Browse content similar to 16/01/2017. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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called a fresh Assembly election - on the day the Secretary of State | :00:30. | :00:34. | |
just eight months after the last one. | :00:35. | :00:35. | |
It was a day of huge significance for the devolution | :00:36. | :00:38. | |
project - because if talks anticipated to take place | :00:39. | :00:40. | |
after the new 90 seat chamber is elected fail, Stormont could find | :00:41. | :00:43. | |
itself stored away in political mothballs for quite some time. | :00:44. | :00:45. | |
So, coming up tonight...MLAs find out how long they've got | :00:46. | :00:47. | |
to prove their worth to the electorate... | :00:48. | :00:54. | |
I propose that a draft order in Council be brought forward shortly | :00:55. | :01:03. | |
that set an election date of Thursday second March stop. | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
The suspended DUP MLA Jonathan Bell makes accusations about senior party | :01:08. | :01:10. | |
This party has suspended me for telling the truth when I gave the | :01:11. | :01:21. | |
First Minister, Deputy First Minister and the German body or the | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
information, people are sitting beside them and sitting behind them | :01:26. | :01:26. | |
of much more serious offences. So 300 days after we last went | :01:27. | :01:28. | |
to the polls, we'll get the chance Following the refusal of Sinn Fein | :01:29. | :01:38. | |
to nominate someone to the post of Deputy First Minister | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
following the resignation of Martin McGuinness seven days ago, | :01:45. | :01:45. | |
the Secretary of State has called I propose that a draft order in | :01:46. | :02:01. | |
Council be brought forward shortly to set down election date of | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
Thursday the 2nd of March. And to dissolve the assembly from the 26th | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
of January, meaning that its last sitting day would be the 25th. No | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
institutions here in Northern Ireland, and what is at stake. While | :02:27. | :02:32. | |
it is inevitable that debate during an election period will be intense, | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
I would strongly encourage the political parties to conduct this | :02:39. | :02:45. | |
election with a view to the future of Northern Ireland and | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
re-establishing a partnership government at the earliest | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
opportunity after that poll. This is essential to the operation of | :02:56. | :02:59. | |
devolved government, and this means that all must remain open to | :03:00. | :03:05. | |
dialogue. The government continues to span thermally -- I stand firmly | :03:06. | :03:14. | |
behind the government and its successors, and our responsibilities | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
to safeguard stability here in Northern Ireland. We will continue | :03:20. | :03:26. | |
to do all that we can to find a way forward to secure the continuation | :03:27. | :03:28. | |
of devolved government. James Brokenshire speaking | :03:29. | :03:30. | |
at Stormont Castle earlier this evening. | :03:31. | :03:31. | |
So how did we get to that point? Sinn Fein repeatedly said | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
it wouldn't nominate and today, when given the opportunity, | :03:35. | :03:37. | |
the party formally I am nominating Arlene Foster to be | :03:38. | :03:50. | |
the First Minister. It's her rightful position. That alone | :03:51. | :03:58. | |
because the DUP says it but because 202,000 people in the country said | :03:59. | :04:05. | |
it. And we as a DUP, Democratic Unionist Party, we will decide who | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
the leader of our party is. Not someone else sitting in this | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
chamber. We don't dictate to others who should be their leader, and no | :04:14. | :04:18. | |
one is going to dictate to us today who the leader of our party, which | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
transpires to be the leader of the union is here in Northern Ireland. | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
Mr Speaker, I very readily and with some degree of pleasure nominate | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
Arlene Foster to be the First Minister. Sinn Fein will only be | :04:35. | :04:41. | |
part of institutions which work and deliver for all in our community. | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
