15/03/2016 Stormont Today

Hello and welcome to the final edition of Stormont Today before

There was a distinct 'last day of term' feel to proceedings

as Members not standing again made what they knew would be their last

For others who know they can't take their re-election for granted,

there must have been a strange mixture of nostalgia and dread.

And while the plan had always been to tidy up any legislative loose

ends today, the mood did change markedly as news came

through that the prison officer attacked by dissident republicans

eleven days ago had died unexpectedly.

There was condemnation from all corners of the House...

It was a case of fond farewells from those MLAs we won't see

It was meant to be a day of passing legislation and saying goodbye

to retiring colleagues, but the bouyant mood on the hill

changed not long after midday when news of the death of the prison

officer injured in a dissident republican attack reached MLAs.

Adrian Ismay was seriously hurt after a booby-trap device exploded

under his van in Belfast earlier this month.

It's understood he died from a heart attack after being rushed back

The last item of business in this mandate was a late-evening statement

I know I speak for everyone in the assembly when I say that our

thoughts and prayer is an with his wife, his daughters and the wider

family circle as well is his problem as Michael colleagues and friends.

Adrian's death has come as a shock, he was a husband, father and

grandfather and was in his family home, the pain of his loss will be

felt most. This demonstrates that despite the progress that has been

made over the past decade, there are still those in our society who will

target a husband and father because of the uniform he wears to work.

There is nothing noble or braver about skulking around in the shadows

and bringing death. I think it is also appropriate that we sent a

clear message to those who carry out these types of incidents and now an

attack in which a person has died, but they have no mandate or a little

or no support and with the Minister agree that the best way we can send

that message is to remain united in our approach to these people. I

agree that what we need is united condemnation from disassembly and we

need a united community response against those who would seek to

divide us. Today we are reminded once again that despite our

differences, we are one society, one people, united and indivisible in

the face of terror. We stand as Democrats against such terror. They

will not succeed, Mr Speaker and can I simply ask, would he directly

convey to the family our thoughts this evening to Adrian's family and

friends? Certainly I am expecting to be seeing the family during the day

tomorrow and I will be conveying the wishes expressed around this house

which I am no doubt will continue unanimously when I meet the family.

I want to join with the Minister and the entire house to express profound

sadness at the death earlier today of the prison officer. I want to its

breath sympathy to his wife, his family and his colleagues on his

tragic and untimely death, the lives of his family have been changed

utterly and for ever and I believe that those responsible for the

planting of the under vehicle device 11 days ago there are very heavy

responsibility for the death of Adrian Ismay.

So, today was the final sitting of this Assembly -

would you believe it was plenary number three

That's what the Speaker informed Members as he opened

And there was a rather light-hearted mood in the chamber as several

of the longer-standing Members spoke for the final time.

Mitchel McLaughlin began by thanking everyone for their contribution...

I wish to thank all of you who are not coming back, all the best

forward over the future holds and I hope those of you seeking

re-elections enjoy the campaign as well is have a successful one and to

all of those who are not coming back and I am one of them, we should keep

in touch. I think we are the owners of the corporate memory of this

institution and it was a pleasure to know each and every one of you,

thank you very much. APPLAUSE. It gives me great pleasure

to speak on the half of the Ulster Unionist Party and most importantly

I would like to start out by paying tribute on the half of the party and

indeed the Ulster Unionist MLA group to Leslie Cree, Sam Gardner, Michael

McGimpsey, Michael Copeland and Neil Somerville who will not be standing

in the upcoming election, all of them have made a considerable impact

in their constituencies and Northern Ireland. It would be remiss of me

not to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of Danny Kinahan and

Tom Elliott MP who left the UUP group for Westminster last year.

