12/12/2011 Stormont Today

Hello, and welcome to Stormont Today. And with Europe dominating

the news all weekend, the troubles of the EU have spilled over into

the debating chamber here. And, as for Mr Cameron, the reviews are

mixed. He failed to consult any of the devolved institutions.

sensible step he has taken, which is to be commended. Protecting the

United Kingdom's interests for want has been to the forefront. As the

year draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the past - and the

culture minister has found some new anniversaries to commemorate.

suffrage for men and limited suffrage for women. And is there

any sign of Christmas cheer for businesses here? With his thoughts,

Alastair Hamilton from Invest NI. Growing a dynamic and innovative

economy remains a top priority for the Executive, but with the

eurozone debt crisis, and slow recovery in America, it's no easy

task. So, in this time of economic doom and gloom, can the Executive

achieve its targets? Our guest this evening is perfectly placed to

answer that. Alastair Hamiliton heads the organisation tasked with

selling Northern Ireland as an inward investment location, as well

as supporting home grown companies to create jobs. The jobs that we

are supposed be creating, 25,000, is it achievable? I believe it is

going to be stretching but it is achievable. We come off the back of

tremendous delivery over the last four years. We achieved job

creation and that 80% of those jobs must have salaries above the median.

We come from the situation where we have a track record of delivery.

The climate has got tighter and over the last three months where we

all fought we might see more of a recovery, unfortunately, that does

not seem to be developing. But I believe stretching targets other

way faster challenge ourselves and to challenge the business community.

The incoming ministers said he thought that Invest NI would have

to change his remit in a were to get those jobs. We have been

working on that for the last year and a half. What it means is that

we are going to offer our services be on the 2,500 companies in

Northern Ireland that historically we have supported. In the new year

we will offer advice Reece services and access to other support

measures to the entire business population.

The appointment of the justice minister was controversial from the

start. David Ford was appointed on a cross-community vote - the only

Executive minister not to be selected using the D'Hondt method.

And it still rankles. But there could be reform in the air, as was

revealed in Question Time. I am wondering if there has been any

discussions around the issue of using this opportunity to reduce

the number of overall government departments in the Executive.

number in his capacity of the Ulster Unionist Party will be aware

that the options paper does include options which indicate

consideration of the number of departments. Of course, that will

also be an opportunity for members who follow through on the draft

programme for government, as one of the aspects of the truck programme

for government was to look at the overall provisions of the assembly

during the course of 2012. Whether at this stage all at that stage it

certainly will be a matter that will be raised. He will have a full

role in terms of the consideration of this element of justice 2012

over the next number of weeks. I would hope that this is a matter

that we can resolve fairly quickly and painlessly. It seems that the

positions that most people recognise are manageable and I

would expect that the matter could be resolved within weeks rather

than months. Could I ask how the First Minister to indicate how the

process will be taken forward? do have that meetings of the party

leaders. The committee helpfully ask each of the parties for their

views. Some of them provided those queues in more detail than others.

Whether they were keeping their cards close to the chest at this

stage, I do not know, but they have provided us with the opinions of

reach of the parties on that basis. They have drawn up the options

paper though, in truth, the options relief all round two stems. One

which is effectively the present system of the has suddenly deciding

on across community vote, or alternatively doing it by D'Hondt.

There are a number of permutations are riding those but they are other

two limitations being considered. - - surrounding those. Could I thank

the First Minister for his answer. Does the First Minister recognise

that as a result of the gerrymandering that brought about

the election of the alliance Minister for Justice, it does the

First Minister recognise that and recognise the unfairness which has

emanated from that? As a result, to Alliance party now has two members

in the Executive whereas both the Ulster Unionists... Order, can the

member put his question? There were two Questions there and I suppose

the quick answer is no end yes. on to arts and leisure. The issue

of anniversaries re appears on the question list. What criteria have

been used to establish which centenary and the virtues will be

supported by the Department over the next decade? -- Centenary

anniversaries. My predecessor had... I would encourage another centenary

advance, the 1913 Lochhead, suffrage for men and suffrage for

women, they will help to prepare more inclusive celebrations. 2012

also marks Her Majesty's diamond jubilee. The Department of Culture

in London is overseen that event. What corporation has the minister's

department been having with the London department? Will she meet

Her Majesty she comes to Northern Ireland drawing head Jubilee?

have had no discussions with the Department of Culture in England.

