:00:25. > :00:29.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up on the programme:
:00:30. > :00:32.The Health Minister responds to news of the resignation of the Belfast
:00:33. > :00:42.Health and Social Care Trust's chief Executive. The Chief Executive's
:00:43. > :00:48.position in the trust, the second largest in the United Kingdom, which
:00:49. > :00:53.comes with all of the pressures of managing local services whilst
:00:54. > :00:55.managing regional services, is a very stressful and tough job.
:00:56. > :01:02.The Justice Minister continues to distance himself from the OTR
:01:03. > :01:09.scheme. I was unaware of the so-called administrative scheme for
:01:10. > :01:11.dealing with these, Operation Red Blood issuing letters.
:01:12. > :01:18.And the News Letter's Sam McBride joins me in the studio with his
:01:19. > :01:21.thoughts. -- Operation Rapid. The resignation of the Belfast
:01:22. > :01:24.Health and Social Care Trust's chief Executive was raised early in
:01:25. > :01:27.Assembly proceedings today. Edwin Poots said he's confident there are
:01:28. > :01:30.people within the Health Service who could take on the challenging role
:01:31. > :01:34.that has been held by Colm Donaghy for almost four years. Mr Poots made
:01:35. > :01:42.the comments during his statement on progressing health care reform.
:01:43. > :01:47.When discussing health and social care delivery in Northern Ireland,
:01:48. > :01:50.it is important that we retain perspective. I know that our
:01:51. > :01:55.emergency department service is under extreme pressure and I have
:01:56. > :01:58.listened first-hand to the concerns of staff delivering front-line
:01:59. > :01:59.services. I commend those staff for continuing to deliver an excellent
:02:00. > :02:12.service. They continue to do continuing to deliver an excellent
:02:13. > :02:19.come from actually implementing DY C. I welcome the statement. I would
:02:20. > :02:24.suggest however, Minister, that the wider public opinion on transforming
:02:25. > :02:28.your care from the view of staff, the medical profession, patients,
:02:29. > :02:33.public opinion generally is certainly not as rosy as the
:02:34. > :02:37.statement that you have placed before this House today. . We were
:02:38. > :02:43.told at the beginning of this process that there was 70 million
:02:44. > :02:48.required to implement TYC in totality. We understand it today
:02:49. > :02:57.that there was 19 million allocated in 2012 and 2013 and a further nine
:02:58. > :03:02.million the following year. That, in my compilations calculation, leaves
:03:03. > :03:04.a shortfall of many millions. The medical profession are working
:03:05. > :03:10.closely with is to deliver on the ground. The medical professions and
:03:11. > :03:14.the bodies that represent them have never at any stage indicated that
:03:15. > :03:18.transforming our care is not the right way forward. I will be honest,
:03:19. > :03:22.I would like to have had a greater availability of money at this point
:03:23. > :03:26.but I read his mouth that for all departments there are challenges. We
:03:27. > :03:30.will have to make your case, we made it and did not get as much as we
:03:31. > :03:38.would like. Can the Minister state whether it is significant that the
:03:39. > :03:44.chief Executive of the Belfast trust has resigned and whether this means
:03:45. > :03:52.there is a problem? I learned last week that he had been offered a job
:03:53. > :03:58.elsewhere and has decided to take that job. I wish him very well in
:03:59. > :04:03.doing that. I think that it needs to be recognised by the Chief
:04:04. > :04:09.Executive's position in the Belfast trust, the second-largest trust in
:04:10. > :04:14.the United Kingdom, which comes with all of the pressures of managing
:04:15. > :04:15.local services whilst managing regional services, is a very, very
:04:16. > :04:26.stressful regional services, is a very, very
:04:27. > :04:29.that it will always be difficult to get people to carry out such a job
:04:30. > :04:33.because of the challenges that are there. But I am confident at the
:04:34. > :04:37.same time that there are people within the system who will step up
:04:38. > :04:40.to the mark and will take on what is a very challenging position.