Those who cause are bloody and deceitful past will not be allowed

to raise their part in it. However much they try, they will not be

allowed to do it. Battles must still be fought, for me the arena will

change. The venue will be different. But that campaign must and will be

waged until won. I am not standing for election with my colleagues, Mr

Speaker, but I am standing on the same ground, with them, and beside

them. And together, we will take this country forward to be a much

better place. Thank you. Mr Speaker, in the last century when I was first

elected, to this assembly, people used to ask me, what did I do? And I

said I was a fire man, a political firemen, I put out political fires

and that is what we did for the first five years, we put out a

political fires and I have now become redundant or semi-redundant

in relation to that and I only do that on a part-time basis, because

the political fires are much less than they have been in the past. As

the only ever MLA from an ethnic minority background I was glad to be

in a position to set up the all-party group on ethnic minorities

and human trafficking. As well as lobbying with the voluntary sector

extensively for a racial equality strategy which was finally published

last year. I hope that MLAs will continue to monitor progress on

these issues and to speak out against racism. I will be watching

you. I am proud of what I achieved. I am proud of what I tried to

achieve. And for those that follow me, now, and in the future, I will

give them a famous quotation from Winston Churchill. Success is not

final, failure is not fatal, what matters is to have the courage to go

on. Mr Speaker, I will go on, I will leave this place with my head high,

with my colours flying, with my dignity intact and with all

conviction about what is good for Northern Ireland. I wish you Mr

Speaker and all our colleagues good luck for our bright future and a

healthy retirement and for my final few words, I appeal to our first and

Deputy First Minister and their new executive to keep Northern Ireland

stepping forward and faster, to create a better future in peace and

prosperity for everyone, particularly our senior citizens. I

have never raised my voice in this house until now when I say loud and

clear, Hans off our bus passes! Hands of aggro our bus passes!

Kieran McCarthy speaking up in defence of the over 60s bus pass.

It was in fact quite an emotional day for quite a lot of people.

