13/01/2014 Stormont Today


13/01/2014

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Hello and welcome to the first Stormont Today of 2014. Coming up in

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the next 30 minutes: He may have gone home, but the talks process

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chaired by Dr Richard Haass is still dominating the agenda at Stormont.

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I, like many others, and disappointed by the reaction. There

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has been a failure of leadership. Crisis, what crisis? The Health

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Minister talks down last week's major incident at the Royal Victoria

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Hospital. I wish our politicians and media would be more mature and how

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they assess things. And our Political Correspondent,

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Gareth Gordon, joins me to cast his eye over the day's proceedings.

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Perhaps it was no great surprise that the inconclusive Haass talks,

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which concluded two weeks ago, dominated today's proceedings. Sinn

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Fein brought a motion to the Assembly calling for the proposals

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on flags, parades and the past to be implemented, but were met with

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Unionist opposition. Here's a flavour of today's debate.

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This is not a Republican document. This is a document that Republicans

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can support in the belief it will move our society forward. We took up

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the challenge. It is our belief that significant progress has been made

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on to-macro of the issues. We need to have calm reflection on what

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happened during those topics. I know that in the final negotiations it is

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public knowledge that the Alliance party basically rejected the

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proposals. It has always been my position that

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no deal is better than a bad deal. I do not believe that taken as a

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package that this was a good deal. I start from that process. It is only

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worthwhile if it is going to improve the situation. My Alliance

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colleagues know what it takes to compromise and we will not be found

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wanting. We have made a significant contribution to the process. We have

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acknowledged that the proposals are a basis on which to make progress.

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The Alliance party has committed to deliver what is in the document. The

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real issue is not those who sign up and those who do not. It will be

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those who deliver and those who do not. The strongest part of the

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process was the input of civic society, demonstrating their strong

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desire for resolutions of the issues that face us. It is for the victims

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and survivors of the conflict that he must take the opportunities

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afforded us now to deal on the heads of wheat and ethically with the

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past. -- to deal comprehensively and ethically.

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I believe that Sinn Fein has shown leadership. I am disappointed from

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the reaction of their DUs be. -- of the DUP and UUP.

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She said it was not a full social and it was not the end the process.

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She said we should have a forum. That confirms the position of the

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first Minister and the leader of my party in seeing that there has been

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work carried out, but there is still much work to do. I am very pleased

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that a meeting has been called tomorrow to try and bring that

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about. I am in this House as a Unionist.

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When I read the seventh two minutes from Haass -- when I read the

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document from Haass. Jim Allister distancing himself from

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the Haass proposals. I'm joined now by our Political Correspondent,

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Gareth Gordon. Gareth, two weeks into the new year, Haass is still

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dominating the political agenda. Nothing seems to have changed. The

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time of the debate slipped until later and later. The times of the

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press conferences got later and later stop two weeks on nothing has

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changed. You watch the debate today. Was that any sign of movement in any

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of the parties positions? No. Just to be more detailed, the to-macro

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nationalist parties, say they want full implementation, and the DUP say

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they want to concentrate on discussions tomorrow. Peter Robinson

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said today that their work on the Haass proposals should examine in

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detail all 340 elements of the seventh Haass document. That will

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take some time, one would presume. The Alliance want a time limited,

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independently chaired mechanism to reach agreement on outstanding

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issues. That sounds like the process we have just had.

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The mood of the debate struck me as being good-tempered. It was

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reasonably civilised. But still very resolute. The endgame has begun to a

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limited degree. We had a substantive motion from

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Sinn Fein to prevent the Haass proposals. That was defeated as were

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the three amendments. In other business today, the Health

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Minister, Edwin Poots, has told the Assembly there is no crisis in

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Northern Ireland's Accident and Emergency units. Mr Poots was

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responding to an Urgent Question from the SDLP following last week's

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major incident at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. For his part,

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the Minister was critical of both political and media reaction to the

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problem. Last weeks circumstances were

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exceptional. The escalation plan which included and that is as being

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diverted work effectively. Normal arrangement resumed within a matter

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of hours. We were shocked to see what happened at the Royal Victoria

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on Wednesday. This is about accountability. How a decision in

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one area could potentially affect another. In this case it has