:04:41. > :04:43.Edwin Poots paying tribute to Colm Donaghy, who's leaving the Belfast
:04:44. > :04:46.Trust for pastures new in Sussex. With me now is the Political
:04:47. > :04:53.Correspondent of the News Letter, Sam McBride. Was the departure of
:04:54. > :04:56.Colm Donaghy a surprise? It is not entirely a surprise given what has
:04:57. > :04:59.been going on within the trust. You certainly could not blame him for
:05:00. > :05:03.wanting to get out of what is a pretty thankless job. We have seen
:05:04. > :05:07.John Compton leave his post quite recently. Both of those men have
:05:08. > :05:11.been in the firing line, along with the Minister and perhaps in some
:05:12. > :05:16.cases instead of the Minister. They are the first line of defence. The
:05:17. > :05:20.Belfast trust has had particular issues. It is maybe a little bit
:05:21. > :05:24.surprising that he was so insistent in January that he would not resign.
:05:25. > :05:27.Albeit that was clearly over the barriers that had emerged at that
:05:28. > :05:30.point and he has not resigned over those. To be so soon after that and
:05:31. > :05:35.then we have the news of the sixth death which Paul Hart involves --
:05:36. > :05:41.which perhaps involves waiting times, it seems that there are
:05:42. > :05:44.serious problems within at least certain parts of the trust. You
:05:45. > :05:48.certainly not leaving any blaze of glory. The delay in the installation
:05:49. > :05:53.of the MRI scanner at the children's hospital seems to be exactly the
:05:54. > :05:56.kind of issue that seems to highlight the apparent gulf that
:05:57. > :05:59.exists between the people and the politicians. It is. I think the
:06:00. > :06:06.issue with the Health Service really is that no matter how much money is
:06:07. > :06:11.paid to it, it is like a vast there Moth that gobbles up everything that
:06:12. > :06:15.is given to it. -- a vast creature. Things very quickly become
:06:16. > :06:18.established but they have to be here and people expect them. I think that
:06:19. > :06:25.when there is something going rate in the Health Service, people very
:06:26. > :06:27.often complain that we do not reported and highlighted. People
:06:28. > :06:31.expected to be right and are surprised and angry when it does
:06:32. > :06:33.not. We now know the name of the judge who'll lead the inquiry into
:06:34. > :06:37.the OTR letters, Lady Justice Hallett.
:06:38. > :06:43.the OTR letters, Lady Justice head around in a relatively short
:06:44. > :06:47.the OTR letters, Lady Justice all. I think was a collision that
:06:48. > :06:49.perhaps the delay was because they were scrambling around trying to
:06:50. > :06:53.find somebody. It is a difficult job to take on. In most significant
:06:54. > :07:00.thing in terms of the issue today was the terms of inference which the
:07:01. > :07:03.Select Committee published which in some ways really overshadowed the
:07:04. > :07:10.announcement of the judge because they made clear they were going to
:07:11. > :07:13.dig into every aspect of this aspect of who got the letters and
:07:14. > :07:15.compelling witnesses. It could be that the judge leading party looks
:07:16. > :07:18.pretty weak in comparison, pretty tame in comparison to what is going
:07:19. > :07:21.to happen with the Westminster inquiry. A report on complaints
:07:22. > :07:24.against Gerry Kelly regarding his involvement in a procession in
:07:25. > :07:33.Castlederg was published today. What were its main findings? It basically
:07:34. > :07:39.cleared him. It found that he had not been acting as an MLA but even
:07:40. > :07:44.if he had, he had not broken the law so could not be sanctioned. It comes
:07:45. > :07:48.down to the tension between free speech and what MLAs can do, which
:07:49. > :07:49.pushes the boundaries of that Unionists claim that he was
:07:50. > :07:53.glorifying terrorism. They found that that was not the case.
:07:54. > :07:56.Sam, for now, thank you. We will talk to you about later.
:07:57. > :07:59.A BBC Spotlight programme has once again got our politicians talking.
