:00:30. > :00:34.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. We are back for a new year and a
:00:34. > :00:38.new political terms with MLAs raring to go. We even saw a new
:00:38. > :00:42.piece of legislation on the order part -- Order Paper. We look
:00:42. > :00:46.backwards to the event that the enterprise minister believes could
:00:46. > :00:51.turn the tourist trade around. A one is in a lifetime opportunity
:00:51. > :01:00.for us. The story of Titanic is known worldwide and it is now time
:01:00. > :01:07.to place Titanic as the daughter of Belfast. And the Ministry of
:01:07. > :01:12.Justice. My need people say I am doing reasonable job. I would want
:01:12. > :01:16.to stay for personal reasons but there are fundamental issues about
:01:16. > :01:21.how an alliance minister would fit in. If the alliance entitlement
:01:21. > :01:27.that has given us is taken away. And that future of our healthcare
:01:27. > :01:37.system. We got the Compton report before Christmas and now MLAs got
:01:37. > :01:40.their say. Patricia McEwan gives us her view.
:01:40. > :01:45.Since before Christmas, we have had the chance to digest of the review
:01:45. > :01:52.into how our health service should be shaped in the future. But Russia,
:01:52. > :01:59.you said that some of the decisions had already been made. Yes, even
:01:59. > :02:04.before the review was put together. We suspect the review might be
:02:04. > :02:08.political cover. I still feel that way. I think the people on the
:02:08. > :02:12.review team were genuine and they were trying to do a very good job,
:02:12. > :02:18.but before they ever started they were constrained by the Budget, and
:02:18. > :02:24.they were constrained by decisions the minister already had taken. It
:02:24. > :02:27.was spelt out in the terms of reference. So it was not that open,
:02:27. > :02:33.transparent, let's start from a blank piece of paper tiger review
:02:33. > :02:39.that was needed. His there anything you do like or think that is a good
:02:39. > :02:43.idea. I think the problem we are facing is the changes needed to
:02:43. > :02:50.transform the kind of health care system we have got into one that
:02:50. > :02:56.centres on public health needs real investment. And that is at the core
:02:56. > :03:00.of any changes that need to be made. And while there was an attempt to
:03:00. > :03:04.make small amounts of investment coming out of that review, it is
:03:04. > :03:09.nowhere near what is needed. You have got to put that money in order
:03:09. > :03:14.to save on the big money in the future, but you also have got to
:03:14. > :03:18.really start to think about how decisions are taken, and it is not
:03:18. > :03:22.just about the Department of Health and the health service. It is about
:03:22. > :03:27.everybody else as well. Let us hear what the Health Minister had to
:03:27. > :03:32.sate in the chamber today. We have to learn to live within our
:03:32. > :03:38.means. We have to spend money more wisely as opposed -- as opposed to
:03:38. > :03:47.looking for more money constantly and then subsequently wasting it.
:03:47. > :03:51.As some people seem to recommend. Mark Durkin expressed his concerns,
:03:51. > :03:57.and I will seek to ensure that all staff are treated with respect and
:03:57. > :04:04.that they are made aware and a properly consulted. So there will
:04:04. > :04:08.be changes. Some staff will see some change, others will not. It is
:04:08. > :04:13.important we talked to them and work with the staff in terms of
:04:13. > :04:19.changes. Many will not be predicting negative changes, but
:04:19. > :04:25.there will be changes nonetheless. Are you reassured by what the
:04:25. > :04:28.minister said? It is there in meaningless. One of the things the
:04:28. > :04:33.review attempted to do was look at the current structures, how the
:04:33. > :04:37.health service is run. Those structures are bad, not fit for
:04:37. > :04:41.purpose. We need to take some serious decisions there. We really
:04:41. > :04:45.need to start bringing healthcare back to local level. We need to
:04:45. > :04:50.bring the management of the system back down to local level. One of
:04:50. > :04:58.the problems we face at the minute is it has been reorganised at such
:04:58. > :05:02.an impersonal and high-density type of level so that nobody is looking
:05:02. > :05:07.after all of those bits of the health service at local level that
:05:07. > :05:12.you and I see when we look for that kind of service. Would you prefer
:05:12. > :05:16.the model talked about in England at the end of last year that GPs
:05:16. > :05:23.should have more of a say? Absolutely not. One of the reasons
:05:23. > :05:26.we have some problems is too many GPs. They don't refer people
:05:26. > :05:30.probably rather than taking decisions themselves. There is a
:05:30. > :05:35.great deal of work to be done about that. If we go back to the kind of
:05:35. > :05:44.work done a long time ago on the Maurice Hayes report, for example.
