:00:29. > :00:33.fairly limited. Hello, and welcome to Stormont Today. A new day on the
:00:33. > :00:36.hill, but the same issue dominating proceedings. The political
:00:36. > :00:41.divisions highlighted by the recent flag protests and accompanying
:00:41. > :00:48.violence. The Union flag is the flag of this country, and it's
:00:48. > :00:50.everybody's flag. Mr Nesbitt said, and I quote, the Union flag is
:00:50. > :00:55.everyone's flag in this region. That's not true. Also, why did the
:00:55. > :00:59.Health Minister feel the need for a political lesson? This House will
:00:59. > :01:04.make the laws, and courts will interpret those laws, not the other
:01:04. > :01:14.way around. And a political correspondent from
:01:14. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:20.the detail - Stephen Walker gives us his take on the day's events.
:01:20. > :01:25.Even before business began a point of order was a taste of the
:01:25. > :01:29.fractious atmosphere to come. He wanted the Speaker to look at
:01:29. > :01:32.comments Alex Massky had made about the ongoing trouble in east Belfast.
:01:32. > :01:35.Advise this House what action can be taken against a member who
:01:35. > :01:39.breachs the code of conduct, in particular reference to the
:01:39. > :01:42.personal conduct of members who have a duty to uphold the law and
:01:42. > :01:45.to act on all occasions in accord Wednesday the public trust placed
:01:45. > :01:49.in them. Furthermore, in respect of promoting good relations where
:01:49. > :01:52.members will act in way that is conducive to promoting good
:01:52. > :01:57.relations and promoting a culture of respect for the law, in specific,
:01:57. > :02:03.reference to the member for south Belfast, Mr Massky who on Sunday
:02:03. > :02:09.said that the Short Strand residents were behaving with
:02:09. > :02:14.impeccable pave your despite evidence of them wearing Balaklavas,
:02:14. > :02:18.wielding bats, throwing bricks at protesters. Furthermore, last night
:02:18. > :02:21.on various media outlets saying his response to the violence visited on
:02:21. > :02:25.members of the Short Strand would be to meet it with violence.
:02:25. > :02:29.Clearly, in those circumstances what action can be taken to a
:02:29. > :02:34.member who has flouted the code of conduct for members? First of all,
:02:34. > :02:37.members will know I do give members some latitude on points of order,
:02:37. > :02:41.but secondly, this is not a point of order. Thirdly, this is not an
:02:41. > :02:47.issue for the Speaker, but certainly I would direct the member
:02:47. > :02:50.to the Provisions Committee or to the clerks here within the
:02:50. > :02:55.Parliament buildings but it's not a matter for the Speaker and not a
:02:55. > :02:58.point of order. Is it an order for the member
:02:58. > :03:03.across the floor to misquote another member in this House
:03:03. > :03:11.whatever happened inside the House and as you pointed out yourself, Mr
:03:11. > :03:13.Speaker, it didn't deal with this House and the member has been
:03:13. > :03:20.misquoted. THE SPEAKER: Order. I want to say
:03:20. > :03:24.to the whole House, order. Order. Let us all be careful -- in
:03:25. > :03:28.whatever contribution we make in this House. Let us all be careful.
:03:28. > :03:32.Let us not make a bad situation worse outside this chamber. Let
:03:32. > :03:37.always be careful, and we all have a responsibility as political
:03:37. > :03:41.parties in this House to behave in a appropriate manner. Order. Let us
:03:41. > :03:45.all move on. Alex Maskey got his opportunity to respond to that
:03:45. > :03:49.point of order during the subsequent debate AUUP motion on
:03:49. > :03:54.inclusivety called on the Assembly to reconfirm its commitment to
:03:54. > :03:58.peace and democracy and for all parties to respect the spirit of
:03:58. > :04:03.the Good Friday Agreement. I was shocked to watch the discussion on
:04:03. > :04:07.the late news last night to hear Alex Maskey state if he lived in
:04:07. > :04:11.the Short Strand he would be out throwing stones at the street
:04:11. > :04:18.protests. I condemn the violence visited upon the residents...