:08:00. > :08:02.-- a bit later. Sinn Fein brought a motion calling on the Environment
:08:03. > :08:07.Minister to establish an independent public inquiry into waste disposal
:08:08. > :08:13.in the North West. This motion has come about following
:08:14. > :08:17.the shocking relevant -- revelations on a recent BBC programme which has
:08:18. > :08:23.exposed an illegal waste dump on the outskirts of Derry. The programme
:08:24. > :08:29.makers and an independent report from a professor shed light on the
:08:30. > :08:32.indiscriminate burning of half 1 million tonnes of illegal waste
:08:33. > :08:37.which has gone undetected for a number of years, despite numerous
:08:38. > :08:42.complaints from local residents and stakeholders, such as an angling
:08:43. > :08:47.association. I believe that systematic failures and
:08:48. > :08:48.institutional neglect have facilitated waste crime in Northern
:08:49. > :08:59.Ireland. facilitated waste crime in Northern
:09:00. > :09:05.potential of a public inquiry. But into what? Mr Eastwood has quite
:09:06. > :09:10.rightly referred to how wide that can get, how big that could get. I
:09:11. > :09:13.just feel that if there is going to be a proper public inquiry into the
:09:14. > :09:18.illegal dumping of waste, it needs to be widespread. Having discussed a
:09:19. > :09:23.scale of criminality in the waste industry with my party colleague,
:09:24. > :09:27.the Justice Minister, he was clear that there is a sizeable criminal
:09:28. > :09:31.element in the Northern Ireland waste industry and that
:09:32. > :09:39.unfortunately, a proportion of those involved do have links to organised
:09:40. > :09:42.crime and paramilitaries. I understand the Minister has held
:09:43. > :09:47.discussions with the environment minister about how best to tackle
:09:48. > :09:50.this. I think I have two mention it again here, there is a real issue
:09:51. > :09:56.about the inability of the National Crime Agency to operate here in
:09:57. > :10:02.areas that are devolved, including environmental crime. We tell the
:10:03. > :10:06.House today that we are all opposed to criminality. We are, to be sure.
:10:07. > :10:12.We are not filling the general public one little bit. If we're
:10:13. > :10:16.going to take this issue of the disposal of waste, I suspect there
:10:17. > :10:23.is going to be some hurt and pain. Let it be understood also, when we
:10:24. > :10:28.hear of these diesel laundering plants, do we ever hear of anybody
:10:29. > :10:35.being arrested? It escapes me if it does. I do not hear of any arrests.
:10:36. > :10:38.I will not invincible opposed the call for the public inquiry before
:10:39. > :10:42.us today. There are however just three points I would make in
:10:43. > :10:48.conclusion. I must reiterate my view that I see little in terms of what
:10:49. > :10:53.value will be added to the action taken to date and the action that I
:10:54. > :10:58.have pledged going forward. Also they live criminal investigation. In
:10:59. > :11:03.fact, it may serve only to divert more resources, more time and delay
:11:04. > :11:04.taking the critically important action needed to address this
:11:05. > :11:05.problem. The Environment Minister wondering
:11:06. > :11:09.if a public inquiry is necessary. The Environment Minister wondering
:11:10. > :11:17.judgement, On The Runs the Assembly. The Justice Minister
:11:18. > :11:26.faced five questions on the issue at the dispatch box today.
:11:27. > :11:33.I was unaware of the so-called administrative scheme for dealing
:11:34. > :11:38.with OTRs, Operation Last -- Operation Rapid, the issue of
:11:39. > :11:43.letters until shortly before the findings were made public. On
:11:44. > :11:51.learning of it I thought a briefing with the Secretary of State and the
:11:52. > :11:55.briefing official. I have had no contact with the Attorney General.
:11:56. > :12:00.The content of these letters and to who they were issued are matters for
:12:01. > :12:02.the Secretary of State. I am sure that the Minister is aware that the
:12:03. > :12:07.Attorney General for England and Wales and said in the House of
:12:08. > :12:15.Commons in regard to the letters, as to the principles underlined in the
:12:16. > :12:18.villages, this was an administrative process that was certainly offer.
:12:19. > :12:25.Can the Minister tell us whether he agrees or disagrees Mr Mark --
:12:26. > :12:31.underlined in this letter. As I have no knowledge, I am in no position to
:12:32. > :12:38.determine whether or not it was lawful. As the Justice committee was
:12:39. > :12:42.told on the 20th of every, we can start to really see where cracks are
:12:43. > :12:48.opening up to stop -- 20th of debris. The reality is, the longer
:12:49. > :12:53.the impasse, the bigger the impasse. I have recently discussed the issue
:12:54. > :12:56.with the Secretary of State and Chief Constable. In addition, the
:12:57. > :13:04.officials have been working with the NI oh, the Home Office and other
:13:05. > :13:09.organised crime task force partners. would he agree with me that the
:13:10. > :13:17.parties opposite by continuing to Chris agree with this, our allying
:13:18. > :13:19.criminal gangs to flourish? It is two months now since I wrote to
:13:20. > :13:31.them, seeking meetings to discuss two months now since I wrote to
:13:32. > :13:34.Justice to know how to address the problems we don't know what the
:13:35. > :13:45.problems are. Given all the blanks and information relating to On The
:13:46. > :13:52.Runs, we are quite right to be sceptical? What we have sought to do
:13:53. > :13:55.is make sure that pleasing architecture is respected, that we
:13:56. > :13:59.have respect for the police ombudsman and the primacy of the
:14:00. > :14:05.PSNI, including the Chief Constable, being the final arbiter of how the
:14:06. > :14:14.MCA will be involved in Northern Ireland. -- MCA.
