:00:33. > :00:37.Welcome to the programme. Tonight: United in their condemnation of the
:00:37. > :00:42.street violence but still divided on the way for it, MLAs debate a
:00:42. > :00:47.flight protests. The settled status quo should not have been disturbed
:00:47. > :00:51.but nothing can justify the violence that has been seen on the
:00:51. > :00:55.streets of Northern Ireland in a recent weeks. What has transpired
:00:55. > :00:59.in the last couple of weeks is very clearly a challenge to these
:00:59. > :01:04.institutions, a challenge to these institutions are from people who do
:01:04. > :01:09.not have a mandate and he represent nobody but themselves. Also, could
:01:09. > :01:14.there be some hope for businesses who have lost thousands? There is
:01:14. > :01:18.scope of course within the 2009 Financial Assistance Act to devise
:01:18. > :01:23.some kind of hardship scheme which would assist businesses, especially
:01:23. > :01:33.dependent upon the night-time economy. Sharing his insights, our
:01:33. > :01:37.political reporter Stephen Walker. There were heated exchanges in the
:01:37. > :01:41.chamber as politicians debated the latest violence surrounding the
:01:41. > :01:45.Union flag dispute. The First Minister said those who use it as a
:01:45. > :01:49.weapon to not respect it. He is our duty as politicians to support the
:01:49. > :01:54.rule of law and the primacy of the democratic process in this part of
:01:54. > :01:58.United Kingdom. This last weekend has once again seen a protest turn
:01:58. > :02:01.to violence and disorder on our streets. The police have been
:02:01. > :02:06.attacked, protesters have been attacked, local communities have
:02:06. > :02:11.been attacked and no one winds from such conflict but the people of
:02:11. > :02:16.Northern Ireland as a whole are suffering. The anger over the spark
:02:16. > :02:20.that started the fire has long since been obscured by the outrage
:02:20. > :02:27.over the violence that has followed. I know that we are not agreed in
:02:27. > :02:31.this house on the issue of the Union flag flying at this stage. I
:02:31. > :02:36.hope at some stage people will be but I will say it once again, the
:02:36. > :02:42.decision by Belfast City Council to take down the Union flag was, in my
:02:43. > :02:46.view, a mistake. The timing of it aggravated a bad situation, it was
:02:46. > :02:51.unnecessary and wrong. The settled status quo should not have been
:02:52. > :02:56.disturbed. But nothing can justify the violence that has been seen on
:02:56. > :03:02.the streets of Northern Ireland in recent weeks. Let me ask those who
:03:02. > :03:04.are involved, what do they think they have achieved? Northern
:03:04. > :03:08.Ireland's international reputation has been damaged, potential
:03:08. > :03:13.investors and tourists will be deterred, our local businesses have
:03:13. > :03:16.been crippled at a time they needed a boost, scores of police officers
:03:16. > :03:19.have been injured and many of the young people involved in the
:03:19. > :03:26.violence will emerge from these disturbances with nothing to show
:03:26. > :03:32.for it. Except a criminal record. I defend, Mr Speaker, anyone's right
:03:32. > :03:35.to legitimate, peaceful protest but in recent weeks, far too many have
:03:35. > :03:40.become a mark of violence. Because of the Union flag has been damaged
:03:40. > :03:45.and not helped. This issue will never be sold on the streets but
:03:46. > :03:50.only through democratic means. You do not respect a Union flag if you
:03:50. > :03:53.are using it as a weapon to charge against someone. You are not
:03:53. > :03:59.showing respect for the Union flag if you need to wear a mask when
:03:59. > :04:04.carrying it. What works there last is the sight of all the political
:04:04. > :04:09.parties in this house standing together against those who believe
:04:09. > :04:18.in violence as a way forward. If we look at the events of the last
:04:18. > :04:21.couple of weeks, whatever the decision about Belfast City Hall, a
:04:21. > :04:25.decision when not a stone was thrown, not a petrol bomb was
:04:25. > :04:30.thrown, not a threat of intimidation was issued. But what
:04:30. > :04:34.has transpired in the course of the last couple of weeks is very
:04:34. > :04:38.clearly a challenge to these institutions, the challenge from
:04:38. > :04:43.people who do not have a mandate and who represent nobody but
:04:43. > :04:50.themselves. I do not believe for one minute that they speak for the
:04:50. > :04:54.vast majority of Unionists within our society. These are people who
:04:54. > :05:02.are associated with the British National Party attack politics,
:05:02. > :05:06.these are people who are clearly, to some degree, sectarian bigots
:05:06. > :05:12.and is also quite obvious that the Ulster Volunteer Force in East
:05:12. > :05:18.Belfast have played their part in the disturbances over the course of
:05:18. > :05:23.the last couple of weeks. violence that we have seen since
:05:23. > :05:32.3rd December is wrong on every level. It is wrong legally, morally,
:05:32. > :05:37.a strategically and tactically. Let us remind ourselves how it began.