There can be no return to the staters go. If something is broken, | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
you stop and you fix it. That is the Sinn Fein approach. Today, Sinn Fein | :04:52. | :04:56. | |
will not renominate for the position of Deputy First Minister. Sinn Fein | :04:57. | :05:01. | |
has honoured all agreements, we have striven to make these institutions | :05:02. | :05:06. | |
work. Martin McGuinness has acted at all times with integrity, with | :05:07. | :05:10. | |
dignity, and with respect to stop he has taken personal and political | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
risks to build a process of reconciliation. If we are to return | :05:16. | :05:20. | |
to this chamber, then there must be real, meaningful change. There must | :05:21. | :05:24. | |
be respect and equality for all sections of society. These | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
institutions must operate to the highest standards, with no place for | :05:30. | :05:33. | |
arrogance or malpractice. It is now over to the people to have their | :05:34. | :05:35. | |
say. Michelle O'Neill confirming that | :05:36. | :05:37. | |
Sinn Fein would not nominate anyone to the position of | :05:38. | :05:40. | |
Deputy First Minister. And let's hear from | :05:41. | :05:41. | |
the commentator, Alex Kane. We now have a date for | :05:42. | :05:43. | |
an election - March 2nd... Yesterday, and I think it is strange | :05:44. | :05:53. | |
because all the way through I didn't think it would come to this. No | :05:54. | :05:56. | |
Grimmy you didn't you were wrong! You don't have deep rub it in. I | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
think we would be ruthlessly good at keeping our problem is tight and | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
internal, solving the problem of Northern Ireland. But she didn't, | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
she wrapped it up all the way through. I'd thought Sinn Fein | :06:11. | :06:14. | |
wouldn't call her bluff but they did and we are now in an election we | :06:15. | :06:16. | |
don't need. Monday and Tuesday - | :06:17. | :06:16. | |
and RHI is likely to be It hasn't gone away, and it was 40 | :06:17. | :06:34. | |
days a old. DUP broke that story, a very senior DUP story told me that | :06:35. | :06:39. | |
it wasn't going to be interesting. 40 days later it is still debated, | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
and in the next few days more worryingly it will be there all the | :06:45. | :06:46. | |
way to the election for the DUP. You didn't think it | :06:47. | :06:48. | |
would come to this. You weren't alone in that. They | :06:49. | :06:57. | |
assumed that at the end of the Labour parties would come together | :06:58. | :07:00. | |
and hammer out a deal and get over the obstacle and move onto the next | :07:01. | :07:02. | |
issue. Arlene Foster's already | :07:03. | :07:03. | |
said it's going to be A lots of people frankly agree with | :07:04. | :07:11. | |
her. I think the interesting thing about this election campaign, we | :07:12. | :07:15. | |
didn't see it coming, but it came from eight background where Sinn | :07:16. | :07:17. | |
Fein were saying they were getting on very well, David Gordon being | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
appointed, various articles saying they had been doing well, Sinn Fein | :07:24. | :07:27. | |
providing government and suddenly they go from campaigning from RHI, | :07:28. | :07:33. | |
no personal issue, no equality, Unionists just don't want to open | :07:34. | :07:36. | |
any doors for republicans, they don't want to respect us... Again | :07:37. | :07:40. | |
that came from nowhere, and that very moment it became clear that all | :07:41. | :07:46. | |
the stuff we had heard about how good this relationship was was at | :07:47. | :07:51. | |
best a lie, and once you get to do that storage, you are in a terrible | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
mess. It is an interesting situation, and you have been here | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
for much of the day and have been talking to various people in both | :07:59. | :08:01. | |
parties. Talking to people thrive at Lee within the DUP and Sinn Fein I | :08:02. | :08:04. | |
think what is striking is that they don't seem to be hearing what the | :08:05. | :08:08. | |
other side is saying, they don't seem to be taking on board at all | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
any of the concerns of any of the other parties, is that what you are | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
getting as well? That is what I'm getting, and there are now two | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