:14:15. > :14:18.The Justice Minister, David Ford, underscoring the complexity of
:14:19. > :14:22.policing here. No hospital beds, a lack of money and a delay in
:14:23. > :14:25.installing a mRI scanner at Belfast's Children's Hospital.
:14:26. > :14:29.Those were just some of the complaints raised with the Health
:14:30. > :14:33.Minister during Question Time. But Edwin Poots began by announcing that
:14:34. > :14:39.there's been a rise in the number of medical negligence cases settled.
:14:40. > :14:45.The number of new cases created and close to the year to date are online
:14:46. > :14:50.with last year 's numbers. About 207. There has been a significant
:14:51. > :14:56.increase in the number of individual cases that have been settled that
:14:57. > :15:03.exceed more than half ?1 million. It cases were settled last year, as was
:15:04. > :15:10.the case into the -- the year before that. The 207 cases that have been
:15:11. > :15:14.settled at this, 23 cases have been settled that more than half ?1
:15:15. > :15:18.million. Is the Minister aware that from six o'clock last night and
:15:19. > :15:24.balances were backed up with Gavin emergency departments. Staff did not
:15:25. > :15:27.know where patients reported to be admitted to because there have been
:15:28. > :15:34.no beds available there for the last number of weeks. Could the Minister
:15:35. > :15:36.not be honest with the Assembly and tell us that there simply isn't the
:15:37. > :15:42.money. tell us that there simply isn't the
:15:43. > :15:47.money to open tell us that there simply isn't the
:15:48. > :15:51.two words that are current and closed in Craigavon area hospital
:15:52. > :15:59.can be open to meet the need of the emergency departments? An
:16:00. > :16:07.interesting speech. She knows full well that the trust received more
:16:08. > :16:14.beds for winter pressures. That is something that we didn't hold off
:16:15. > :16:21.from any trust. Each trust in each hospital will come under pressure,
:16:22. > :16:24.particularly at this time of year. It is important that across Northern
:16:25. > :16:29.Ireland we manage that and ensure that other trusts will step in to
:16:30. > :16:35.provide support. There was approval granted in 2012 for the MRI
:16:36. > :16:39.scanner. I supported the development of the scanner in the Children's
:16:40. > :16:51.Hospital. It was previously part of the plan. We need to recognise that
:16:52. > :16:55.we are not installing a 42 inch television screen. It is an
:16:56. > :17:00.incredibly technical piece of equipment with the best imaging you
:17:01. > :17:06.can get. You need to have the right people in place to manage it, but
:17:07. > :17:13.the installation is very important. It will involve piling. It is
:17:14. > :17:18.involving asbestos removal. It will involve ensuring that the building
:17:19. > :17:23.it is enclosed in old in that of other wards because you're talking
:17:24. > :17:26.about radioactivity. Edwin Poots explaining why the new
:17:27. > :17:28.MRI scanner for the Children's Hospital is taking longer than
:17:29. > :17:31.expected to be installed. The Education Minister has confirmed
:17:32. > :17:34.that GCSE and A-Level exams here will remain largely unchanged, while
:17:35. > :17:37.his counterparts in England and Wales are making dramatic changes.
:17:38. > :17:41.John O'Dowd says he wants pupils to have a choice of exam styles, either
:17:42. > :17:51.testing after each module or at the end of two years. Our young people
:17:52. > :18:01.must have access to qualifications that enable
:18:02. > :18:05.must have access to qualifications of this jurisdiction. I have no
:18:06. > :18:07.intentions of acting in a way that will disadvantage young people
:18:08. > :18:19.wanting to study across these islands. I believe my decision to
:18:20. > :18:24.change the exams has given real advantage to those applying for
:18:25. > :18:29.universities in England. One issue that I've had to consider is whether
:18:30. > :18:33.the changes being made elsewhere are so great that they might affect our
:18:34. > :18:37.ability to minty and an open qualifications market for schools. I
:18:38. > :18:41.want to make clear that I can see value in ensuring the schools have
:18:42. > :18:47.access to as wide a range of choice of qualifications as possible.