:05:37. > :05:42.On the 3rd December, an unnecessary boat to lower the Union flag at
:05:42. > :05:46.City Hall, provoking people to take to the streets because they were
:05:46. > :05:52.angry at a political decision by Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the
:05:52. > :05:56.Alliance Party. But almost immediately, those who were
:05:56. > :06:00.protesting through violence had turned matters on their head. My
:06:00. > :06:05.message to those engaged in violence is very simple - please
:06:05. > :06:11.stop destroying the argument you are trying to promote. A man as we
:06:11. > :06:17.seek on our streets serves no purpose. It can never serve a
:06:17. > :06:24.purpose and we could engage in this chamber about scoring points and we
:06:24. > :06:29.could even enter an unconscious fears of denial about how this
:06:29. > :06:34.crisis came about. It didn't come about on 3rd December, it was well-
:06:34. > :06:39.stocked beforehand. We can duck and dive about the house and whys and
:06:39. > :06:42.wherefores but in my opinion, Mr Speaker, the most urgent need is TD
:06:43. > :06:50.escalate the situation and that means protests must stop and start
:06:50. > :06:53.now. That is a job were the leaders of political unionism and they must
:06:53. > :06:59.be honest with the people out there, they must tell them that the ways
:06:59. > :07:06.of the past on these issues are not always going to be the ways of the
:07:06. > :07:14.future. They will not, and we will not improve the situation with a
:07:15. > :07:19.one-sided forum. In fact, there is always a danger that a one-sided
:07:19. > :07:24.approach will escalate the situation. For any leader to demand
:07:24. > :07:28.that the union flag must fly on their terms and their terms alone,
:07:28. > :07:33.that is in the past and it is certainly not a parody. Protesters
:07:33. > :07:36.are challenging the democratic right of politicians to make any
:07:36. > :07:41.dispensation one of flags that they do not approve of it. The
:07:41. > :07:44.protesters are denying parity of esteem. The choice of the leaders
:07:44. > :07:50.of political unionism and it is a choice they have to make here. Mr
:07:50. > :07:53.Speaker, it would greatly assist at the St 18 of the situation if they
:07:53. > :07:58.would make that choice now a and make it in the clearest possible
:07:58. > :08:02.terms. We need to recognise that the violence we saw on Saturday and
:08:02. > :08:07.the violence in preceding days was at the end of a line which
:08:07. > :08:12.stretches right back to last summer. Last summer we saw the defiance of
:08:12. > :08:16.the legitimate and unlawful rulings of the Parades Commission and that
:08:16. > :08:21.defiance had in some cases political support. In the autumn
:08:21. > :08:24.time we saw that continuing, we sold 40,000 dubious leaflets
:08:24. > :08:31.whipping up fear and tension and that was carried out by Unionist
:08:31. > :08:36.leaders. We have seen in recent weeks since 3rd December so-called
:08:36. > :08:40.peaceful protests which have been anything but peaceful and anything
:08:40. > :08:46.but lawful. Many of those protests have had support from Unionist
:08:46. > :08:49.leaders. Did they not know what happened last summer, did they not
:08:49. > :08:54.see Clinton Street and Donegal Street, do they not know what
:08:54. > :08:58.happens when you call crowds onto the streets in a society and there