battles being fought. I think it is before the election mode was | :08:22. | :08:29. | |
started, put up barriers, and Sinn Fein decided there was no gesture of | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
goodwill. Barriers began to go up quietly, and now it has got to the | :08:35. | :08:37. | |
stage where they aren't listening to each other, not listening to anyone | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
else not the public, and they have stopped listening. We'll have to | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
listen to the voters on March two. Alex, thank you, and we'll hear | :08:45. | :08:46. | |
more from you later. It was supposed to be the chance | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
for the Economy Minister to show how he would stop the huge financial | :08:52. | :08:54. | |
losses of the Renewable Instead, as news of the Secretary | :08:55. | :08:56. | |
of State's decision to call an election broke, | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
the debate changed rapidly. And that led to more | :09:01. | :09:02. | |
extraordinary allegations from the suspended DUP MLA, | :09:03. | :09:04. | |
Jonathan Bell, who continued his Simon Hamilton outlined his plans | :09:05. | :09:06. | |
to the Assembly, but before they could be voted on, | :09:07. | :09:11. | |
the Ulster Unionist leader, Mike Nesbitt, called for the debate | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
to be suspended for a week... The proposal today are the first | :09:16. | :09:25. | |
steps towards reducing the burden on the Northern Ireland budget of an | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
estimated ?490 million. I'm determined to take steps which will | :09:31. | :09:34. | |
effectively reduce the overspend in future years to zero. This is not | :09:35. | :09:38. | |
the occasion or the place to rehearse or gone to a conclusion on | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
the wise or wherefores of what went wrong. That, Mr Deputy Speaker, will | :09:43. | :09:47. | |
be the work of the PAC and an independent enquiry. My priority | :09:48. | :09:51. | |
immediately is to bear down on the costs of the scheme for the 2017, | :09:52. | :09:55. | |
2018 financial year. Costs for that year are projected to be around ?50 | :09:56. | :10:02. | |
million. Mr Speaker, while the original policy intentions of the | :10:03. | :10:05. | |
scheme may have been laudable, it has been blighted by significant | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
failings in its design, oversight and control. There have been many | :10:09. | :10:13. | |
allegations of potential abuse which cast a shadow over legitimate uses | :10:14. | :10:19. | |
of renewable heat installations, and I do recognise that some legitimate | :10:20. | :10:22. | |
users will see a substantial reduction in their payments but that | :10:23. | :10:25. | |
reflects the fact that the scheme was much more generous than was | :10:26. | :10:30. | |
originally intended for stop earlier today we saw the DUP sadly trying to | :10:31. | :10:36. | |
defend the indefensible, they went low. As the woman said when they go | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
low, we go high. I want to go high today by referring to the disrespect | :10:42. | :10:46. | |
which was shown to the public, the lack of respect to the public purse, | :10:47. | :10:53. | |
the dereliction of duty, and the shameful way in which this entire | :10:54. | :10:58. | |
debacle has been handled. The part here who designed this disastrous | :10:59. | :11:02. | |
scheme are we are led to believe helped design a good litigation but | :11:03. | :11:08. | |
it looks bad for everybody else and leaves us with a choice between the | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
?85,000 per day lead indefinitely, if this case falls and we don't have | :11:14. | :11:17. | |
another opportunity to fix it, versus the potential cost of legal | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
challenges as well as all the cost of the very belated investigations, | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
and this scenario, I think you will understand, people are a bit | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
reluctant to just this view of those who designed the flawed scheme, | :11:31. | :11:34. | |
designing the fix. Why delay? Very simple. It it as no cost to the | :11:35. | :11:40. | |
public purse will stop the 85,000 a day that we are burning off because | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
of the overspend continues even if these regulations are agreed today | :11:46. | :11:50. | |
or next week, until at least the 1st of April. That's over ?6 billion. | :11:51. | :11:57. | |