:04:18. > :04:22.THE SPEAKER: Order. A point of order, Mr Maskey. Order! I welcome
:04:22. > :04:26.your ruling earlier on at the beginning of this session, and I
:04:26. > :04:29.listened to Mr Nesbitt start off his comments about today is not
:04:29. > :04:33.about what happened yesterday or last week, but about what we do
:04:33. > :04:38.from here on in, but I would actually strongly advise Mr Nesbitt
:04:38. > :04:42.not to misquote me in this chamber today. There is a transcript -
:04:42. > :04:46.there is a full transcript - there is a transcript available, as Mr
:04:46. > :04:48.Nesbitt as a former journalist will know. He should not misquote me in
:04:48. > :04:54.this chamber today. THE SPEAKER: Order. Order! The
:04:54. > :04:57.member has it on the record. Order. Order. Mr Nesbitt, order.
:04:57. > :05:02.Speaker, thank you. I am confident that I reflect the spirit of the
:05:03. > :05:08.words I heard last night on UTV's late-night news. Mr Speaker, my
:05:08. > :05:11.party calls for a return to the spirit of the Belfast Agreement. I
:05:11. > :05:14.acknowledge the DUP having an amendment down to that part of the
:05:14. > :05:17.motion. We're not down the ditch over that as long as we get this
:05:17. > :05:23.opportunity to explain exactly what we mean by the spirit of the agreat.
:05:23. > :05:27.There was another area where the Belfast Agreement was an
:05:27. > :05:32.unqualified success, and that is in regard to the constitutional
:05:32. > :05:37.question which was settled in 1998 and endorsed by a referendum.
:05:37. > :05:42.Northern Ireland is part of the UK, and that means the Union flag is
:05:42. > :05:47.the flag of this country, and it's everybody's flag. I want to come to
:05:48. > :05:52.a conclusion, Mr Speaker, to the issue that I have heard various
:05:52. > :05:56.Nationalists and republicans allude to. They have complained this is a
:05:56. > :05:58.one-sided forum. Unionists talking to themselves won't solve the
:05:58. > :06:05.problem. Mr Speaker, in some respects I agree with that. It
:06:05. > :06:08.won't solve the problem. The involvement and the capacity for
:06:08. > :06:13.both the SDLP and Sinn Fein to involve themselves in the outcome
:06:13. > :06:15.of the Unionist forum is essential. If there's disadvantage in the
:06:15. > :06:21.Unionist community, and there is, we want to hear what you're going
:06:21. > :06:26.to do about it, about the disadvantage - the sectarianism,
:06:26. > :06:29.the one-sided inquiry process, the diminishing of Britishness at the
:06:29. > :06:34.expense of the promotion of Irishness - we want to hear your
:06:34. > :06:37.proposals about that. Yes, we do. What I see in terms of the flags
:06:37. > :06:40.protest is a continuation of the denial that's represented by
:06:40. > :06:45.bringing forward this amendment because the amendment on its own,
:06:45. > :06:49.if it had not removed the reference to the Good Friday Agreement, was
:06:49. > :06:54.perfectly acceptable. Asking me to repudiate that agreement is not on.