Indeed. For some of them it is the last day at school because they will

not be back. They will go on to other things, including the people

we have seen giving their farewells. Many of them, only half a dozen or

so have been there since 1998 but nevertheless, I think all and all, a

few will not be back, a few of the current sitting members. It is

another issue and we have become used to that because we have this

co-op system and we have seen quite a few new faces. The committees

continue until the end of the week. It is the day of mixed emotions,

some will be relieved to hang up their boots and go into retirement

or semi-retirement, sample go gracefully, some perhaps less

gracefully than they might have wished, I think Gregory Campbell

left on a sour note by way of his last day. He has in effect been

forced out because of the end of double jogging. Overall, the mood

was not self congratulatory but I think there was an air, I thought

the Speaker made some good remarks from the chair, wishing them all

well for the future and of course, that was the first time we had seen

Sinn Fein Speaker in the assembly, a first for Northern Ireland and quite

an event when it occurred. We had Basil McCrea announcing that he is

not in fact standing against in May, one of the more high-profile members

to say goodbye to the assembly, did that come as a bit of a surprise? I

think after the interview he did last week, the writing was on the

wall. I think a lot of people felt discomforted and notwithstanding

that he was out leafleting as late as last Friday, I think it did not

come as a surprise. His career, he and John McAllister, what they

launched, the N121 party, three years ago and I remember sitting

alongside John McAllister, the night he announced he was resigning from

the UUP and both he and Basil McCrea came to see me before then to talk

about them striking out on their own. They did not take my advice. I

think the problem for them both, particularly Basil, was that they

launched to early. But Basil is a bit like, Farrar, great swoosh of

energy, this literary scene in the sky for a few seconds and then the

rocket falls to earth a bump and I think like the rocket, Basil's

career coming to Ashes is no supplies. I wish him well for the

future, he has a lot of talent, I do not think he has a plan they

currently, but I think it was inevitable and I think it was the

appropriate thing to do. It was a case of roads and more

roads during questions to the Regional Development Minister

today - the maintenance of the ones we have, when the one

we particularly want will actually be built, and how quickly

or slowly we travel along our The latest journey time information

my department has this from 2013, relating to journey times for cars,

vans and HGVs. For a wrote stretch between the Ravenhill Road

roundabout and Annadale embankment the average speed... This

information is for the morning peak period, 7:30am to 9:15am. In 2013 it

was the slowest Road in Belfast and I don't imagine that has improved

greatly for drivers. Could the Minister advise when a new

assessment will be given and what further actions might be taken to

facilitate workers inside Belfast and further afield who are trying to

get back to the city centre? Obviously we have been trying to

encourage people to use public transport and have very good

information relating to the park and ride where we have on average 500

vehicles using that per day. There has also been a 12% increase in the

number of passengers using buses. We also want to encourage the safe

usage for cyclists on that route. I would like to thank your officials

and staff for their assistance in consultations during the exhibition

that have gone on throughout, and indeed their resistance was greatly

appreciated to not just ourselves as MLAs but to others and people who

would be affected on that road. Could I ask for what your feedback

has been to date on the exhibitions at the consultation? They were very

well attended with somewhere in the region of 1054 registered attendees

at those events, the feedback from the officials has been that it was

very positive and with the vast majority of people who were

attending they were very supportive of the scheme. However I am aware

that there were those who have individual concerns in relation to

their properties. This is understandable given the impact this

scheme will have on those families really as we move forward through

the scheme, and my department officials will work closely with

those landowners to try to assist them in any way they can do as we

move forward. How much extra has been allocated for road maintenance

within the District Council area of Mid Ulster this year? Including

Cookstown, an official estimated one point formally in pounds was

received for structural maintenance and around 800,000 for routine

maintenance. The final Minister to face question

time in this mandate was also one Lord Morrow hasn't been in charge

of Social Development for long, but he's already had to deal

with his share of reforming Yesterday he revealed

the new guidelines - and today he was asked for more

information by MLAs... Just to focus on the welfare cap

amongst a plethora of figures. What the minister I think is saying is

that there are at least ten families that he is protecting their benefits

at a level above ?40,000 per year, because the average protection is 14

on top of the benefit cap. Is that correct that there are multiple

families of that order still receiving benefits in excess of

?40,000? And is the minister comfortable with that? Does he think

it is a good spend of public money? Sometimes it is not a matter of what

the Minister is comfortable with, it is what the Minister and the

Department and the regulations clearly state must happen and that

is in regulations, and I don't often, indeed have ever had any

control over that, but in relation to the number of families that he

speaks about, I will double-check that for you because I know you will

be interested in in having the exact detail and I will forward it to you.

Are they content they will help protect those most in need? Yes, I

had to assume, and I will be bitterly disappointed and I Suspect

this house has not. They have been doing the work, and they are the

experts and we have... We are led by them. If it transpires later that in

fact they are not confident, then I think questions will have to be

asked. I am assured that they are. In light of recent announcements

emanating from GB, particularly around cuts to ESA and personal

independence payment, has there been any assessment carried out or even

connection made with the departments in GB to establish the consequential

budgetary and indeed policy implications for welfare reform in

Northern Ireland? Deputy Speaker, can I say in response of the member

that the mitigation scheme is designed to provide financial

support to claimants that are in receipt of benefits then when the

welfare reforms orange juice, furthermore the introduction of time

limited means will only be notified of the change a few months before

that benefit is reduced or stopped altogether so effectively the

one-year time limit rule will be applied retrospectively, and anyone

claims benefit after the welfare reforms are introduced will be made

aware of the conditions and apply to that benefit at the time of

application. For employment and support allowance also, claimants

will be aware of the contribution -based element, they will only be

paid for one year if they are in work-related activity. This means

they will be aware of the impact one year in advance and will have time

to prepare for the benefit ceasing. Caral Ni Chuilin's last act

in the chamber as Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister

was to update the House on proposals for an Ulster-Scots Academy

and an Irish Language Academy. It is not for politicians to suggest

what way culture should develop. Our role is to ensure there are

networks, structures and organisations in place to facilitate

its development and ensure that our cultural roots remain accessible to

all within our society. The Ulster Scots academy will be known as the

Ulster Scots Institute and will be an opera -- not-for-profit company.

It will be located at the corn exchange in the Cathedral Quarter of

Belfast. The idea of an Irish language academy was first tabled in

2006. Money should be used to create resources for use across the north

and there should be a specific role for the Irish medium provider. Can

she say how much capital has been allocated for the initiatives over

the next three years? And secondly is there not an elite --

inequalities that the Irish academy will probably be a social economy

type initiative whereby the money is recycled back into the sector

because they will own the building where is because we are locating the

Ulster Scots Institute in the hub, that is paid to a developer who owns

the building. There is over ?1 million of revenue over the next

three years dedicated to the staff. In terms of the... It is probably

less than 150,000 per year. I have encouraged Ulster Scots community to

identify a cultural hub, and encourage them to use the library,

which was unsuitable. The higher and further education sectors have

suffered severe cuts to their budgets, so much so the University

of Ulster had to axe the whole of the languages department. How can

the Minister justify the economic case for the creation of the two

academies? We need to make sure these communities are not further

disadvantaged. There's already been cuts into programmes around the

Irish language, I want to make sure that doesn't become a trend. Their

obligation to set up both academies were set out in agreements going

back over a decade and I believe that is unacceptable that from then

until now we haven't established either in Institute.

