14/10/2013 Stormont Today

Welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up tonight, the Health Minister comes

out fighting over criticism of his policy on gay men donating blood.

Similar laws apply in the USA, Canada, Germany, France, the

Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

Loyalists considering flag protests are warned of potential consequences

by the first minister. I have heard of some proposals to hold protests.

I hope people will reflect on the damage that will cause to Northern

Ireland and traders in Belfast. An analysis of the busy day in the

chamber from Gareth. The Health Minister today told the

Assembly that if he did break the ministerial code over a ban on gay

men giving blood in Northern Ireland he did so unwittingly. Mr Poots

refused to apologise, despite the high court ruling that his position

is irrational. He insisted that his stance is based on public serve --

safety, not his personal beliefs. Unlike a lot of people who have been

commentating -- commenting, I have read the judgement. He indicated

that the rationality came from banning it in Northern Ireland but

allowing a small quantity to come in from abroad. Contrary to inaccurate

commentary, the judge did not take the view that maintaining a higher

threshold in Northern Ireland was irrational. He did, however, find

that Northern Ireland continued to import tiny quantities of blood from

Great Britain that could contain some of this blood. I am considering

the full judgement and its implications for men who have sex

with men donating blood. My priority as Health Minister is the safety of

blood, continuity in its supply and public confidence in the safety of

blood. The irrationality that the judge was talking about was the fact

that we took any blood from the UK with the possibility that it could

contain such blood. If I had actually banned blood coming in, the

judge would have found the decision irrational. The fact whether it is a

tiny or large supply of blood, the decision was found to be irrational

and in breach of your ministerial code. Will you now I regularly

joined with the rest of society in ensuring and supporting that the ban

is lifted? -- will you now join. The same legislation applies in Canada,

the USA, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden,

Finland and Denmark. The vast majority of countries... Order. Are

all of these people prejudiced or is the questions that I am prejudiced

just stupid? I did write to the minister in the Irish Republic. He

indicated that their position is the same as ours. It is their intention

to maintain that position and they are not giving consideration to

changing it. Order. In this instance, Sinn Fein are anything but

United. He has been asked to apologise to the house. Will he take

the opportunity to do so? I have dealt with a number of issues that

people have raised and a number of nonsensical issues people have

raised and the inaccuracy of information that members have been

putting out, so perhaps it is that those members to apologise to the

house. In order to address public concern that the minister may be

allowing his personal views to collide with scientific advice, will

he published the legal advice that the Attorney General gave him prior

to losing the court case? In terms of this, let's be quite frank. This

is not an issue of religion or moral views. This is an issue of public

safety. In terms of breaking the ministerial code, if I did so I did

so unwittingly. But I suspect that every other minister in this house

has unwittingly broken the code, if it is as designated in this

instance. The Health Minister Edwin Poots.

Barrett has been following the story and is with me now. -- Gareth. They

Health Minister clearly not cowed by the High Court judgement. -- the

Health Minister. Anybody who expected him to come with his head

held low will be sorely disappointed. He has sucked up a lot

of criticism and has come out fighting. He was invited several

times to apologise and he said he had nothing to apologise for and

those commentators who had read the judgement wrong should apologise. He

said the ban on gay men giving blood was lifted a couple of years ago but

Edwin Poots decided to keep it in place. The judge said that alongside

his decision Northern Ireland continues to bring in small amounts

from the UK which could contain blood of gay men and Edwin Poots

said if anything the judge had criticised him for not going far

enough. Does he accept that he broke the ministerial code? He said that

if he did so he did so unwittingly. He said, if that is the case, every

executive minister has broken the ministerial code unwittingly. One of

the other charges was that he was imposing his religious views and he

said it was not a religion issue but one of public safety and he listed a

range of countries including Canada, the US, France, the Scandinavian

countries who have a ban on gay blood. Is the judge right, is there

a power of sensual? -- censure. He kind of sidestepped the issue and

said the non-executive minister had asked for the ban to be discussed.