:05:44. > :05:48.It talked about health circles. We retained trusts, and wants to
:05:48. > :05:56.return -- retainer Independent employers in the health service,
:05:56. > :06:00.you have got people looking after of the empires after -- instead of
:06:00. > :06:06.a co-operative type of service. We got rid of too many people. There
:06:06. > :06:11.is no actual manager in charge of hospitals. When those posts got rid
:06:11. > :06:18.of, things deteriorated. During very so us, there was no shortage
:06:18. > :06:20.of political activity with talks about the future of the department
:06:20. > :06:27.of employment and learning. The parties had until 5pm to submit
:06:27. > :06:30.ideas about the way forward. I caught up with the justice minister.
:06:30. > :06:35.We spent the afternoon in meetings with the other parties putting
:06:35. > :06:40.forward some of our ideas how to solve three can shoot -- three
:06:40. > :06:43.connected issues. These present anomaly of having to reliance
:06:44. > :06:48.ministers and the issue of reform in departments in total. Has there
:06:48. > :06:53.been clarification of where the Department of Justice would go if
:06:53. > :06:58.you didn't we nominate? There is a presumption it would remain as
:06:58. > :07:04.currently is with the minister elected by cross-community vote,
:07:04. > :07:07.but it doesn't say who the minister will be. You want to retain the
:07:07. > :07:11.justice ministry post, personally? When you believe you have been
:07:11. > :07:15.doing a good job, and a number of people have said to have been doing
:07:15. > :07:20.a reasonable job, and a number of things have come back which I
:07:20. > :07:30.initiated, I want to stay for personal reasons. There are
:07:30. > :07:30.
:07:30. > :07:39.fundamental reasons or issues how or the Alliance minister would fit.
:07:39. > :07:45.how would history mind the Executive down to eight posts?
:07:45. > :07:50.how are you? We should try to expedite it. It would have to be a
:07:50. > :07:53.significant reform, which might take a considerable period of
:07:53. > :08:00.discussion internally and externally, so it is not something
:08:00. > :08:05.happening in the next few months, but it is an issue which we need to
:08:05. > :08:11.address, to streamline the Executive. Would you prefer it to
:08:11. > :08:21.see the status quo maintained? you accept it is going to be split
:08:21. > :08:21.
:08:21. > :08:27.up? If we were moving speedily, it should remain for the medium term.
:08:27. > :08:32.It should not continue into the indefinite future. We are certain
:08:32. > :08:37.we need a solid department for the economy which would combine two
:08:37. > :08:41.departments at the present time. There are aspects which -- of other
:08:41. > :08:45.departments which would come into this as well. It is a step in the
:08:45. > :08:52.right direction, but it could be a backward step if greater reforms
:08:52. > :08:59.were needed down the line. Is that likely to happen considering what
:08:59. > :09:04.has been said so far? They did listen, and they were taking some
:09:04. > :09:08.letters of what we were saying, but it will be up to them to consider
:09:08. > :09:13.their responses from the other parties, and see what further
:09:13. > :09:18.proposals they are make. I hope you are all fans of Titanic, the ship.