:06:54. > :06:57.It is a denial of the progress that we've made on the basis not just
:06:57. > :07:01.for the progress that has been made since the Good Friday Agreement,
:07:01. > :07:05.but the value that was added in the negotiations in terms of
:07:05. > :07:08.Halisborough and St Andrews. ways of the past cannot be the way
:07:08. > :07:14.of the future, yet what we're hearing from the leader of the DUP
:07:14. > :07:18.is that violence is a result of the Alliance Party, changing what he
:07:18. > :07:22.called the "established status quo in the City Hall". How has all this
:07:22. > :07:27.violence been brought about just by one action? Then on the other hand,
:07:27. > :07:32.we're told the next day a whole plethora of things is what it's
:07:32. > :07:36.about. There is no mention in any of that about the 40,000 scurrilous
:07:36. > :07:39.leaflets that were circulated in east Belfast intended to bring
:07:39. > :07:43.about the sort of violence that we have. I and my party will not
:07:43. > :07:47.support the amendment from the DUP which is wholly unnecessary and a
:07:47. > :07:51.concerning attempt to dilute the motion and remove a reference to
:07:51. > :07:55.the Belfast agreement. Indeed, it's deeply concerning that Mike Nesbitt,
:07:55. > :08:01.the leader of the Ulster Unionist party, does not see that as a
:08:01. > :08:05.concern as a key signatory to that agreement. They're entitled to be
:08:05. > :08:08.republicans and Nationalists, so they'll put forward a particular
:08:08. > :08:14.agenda. We have the alliance who claim themselves to be a non-
:08:14. > :08:19.sectarian party, and let me deal with that in a moment or two.
:08:19. > :08:22.THE SPEAKER: Order. But in terms of all of this, whenever we have
:08:22. > :08:26.particular agendas being met and fulfilled, that can cause real
:08:26. > :08:30.damage to a community. For example, when it comes to historic inquiries,
:08:31. > :08:35.for example, when it comes to public inquiries - there seems to
:08:35. > :08:39.be entirely a focus - what is aimed against the loyalist community and
:08:39. > :08:42.people who have engaged in loyalist terrorism... I think it's important
:08:42. > :08:46.we recognise the Good Friday Agreement was not about endorsing
:08:46. > :08:50.someone's aspirations. I, let me repeat this, am not remotely
:08:50. > :08:54.interested in whether anybodying a there's I am entitled to or have
:08:54. > :08:58.aspirations. I have no aspirations. I have political objections and
:08:59. > :09:02.rights. What I am fearful about is if I was a listener to this debate
:09:02. > :09:05.outside of this House today by the end of this debate I would have to
:09:05. > :09:08.work out as a member of the public out there, have I anymore
:09:08. > :09:13.confidence at the end of this debate about what's going to happen
:09:13. > :09:19.on our streets in the days, weeks and months ahead, or am I going to
:09:19. > :09:22.be less confident by what I hear in this chamber? I am disappointed the
:09:22. > :09:27.member that's just spoken didn't actually deal with the furore going
:09:27. > :09:31.on around his comment, Mr Speaker, when the motion is explicit around
:09:31. > :09:35.condemning acts of violence, pace and all of that. Given what he said
:09:35. > :09:39.in respect of if he was living in the Short Strand - he can correct
:09:39. > :09:42.this quote if I am wrong - I'll certainly give way to him. He said
:09:42. > :09:46.given what was happening there, if he lived there and his property was
:09:46. > :09:50.being attacked, he would be out throwing stones as well. I'll give
:09:50. > :09:57.way to the member. I am very happy to clarify that because I want to
:09:57. > :10:00.make it clear, as I said to Mr Nesbitt early on people student be
:10:00. > :10:03.misquoting anybody. Unless people stand up and say what the problem
:10:03. > :10:07.actually is and identify the problem, then you will not deal
:10:07. > :10:11.with it. And I made it very clear - I will actually defer to another