:08:58. > :09:03.is a real fundamental question that has to be answered by those who
:09:03. > :09:07.engineered what is now it resulted. Can I say to those who are on the
:09:07. > :09:13.other side of the House have condemned what has happened over
:09:13. > :09:20.the last weekend, and we have condemned it quite clearly, but
:09:20. > :09:25.perhaps when they were engaging in activities such as voting for the
:09:25. > :09:29.release of the killers for the attempted killers of a DUP
:09:29. > :09:36.councillor in Dungannon, while they were aiming play parks after
:09:36. > :09:40.killer's, while they were stoking the fires by removing the Union
:09:40. > :09:47.flag from the City Hall, maybe what they should ask themselves - did
:09:48. > :09:52.they not know what the reaction was likely to be across the Community?
:09:52. > :09:56.I think there has been a grave responsibility on those who
:09:56. > :10:01.provoked this situation, that is not to say that what has happened
:10:01. > :10:07.is correct. It is wrong and it is wrong for a whole lot of reasons. I
:10:07. > :10:11.am proud of the Union flag of this country. Not as a piece of cloth,
:10:11. > :10:19.not because of the colours that are in it, but because of what it
:10:19. > :10:26.stands for. Sammy East stood up and give a great speech about the Union
:10:26. > :10:30.Jack flag. I am Irish and Belfast is now shared city. That means
:10:30. > :10:35.Irish nurse is important as well so the other side of the house needs
:10:35. > :10:41.to realise that all the protests were over was the compromise and
:10:41. > :10:47.what they are ignoring is the fact that there is discrimination
:10:48. > :10:53.against Irish us. Stephen Walker is here. A familiar to be it? Yes,
:10:53. > :10:58.when you think we ended 2012 at the Assembly talking about the Union
:10:58. > :11:02.flag and here we are the first day back, talking about it again. There
:11:02. > :11:06.were some heated exchanges at times followed by and large, it was a
:11:06. > :11:11.fairly well measured debate. People made their point eloquently and be
:11:11. > :11:16.heard a lovely -- a lot of arguments that we're used to. It
:11:16. > :11:22.got people - like he did when Sammy Wilson got up and then Gerry Kelly
:11:22. > :11:26.but the arguments were familiar but I think politicians, once they will
:11:26. > :11:31.dispute who started the whole protest and hide it can be sorted
:11:31. > :11:38.out, there is general agreement among politicians that it has to be
:11:38. > :11:45.a political solution to the issue. The DUP got a new member today?
:11:45. > :11:49.Some news today with Fred Korean he was the UUP MLA at the last
:11:49. > :11:53.Assembly for north Belfast, a familiar figure, he was a Belfast
:11:53. > :11:57.city councillor for many years, and known to the electorate and
:11:57. > :12:01.journalists. He said he has been disillusioned for some time it with
:12:01. > :12:07.the Ulster Unionist Party and today he was unveiled by the DUP, by
:12:08. > :12:13.Nigel Dodds and Peter Robinson and he gave some of his reasons as to
:12:13. > :12:23.why he is leaving the UUP and joining the DUP. I am disillusioned
:12:23. > :12:24.
:12:24. > :12:30.with the party for a number of months. I think that will only get
:12:30. > :12:33.worse in the future. The Ulster Unionist party is best described as
:12:33. > :12:40.politically exhausted, I don't think they have any new or big
:12:40. > :12:43.ideas. What did the UUP say? They say they are not surprised.