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affected other areas negatively. Is the tail wagging the dog? Wednesday

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was a symptom, not a cause. What did happen at the Royal Victoria Mr Mac

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--? They were admitting over 110. There

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was a degree of backing up. I wish our politicians and media would be

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more mature and how they assess things. Three hours after the

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emergency plan was initiated things were back to normal. Why do you

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refer to 12 and eight our waiting beaches rather than the NHS target

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of being seen within four hours? Things are measured differently in

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other parts of the UK than they are in northern Ireland. I will give all

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the support to ensure that working conditions are good and that they

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can provide the public with a great service and that they can do it in

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an environment where they are able to carry out their work in an

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appropriate way. We have 100 extra doctors working in the health

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service in Northern Ireland since I took office. We have the percent

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more nurses in Northern Ireland. Health Minister Edwin Poots pledging

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his backing for Accident and Emergency staff in Northern Ireland.

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We heard earlier the Assembly debate on the Richard Haass proposals, but

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the First Minister also covered the topic when he faced questions in the

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chamber. Peter Robinson said he doesn't expect Dr Haass to return to

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Northern Ireland, but he said there is agreement in some areas and more

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work could be done to get closer to a deal.

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How do you see the process moving forward after the Haass docs? What

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is required if we are to move forward in Northern Ireland is to

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reach agreement on outstanding issues. The unfortunate element of

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the Haass process has been that we now know that what they believed

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would be possible. It is necessary for a working group to sit down, to

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work out where further work is required. I know that the Ulster

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Unionist Party Alliance have indicated that they wish to be part

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of such a process. -- the and the Alliance. I hope that when the party

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leaders meet tomorrow they can reach that kind of agreement. who should

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chaired the next step of the process? Does he envisage Richard

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Haass returning? I do not know. I think there are laws against

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inhumane treatment, so I do not know if we would want to push Richard

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Haass to return. I think certainly, I would be very happy if he did

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return, but I suspect when he indicated that he was leaving on

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December 31, it wasn't going to go beyond that, but that is his fixed

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decision. I know that the Secretary of State has offered herself to

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chair the next phase of the process. Again, I would be quite

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content with that. But the choice of who chairs has been left with the

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five parties collectively, that is how Richard Haass was appointed, so

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I suspect if the parties are agreeable to a further phase, then

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the parties themselves will determine who was appropriate to be

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the chair. Let me say this in relation to the programme that seems

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to have stirred up this interest, Ian Paisley has been a major figure

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in public life in Northern Ireland for many generations. He was active

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while most of us in this chamber were not born or were in short

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trousers or plaid skirts. The fact remains, he made an enormous

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contribution to the lives of Northern Ireland and have a

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fantastic legacy that he has left. It saddens me that it is being

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betrayed in the way that this programme appears to do it. But it

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does not take away from the very significant role that he has

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played. I honestly believe that if we are going to have interviews

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about the past, it is far better to have them when they are fresher in

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people 's memories. The First Minister, Peter Robinson.

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The Environment Minister took the opportunity of a Ministerial

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statement to reflect on recent road deaths. Mark H Durkan will meet

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members of the Northern Ireland Road Safety Forum tomorrow. Six people

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have died on the roads since the start of the year.

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Members will be aware of my consistently expressed view that one

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death on our roads is one death to many. I have personal experience, as

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do other members, of the effects of a life lost on our roads and the

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impact that it can have on a family, and I join with Minister Kennedy and

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all contributors in extending my condolences to all the families that

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were briefed in this tragic manner over the past couple of months. --

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were briefed. We all have responsibilities to ourselves and

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others when we use the roads. Recent events have reinforced that is

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travelling on our roads is inherently dangerous, but on

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occasions, we forget that. I, therefore, urge all road users to

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take their responsibilities seriously. One lapse can last a

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lifetime and can cost a life. I know that I can rely on all members to

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work together to reinforce this message and thank those leaders of

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society who have done so already. I have also called a meeting of the

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rolled safety stakeholder Forum tomorrow to discuss these events. --

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road safety. Every road safety casualty is a tragedy. We have made

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tremendous strides in recent years to reduce casualties on our roads.