:10:11. > :10:14.member because members of his party - colleagues sitting beside him
:10:14. > :10:18.commended him last year for shooting at people who he said were
:10:18. > :10:22.attacking his home. He has made an assertion about something he knows
:10:22. > :10:25.nothing about, and his assertion is wholly and completely wrong. He's
:10:25. > :10:30.made it on radio as well, and he should be very careful about what
:10:30. > :10:34.he's actually stating. Mr Speaker, we can't support the final sentence
:10:34. > :10:38.around the Belfast Agreement because that agreement, indeed - or
:10:38. > :10:43.some of the reasons why people are so aggravated and annoyed and out
:10:43. > :10:46.on the streets, so that is why we couldn't support that. I note Mr
:10:46. > :10:50.Nesbitt has clarified what he meant of that in terms of the spirit of
:10:50. > :10:53.the Belfast Agreement. I accept on that context what he's said, but
:10:53. > :10:58.the letter of the Belfast Agreement which the members opposite have
:10:58. > :11:01.said that we should be accepting we're wholly opposed to. Others who
:11:01. > :11:08.have created the tensions that exist, include the Prime Minister
:11:08. > :11:11.David Cameron, apologising for what happened around Pat Finuken. What I
:11:11. > :11:14.hear is an apologist for how the security forces defended our
:11:14. > :11:17.country, and they exploit a particular narrative that
:11:17. > :11:23.republicans want to portray that they were the heroes, the security
:11:23. > :11:26.forces were the bad guys, and the Prime Minister is pandering, and I
:11:26. > :11:29.note Raymond McCartney nods his head in agreement - no surprise,
:11:29. > :11:33.and the Prime Minister then panders to that particular narrative, and
:11:33. > :11:40.that's wrong, and that's why people are out there agitated. The flag is
:11:40. > :11:45.flown on designated days here in Stormont, but the Unionist Parties
:11:45. > :11:50.forgot to tell their protesters that they forgot to explain that in
:11:50. > :11:53.agreements that are reached, you have to reach compromises, and what
:11:53. > :11:58.they have been doing is pretending that things are the same as they
:11:58. > :12:02.were before. Things are not the same, and it's better for everyone
:12:02. > :12:08.that they aren't. Mr Nesbitt said, and I quote, the
:12:08. > :12:13.Union flag is everyone's flag in this region. That's not true.
:12:13. > :12:15.Consenting, as we do as Nationalists, to this region
:12:16. > :12:22.remaining part of the United Kingdom as long as its people wish
:12:22. > :12:27.it to, is not becoming British. I'm joined now by Stephen Walker,
:12:27. > :12:31.political correspondent with the website The Detail. A bad-tempered
:12:31. > :12:34.debate today. It doesn't augur well for a solution on the streets if
:12:34. > :12:38.they can't agree on the hill. agree. It was a fractious debate,
:12:38. > :12:40.the second they have had in 48 hours. Yesterday wasn't ill-
:12:40. > :12:44.tempered, but showed the capacity to go in that direction, but today
:12:44. > :12:48.we have seen a lot of argument. I think that's reflective of the fact
:12:48. > :12:52.that despite us being seven weeks into this crisis, we still have no
:12:52. > :12:56.united political response. All the parties condemn the violence, but
:12:56. > :13:00.as we saw from today, thereafter they then divert off into different
:13:00. > :13:03.arguments, counter one another on why the crisis happened, where it
:13:03. > :13:06.might go, how it could be dealt with. As I say, I think that's
:13:06. > :13:09.reflective of the fact we don't yet have a united front from Stormont
:13:09. > :13:13.in the face of what we're seeing on the streets, and of course, it
:13:13. > :13:16.doesn't augur well for the wider picture and doesn't augur well for
:13:17. > :13:21.the visit of the two governments, which is due for Thursday. What
:13:21. > :13:25.when it comes down to it, then, there was a lot of discussion about