:12:43. > :12:48.Obviously they're disappointed. When you have spent 30 years with a
:12:48. > :12:51.party, Fred is leaving behind many good friends and people say they
:12:51. > :12:57.are very disappointed that he is going. It is well understood that
:12:57. > :13:00.he has been talking to the DUP for some time. For the leader, it is a
:13:00. > :13:05.difficult day because it means his departure is the latest in a long
:13:05. > :13:10.line of people who have left. There was the rout with Lord McGuinness a
:13:10. > :13:13.drum glass, a row about David McNarry so this is the third high-
:13:13. > :13:21.profile member of the Ulster Unionist Party to depart so it is
:13:21. > :13:24.bad news for them. The First Minister was back at the
:13:24. > :13:29.dispatch box later in the afternoon, this time question-time. Peter
:13:29. > :13:32.Robinson was asked how the Social Investment Fund could be used to
:13:32. > :13:35.target our educational under- achievement among Protestant
:13:35. > :13:41.working-class boys. He said no single department should take
:13:41. > :13:44.ownership of the issue. There is a specific issue of under achievement
:13:44. > :13:48.in a Protestant working-class boys and we want action to improve
:13:48. > :13:51.outcomes. We expect steering groups to target interventions were
:13:51. > :13:54.evidence shows there is a need to address this issue. Groups are
:13:54. > :13:59.working on the plans and they are due to be with the Department by
:13:59. > :14:04.the end of the month. In addition, we have identified educational
:14:04. > :14:08.under-achievement as a priority issue to be addressed by our new
:14:08. > :14:12.cross-departmental delivering social change agenda. It negatively
:14:12. > :14:15.impact across a wide range of social policies. We are determined
:14:16. > :14:21.to make improvements and the signature programme for numeracy
:14:21. > :14:26.and literacy, the recently announced a framework and it
:14:26. > :14:28.signals hour commitment to this issue. Plans are at an advanced
:14:28. > :14:34.stage and the Department of Education will meet shortly to
:14:34. > :14:36.begin the recruitment of teachers for the scheme. I think the First
:14:37. > :14:42.Minister for his answer, he will be aware that at the first public
:14:42. > :14:45.meeting of the Unionist forum on Friday, this issue of education
:14:45. > :14:49.under-achievement by Protestant working-class boys was one of the
:14:49. > :14:54.key issues. I wonder if he would agree with that committee that this
:14:54. > :15:01.is one of the definitions of a failure of Sinn Fein's Kenya as
:15:01. > :15:05.minister for education over the last 10 years? I think the issue of
:15:05. > :15:11.educational under attainment in working-class Protestant
:15:11. > :15:16.communities has probably got a lead in a period much beyond the life of
:15:16. > :15:21.the Assembly itself. It does need to be tackled, should be tackled
:15:21. > :15:23.and the first point of tackling it is that part of education and I am
:15:23. > :15:27.sure the Education Minister will want to tell the Assembly of the
:15:27. > :15:31.various steps taken within his department to tackle that issue.