The judge said he should have brought that to the Executive.

William Hayes said they had consulted their legal team and he

had no role in this. The judge said it was at -- it is a matter for the

health secretary in Westminster. He has not said anything so far. His

department are considering the potential implications but nothing

beyond that. The first minister has warned of

loyalist flag protests in Belfast city centre in the run-up to

Christmas. Peter Robinson told the Assembly the demonstrations of last

year could be repeated. He reported back on the success of last week's

investment conference but first was asked about the situation at

Twaddell Avenue. I have spoken to people in the neighbourhood and I

have no doubt that it puts additional pressure on bps and I. --

PSNI. But I urge everybody to remember that they have two uphold

the rule of the law and abide by the conditions laid down. -- two uphold.

I thank the first minister for his answer. Would he agree that given

that the talks process has started that the business community in

Belfast are concerned about more protest parades in the city and what

words of encouragement could he give to people to make sure that protests

do not end in disruption? I would sympathise particularly with the

traders in Belfast who had a very bad period around Christmas last

year. When we talk about rights, of course there are competing rights,

the rights to carry out your daily business, in businesses or

commercial activity in the centre of Belfast, and people carrying out

activities in terms of protest have to take into account the rights of

others and the wider society. I have heard of some proposals to hold

protests leading up to the Christmas period. I hope people will reflect

on the damage that would cause to traders in Belfast, potentially

leading to a loss of jobs. The protests in Twaddell Avenue will not

have that impact but certainly if protests were brought into the

centre of Belfast it has that possible outcome. Can I ask him to

give the house and update on the conference held last week? The

Deputy first Minister and I have been involved in three investment

conferences back in 2008 and the Washington investment conference

kindly organised by the United States administration, then Hillary

Clinton. We are both agreed that in terms of the contact we have had

with investors this is by far the most successful but we have had. The

response was very positive from those we spoke to, both on the

Friday evening, the Thursday evening in Hillsborough Castle, at the

dinner, and some people... I noticed the BBC talking about whining and

dining. I have to say that it is that kind of networking that really

does get you a connection with business people. It is an

opportunity to find out what projects various companies are

looking at and how we might fit into their needs and requirements. At the

dinner we spoke to a number of people who were looking at Northern

Ireland as a possible place for investment and the encouraging thing

the next day was to find that a lot of those companies who have asked on

the short list were indicating that Northern Ireland had leapt forward

to the top of the short list. Peter Robinson signing a positive note

there. Arlene Foster told the assembly that the review said the

organisation was no longer essential. In a moment we will hear

from the chairman, but here is what the Minister had to say. In October

2012, there was an independent review of the consumer Council. The

purpose of the review was to ensure that the advocacy role in Northern

Ireland is delivered by the most appropriate body, structured

correctly, operating efficiently and fit for purpose and moving forward

with the executive consumer and wider economic aims. The report

recognises that the council has been responsive and effective. However,

it concludes that the political and consumer landscape has changed since

the general consumer Council was created. We now have locally

accountable government opposed to devolution, the existence of advice

bodies, a utility regulator to protect consumer interests, and

effective trading standards service and much better retail competition

on the high street. In that context, the report concludes that

the existence of the consumer Council may no longer be essential

to consumers nor be the most cost-effective mechanism for

consumer representation. The committee provided a written

response to the review. In its response it said it was content that

the consumer Council provides an effective service and that no

concerns had been raised regarding the council 's remit and structure.