And what about the Irish language Act? The preparations for it must

be costing taxpayers' money, unionists wanted to know.

estimated cost for implementation has not yet been established as the

legislative approaches still ongoing. I find it somewhat

difficult to understand that any preparation for any draft act would

come without cost. Given the fact that an Irish language get would

require community support and support in this assembly, which she

accept that it would be a complete waste of time and money?

relation to scoping out, stepping Ed what approach to be taken around

an Irish language act, that does not cost a lot of money. Regardless

of the latter question, I am preparing an Irish language fact,

because this is about rights. Regardless of your position, that

is what I intend to do. There will be lots of discussions about the

impact of David Cameron's beat go on the UK as a whole. But what

about the devolved institutions? Not only did Mr Cameron appear to

fail to consult his devolve partners but he failed to consult

any of the devolved institutions, despite the fact that his actions

could have profound implications for those jurisdictions. Northern

Ireland has a land border with the eurozone in the south of Ireland

and therefore we are entitled to be consulted about any UK government

action which fundamentally impacts the decay relationship with the

eurozone. Anything short of that is disrespectful. This is a sensible

step that the Prime Minister has taken, one that is to be warmly

commended. Hopefully the nature and can make significant progress and

we allied ourselves as a European nation state but one which keeps

control of its economic and pollution -- political affairs

within the nation state. Let us acknowledge that the type of

obsequious endorsement of David Cameron's position from the party

opposite does not do any good for the economy here, it makes no

contribution whatsoever. The United Kingdom retains the power to pursue

its own monetary and economic policies that will be based on the

interests of the United Kingdom, of which, thankfully, Northern Ireland

is still very much an integral part. Other countries will note face

uncertainty and lengthy negotiations over every budget that

they said. The United Kingdom will have its own destiny. Does David

Cameron's stands make your job harder or easier? It all depends on

the outcome of his position. If it does not deliver stability in the

EU zone then it will make things more difficult. The EU is still an

important export location for our companies. The second thing is a

round devaluation. If we see euro devaluation that will make it more

difficult both on trade and of inward investment. Lastly there is

a strong play that the Prime Minister is making around financial

services. Our most important area for inward investment into Northern

Ireland is the financial services sector. We are the second most

important location behind London That was one of the big debates

over the weekend, even some of the banks in the City of London may now

downsize and potentially look at Dublin or Paris S that something

that concerns you? It Does, because it's vitally important for news

terms of our foreign direct investment strategy. We have global

firms in Belfast and across Northern Ireland that have

retracted to a near shore opportunity in London around

financial services and anything that risks or jeopardises that will

definitely have an impact on our strategy and plans. You mentioned

more exports to outside of Europe and the finance Minister yesterday

was saying that - playing down perhaps the significance of all of

this. We can't ignore the European market, can we? No, it's still 49%

of our exports. That is reducing and the Republic of Ireland last

year went down by 16%. The rest of the EU went up by 16%. Just to put

it into context, it's expected that the growth in areas outside Europe,

India, China and Russia and Brazil, will grow by 6% per year up until

2016. EU forecast at best 2%. Still important to us, but the focus that

we have today is onevers -- skwrrs outside the EU. We recruited trade

advisers and one is in Europe. month we finally got confirmation

that the education and skills authority will go ahead. But the

deputy chair of the education committee, David McNarry, has

raised concerns about how Catholic council for maintained schools or

CCMS, will move into the new authority. Earlier, I asked him and

fellow committee member Colin McDevitt about the plans.

understand if people have strong views about the idea of faith

because - I believe that can be accommodated. I just think that,

you come up with something and you say who's going to benefit from

this? We keep on talking about moving on, shared future. All I am

saying is come on, let's replicate that for the children. What is the

justification for the CCMS not taking the hit in terms of job

losses? I think it's worth clarifying that. CCMS have

downtkaoeuzed and quite considerably. That's not true.