:09:18. > :09:22.If not, you might find the next few months tedious. The centenary of
:09:22. > :09:29.the disaster is the jewel in the crown of this year's programme of
:09:29. > :09:35.tourist attractions. Here are highlights of today's question-time
:09:35. > :09:40.starting with the enterprising minister. As 20 12th marks the
:09:40. > :09:44.centenary of the Titanic's maiden voyage and sinking, it provides a
:09:44. > :09:49.once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. It is known worldwide and it is
:09:49. > :09:54.time to plays Belfast as the home of Titanic. A two-week festival
:09:54. > :09:57.will mark the opening of Titanic Belfast on 31st March and this is
:09:57. > :10:03.an amazing opportunity for all of us across Northern Ireland and I
:10:03. > :10:10.trust we will grasp it. I would like to thank the Minister for our
:10:10. > :10:17.answer. Is she focusing too much attention and resources on to this
:10:17. > :10:20.project? Will she be spreading those across? I don't accept that a
:10:20. > :10:27.battle because Titanic is a worldwide brand. It is not just
:10:27. > :10:30.going to help Belfast, it is going to halt the entirety of Northern
:10:31. > :10:36.Ireland tourist trade. I want to say to the member it is wrong to
:10:36. > :10:41.say we are just focusing on Titanic although I will readily say it is a
:10:41. > :10:44.key -- Key Plan in what we are doing in 2012. There were seven
:10:44. > :10:50.international events we were planning for this year, which is
:10:50. > :10:55.now up to eight with the arrival of the Irish Open golf at the end of
:10:55. > :10:59.July, or end of June. As well as Titanic Belfast, we have the one-
:10:59. > :11:05.day concert in Londonderry, the land of giants in Belfast, the
:11:05. > :11:13.Clipper Maritime homecoming Festival, the peace camp, the flags
:11:13. > :11:16.at the Giants Causeway, and we have the 50th Belfast Festival, all
:11:16. > :11:20.international events, bringing people into not just East Belfast
:11:20. > :11:26.but to the whole of Northern Ireland, and that is key to all of
:11:26. > :11:31.this. Will the Minister reassure the house, and there has been
:11:31. > :11:36.public ventilation of this, that there has been an application for
:11:36. > :11:42.European funding. And will she reassure the House that if that
:11:42. > :11:46.funding is not forthcoming, it will not in any way impede the
:11:46. > :11:51.development of this wonderful building and asset for the tourist
:11:51. > :11:56.industry in Northern Ireland? content to confirm that is the case.
:11:56. > :12:00.If the EU does not accept this grant application in respect of
:12:00. > :12:06.Titanic, and we have no reason that they will not, but given the advice
:12:06. > :12:11.we have been given by our own legal advisers, then other projects can
:12:11. > :12:16.be put forward. The Titanic signature project is not at risk.
:12:16. > :12:20.The financing of it is not at risk. I really do get frustrated when I
:12:20. > :12:25.listen to some commentators that would try to play this up, instead
:12:25. > :12:30.of playing up the importance of this to our tourism industry. I
:12:30. > :12:35.have to say that the negativity surrounding the Audit Office report,
:12:35. > :12:39.which, if you look at the detail in the Audit Office report, is talking
:12:39. > :12:49.about visitors coming to the Titanic signature project, which is
:12:49. > :12:51.
:12:51. > :12:55.of the same level as those visiting Belfast Zoo. If we cannot maintain
:12:55. > :13:00.that, we shouldn't be doing the Titanic signature project, because
:13:00. > :13:05.we must raise our game, have some confidence in ourselves and sell
:13:05. > :13:11.Belfast across the world as a place for visitors to come to and have a
:13:11. > :13:21.tremendous experience. Environment, and the thorny issue of double-
:13:21. > :13:21.
:13:21. > :13:27.jobbing. Alex Attwood is determined That is why the consultation that a
:13:28. > :13:33.shortly to conclude, indeed, did conclude an 16th December, in
:13:33. > :13:38.respect to my proposal to reduce the allowances for MLAs to remain
:13:38. > :13:43.as councillors, I intend to bring forward in the near future and as
:13:43. > :13:45.members will be aware, the Executive, whilst they didn't
:13:46. > :13:47.Executive, whilst they didn't Executive, whilst they didn't
:13:47. > :13:52.endorse my best advice about a number of matters, they did endorse
:13:52. > :13:59.my recommendation in November that in the forthcoming local government
:13:59. > :14:01.legislation, there should be a ban on double jobbing when it comes to
:14:01. > :14:06.on double jobbing when it comes to MLAs and councillors. Good a remind
:14:06. > :14:14.people that in this House, there are 33 members who are still
:14:14. > :14:18.members of the council? -- could I remind people. Could a press you
:14:18. > :14:22.further to be more precise about the timing of the cutting off of
:14:22. > :14:28.the funding stream? Undoubtedly, that is the action which will deal
:14:28. > :14:32.with this issue because there are many members of the House who are
:14:32. > :14:37.drawn down the extra 10,000 as a councillor. It does not end there,
:14:37. > :14:42.they draw down money as a chairman or as members of outside bodies and