:15:31. > :15:34.The Deputy First Minister and either of the view when we were
:15:34. > :15:38.looking at our agenda of delivering social change that we should never
:15:38. > :15:42.contribution because I don't think any one department needs to take on
:15:42. > :15:48.a ship on its own on this issue. We made a contribution by bringing
:15:48. > :15:52.forward proposals which looked at employing another 230 teachers for
:15:52. > :15:56.one-to-one tutoring of children who are falling behind. We also put
:15:56. > :16:01.funding in because if there is at joined-up approach required, we
:16:01. > :16:05.also put funding in to improving parenting which is an important
:16:05. > :16:09.aspect and I do know from my own contacts within the Social
:16:09. > :16:13.Investment Fund steering group for East Belfast that it is one of the
:16:13. > :16:22.issues that the steering group is taking seriously. You will see some
:16:22. > :16:27.Will the Minister also acknowledge that educational under-achievement
:16:27. > :16:31.is not located in only one section of the community? Does he recognise
:16:31. > :16:38.the best way of the dressing under- achievement is true mixed-ability
:16:38. > :16:43.learning and will he signed up to a posing segregating children at 11
:16:43. > :16:50.years old? I am keen to end segregation of education. I wonder
:16:50. > :16:55.if the member joining us... Not just from 11 but at every level! I
:16:55. > :16:58.acknowledge that statistically it is clear that there is a greater
:16:58. > :17:04.prevalence of education under- achievement in Protestant, working-
:17:04. > :17:09.class boys. It is not exclusively an issue for Protestant working-
:17:09. > :17:17.class people. The Social Investment Fund steering groups are able to
:17:17. > :17:21.target it wherever it exists. So, yes. It must be a cause for concern
:17:21. > :17:25.for any of us in the House that there are significant numbers of
:17:25. > :17:29.people, after many years of education, who come through the
:17:29. > :17:35.education system and at the end of it still do not have the numeracy
:17:35. > :17:39.and literacy skills necessary to get decent jobs in Northern Ireland.
:17:39. > :17:41.That is a concern across the Community. Possible executive
:17:41. > :17:44.intervention to help businesses affected by the recent flag
:17:44. > :17:47.protests was the focus of questions to the finance minister. Sammy
:17:47. > :17:49.Wilson said he and the enterprise minister Arlene Foster would meet
:17:49. > :17:59.with representatives of the hospitality industry to discuss
:17:59. > :18:05.possible options. We have got to look at what is
:18:05. > :18:12.possible off. It is a matter for the executive to consider what help,
:18:12. > :18:21.if any, can be given to those who have been impacted by some of the
:18:21. > :18:25.protests. They is go within the 2009 Financial Assistance Act to
:18:25. > :18:29.develop a scheme that that would assist businesses dependent on a
:18:29. > :18:34.night-time economy and the hospitality trade, who have perhaps
:18:34. > :18:39.been most badly affected in some areas, although it has to be
:18:39. > :18:42.thought through. The Assembly cannot simply afford to use public
:18:42. > :18:48.expenditure to provide blanket financial support to the business
:18:48. > :18:51.sector, nor would it be appropriate to do so. The hardship rate release
:18:51. > :18:56.scheme is in existence but everything requires firm evidence
:18:56. > :19:01.of consequential trading loss over a sustained period before we can
:19:01. > :19:07.lend help to those in financial distress and in the past it has
:19:07. > :19:14.been used for example in foot-and- mouth disease and volcanic ash and
:19:14. > :19:18.other periods of a long term, sporadic civil unrest. Again, this
:19:18. > :19:26.requires an appeal and it will not bring immediate respite to the
:19:26. > :19:28.business is. Can I ask him, will he do this with a real sense of
:19:28. > :19:34.urgency and tried to lift the burden of some of these hard-
:19:34. > :19:38.pressed retailers, restaurateurs, and bar owners? If this thing goes
:19:38. > :19:42.on any longer, a lot of them will go out of business. Of course we
:19:42. > :19:48.will look with all of the constraints I have given him the
:19:48. > :19:52.answer to date, we will look, and I intend to meet some people from the
:19:52. > :19:56.hospitality industry, along with Arlene Foster, and I will be
:19:57. > :20:02.spelling out what options might be available but also the difficulties
:20:02. > :20:06.with all of those options. They definitely was an impact on the
:20:06. > :20:10.traders but it might be possible to identify how we can practically
:20:10. > :20:17.help if we also a factor in the pressure that was coming from the
:20:17. > :20:21.general economic downturn and the increase in online trading.