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Further progress requires ongoing, joined up effort will stop I am

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personally committed to playing a full part in leaving this work. --

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leading this work. Mark H Durkan making clear his

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commitment to tackling the number of deaths on our roads. The Christmas

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court case between the Agriculture Minister and her Executive

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colleague, the Finance Minister, came up quite a bit today during

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Question Time. Simon Hamilton took legal action to prevent Michelle

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O'Neill going ahead with her plan to transfer 7% of Common Agricultural

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Policy funding to rural development projects. But first up, flooding.

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Given the fact that my understanding is water when it is in Belfast Lough

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is the responsibility of one agency and when it enters the rivers, it is

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the responsibility of the Rivers agency, if it goes on to the ground

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it is the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, if it

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goes onto the roads, it is responsibilities for the Department

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of the roads. Rivers agencies, with all of responsibilities it has, at

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times of flooding, why should they continue... Can they see the logic

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perhaps having it included in another department, perhaps the

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Department of regional development. The Rivers agency is about advising

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the entire group under the elements in terms of the weather and the

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potential that could have occurred. In terms of the overarching... It

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was a multi-agency approach, it was multi-agency because of the various

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responsibilities and this comes back to the point that was raised on the

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back of the report for it looked at what is the responsibility, should

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there be on responsibility for the overarching flooding issue. It is

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something that will be considered on the wider view of departments and

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what should be done. I wrote to all ministers and Department seeking

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their views on the issue of my pillar transfer and the potential

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for transfer. EDF P Minister made no response to that. They thought it

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appropriate to take a court case without going through the executive

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and the normal procedure, so that is the correspondence I had with

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ministers prior to the decision. The minister has been alluding to the

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discussions with the Finance Minister. Does the Minister realise

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and accept that there is a substantial difference that has

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occurred between before 2007 and since 2007 that issues like this too

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needs to be brought before the executive for approval, rather than

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simply proceeding on a stand-alone basis? I took this decision on the

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basis that this is the core business of my department, I saw no reason to

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take it to the executive. The remote of my department is to improve the

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infrastructure of local communities, and this is a decision on a balanced

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approach on the back of a consultation on engaging with

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stakeholders, that looks towards the needs of farmers, the environment

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and road dwellers and rural businesses, so for me, the transfer

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rate was logical to take forward. The court, the minister had no issue

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with the transfer rate when he was written to and made no response to

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that, but yet, they failed to have executive discussion but wanted to

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go to court, we need to look at the motivation and is at a politically

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motivated the session. In view of the early comments from the Minister

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and the public, political slapping about which the DUP Finance Minister

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applies against her and her department, did she have any

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comments to make on the failure of political leadership which were the

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words used in the judgement as a result of the case taken by her

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ministerial colleague? It is unfortunate that the minister went

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to the court as opposed to going to the executive to have a reasoned and

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logical discussion will stop I would question the motives as to why that

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would happen? I will not be sidetracked. This decision has been

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taken and we have no transfer rate, we have an opportunity to review

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that and we will look towards that. We have to be serious about looking

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at and supporting rural communities, so some people are

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attempting to portray this as it is farmers and versus the environment,

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but the farmers are the natural custodians of the environment and

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depend on it, so it is about a balanced approach.

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Michelle O'Neill. MLAs took time today to pay tribute to the former

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NIO Minister, Paul Goggins, who died last week. Mr Goggins came to

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Northern Ireland as a Junior Minister in 2006, and was Minister

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of State for three years from 2007. Paul Goggins came here some years

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ago as a junior minister. Many of us met him as a stranger. But he very

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quickly became a trusted Minister and in time, a valued friend to all

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of us. Many former Northern Ireland office ministers, when they become

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ex-ministers, they will be periodic the referring to their time in

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Northern Ireland, it was not the same with Paul Goggins. He had a

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deep sense of companionship, of humanitarian work, until of the

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people of Northern Ireland. I took over some of the Wallace is he had

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in the health departments, the smoking ban in public places, the

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suicide policy, and also work in negotiations with him to make sure

:23:43.:23:45.

that the foreign to rescue service was part of the new police training

:23:46.:23:52.

college. In those respects, he touched the lives of everybody in

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Northern Ireland. He had a very personal style and genuine approach

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to politics. He was contrasting in a lot of ways to the kind of what was

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expected of new Labour politicians, he seemed to offer a warmth that was

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genuine and honest and in no way orchestrated.