:18:48. > :18:55.Therefore, I do not intend to restrict schools to qualifications.
:18:56. > :19:00.Schools will continue to be free to choose exam specifications from
:19:01. > :19:04.other awarding organisations, provided those organisations can
:19:05. > :19:08.satisfy House that they meet the requirements of our curriculum. As
:19:09. > :19:12.has been noted previously and favourably commented on, our
:19:13. > :19:17.curriculum has a focus on knowledge, on skills. Our focus on
:19:18. > :19:25.literacy encompasses not just reading and writing, but also the
:19:26. > :19:28.wider skill of communication. Employers frequently stressed to me
:19:29. > :19:32.the importance of making sure that young people can indicate
:19:33. > :19:38.affectively and apply their knowledge and practical settings.
:19:39. > :19:43.Qualifications in English will only be considered valid for young people
:19:44. > :19:48.if they include as an integral part the assessment of speaking and
:19:49. > :19:56.listening. I am not persuaded that the GCSE qualifications should be
:19:57. > :20:03.banned from 1-9. Nevertheless, I shall keep this issue under review.
:20:04. > :20:06.The Education Minister, John O'Dowd. Is the Republic of Ireland 17 times
:20:07. > :20:08.more ambitious than Northern Ireland when it comes to EU funding? That
:20:09. > :20:19.was when it comes to EU funding? That
:20:20. > :20:22.motion, which singled out the DRD Minister for particular praise, to
:20:23. > :20:24.instead commend all ministers who have secured significant funding.
:20:25. > :20:35.Here's the motion's proposer, Mike Nesbitt. Economic league, how
:20:36. > :20:44.competitive are we in terms of drawdown? How successful are we? The
:20:45. > :20:48.proper message -- measure I suggest is the number of requested financial
:20:49. > :20:55.contributions" of Northern Ireland for framework seven. We requested 35
:20:56. > :21:03.euro and 33 cents per head of population. Compared to Wales, it is
:21:04. > :21:06.must exactly the same. Compared to England it is less than half an
:21:07. > :21:10.compared to Scotland is as about a third. The shocker is the comparison
:21:11. > :21:17.with the Republic of Ireland where per head of population the republic
:21:18. > :21:24.requested financial contributions of 590 euros. Experience shows that
:21:25. > :21:28.small and medium-sized Irish companies north and south are not
:21:29. > :21:32.taking full advantage of the funding of European Union opportunities.
:21:33. > :21:36.This new programme which supports research and innovation offers
:21:37. > :21:39.tremendous opportunities for high-level links and collaboration
:21:40. > :21:46.with other companies and research bodies across Europe and further
:21:47. > :21:51.afield. Do we need to draw them were funding? Of course we do. The
:21:52. > :21:55.figures to run into the melting pot by headline grabbers, but they do
:21:56. > :21:59.not paint the whole picture. Given that when they are broken down the
:22:00. > :22:04.money used to calculate the 500 90 million euros is in fact the of the
:22:05. > :22:11.Republic of Ireland applied for to Europe, not the amount received.
:22:12. > :22:16.From -- contrary to the suggestion in the motion, I believe the DRD is
:22:17. > :22:20.not the Department of the largest drawdown. So, they have done very
:22:21. > :22:32.well. drawdown. So, they have done very
:22:33. > :22:36.for education and learning. The executive set itself the programme
:22:37. > :22:41.for government target to increase drawdown of competitive fund space
:22:42. > :22:47.20%. Departments can need to make good progress against this target.
:22:48. > :22:52.At the halfway point, ?41 million has been secured and this represents
:22:53. > :23:02.64% of the ?64 million needed. The executive said 20% targets as a damp
:23:03. > :23:06.-- developmental target. The primary purpose of the 20% target is to
:23:07. > :23:08.encourage participation in the Europe-wide networks and to
:23:09. > :23:13.facilitate partnership working with the best in Europe.