If it isn't broke, why fix it? With me now is the chairman of the

consumer Council. You nodded in agreement then. So you will be

lobbying for it to remain as is? I will be lobbying to make sure that

the consumers infrastructure is protected as we go forward. That is

the critical thing. We have a report that has been presented to the

public and it seems to start to the question, what are we going to do

with the consumer Council? There is a report to the Scottish government

that seems to start with the question, what is the best consumer

protection we can have? I would like us to look at that question. In the

meantime, business as usual. We will make sure consumers are protected

across a range of markets. The minister was making the point that a

lot has changed since the last review took place. The landscape is

not the same as it was, so consumers can be and are protected in

different ways. That is true, a lot has changed. If you look at the

council, you see how we have changed and adapted. We have a transport as

part of what we are doing and next year, the UK government is

transferring postal services to us as well. We are an organisation that

has been adaptable and open to change and we still are. I would not

want it to look like we are resisting change. We want to make

sure that in a changing world where consumers don't live in silos that

we are not put into one. Since your last review, competition has

changed. There has been local government back here in Northern

Ireland and we have local and regional advice bodies on a much

better footing then we had back in 1999. If the consumer was to be

served best by getting rid of the consumer Council, would you accept

that? If the consumer is to be served best is the question we

should ask and it is the question the Scottish government are asking.

They want to create a body based on the consumer Council in Northern

Ireland. Last year, ?300,000 was returned to the pockets of

consumers. Last week a family lobbying and airline came to us and

we got them back ?3200. County Fermanagh, ten years they had low

water pressure. They came to us and we got it sorted. Those needs have

not gone away and need to be met. We are currently doing it. If it isn't

broke, don't fix it, I think that is right.

It'll be interesting to see what happens. Thank you for joining us.

Their environment minister says legal advice obtained by his

environment on amendments to the planning Bill restricting the right

to challenge decisions in court are not compatible with the European

Convention on human rights. The question was being answered on the

progress of the bill, but first it was question of fracking.

There is already huge opposition to fracking in the North. Despite the

fact that there is currently no application. I can assure you that

any application that does come will be fully scrutinised and rigourously

upheld against planning policy and will have to satisfy me or whoever

is the environment Minister. It'll have to be 100% safe to people.

When the minister took up his post, he was on record saying that

fracking would not happen on his watch. Given that some of these

applications, is he saying he has already made his mind up? Or might

some of these happen on his watch causing his green friends to see red

at the promise he has broken? Thank you, Mr Wilson. I think it

would not happen on my watch easily. Any application or any decision will

require full, scientific evidence. In my opinion, that scientific

evidence is not there now. I can't see it being there in the

foreseeable future and therefore, I cannot see fracking happening on my

watch. I am currently taking stock of the planning Bill and the

amendments made and the consideration stage. As members will

be aware, there were two significant amendments which introduced new

clauses four and 15 to the planning Bill. These clauses would allow

designation of economically significant planning zones and limit

the right to take a judicial review against the planning permission.

These amendments were the subject of concern of many members when we

debated them. Like my predecessor, I am concerned with the amendments

being within the legislative competence of the assembly. The

legal advice obtained by the previous minister from one of the

top QCs in the UK who specialises in environmental and public law states

that the amendment is not compatible with Article six of the European

convention on human rights. Your predecessor said that there had been

no consultation whatsoever. Can the bill go forward on that basis?

I believe that both amendments are significant and should be subject to

full and rigorous public consultation to gauge the views of

the public and stakeholders. I am also concerned that the environment

committee was not given the opportunity to scrutinise

amendments. I find that extremely disappointing, especially as they

were not drafted overnight and the members who bought them forward at

the last minute sit on the committee and had ample opportunity to bring

them forward for discussion. Around 1000 people in Northern

Ireland are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year. 400 of them die

as a result. Today the assembly backed a motion calling for

increased screening to help fight the disease. Good evening. Thank you

for joining us. You know what it is like to personally suffer from this

disease, is that why you raise the issue?