:14:42. > :14:48.many of them inflates their family -- their salary to way beyond 50%
:14:48. > :14:54.of their already generous salary. Perhaps those who were intervening
:14:54. > :15:00.on those who are -- have most to account for. Allow the member to
:15:00. > :15:06.continue. Can we expect that tap to be turned on -- turned off to bring
:15:06. > :15:07.an end to this matter? There is an end to this matter? There is
:15:07. > :15:16.sympathy and a lack of sympathy to sympathy and a lack of sympathy to
:15:16. > :15:18.the remarks. Local representatives, it is a long time before you choose
:15:18. > :15:20.to join our ranks, and serve the to join our ranks, and serve the
:15:20. > :15:27.people of the North of Ireland with people of the North of Ireland with
:15:27. > :15:33.very limited income, at some risk, and very often with a degree of
:15:33. > :15:39.hostility across constituencies in the north. I value the service of
:15:39. > :15:44.local councillors, going back over the last 20 or 30 or 40 years. That
:15:44. > :15:48.is why this chamber was right to put into law and opportunities for
:15:48. > :15:53.councillors to get severance. Social Development Minister has
:15:53. > :15:57.been telling the Assembly that he is trying to recoup some �700,000
:15:57. > :16:01.from the biggest social housing organisation here. It follows a
:16:01. > :16:06.report released today that shows the company breached guidelines and
:16:06. > :16:10.did not stick to its own procedures. Nelson McCausland went on to detail
:16:10. > :16:14.a list of failures by the former management team. The report
:16:14. > :16:20.highlights a number of significant failures of control and breaches of
:16:20. > :16:24.compliance across all business areas. Those are the areas subject
:16:24. > :16:28.to inspection. Indicating significant and substantial
:16:28. > :16:32.failings by senior management within the association. Also, a
:16:32. > :16:37.failure by the boards to affect an adequate challenge function to the
:16:37. > :16:40.decision-making process within the association. This statement is
:16:40. > :16:44.qualified by an inspection team's awareness that on occasions the
:16:44. > :16:49.board had either not been fully briefed by the senior management
:16:49. > :16:53.team or had been misinformed by them. Some of the main issues
:16:53. > :16:59.identified were procurement procedures are not being followed,
:16:59. > :17:03.breaches of statutory approvals, incorrect use of consultants, and
:17:03. > :17:07.correct procedures for procurement of land, non-compliance with
:17:07. > :17:11.housing association guides and that the use of middlemen or site
:17:11. > :17:12.finders. Because of the nature of finders. Because of the nature of
:17:12. > :17:16.finders. Because of the nature of the issues especially within
:17:16. > :17:20.property development, and that accounts for the provision of new
:17:20. > :17:26.housing stock, the inspection team carried out a detailed examination
:17:26. > :17:28.of a significant number of development schemes to determine if
:17:28. > :17:33.the housing association grant had been improperly claimed. The
:17:33. > :17:38.outcome of this work confirmed the extent of the non-compliance.
:17:38. > :17:42.However, it also established that with the exception of four schemes,
:17:42. > :17:46.the grant was used for the purpose for which it was intended, namely
:17:46. > :17:54.to provide social housing with the Northern Ireland. The amount of
:17:54. > :17:58.grant which falls to be recovered his �669,000, of which �142,000 has
:17:58. > :18:03.already been recouped and discussions are ongoing about the
:18:03. > :18:07.recovery of the balance. In this regard, I would like to acknowledge
:18:07. > :18:11.the response of the housing association to these findings. The
:18:11. > :18:15.board has acted with openness and integrity throughout the inspection
:18:15. > :18:21.and subsequent discussions and has demonstrated a keenness to address
:18:21. > :18:25.all the issues raised. Gerry Kelly joins us now. The current
:18:25. > :18:26.management said today that procedures are in place and this
:18:26. > :18:31.procedures are in place and this could never happen again. Are you
:18:32. > :18:41.satisfied? Never say never. The difficulty is that this was
:18:41. > :18:46.substantial. To put this in context, this is �9.7 million, bought and
:18:46. > :18:49.sold in the one-day at a profit of �3 million and the middlemen were
:18:49. > :18:53.involved and developers and site managers were involved. The
:18:53. > :18:57.Minister described it as significant, a significant failure.
:18:57. > :19:01.In procurement and other aspects. I'm glad the investigation has
:19:01. > :19:06.taken place and I listened to members of the committee, including
:19:06. > :19:10.the chair. There are still questions to be answered and I
:19:10. > :19:14.asked the Minister about the middle man and what sort of regulation
:19:14. > :19:21.there was involved. He said that that has been looked at. I suppose
:19:21. > :19:25.we come out of this saying that we do not want it to happen again.
:19:25. > :19:30.they have put enough measures in place, as the Assembly but robust
:19:30. > :19:34.measures in place to make sure that they are more closely monitors?