:20:21. > :20:26.member made an important point. This is the problem with any relief
:20:26. > :20:31.scheme. We have got to distinguish, what other factors which are a side
:20:31. > :20:36.from the public disorder, might have created the problem? The
:20:36. > :20:41.effect has been patchy of course and even Belfast city centre, I
:20:41. > :20:44.notice from some of their reports, some traders actually said it was a
:20:44. > :20:49.better Christmas than they had before but the one thing we can't
:20:49. > :20:54.do is throw blanket loans of public money at a problem which, for some
:20:54. > :20:57.traders might not have existed at all, and secondly, give an unfair
:20:57. > :21:02.advantage for some who may fall within the scope of the scheme
:21:02. > :21:05.while others who were equally badly hit, but because of a badly
:21:05. > :21:08.designed scheme, don't fall within the scheme.
:21:08. > :21:11.Last week's announcement of the abolition of the Housing Executive
:21:11. > :21:14.was criticised by unions who fear that it will mean job losses. Today,
:21:14. > :21:16.the minister responsible, Nelson McCausland, faced scrutiny over the
:21:16. > :21:24.proposal and questions over why such an important decision was not
:21:24. > :21:28.announced in the Assembly chamber. It has always been my intention to
:21:28. > :21:32.come to the chamber to give statements once the process as
:21:32. > :21:35.advanced and there is something more substantial steps to discuss.
:21:35. > :21:42.Because of the nature of the initial statement, I dreamed that
:21:43. > :21:46.the written statement was the most appropriate. We in the SDP are not
:21:46. > :21:55.the only party to have expressed concern of the manner in which the
:21:55. > :21:59.original statement was made. A matter of such public importance as
:21:59. > :22:06.the Housing Executive, for this and all statement may have been more
:22:06. > :22:11.appropriate. I welcome the motion to present to the SDP committee but
:22:11. > :22:15.an absence of the minister having taken questions to date, and
:22:15. > :22:23.speculation has been rife among tenants and tax payers and not
:22:23. > :22:26.least among staff about what these proposals will mean for them. What
:22:26. > :22:31.assurances and comfort can the Minister give to Housing
:22:31. > :22:37.Executive's staff that are concerned about their future?
:22:37. > :22:41.is not about cutting jobs. This is not about saving money. It is about
:22:41. > :22:47.getting the right structure for social housing in Northern Ireland
:22:47. > :22:51.as we move forward. The functions that are currently carried out by
:22:51. > :22:55.the Housing Executive of functions that will still have to be carried
:22:55. > :23:00.out. Grants will still have to be ordered. Properties will still have
:23:00. > :23:05.to be managed. All of those different functions will still take
:23:05. > :23:08.place and it will require staff to do so. I would ask the Minister to
:23:08. > :23:13.accept it would have been better to come here firstly to make such an
:23:13. > :23:19.important announcement to the House as opposed to leaving it to
:23:19. > :23:22.speculation. I will simply say that I found even asked Det issuing the
:23:22. > :23:27.writ and statement that when I was interviewed about it, time and
:23:27. > :23:31.again, all I could sit back to the questions were, those are things
:23:31. > :23:37.that are still to be discussed. There has to be a lot of
:23:37. > :23:42.consideration, appraisals, Business cases, all sorts of things. Two
:23:42. > :23:45.years of work ahead of us. However I do welcome the fact that the
:23:45. > :23:51.member acknowledges that this is a good opportunity for us to improve
:23:51. > :23:54.the quality of much of our social housing and also to increase the
:23:54. > :23:58.quantity. How do you feel about paying 5
:23:58. > :24:01.pence for a plastic bag? Well the new levy was approved by the
:24:01. > :24:07.Assembly today and will come into effect in April. The Environment
:24:07. > :24:12.Minister, Alex Attwood, joins me. Is there an inconsistency around
:24:12. > :24:18.this policy that some will be included and some won't? No. The
:24:18. > :24:22.vast majority of bags will be captured on to this levied because
:24:22. > :24:30.we want to do what has happened in the Republic of Ireland. What has
:24:30. > :24:35.happened in Wales. Reduce the use of plastic bags and other low-cost
:24:35. > :24:39.bags by 80% in order to improve the environment and as a consequence,
:24:39. > :24:44.direct some further money into environmental schemes. That is a
:24:44. > :24:49.good policy. Jim Allister raised concerns today. He said the Revenue
:24:49. > :24:54.would be �2.5 million raised but he wants to know how much it would
:24:54. > :24:58.cost to set up a unit in Londonderry to administer it?