They got �1 million - why, because they got �1 million to recruit

people for the post primary review. Those people were to be object a

temporary basis. We are now waiting on the the question back to the

committee how many are staying and employed. They increased their

numbers. You make many criticisms of CCMS. I am not making any.

are many to be made. You can't say they haven't got on with dealing

with some of the hard realities. CCMS are ahead of the board in

terms of facing up to the fact there are empty schools and empty

school desks and we need to start amalgamations and changing

composition. The real issue going forward is whether we have the

courage to enter a debate about building on what we have, rather

than trying to destroy it and strt anew. I think if we build on what

we have and listen to Protestant Church leaders, leaders in the

Presbyterian Church and Methodist Church, their calls for joint faith

schools, if we listen to the bishops who saying we want to have

a conversation about joint faith schools. Where they make sense and

where there is community demand for them and we seize that opportunity,

I think we have the great possibility of transforming our

education system the way the vast majority of people would like it to

be transformed, which is on the values that are cherished and we

hold strong, on the really positive aspects of those faith-based values

that many schools hold dear, but without in any way perpetuating an

artificial segregation which will do the society no particular

service in the future. Tkhauz not sound fair enough? My discussion is

about a discussion in getting it generated. I have been to see the

Minister, I had a very useful discussion with him last week. I

hope I can move that on. There was general agreement on a number of

issues. Some issues we won't agree with him on, but that's all about

discussion and negotiation. What I seem to have had is I have had a

brick wall with CCMS. CCMS haven't got any property, they have no

assets, they tell me. They belong to the Catholic Church. I am saying

would you not gift your property to the schools estate, if we really

are serious - let me finish, if we really are serious about having one

state-funded structure of education that benefits everybody and doesn't

give any exceptions to others. What I want to say is that school he is

state worth between �5-6 billion. But a lot is derelict, a lot is

empty. What we can't do is to get people to see how we could realise

in real revenue terms those assets for the communities in which

they're in. They may be parishes, I don't understand parishes, I talk

about communities. For the communities in which they're in. We

are running around trying to raise money for community halls,

associations etc. The The schools close three months in the summer

time. They close on a Friday for the weekends and they have the

facilities. The one last thing just let me say, if we get there, right,

and we are talking about schools going to be closed next year we are

going to have announcement after announcement school closures, let's

not just close four schools and say those four schools will be

amalgamated into the best of the worst, knock them all down, build a

brand new state of the art school for all the children in that

community, share the assets, pool the resources. Now, I think people

and parents will respond to that because who is it going to benefit?

Them. Not all parents want that sort of education. Most of them do.

Look, there is no evidence to suggest that the real choice that

the vast majority of parents is for a one-size fits all type of

education system. Parents treasure the diversity in our system and

diversity is good. Be it in education, in society. It's good as

long as it's built on respect. There's been plenty of speculation

about the re-introduction of prescription charges but today, for

the first time, the health Minister confirmed he is going to put the

issue out for consultation. Edwin Poots was speaking to the Assembly

during a rebate on the establishment of -- a debate on the

establishment of a a special fund. We spend on a range of cancer

medicines. As Minister I am determined to see this investment

is used effectively and indeed efficiently. My priority is to

ensure all patients here are able to access the full range of Nice

approved drugs, including cancer drugs. However, these drugs will

need to be paid for in future years and that is the reality which we

face and it's the context I am considering a range of options, how

this might be done. Including the potential re-introduction of some

prescription charges. Such a decision would, of course, be

subject to public consultation. This debate is therefore timely,

tpwaus highlights the life- threatening aspect of cancer and

the ability of modern drugs to help fight cancer. If we were to

introduce a small prescription charge, it would actually only

apply to 11 11% of all prescriptions. The decision that

this Assembly will have to wait, the executive, and indeed I as

Minister, is one that we can continue to help many a little, or

help a few a lot. I think it's a very challenging one, but I do

think that it is important that we give this due consideration and,

therefore, I will want to go out to consultation early in the new year

as to whether we should re- introduce a prescription charge.

Now, toilet rolls, just how much are they costing the Assembly? Well,

it's not quite clear, but it seems the bill is rather high and it's

been upsetting David McNarry. Just one of the more intriguing issues

to arise from our weekly look at the work of the committees,

starting with education. I was speaking to an assistant last night,

complaining about the fact one computer breaks down, it's �100 for

a callout and another computer breaks down the same day a separate

person comes out, �200. That's absolutely extortionate. I think we

need more information on those kind of activities. We are going to be

delving into procurement. I have to say, and anybody who's had even the

slightest notion of business, couldn't run the departments here

in the manner in which they're run and if you had shares, and the

shareholders are the public and taxpayers out there, they would get

rid of them. It is rather to me a far too flippant easy-going

attitude to how we procure stuff here. I don't think we get value

for money at all. I really don't. That's even down to the toilet

rolls they flipping use in this this place. I have seen the bills

for that and it's astonishing. Not that that's a particular interest.