:13:25. > :13:30.Alex Maskey today, but he did end up having a surprising ally. Again,
:13:30. > :13:34.a lot of the heated elements of the debate focused on the comments that
:13:34. > :13:38.were thrown back at him today. He defended his remarks and said he
:13:38. > :13:41.had condemned vile eands was referring to attacks on
:13:41. > :13:46.individuals' homes. That obviously didn't satisfy the DUP, but there
:13:46. > :13:50.was some surprise to see he got if not backing, then certainly some
:13:50. > :13:53.understanding from Unionists. That was Mr Copeland from the Ulster
:13:53. > :13:56.Unionist party. Mr Copeland obviously represents the east
:13:56. > :13:59.Belfast constituency and is familiar with what's going on there,
:13:59. > :14:02.and he said having seen homes of his constituents being attacked, he
:14:02. > :14:06.understood where he was coming from. That was a surprising twist in the
:14:06. > :14:10.debate. When it comes to the motion, then, and the DUP amendment, how do
:14:10. > :14:13.you see that playing out next week? Well, on the one hand, it's a
:14:13. > :14:17.largely procedural issue. There was a request that the vote be held
:14:17. > :14:20.today. That wasn't possible. It has been kicked into the session due to
:14:20. > :14:24.take place Monday, but I think what's more of interest about it is
:14:24. > :14:27.that the - it all centres on a request on the part of the DUP to
:14:27. > :14:32.have a reference to the Belfast Agreement, the Good Friday
:14:32. > :14:36.Agreement, removed from the motion. That then led to an argument in a
:14:36. > :14:40.sense about the significance of the agreement, so we're about to mark
:14:40. > :14:43.its 15th anniversary, and here we are still at Stormont still having
:14:43. > :14:47.arguments around that peace deal. Thank you very much.
:14:47. > :14:51.Staying on the theme of the ongoing civil arrest, the Justice Minister
:14:51. > :14:55.was asked this afternoon whether the PSNI's current resources are
:14:55. > :14:59.sufficient to deal with it. He said they had been up until now, but if
:14:59. > :15:09.the trouble continues, the police budget could face pressures this
:15:09. > :15:10.
:15:10. > :15:13.It's an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have been in
:15:13. > :15:17.frequent contact with the Chief Constable over the past weeks,
:15:17. > :15:20.including yesterday, and have received his assurance that he, at
:15:20. > :15:25.present, has adequate resources to deal with the situation. I can also
:15:25. > :15:29.inform the House, that the Chief Constable has commissioned an
:15:29. > :15:34.internal assessment of PSNI resilience to meet the demands of
:15:34. > :15:42.the coming years. 2013 will be a challenging year for the PSNI, with
:15:42. > :15:46.the G8, World Police and Fire Games and the City of Culture. These
:15:46. > :15:52.events take place during the parading situation and it Mr Will
:15:52. > :15:58.place pressure on the police in terms of financial resources.
:15:58. > :16:03.notice the PSNI say they have adequate resources at present,
:16:03. > :16:07.could he tell us what contingency is in place with regard to
:16:07. > :16:13.resources and assessment of the impact of current policing demands
:16:13. > :16:17.on the PSNI budget? Well, I'm advised by the Chief Constable that,
:16:17. > :16:21.if the current situation on the streets persists, alongside the
:16:21. > :16:24.issues which have to be faced in terms of a severe threat from
:16:24. > :16:28.terrorism, there may well be pressures on the police budget
:16:28. > :16:32.within this current financial year. That is currently being worked on
:16:32. > :16:37.by the police and I have no doubt the department officials will have
:16:37. > :16:40.to play a part. It may well be there will be a role relating to
:16:40. > :16:44.the department of finance and personnel. Wider issues, in terms
:16:44. > :16:47.of the non-financial resources, are an issue for the Chief Constable to