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Tributes paid to the former Northern Ireland Minister, Paul Goggins, who

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died last week. Gareth Gordon has rejoined me. Paul Goggins was

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universally popular. Yes, as is the case with all walks of life, some

:24:30.:24:34.

people are held with more genuine affection than others, and he seemed

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to be well liked across the political spectrum. I looked at the

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tributes paid to him in Westminster last week and they were similar to

:24:43.:24:46.

those paid in Stormont from all sides, it's not all people get warm

:24:47.:24:51.

tributes from Sinn Fein and the Orange order, Paul Goggins was one

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man that did. The Richard Haass talks are a big issue of discussion

:24:58.:25:03.

today, but also, road safety. From having one of the worst road safety

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records in the world, Northern Ireland seems to have turned a

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corner. Year-on-year, things were improving, that reversed last year.

:25:12.:25:17.

In the first 13 days of 2014, six people had been killed on our roads,

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in different circumstances, but it is a figure that has shocked many of

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it has shocked the Minister responsible. He feels he must do

:25:27.:25:31.

something about it and has called the stakeholders together tomorrow

:25:32.:25:34.

for a meeting to discuss what, if anything, can be done. The

:25:35.:25:40.

government can do so much, it is ultimately up to the road users to

:25:41.:25:45.

do something as well. And what you think the impact is likely to be of

:25:46.:25:49.

the 2-part BBC television series on the life and times of Ian Paisley,

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the former DUP leader? That is still unfolding, he was a major political

:25:57.:26:02.

figure. He is, for some people, a figure dating into history. He is

:26:03.:26:08.

largely retired from public life, but his words can still have an

:26:09.:26:11.

impact when he speaks. The first part of that documentary has already

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caused waves. It is believed to please many nationalists about civil

:26:21.:26:23.

rights and the state of Northern Ireland in the 60s, but it has

:26:24.:26:26.

annoyed others I saying that the Irish government brought the Dublin

:26:27.:26:31.

and Monaghan bombings on themselves. What he is said about the DUP in the

:26:32.:26:36.

next programme, that will have the real impact. Gareth thank-you. Well,

:26:37.:26:41.

the Haass talks dominated the political agenda here for more than

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six months. As today's proceeding showed, there's still little sign of

:26:44.:26:47.

consensus, though that's not for the want of trying on the part of

:26:48.:26:49.

Richard Haass and Meghan O'Sullivan. For those of you have not met me, I

:26:50.:27:05.

am Richard Haass and this is Meghan O'Sullivan. We are all here to

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launch this political process. Nice to see you. How is it going? It

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is going. The not so good news is that we do

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not have an agreement. There continues to be significant

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differences, and if it does make sense to return, we will do just

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that. Richard Haass's Christmas in America lasted a mere three days.

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This afternoon he will share another round table meeting involving the

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five executive parties. Let me be clear, Monday is our absolute

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deadline. After weeks of discussions, the

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talks have ended without multiparty agreement. We would not have had to

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spend the last six months commuting back and forth, but if you ask me do

:28:21.:28:27.

we now have in place a foundation and a serious possibility for

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meaningful political progress, the answer is yes. This has truly been a

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real privilege and we have worked with some extraordinary people and

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it is safe to say that we will remember this for ever, but that

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does not mean that we are eager to get home. I expect we will see some

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of you have not all of you again in the future. Thank you very much. --

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if not all of you. That's it for tonight. I'll be back

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tomorrow night at the same time, 11.20 on BBC Two. Until then, from

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everyone in the team, good night. A Napoleonic fig5ra a3p-dd 1

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histgr9 A Napoleonic fig5ra a3p-dd 1

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histgry, sithall ph!t A Napoleonic fig5ra a3p-dd 1

:29:55.:29:58.

history, with all that that i-plie3. He's not someone that you see and

:29:59.:30:01.

you can stay indifferent about. You have an opinion. You love him or you

:30:02.:30:06.

hate him, you're afraid of him or you want to be with him. He had so

:30:07.:30:10.

much political strength that he could do almost everything he

:30:11.:30:14.

wanted. A

:30:15.:30:15.

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