That ?6 million. There will be no cost to the public present wait for | :11:58. | :12:00. | |
a week. Doing nothing is not an option. To delay for one week is a | :12:01. | :12:05. | |
reasonable request and I do believe will give us time for some of that | :12:06. | :12:11. | |
extra scrutiny that the previous speaker has mentioned. I would like | :12:12. | :12:16. | |
it in the record that I spoke for the first time in the fashion that I | :12:17. | :12:22. | |
did because journalists were able to conclusively prove to me that they | :12:23. | :12:27. | |
had contacted the press offices of the delicate Unionist party a day | :12:28. | :12:31. | |
after day after day and were being fed back misinformation that | :12:32. | :12:36. | |
Jonathan Bell was unavailable. Mr Speaker, I also want a very major | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
concern bed into the record of this house that instruction went out from | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
DUP special advisers John Robinson, currently special adviser to the | :12:48. | :12:50. | |
economy minister, and Andrew Crawford, the current special | :12:51. | :12:53. | |
adviser to Michelle Michael Butler Michelle McLean. ... Under no | :12:54. | :13:04. | |
adviser to Michelle Michael Butler circumstances allow Jonathan Bell to | :13:05. | :13:04. | |
be called. This is a quote. These matter need to be deeply | :13:05. | :13:12. | |
investigated. Can I just asked Mr Bell... We are moving outside of the | :13:13. | :13:17. | |
scope of the RHI. When we're talking about an adjournment for a week, | :13:18. | :13:20. | |
these matters can be investigated in this week alongside the very first | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
piece of information given to me in a ministerial office. By the DUP | :13:26. | :13:28. | |
party officer appointed special adviser to the terms that you will | :13:29. | :13:35. | |
not be allowed to reduce the tariff is the bag on the scheme because | :13:36. | :13:38. | |
Timothy Johnston, special adviser to the then First Minister, and John | :13:39. | :13:42. | |
Robinson, the current at that time director of communications to the | :13:43. | :13:46. | |
DUP, and now the special adviser to the economy minister, had such | :13:47. | :13:50. | |
extensive interest in the poultry industry, Minister, this is not | :13:51. | :13:54. | |
being allowed on the agenda. I have the information to murder Mr | :13:55. | :13:56. | |
Speaker, I have kept the records in many, many formats will stop this | :13:57. | :14:01. | |
party has suspended me for telling the truth while I gave the First | :14:02. | :14:05. | |
Minister and the deputy leader and the chairman of the partly all the | :14:06. | :14:12. | |
information. People that are sitting behind and beside them of much more | :14:13. | :14:13. | |
serious offences. In response, the DUP dismissed | :14:14. | :14:14. | |
Mr Bell's allegations The party said Timothy Johnston has | :14:15. | :14:16. | |
no interests whatsoever in the poultry industry and does not | :14:17. | :14:19. | |
benefit or have any family members who applied to, | :14:20. | :14:22. | |
or benefit from, RHI. It also said John Robinson has | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
no personal interest His family home farm has chicken | :14:27. | :14:28. | |
houses which are not Andrew Crawford told the BBC last | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
month that his brother is the director of a company | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
which successfully applied to the RHI scheme, but he said | :14:39. | :14:40. | |
he 'never sought to keep the RHI scheme open at the original | :14:41. | :14:44. | |
higher tariff against The ability of the Executive | :14:45. | :14:46. | |
to mitigate against the Bedroom Tax before any dissolution was batted | :14:47. | :14:53. | |
back and forth between the Finance and Communities Ministers | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
over the last week. Mairtin O'Muilleior argued that no | :14:58. | :15:01. | |
fresh legislation was needed. Paul Givan disagreed, | :15:02. | :15:04. | |
and earlier today brought his Members are able to see from the | :15:05. | :15:17. | |
draft set of regulations that the general provisions in the budget act | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
would not give my department the powers necessary to make decisions | :15:21. | :15:26. | |
in the different scenarios set out in the regulations. So, Mr Speaker, | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
that nails everything that the finance minister has been doing what | :15:32. | :15:34. | |
he is engaged in a Twitter battle the public can see who the twit is | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
