:27:18. > :27:22.answer for Northern Ireland is to stay within Europe and reform it
:27:23. > :27:27.from within. To step outside and try to reform from outside seems to me
:27:28. > :27:32.to be a waste of time. There are significant voices within the DUP
:27:33. > :27:36.which are very Euro-sceptic I think it is fair to say. They believe that
:27:37. > :27:41.Northern Ireland does not benefit from its membership of the EU. You
:27:42. > :27:46.don't see it that way? I don't agree with that conclusion. I think there
:27:47. > :27:50.is a debate about, if it is just in terms of loads of money, Northern
:27:51. > :27:53.Ireland does quite well. If it is about flows of money for the United
:27:54. > :27:56.Kingdom, the United Kingdom contributes to the prosperity of the
:27:57. > :28:02.rest of Europe, but it is not about money. It is about what we think is
:28:03. > :28:05.to be gained by operating on a corporate and cooperative European
:28:06. > :28:10.bases, on the short answer is there is more often something to be gained
:28:11. > :28:13.and lost, and unfortunately this debate about where we are in terms
:28:14. > :28:16.of European Union is now turning into something I am sorry to say is
:28:17. > :28:23.becoming emotional rather than rational. And a final word on
:28:24. > :28:28.corporation tax. Where Ari with that -- where are we with that? It is
:28:29. > :28:32.coming, but the one thing that can damage it is that it creates
:28:33. > :28:36.uncertainty. Will the American investors think of Northern Ireland
:28:37. > :28:40.in the same way if we are out of the European Union? No. Will they have a
:28:41. > :28:45.chance of going to the Republican said of coming to the North? Yes. It
:28:46. > :28:46.will be a fascinating debate. Thank you very much for having you on the
:28:47. > :28:49.programme. And that's it for tonight,
:28:50. > :28:52.but I'll be back with an extra edition of the programme tomorrow
:28:53. > :28:55.night at the slightly later time Until then, from everyone
:28:56. > :28:59.in the team - bye bye...