:16:47. > :16:55.address. Clearly, there are issues like mutual aid from other police
:16:55. > :17:01.services in connection with events like the G8. Minister, we have
:17:01. > :17:04.learnt to date that it has cost �7 million for the ongoing street
:17:04. > :17:09.protests and I listen with interest with the member who asked the
:17:09. > :17:13.question there. He is one of the people who initially encouraged
:17:13. > :17:20.people on to the streets. Does the minister agree with me that this
:17:20. > :17:24.cost will have a negative impact on policing resources? Well, I can
:17:24. > :17:28.certainly agree with Mr Linch there are costs being incurred by the
:17:28. > :17:32.police at the moment. �7 million which appeared in the media was an
:17:32. > :17:36.extrapolition from the figures published the, the detailed figures,
:17:36. > :17:39.which police had costs for a fortnight in December. Those costs
:17:39. > :17:44.were something in the region of �3.8 million. Clearly, some people
:17:44. > :17:47.have worked on from that. I understand we will not see the full
:17:47. > :17:52.detailed figures for another two three days for the cost into
:17:52. > :17:57.January. One of the costs which is unnecessary on policing, if we
:17:57. > :17:59.could resolve matters further in this place, is the cost of policing
:17:59. > :18:04.our divided community. There is a responsibility on members in this
:18:04. > :18:08.House to do all they can in the actions they take to assist in
:18:08. > :18:14.providing a community that is less divided and, therefore, reduce the
:18:14. > :18:17.cost to policing? Well, Deputy Speaker, it is certainly the case
:18:17. > :18:22.there are very significant costs for the Police Service because we
:18:22. > :18:25.are a divided society, as I've just said, I believe there are
:18:25. > :18:29.significant obligations on each of us to do what we can to avoid that
:18:29. > :18:33.and reduce tensions. It is difficult to estimate what those
:18:33. > :18:38.costs are. There is no doubt, by comparison with what would be the
:18:38. > :18:43.case for a similar police service in any part of Great Britain, or
:18:43. > :18:45.indeed areas that the gardai, with a similar population, the costs of
:18:45. > :18:49.policing in Northern Ireland are significantly higher. That is a
:18:49. > :18:53.cost which falls to us at the expense of other public services.
:18:53. > :18:58.Back in October, a High Court judge ruled that a ban on gay and
:18:58. > :19:01.unmarried couples adopting children was ill Lille. Today, Edwin Poots
:19:01. > :19:07.confirmed that he has lodged a notice of appeal against the
:19:07. > :19:13.decision. The issue was raised by the Green Party leader, Steven
:19:14. > :19:18.Agnew during question Time. A child growing up in a loving family home,
:19:18. > :19:23.with a gay parents, would somehow be worse off considering especially
:19:23. > :19:27.as gay individuals can adopt? of course we are always looking for
:19:27. > :19:31.the best interests of the children. That is why we want to bring new
:19:31. > :19:38.adoption legislation to the Assembly. That's a course of work
:19:38. > :19:41.we are currently engaged in. That is with the office of First and
:19:41. > :19:44.Deputy First Minister at this moment in time of I hope it will be
:19:44. > :19:48.brought before the Executive quite soon. In all of those things we are
:19:48. > :19:54.wanting to move things forward. In the course that piece of work, a
:19:54. > :19:59.public consultation was had. That public consultation elicited the
:19:59. > :20:04.views of just short of 1050 people and organisations, of that, over
:20:04. > :20:11.1,000 of those persons and organisations were opposed to
:20:11. > :20:16.changing the law away from the existing stance. The member shakes
:20:16. > :20:21.his head. He may want to listen to the views of 3% or 4% of the
:20:21. > :20:24.community and ignore the views of 95% or 96% of the community. He
:20:24. > :20:30.would do well to pay attention to what the community is saying?