:19:34. > :19:37.of the key issues -- one of the key issues is the oversight by the
:19:37. > :19:43.Department of Social Development. That is the question which the
:19:43. > :19:49.Minister has to look at. But we should not be in this position
:19:49. > :19:53.again and there was something like �600,000 which has to be returned
:19:53. > :19:57.to the Executive. The proof is in the pudding. We know what the
:19:57. > :20:02.problem is now. It has been identified by all accounts, from
:20:02. > :20:06.the committee. It was a fairly thorough investigation. The
:20:06. > :20:11.challenge to the Minister is what will sorted out? Are you reassured
:20:11. > :20:14.that there was nothing fraudulent and the company manager today said
:20:14. > :20:17.that people got carried away in the boom and the people who made the
:20:17. > :20:23.mistakes are no longer there. are huge mistakes and I think
:20:23. > :20:27.people had to move out of their jobs because of that. To put this
:20:27. > :20:30.in the context of North Belfast, we have a waiting list of some 2000
:20:30. > :20:36.people. People are being denied housing because of the mistakes
:20:36. > :20:41.here. People run hostels, who should not be in hostels. There is
:20:41. > :20:45.overcrowding and there is a waiting list which could have been averted.
:20:45. > :20:49.There is another issue, lasting for a considerable period of time, or
:20:49. > :20:54.Nelson Street, across from the site. We have been fighting to try and
:20:54. > :21:00.get these things sorted out. In fairness to the Minister, he said
:21:00. > :21:04.that the report is happening now, but we look at that again and we
:21:04. > :21:10.will look forward to asking him further questions. That it is out
:21:10. > :21:12.in the open, public and accountable, that is important. We need to make
:21:12. > :21:18.sure the accountability measures stay so that we cannot have a
:21:18. > :21:22.disaster like this again. Thank you very much. Yesterday, saw the
:21:22. > :21:32.launch of a new programme, Sunday politics, on BBC One each week.
:21:32. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:44.Starting at noon. The local show Although it is new, it has already
:21:44. > :21:53.got us noticed. One MLA 1/4 the report on bureaucracy in the
:21:54. > :21:57.building industry. -- quoted our report. Ministers have noted the
:21:57. > :22:02.questionnaire on the BBC yesterday. What is he doing to survive the
:22:02. > :22:09.process? I did not listen to the whole of the programme, just a
:22:09. > :22:14.snippet of it. That was enough of. As far as the criticisms made
:22:14. > :22:23.yesterday, I have seen reports of them, and I think that some of them
:22:23. > :22:27.were ill-founded. I see Mr Michael Owen is in his place, and for a
:22:27. > :22:34.member of this Assembly who fully understands the way financial
:22:34. > :22:37.arrangements work, to suggest that the Executive is withholding
:22:37. > :22:43.contracts until the final year of this Assembly so that it looks like
:22:43. > :22:47.we're spending more in the final here in the run-up to an election,
:22:47. > :22:52.shut -- that shows a rank misunderstanding of public finance.
:22:52. > :22:57.He knows full well that we cannot carry over huge amounts of capital
:22:57. > :23:00.from one year to the next. In fact, we are only allowed to carry over
:23:00. > :23:04.�50 million worth of capital from one year to the next so we could
:23:04. > :23:07.not have possibly done what has been suggested. Some of the
:23:07. > :23:11.criticisms are unwarranted and, really, anybody who makes them
:23:11. > :23:17.should hang their heads in shame at the lack of understanding of how
:23:18. > :23:21.this place works. One of the other point made was about qualification,
:23:21. > :23:29.and how difficult it was, and the amount of work that was involved.
:23:29. > :23:32.We have been working with the construction industry to simplify
:23:32. > :23:35.the pre- qualification requirements and the documentation, and they
:23:35. > :23:39.think that many of these suggestions, indeed, all of the
:23:39. > :23:42.suggestions brought to us by the industry have been implemented by
:23:42. > :23:50.the department. I recognise that we want to reduce the amount of
:23:50. > :23:53.bureaucracy. Good to see we're helping the debate. Going back to
:23:53. > :23:57.the housing issue, you also announced it -- organise the staff
:23:57. > :24:00.to work across a housing associations. Is there a feeling of
:24:01. > :24:06.sadness among some of your members that something so horrendous has
:24:06. > :24:09.gone wrong? Undoubtedly. Our experience has been since the
:24:09. > :24:14.establishment of the housing association, so there have been a
:24:14. > :24:21.host of problems. Most of them are related to how they are run, and
:24:21. > :24:25.how they managed. It is an area, when you are engaged in this kind
:24:25. > :24:29.of micro commissioning, and transferring public functions into
:24:29. > :24:34.a sector like that, you really have a big obligation as government to
:24:34. > :24:38.make sure that the real systems are in place, for the Protection of
:24:38. > :24:45.everybody, not least public money. And clearly, they were not.