as he has went along, making it up, on social media in respect to how | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
this is being issued. In two and a half years, Sinn Fein cost the | :15:45. | :15:52. | |
public purse ?174 million in penalties from the Treasury. Money | :15:53. | :15:57. | |
that was lost in public services into a half years, and what do we do | :15:58. | :16:03. | |
whenever these issues were raised? We worked through them, despite the | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
reckless activities Sinn Fein, that cost ?171 million. | :16:09. | :16:13. | |
I am clearly stating we support the regulation be for us. No one needs | :16:14. | :16:22. | |
to explain to me the impact this will have. I have liaisons dealt | :16:23. | :16:29. | |
with many constituents who have highlighted their concerns and fears | :16:30. | :16:32. | |
so whilst the rest of us have no fear of going through the | :16:33. | :16:36. | |
electorate, the DUP in Sinn Fein will continue to politic with some | :16:37. | :16:42. | |
of the most vulnerable in society. Had Sinn Fein not stood firm to | :16:43. | :16:46. | |
ensure the most vulnerable were protected and to ensure they were | :16:47. | :16:54. | |
protected properly, irrespective of legislation from Westminster, then | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
we collectively we been in a much different position. We stood by our | :16:59. | :17:03. | |
convictions and to the best of our ability we got a deal to protect | :17:04. | :17:09. | |
those most vulnerable. In relation to fines, the people and claimants | :17:10. | :17:15. | |
we all talk about, not 1p came out of their pockets. Yes it came out of | :17:16. | :17:21. | |
the block grant but why? Because people were waxing lyrical about the | :17:22. | :17:29. | |
need to ensure our blog rant was protected and they failed to look | :17:30. | :17:33. | |
over and other shoulder. -- block grant. The ministers stated that | :17:34. | :17:40. | |
there was very little to nothing he could do to bring forward the | :17:41. | :17:48. | |
mitigation meant -- measures to protect the most vulnerable. He | :17:49. | :17:51. | |
stated categorically that was the truth. Why do I believe he did it? | :17:52. | :17:58. | |
Because he wanted to put pressure on his partners in government and | :17:59. | :18:03. | |
prevent them calling an election. The deadline was the 20th of | :18:04. | :18:06. | |
February and we knew this needed done since we were elected last May | :18:07. | :18:11. | |
so there was every opportunity for due process and scrutiny to take | :18:12. | :18:16. | |
place but it seems that everything MS please has to be subject to a | :18:17. | :18:20. | |
last-minute rush, back of the envelope calculations and perhaps we | :18:21. | :18:26. | |
would not be sitting you today is that culture were to end. | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
Another contentious issue on the order paper | :18:31. | :18:32. | |
today was the position of Robin Newton as Speaker. | :18:33. | :18:34. | |
He was the subject of a lot of criticism before Christmas | :18:35. | :18:36. | |
when he called on Arlene Foster to make a statement | :18:37. | :18:39. | |
as First Minster, when the Deputy First Minister had | :18:40. | :18:41. | |
The motion was brought by Sinn Fein, but for the second time today things | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
So we come to date to debate confidence in the speaker, which is | :18:46. | :18:56. | |
a normal motion given the circumstances we found ourselves | :18:57. | :19:00. | |
then before Christmas and the behaviour that led to the first | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
Minister making a statement when she had not the authority to do so. We | :19:06. | :19:10. | |
find ourselves hamstrung by a petition of concern. The DUP have | :19:11. | :19:14. | |
deployed petitions of concern over 80 times in this Assembly. ET to | :19:15. | :19:22. | |
pose as a party on their own. The irony is petitions were built into | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
the Good Friday Agreement to protect the rights of minorities and protect | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
citizens from being trampled by larger parties. The DUP as the | :19:34. | :19:37. | |
largest party had used it 82 times without support from other MLAs. On | :19:38. | :19:41. | |
a number of occasions they have used it to protect their own members from | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
censure with them this Assembly. They do so again on this occasion. | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
He may find this amusing but they do it again. The DUP have yet to learn | :19:53. | :19:58. | |