:20:30. > :20:33.Account minister outline if he believes or if if he had legal
:20:33. > :20:38.advice or indication that the current legal process, whether he
:20:38. > :20:44.is going to appeal or not appeal, could or would hold up current
:20:44. > :20:48.timetable of the adoption bill? Well, I don't think it should. We
:20:48. > :20:53.can proceed with the adoption bill. Afterall, we need to be very clear
:20:53. > :20:58.about this. When it comes to these issues, this House will make the
:20:58. > :21:02.laws. Courts will interpret the laws, not the other way round. It's
:21:02. > :21:07.for this House to make the decisions. We are the elected body
:21:07. > :21:10.of the people who make laws and we should not give up that position of
:21:10. > :21:15.making the laws. That is something that has been given to us by the
:21:15. > :21:20.people, not to other organisations, we should make the law, and the
:21:20. > :21:25.courts should interpret the laws. Would the minister agree with me
:21:25. > :21:30.that there are so many children still waiting to be adopted that it
:21:30. > :21:35.is a good idea to widen the pool to have more people to be able to
:21:35. > :21:39.adopt children? No, I wouldn't agree with her at all. We already
:21:39. > :21:43.have a wide pool and the numbers of children that are waiting to be
:21:44. > :21:49.adopted, in Northern Ireland, are not considerable compared to other
:21:49. > :21:54.areas. We always have to act, first and foremost, in the best interests
:21:54. > :22:01.of the child. I will always act in the interests of the child because
:22:01. > :22:05.it is not a human right to adopt people need to get that very clear.
:22:05. > :22:09.We must always ensure that the human rights of the child are
:22:09. > :22:13.ensured. We will look at all of the issues relating to foster care,
:22:13. > :22:17.relating to care in homes and all of these things, we need to reform
:22:17. > :22:22.the system, we need to move the system forward. We need to advance
:22:22. > :22:28.the system. People can get up on particular hobby horses, but they
:22:28. > :22:32.don't provide solutions. I'm looking for solutions. How will the
:22:32. > :22:36.new legislative proposals tackle delays? Currently, our adoptive
:22:36. > :22:41.process is a Low slower adoptive are cress as is the case in England.
:22:41. > :22:44.We believe we can shave eight months off the adoptive process if
:22:45. > :22:48.we carry out the legislative process we are looking at. There is
:22:48. > :22:52.work to be done. The process needs to be adopted, amended and changed.
:22:52. > :22:55.That is the course of work we are looking at. We will not be
:22:55. > :23:00.distracted by other issues in moving this forward in the best
:23:00. > :23:02.interests of the children. You might remember the controversy when
:23:02. > :23:05.Marie Stopes, the first private clinic to offer abortions in
:23:05. > :23:09.Northern Ireland, opened in October. Well, representatives of Marie
:23:09. > :23:16.Stopes were put under the spotlight by the justice committee on
:23:16. > :23:20.Thursday. As we can hear now, in our weekly look at Committee
:23:20. > :23:26.Business: Marie Stopes is providing services within the framework which
:23:26. > :23:30.was found to be lawful and in line with NHS provision and medical term
:23:30. > :23:39.nition of pregnancy. It has been, it always has been, without
:23:39. > :23:43.question, our goal to work with ) inaudible) to be regular lailted by
:23:43. > :23:47.that body to ensure that politicians and that the public can
:23:47. > :23:50.have confidence that our centre and services provide the highest
:23:50. > :23:54.quality and standards of care within the law as it currently
:23:54. > :23:57.exists. How many clients have you dealt with in terms of providing
:23:57. > :23:59.termination? What we need to be very clear about, the services we
:23:59. > :24:04.provide in Northern Ireland, we provide them because men and women
:24:04. > :24:09.come to us they absolutely trust us and we are a trusted provider. We
:24:09. > :24:17.will not be releasing any figures or any numbers around the number of
:24:17. > :24:27.men and women that we've seen within our clinic. How would
:24:27. > :24:30.