Well, we agreed at last meeting was we would sing the national anthem

at the end of this meeting! LAUGHTER. That was unanimous.

are telling me yes, there is an authorisation chain which can be

accessed. Yes. How can that be not deployed to differentiate between

the different expenditure, distinguishing between locums,

overtime, staff doctors? understanding is that it's the way

the financial management systems can report the information and it's

not easy on pay roll terms to differentiate the payment

straoeplts, that's -- streams. Completely unacceptable. That's

balderdash. I do not accept that as an explanation. It's not a serious

approach to tell me that is why you can't answer that question. That is

what I am told in terms of when the audit office asked us can you

actually pull out the figures for your internal locums and exactly

what they were paid, that was very difficult to get us to get from our

existing financial systems and I assure you that's my complete and

truthful answer to your question. You alluded to a fact about the

European work directive and I appreciate that there are doctors

who will go on and work for other private paid for out of the public

purse, talking about three 5-2, which are paying public money to

deal with this. What records are being kept by those who work within

that organisation delivering operations and working in theatre

and doing all of that in a hospital environment, receiving their money

from another account, and how is that ekwauted and and added in to

ensure they're not breaching the European work directive and I

appreciate that you have alluded that somebody can sign off, they

can do it if they want to and allow them to have additional hours on it,

it sound like what we were dealing with a few weeks ago over the legal

profession where you can write whatever you need at times, but I

want to - a breakdown of that and in relation to the 352? That's the

responsibility of the individual doctor in the first instance. They

have a professional responsibility to adhere to the directive or the

regulations, that's their personal individual responsibility and that

is an ethical issue for individual doctors. There is then a

responsibility on their primary employer to be aware of the main

issues, but the information will depend on and information from the

individual doctor to the employer and 352 are also subject to that

area of regulation. Well, as we heard earlier, Europe is the topic

of the moment, both here and Westminster and no doubt all across

Europe itself. I caught up with our political editor to hear his

thoughts on the developments. Clearly, there's a very different

view amongst our politicians about David Cameron wielding the veto and

that's the reason why, unlike the Scottish First Minister or Welsh

First Minister, you are not getting a big call from the Northern

Ireland executive that we must meet Mr Cameron and there is an

agreement as to whether he showed a lack of respect to the

administrations by not consulting them, that's because in differing

ways both the DUP and Sinn Fein sort of symphathise with his

concerns about sovereignty. The DUP has said it fairly openly,

congratulated him. Sinn Fein is saying they're not going to be

obsequience. South of the border they're calling for a referendum,

so they're not going to welcome the deal either. You have the parties

as ever at Stormont pulling in different directions with the SDLP

and the Alliance most concerned about what the Prime Minister has

done but the others, either congratulating him, or being

ambiguous. Staying with Westminster, and the welfare reforms that we are

expecting are going through parliament at the minute. But here

at the Assembly we seem to be a bit behind? Yes, it was in the news

today because the Church leaders met Lord Freud, the Government

Minister in khafrpb of this reform which is going to see this

collection of you different benefits, such as disability

allowance, all being brought into one universal credit system. It's

going through the Lords today and it's due to become law around the

spring time. Normally we mirror the legislation across the water when

it comes to welfare reforms under what's known as the parity

principle, but it looks like there will be a gap, even though Nelson

McCauseland seems to be less opposed to these reforms than say

his predecessor T looks like the Assembly not going to move quickly

enough to get a seamless transition. That could potentially cause some

problems, although Stormont is saying at the moment they believe

that London will continue to fund the existing system, whilst the

transition is worked through. you very much.

A final word from you then, it's a big question as well, how do you

change our economy from the small family business to some of the

globele companies that we would like to see? The good news is we

have wonderful examples of large global firms that we can learn from.

I think the challenge of supporting small businesses is one we feel

acute lie. There's been a lot of talk about it over the years. The

good news is skaf investment Northern Ireland in the new year

will be going into an area of providing a much wider range of

support to small businesses and even here tonight the good news is

that since the beginning of April this year our financial support for

small businesses is up by 11%. good news for people if they are

sitting there and have some brilliant idea? Well, absolutely.

We are a country of innovators and inventors and we want to see those

people come forward with ideas and take them to global markets. Thank