:23:14. > :23:16.The amended motion passed. The OFM/DFM committee had a busy
:23:17. > :23:19.meeting last week with both the Victims' Commissioner and the Head
:23:20. > :23:23.of the Civil Service answering questions. Unhappy with delays in
:23:24. > :23:26.receiving information from the department, Members asked Dr Malcolm
:23:27. > :23:34.McKibbin why he thought the Office of First Minister and Deputy First
:23:35. > :23:41.Minister took so long to respond. It is a departments with two
:23:42. > :23:47.ministers, supported basic special advisers. There are the two junior
:23:48. > :23:52.ministers and to further special advisers. That undoubtedly impacts
:23:53. > :23:57.on the speed of policy developments and decision-making. It is not
:23:58. > :24:11.surprising. It quite surely is a more complex your operates within
:24:12. > :24:14.other conventional departments. Is it possible that the dysfunctional
:24:15. > :24:21.relationship in terms of these briefings papers to be regarded as a
:24:22. > :24:31.reach of the law? I don't regard the relationship is dysfunctional. We
:24:32. > :24:37.are trying to improve the relationship. I believe that the
:24:38. > :24:39.committee can help us what Lizzie development and I am keen to assist
:24:40. > :24:54.them to assist us. development and I am keen to assist
:24:55. > :25:00.education. It took 299 working days to get a response, despite the fact
:25:01. > :25:03.that months ago the Minister for education when the consultation on
:25:04. > :25:06.changing the scheme. It seems to me that anybody could have written the
:25:07. > :25:12.response in two minutes, basically to the effect of because the
:25:13. > :25:16.Minister of education is, the consultation we can no longer answer
:25:17. > :25:35.your request. Yet it sap and sap and sat. -- yet it sat and sap and sap.
:25:36. > :25:41.We can assure the those cases will be reduced in number. I don't want
:25:42. > :25:46.to get into a discussion about the rights and wrongs of it. What it
:25:47. > :25:51.highlights for me and colleagues at the commission is that this is
:25:52. > :25:58.another example where the Dems of all sides have been perceived to
:25:59. > :26:06.have been denied justice and denied access to justice. Those are such
:26:07. > :26:13.fundamental, basic rights that people have and the perception is
:26:14. > :26:16.that, yet again, for a particular group of people, they have been
:26:17. > :26:24.taken away. Whether that perception is accurate or not, we will have the
:26:25. > :26:27.review. It is certainly an experience that is common to victims
:26:28. > :26:33.and survivors from all communities, and something that everyone can
:26:34. > :26:41.attempt to fight with. It has been very challenging time with a lot of
:26:42. > :26:51.angry, upset and hurt people who feel betrayed. It also makes me
:26:52. > :26:54.think about how we will look at dealing with the past.
:26:55. > :26:56.The Victims' Commissioner, Kathryn Stone. The News Letter's Political
:26:57. > :27:09.Correspondent, Sam McBride, is with me again.
:27:10. > :27:14.Correspondent, Sam McBride, is with political process here. He did. He
:27:15. > :27:18.hinted at lots of things and said a few things explicitly. When Richard
:27:19. > :27:23.Haass came into this process into temper last year he had a reputation
:27:24. > :27:28.as someone who would not take any nonsense. In some ways he didn't
:27:29. > :27:35.live up to that reputation, in public anyway. He seemed to be very
:27:36. > :27:38.diplomatic, come and -- consensual. He clearly felt that the Ulster
:27:39. > :27:52.unionists should stay in the process. Because of these On The
:27:53. > :27:57.Runs letters, this process will be pushed back to after the election.
:27:58. > :28:07.Have we heard any more from the First and Deputy First Minister's
:28:08. > :28:10.trip to Washington? We have the odd site of Peter Robinson and Martin
:28:11. > :28:21.McGuinness standing beside celebrities in HBO 's studios
:28:22. > :28:26.smiling, looking incredibly happy, after we heard that this place was
:28:27. > :28:37.in crisis and the relationship was in tatters. It is difficult to see
:28:38. > :28:45.how the public facing America, smiling, United leaders, can play
:28:46. > :28:51.with a very divided scene that there is back at home.
:28:52. > :28:54.We will see their smiling when get back. Thanks, Sam. That's it for
:28:55. > :28:57.tonight. Do join me for The View on Thursday night. As our politicians
:28:58. > :29:01.gather in Washington to mark St Patrick's Day, we'll hear from our
:29:02. > :29:03.correspondent Martina Purdy, who's with them. Until then, goodbye.