And in case you were wondering why the first part of that piece

was signed - that announcement followed a statement

on the initiation of a sign language process, the debate

The final question time of the mandate was given over

to the Assembly Commission, and Members wanted to make sure

the new intake of MLAs will be properly tutored in

Politics is a profession rather than a vocation and continued

professional development is important in political life as it is

in any other profession. It will be important for members newly elected

to the Assembly to be provided with the appropriate induction and also

be provided with ongoing professional development to support

them in their role as a public representative of legislators.

Politics plus is currently developing a new member induction

programme which will be implemented following the election in May, and

will scrutinise the work of the executive. Whilst it has been

designed for new members, returning members are also free to participate

as they require. In relation to the programme, would there be an

emphasis on dealing with legislation and dealing with draft legislation

in particular? Because I think it is a process that needs considerable

skill and knowledge, and I would just ask if that were available. The

induction programme will cover a wide range of areas including

strategic planning, ethical leadership, speech delivery, dealing

with difficult conversations and conflict resolutions. It will

analyse complex information, working with the media, crisis management,

merging reputational risk and the members code of conduct. Members

attending will also receive briefings from employment law

specialist from the Northern Ireland audit office. If members have any

further ideas that commission members can bring to the politics

programme, our doors are open and we would only be too willing before the

end of this mandate to include any information required. Women are

underrepresented in both political and public life, the evidence is

there. We have too few female MLAs, woefully too few women on the bodies

of public boards. Returning to the question in 2015 the Assembly

commission established a woman in politics programme, this programme

was aimed at female elected representatives in order to provide

support for the development of their political careers and particularly

to encourage female councillors to put themselves forward for future

elections and develop links between local and central government. It's

anticipated that the second cohort of this programme will be

commissioned in 2016/ 17. The DUP's Paula Bradley -

and Rick is with me for a final Very interesting day up here today,

we had a lot of congratulation and goodbye in the early stage of

proceedings, then we had the news at lunchtime that the prison officer

injured in a bomb attack earlier this month had died unexpectedly,

and things changed. Yes, it was like coming back to earth with a bump

with that sad news. We don't know if there was any link between the

bombing and what happened today with this party. It was a sad note that

certainly coloured the atmosphere and the tone of the place

thereafter. Looking ahead to people gathering here towards the end of

May, discussing a programme for government and so forth, what are

the big changes? We have spoken about changing faces but there are

lots of things that will never be the same again. I suppose

institutionally one of the obvious changes will be fewer departments

come the end of May. There will be just nine where is currently we have

12, and because of John McAllister's bill which has got itself onto the

statute book, there will be some form of opposition available to

parties. It is not as fully resourced as it might otherwise be.

The bill was rather undone a little bit during the legislative passage,

but nevertheless it is an option parties can choose to exercise. If

those red lines are not met to his satisfaction, the SDLP could

exercise that option. Just briefly, if the last five years of the

mandate was a student essay, what grade would you give it? I was

always reputed to be a very hard marker. On that basis, I would give

them C for effort, a middling 2:2. Thank you very much indeed, always a

pleasure. And that's it for tonight,

and for this mandate. The Assembly is formally dissolved

at midnight on March 29th and by then, of course,

the election campaign The 108 new MLAs are expected

to gather for the first time up here in Parliament Buildings

on Thursday 12th May, and a new Executive -

and perhaps for the first time a formal Opposition -

should be in place by the end It's shaping up to be a hectic

couple of months in local politics, and while Stormont Today won't be

on air for several weeks, Sunday Politics and The View

will be here to guide you through developments

every step of the way. He is expected to be armed,

and is extremely dangerous. No-one's put forward credible

evidence that I acted unlawfully. GUNSHOT

What do you reckon? I don't think you've got any idea

what he's capable of. Easiest way to get away

with killing someone? On Easter week 1916, a band of Irish

rebels seized control of Dublin. For six days they held out against

the might of the British Empire. Three of the rebels who held Dublin

city that week were my uncles