:24:58. > :25:04.pleased there will be 10 new jobs in Derry as a consequence of this
:25:04. > :25:09.scheme. It will cost �650,000 a year. When it is fully operational,
:25:09. > :25:15.an income of over 4 million. That means extra money to environmental
:25:15. > :25:22.schemes. But the primary purpose of the policy is to reduce the use of
:25:22. > :25:27.plastic bags especially, that as we know are not biodegradable and end
:25:27. > :25:32.up in a hedgerow. That sends out a negative message about Northern
:25:32. > :25:35.Ireland at a time when we need to send out a positive message, that
:25:35. > :25:42.we are green and clean, and that is a part of our lives and where
:25:42. > :25:46.visitor has come here. We did go up to 10 pence and then include
:25:46. > :25:51.biodegradable bags? It will be five pence in the first year, 10 pence
:25:51. > :25:55.in the second year, and we hope the law will be amended in the second
:25:55. > :26:05.year not just to include a single use carrier bags, that his paper
:26:05. > :26:07.
:26:07. > :26:14.and plastic bags, but also include lower-priced reusable bags, like
:26:14. > :26:19.bag macro for life in various shops. -- like a bag it for life. That way
:26:19. > :26:28.we will keep reviewing whether a levy should be charged on
:26:28. > :26:32.biodegradable bags. He would charge for paperbacks? Absolutely. There
:26:32. > :26:37.is big environmental impact for paperbacks as well. They carry
:26:37. > :26:43.threat and wrist to the environment, sometimes as much as a plastic bags.
:26:43. > :26:49.Used to be social development minister. Does the Housing
:26:49. > :26:53.Executive need to be thrown out? It needed a fundamental review in
:26:53. > :26:57.order to protect its enormous achievements over the last 40 years
:26:58. > :27:01.but also to deal with the self evident issues about its
:27:01. > :27:05.performance and conduct in recent years. The current Social
:27:05. > :27:08.Development Minister got way ahead of himself and has been
:27:08. > :27:12.backtracking ever since. We are looking forward to having an
:27:12. > :27:16.executive and the future that continues the great work of the
:27:16. > :27:19.house an executive of the past and drives forward reform in order to
:27:19. > :27:24.make housing better, standards better and have more new houses
:27:24. > :27:28.built, given the waiting lists that we have at the moment. A Alex
:27:28. > :27:31.Attwood, thank you. Well, Stephen, it's been a busy
:27:31. > :27:37.first day in the Assembly and it's a busy week for the Secretary of
:27:37. > :27:41.State as well. Yes. She met representatives from the licensed
:27:41. > :27:46.trade today, people who run pubs and restaurants that have been
:27:46. > :27:51.complaining that trade has been badly hit. One publican suggested
:27:51. > :27:55.that their trade has been down �60,000. They were meeting the
:27:56. > :28:00.Secretary of State in the hope they could be some kind of compensation.
:28:00. > :28:03.Theresa Villiers will go to London tonight and will be in the Cabinet
:28:03. > :28:10.tomorrow and will brief her fellow ministers. On Thursday, the focus
:28:10. > :28:14.will be North-South, with Eamon Gilmore coming up to Belfast to
:28:14. > :28:18.have a series of political meetings, not just with Theresa Villiers but
:28:18. > :28:23.also with the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister. These
:28:23. > :28:27.meetings have been in the diary for a while but the issue of the flak