that that is public outcry not just regarding the scheme, the speaker's | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
handling of some of these issues but the DUP refusal to recognise the | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
damage they are doing to public confidence in these institutions | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
which they continued to do when they deploy that petition of concern. The | :20:14. | :20:16. | |
use of petitions to protect their own members is a corruption of what | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
petition of concerns were intended to do. I will finish what I am | :20:22. | :20:29. | |
saying. It is a corruption of these institutions and something that the | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
DUP would do well to look to. We are now to have a debate in this | :20:34. | :20:37. | |
institution and relation to confidence in the speaker with the | :20:38. | :20:43. | |
outcome already decided. The outcome has been frustrated regardless of | :20:44. | :20:49. | |
every other MLA, expressing their lack of confidence, that outcome | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
will be overturned by the use of a petition of concern, used in a | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
corrupt fashion to protect their own by the DUP. On those grounds, I will | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
not agree with this motion. I do not believe there is any purpose in | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
keeping people year for debate in which the outcome is predetermined. | :21:10. | :21:12. | |
The corruption of this institution in the eyes of the public has to | :21:13. | :21:18. | |
stop. We should get a different the DUP return tear on the other side | :21:19. | :21:20. | |
the election. Conor Murphy. We did have some regular | :21:21. | :21:22. | |
business today and amongst it was Question Time for the Finance | :21:23. | :21:26. | |
Minister. It's likely to be the last time | :21:27. | :21:28. | |
for quite some time that Mairtin O Muilleoir faces | :21:29. | :21:30. | |
the Assembly, and it was no surprise that the ongoing problems | :21:31. | :21:33. | |
at Stormont dominated exchanges. The minister is good at running | :21:34. | :21:43. | |
around and telling other ministers what they should be doing but I | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
would put it to you, your number one duty is to produce a budget. We are | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
facing a situation where there will be no budget. This will have a | :21:53. | :21:58. | |
profound impact for example on the Department of Health. I am asking | :21:59. | :22:03. | |
you what other contingencies in place to prevent a detrimental | :22:04. | :22:07. | |
impact on public services? It is a great pity that my colleagues and | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
the other side of the chamber did not consider this before Christmas | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
when they became subsumed in covering up RHI and refuse to allow | :22:18. | :22:20. | |
the public the investigation they were entitled to. It is a pity the | :22:21. | :22:28. | |
DUP did not consider the institutions given their attacks on | :22:29. | :22:31. | |
the Irish language and Irish identity. It is a great pity that | :22:32. | :22:39. | |
before Christmas when I met the DUP ministers and discuss their budget, | :22:40. | :22:45. | |
what happened? It was not my party who had a former minister on his | :22:46. | :22:50. | |
knees in a TV studio praying to tell the truth. It was the DUP who became | :22:51. | :22:58. | |
consumed with RHI and discussions since then have not resigned. So the | :22:59. | :23:04. | |
blame for where we are this day and the fact that credibility is drained | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
from these institutions does not lie with any other party in this | :23:09. | :23:20. | |
Assembly but my colleagues opposite. Could the minister give an | :23:21. | :23:24. | |
assessment on what he thinks the economic impact will be to Northern | :23:25. | :23:28. | |
Ireland on the antics and catastrophic mess the DUP, Sinn Fein | :23:29. | :23:33. | |
government have done -- provided during this last mandate? There must | :23:34. | :23:46. | |
be an election coming and I hope and trust that all those who have spoken | :23:47. | :23:50. | |
today do very well in that election. When we go to the doors, the people | :23:51. | :23:58. | |
will ask one pertinent question, they will seed did you stand for | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
equality? Did you stand against the disrespect shown to our ethnic | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