:24:30. > :24:35.releasing the figures reveal the confidentiality of anyone? Well,
:24:35. > :24:41.within, again, we want to make sure that Northern Ireland is a small
:24:41. > :24:46.place. There is only our one Kleinic werk want to maintain the
:24:46. > :24:50.confidentiality and of the men and women of the clients we see. In
:24:50. > :24:54.England we release figures on a national basis. If the law changed
:24:54. > :24:59.within Northern Ireland and we were asked to do that we would
:24:59. > :25:04.absolutely fully co-operate. are saying that you are doing the
:25:04. > :25:07.requirement that you have to do, but there are other circumstances,
:25:07. > :25:11.the Chair referred to this, where openness could be required. You are
:25:11. > :25:19.dealing with elected members for whom this is a very important issue,
:25:19. > :25:23.I presume that I'm going to receive that openness. Does the
:25:23. > :25:29.organisation make a decision that the medical, clinical assessment
:25:29. > :25:34.that is have been taken comply with the law? Is that their position to
:25:34. > :25:39.assess every individual assess thament is made and decide that
:25:39. > :25:42.this clinic is complying with the law They are a regulator who have
:25:42. > :25:44.delegated authority from the Department of Health to make sure
:25:44. > :25:49.that healthcare providers operate within the legal framework and
:25:49. > :25:53.within the law. They come in and they inspect to make sure that that
:25:53. > :25:57.is happening. We welcome them coming to our centre as many times
:25:57. > :26:04.as they wish to a I assure themselves and other wrest
:26:04. > :26:07.complying with the law. I repeat again. They do that in respect of
:26:07. > :26:14.the environment, record-keeping, employment and arrangements for
:26:14. > :26:21.staff, procurement, storage and dispensing of medication. I ask the
:26:21. > :26:26.specific question, do they have a role in making an assessment that
:26:26. > :26:31.the clinic, clinical assessments made to justify a termination of a
:26:31. > :26:36.pregnancy being carried out is within the law. Is that their job
:26:36. > :26:40.to say the doctor got it right? points. One is that clearly they
:26:40. > :26:44.don't make the regulations. There are other bodies that do. What they
:26:44. > :26:48.will be able to do. We really welcome that, as you described,
:26:48. > :26:51.they will be able to make sure that the doctors and healthcare
:26:51. > :26:55.professionals are suitibly qualified. They make sure we have
:26:55. > :27:02.the proper governance arrangements in place. We have auditing in place.
:27:02. > :27:07.That we employ... That we have... That we meet the law, in terms of
:27:07. > :27:11.administer ing drugs, which is specific to here today, around
:27:11. > :27:14.medical termination of pregnancy under nine weeks. I'm satisfied by
:27:14. > :27:18.opening our doors to them they will make an assessment of the service
:27:18. > :27:21.that we are providing working within the current law and
:27:21. > :27:29.regulations and framework that currently exist. Are you sure that
:27:29. > :27:36.you are covered to carry out your services within the law? Absolutely
:27:36. > :27:39.and categorically, yes. The speaker we heard earlier on made his
:27:39. > :27:47.feelings clear about politicians showing leadership, do you think
:27:47. > :27:52.they are listening? We didn't see in the clip the initial comments
:27:52. > :27:55.made in measured tones. He spoke about his right as a Republican
:27:55. > :27:59.under the Good Friday Agreement to lobby for constitutional change. He
:27:59. > :28:02.said to the unionist representatives that he recognised
:28:02. > :28:08.the status quo in Northern Ireland's current position under
:28:08. > :28:12.the terms of the agreement. He seemed to be trying to stress his
:28:12. > :28:15.point in references to those members in particular. It was so
:28:15. > :28:19.pointed we wondered was it almost a dress rehearsal for the politician
:28:19. > :28:24.who seems placed to become the next speaker and then he was indicating
:28:24. > :28:28.his ability to understand his own benches as well as those opposite.
:28:28. > :28:32.It has been interesting well, just briefly, on the fact that people
:28:32. > :28:36.are living on the peace lines we heard a lot of discussion about
:28:36. > :28:39.that. That seems to have been lost in the Assembly chamber? There were
:28:39. > :28:47.very interesting comments made this morning in particular, as you say,
:28:47. > :28:52.as the debates unfolded today, it probably got lost. We had comments
:28:52. > :28:56.from community workers representing Protestant families and a
:28:56. > :29:00.representative for Catholic families. They clearly said they
:29:00. > :29:03.wanted tensions removed from their doorsteps and stressing they want