:24:45. > :24:49.seems to be the outcome. I would hope that there would be a hard
:24:49. > :24:52.look at how this is being handled, because there has not even been
:24:53. > :24:59.consistency approaching the associations themselves, and how
:24:59. > :25:05.they are established. The Secretary of State, or Owen Paterson, played
:25:05. > :25:09.host to that Taoiseach today. Together with the Secretary of
:25:10. > :25:13.State, he was at Stormont Castle today. They were not keen to answer
:25:13. > :25:18.any questions about the just as business that you have been hearing
:25:18. > :25:22.about. They say that is a devolved matter. -- justice business. They
:25:22. > :25:26.did say that they had agreed, together with the First and Deputy
:25:26. > :25:29.First Minister, to make a bid for another tranche of European peace
:25:29. > :25:39.money. Mr Gilmore explained that could be quite significant,
:25:39. > :25:39.
:25:39. > :25:44.something like �200 million worth, if they were to get that from the
:25:44. > :25:51.system. In relation to the size of this money, it is in the order of
:25:51. > :25:57.200 and -- �330 million over a number of years. We would like to
:25:57. > :26:01.see something of the same size being continued. Obviously, we have
:26:01. > :26:07.to first of all have an assessment of the third piece, and the
:26:07. > :26:13.projects that were undertaken under it, and see what proposals can be
:26:13. > :26:19.brought forward for the next stage. That work is being undertaken to
:26:19. > :26:23.progress that. We await the outcome. You were there for all the action
:26:23. > :26:27.on Friday at the British Irish summit. What did you take away from
:26:27. > :26:32.it? Fascinating to be at a summit where there is a bone of contention
:26:32. > :26:35.about the state of the UK but it is not anything to do with Irish
:26:35. > :26:41.republicans. Martin McGuinness had a walk-on part although he made the
:26:41. > :26:48.best joke with the business of peace talks being undertaken at
:26:48. > :26:51.Stormont Castle. Instead, all the conversation was based on Scotland,
:26:51. > :26:55.and Nick Clegg. We could talk about a hypothetical, what could happen
:26:55. > :26:59.if the independence referendum works out. But at the weekend, it
:26:59. > :27:05.was interesting that Peter Johnson, chatting to me, said that he was
:27:05. > :27:08.concerned that the pursuit that stuck -- that Stormont has for some
:27:08. > :27:14.time of extra towers -- extra powers of corporation tax, that
:27:14. > :27:18.that could get mixed up with the top of extra taxation powers, the
:27:18. > :27:23.school autonomy or keep maximum devolution. That is a concern that
:27:23. > :27:27.many politicians have here, that it might delay things. And another
:27:27. > :27:30.issue today, fast food outlets near schools. Yes, interestingly the
:27:31. > :27:36.talks on justice which took place at Stormont Castle were fuelled on
:27:36. > :27:39.the basis of 26 fish suppers sent out during the talks, but if you're
:27:39. > :27:43.a fast food retail outlet, you might want to get your planning
:27:43. > :27:48.application in quickly because we noticed a question from the Green
:27:48. > :27:51.Party's MLA, Stephen Agnew, about whether the Health Minister would
:27:51. > :27:55.support any change in the law if a fast food outlet was going to be
:27:55. > :27:59.located next to a school. Broadly speaking, Edwin Poots said that he
:27:59. > :28:05.would be in favour, potentially, of changes in the legislation, and
:28:05. > :28:10.that is part of the healthy policy towards school children.
:28:10. > :28:15.One final word from you, obviously, all over the Christmas period it
:28:15. > :28:19.has been well publicised, the difficulty at some of hour accident
:28:19. > :28:24.and emergency departments. Is it a season -- seasonal blip or is it a
:28:24. > :28:30.sign of things to come? It is a dose of honesty that we need. We
:28:30. > :28:34.probably sound like we around the same mantra all the time, -- We are
:28:34. > :28:36.all on the same mantra all the time, but we represent the people in