It is a personal issue given that I have suffered and have been

suffering with the disease. So I chose to make my problems public and

then to assist bowel Cancer UK and the other agencies and particular

surgeons who are keen to get the screening and testing back to 50

years of age. You want to extend the screening. Breast cancer screening

has been successful, you would like to see bowel cancer on a level

platform? Absolutely. I think there is a lot of work to be done around

bowel cancer. And bowel problems. Particularly males are unsure about

going to their doctor, but it is only another area for GPs to deal

with. Certainly in terms of awareness. You mentioned breast

cancer, the debate around that has been very good and we are hoping the

debate around bowel cancer will become just as important as the

other cancer diseases because lives will and can be saved. The figures

are startling. Screening is available for people aged between 60

and 70, you would like to stretch that at both ends? Yes. The Minister

made it clear that up to 74, once that is sorted out, and it is a very

good screening programme, he indicated today that we were six S4

and he will consider bringing the screening age back to 50 and that is

what health professionals want. That is what organisations such as bowel

Cancer UK is working full time with the coordinator, they all want that

to happen. If I can help to progress that I will do that. Do you think

it'll make a tangible difference? I think it will make an immense

difference. Massive savings for the health service. You mentioned that

you think men are reluctant to go to the GP to discuss issues like this.

People are clear what the symptoms are. I don't think too many people

would find it difficult to think about what the symptoms might be and

yet, even if they suffer from those symptoms, they do not go to their GP

or advice. Why do you think? In some cases the symptoms are not all that

clear. On some occasions there can be no symptoms. But in many cases

they can be obvious. Indeed and one should go if they have any items

discussed in the debate today. There is also a job for GPs to encourage

people to go along to them and to also do the test when they come out.

Interesting to see what happens. Thank you for joining us.

MLAs have condemned the murders of Kevin Kearney in Belfast. The Ulster

Unionist, Tom Elliott, bought the assembly matter on the day on the

murders and the state of security alerts.

This unfortunate experience, to murders within 48 hours in Belfast

and Londonderry over recent days. The murder of Barry McGrory on

Thursday will have come as a huge setback to the city of Londonderry,

which on the whole has enjoyed a positive year. Not least in the

important role of hosting the United Kingdom city of culture. We also

heard the news of the killing of Kevin Kearney in north Belfast with

the body found last Wednesday afternoon. The police describe this

as a callous and cold-blooded murder. I and the Ulster Unionist

party wholeheartedly agree with that interpretation and definition. There

are pseudo- republican groups using a veneer of whatever it is to hide

the fact that they themselves are involved in drug dealing, extortion

and taking money from drug dealers and then deciding that they should

kill others who they accuse of the same thing. They said to the

policing board that there is a criminality endemic in east

Belfast. I come to this house today straight

from the funeral of Kevin Kearney. I was in this house last night and I

witnessed it first hand, the destructive impact of violence on a

family. Caring family apart. We have seen the attempted murder attack in

Londonderry, we have seen a variety of attacks with devices of various

sorts that cause disruption. One of them was targeted at my colleagues

in ill dash-macro east Belfast Alliance offices. All of those are

attacks on this society as a whole. The latter is an attack on the

democratic process. It is the rule of law that we stand for, not the

role of the jungle. These individuals have had their lives

taken by those who are carrying out vigilante justice. We have to take

on paramilitaries from all sections, including the UVF and East Belfast.

There is no place for this type of organisation or activity because it

will take Northern Ireland to a place it does not want to go and I

join with other members in saying we must unite against the threat of

violence from whatever corner. Basil McCrea joining fellow MLAs

members in condemning the violence. Gareth has rejoined me. Peter

Robinson was flagging up protests in the run-up to Christmas. In the

first anniversary of the decision to fly the union flag on designated

days is on the 3rd of December. Heat a Robinson said he heard some people

might be planning protest, no surprise, but it will be of concern.

Peter Robinson calling on any potential protest is to reflect on

the damage they could cause. Very quickly, there was an alliance

response. The party 's leader said that while she welcomes comments,

they were hypocritical given what his party was doing in the run-up to

the vote last year. That is a reference to those 40,000 leaflets

circulated to households by the two main Unionist parties. Thank you

very much. I am back at the same time tomorrow night. Goodbye.