minorities and the LG BT community and to the disrespect shown to the | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
Irish language community? Did you stand up for tolerance, and mutual | :24:15. | :24:21. | |
respect? When that question is asked, I am convinced that we will | :24:22. | :24:30. | |
be able to answer positively to the public and the public will respond | :24:31. | :24:32. | |
So, three hours before the election was officially called it seemed | :24:33. | :24:37. | |
there was talk of little else in the chamber - | :24:38. | :24:40. | |
and Emma Little Pengelly continued on the attack | :24:41. | :24:42. | |
as the Health Minister, Michelle O'Neill, rose | :24:43. | :24:43. | |
What representations did you make to the Deputy first Minister bed rather | :24:44. | :24:51. | |
than resign when he did, he should wait and a lower budget to be put | :24:52. | :24:55. | |
down an order for your department and all the people who need to use | :24:56. | :24:59. | |
health services get their help and support they need when they needed | :25:00. | :25:05. | |
it? Mark McGuinness said the right thing, he was no longer prepared to | :25:06. | :25:12. | |
lead his party and a government who are not interested in equality and | :25:13. | :25:15. | |
mutual respect. Our position is clear. I want to be at my desk to | :25:16. | :25:20. | |
drive forward health care but I will not be in a government where the DUP | :25:21. | :25:27. | |
are not interested in equality. We cannot be in government but the | :25:28. | :25:30. | |
party only clear that certain people in certain sections of society, not | :25:31. | :25:39. | |
good enough. Supplementary. I think sadly we have heard and Minister for | :25:40. | :25:43. | |
health reading of a Sinn Fein election cue card rather than caring | :25:44. | :25:47. | |
about the many thousands of people who will be impacted by the lack of | :25:48. | :25:52. | |
budget. The health department will be starting this financial year | :25:53. | :25:54. | |
without a budget and planning and that will impact on those most in | :25:55. | :26:01. | |
need. The responsibility lies with you is Minister of this department, | :26:02. | :26:06. | |
you cannot duck those responsibilities to ensure there was | :26:07. | :26:10. | |
a budget in place. What contingencies have you put in place | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
to insure public services in health are not impacted detrimentally? | :26:15. | :26:20. | |
There is a crisis of confidence in these institutions. People do not | :26:21. | :26:24. | |
trust the DUP so I absolutely think Mark McGuinness took the right | :26:25. | :26:29. | |
decision and it is now up to the public to have their estate. -- | :26:30. | :26:33. | |
Mairtin O Muilleoir McGuinness. Our track record speaks for itself. In | :26:34. | :26:38. | |
terms of putting equality at the core of our department. We would | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
only be in this Executive and returned to these institutions if | :26:45. | :26:48. | |
there is equality embedded in the call of these institutions. | :26:49. | :26:50. | |
Michelle O'Neill - and Alex Kane is here for a final word. | :26:51. | :26:52. | |
As far as Sinn Fein's motion of no confidence in the Speaker, | :26:53. | :26:55. | |
Robin Newton, is concerned - you couldn't have made it up. | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
You couldn't have made it up. I think even they realise that and | :27:01. | :27:07. | |
decided there is no point going through with this. It could not | :27:08. | :27:13. | |
succeed? It could not and it was an abuse of the house. You cannot have | :27:14. | :27:18. | |
a serious debate about complaints against the speaker because we have | :27:19. | :27:22. | |
protected them. It took away the nonsense that the speaker was | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
neutral. It was the DUP concern. Sinn Fein said we're not going to | :27:28. | :27:35. | |
indulge out in this. A couple of days of debate in the chamber ahead | :27:36. | :27:40. | |
of us. But we know now if we come back after the 2nd of March that. | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
But we know now if we come back after the 2nd of March that. | :27:46. | :27:48. | |
There will be wholesale change in terms of the make-up | :27:49. | :27:51. | |
of the chamber no matter what happens - and already we know | :27:52. | :27:54. | |
that Cat Seeley and Catriona Ruane won't be coming back. | :27:55. | :27:56. | |
It is interesting in the case of Cat Seeley because she is one of the | :27:57. | :28:00. | |
younger ones and she is only in there. If then some sort of message. | :28:01. | :28:07. | |
She has a full-time teaching job. She has chosen that auction. She has | :28:08. | :28:10. | |
given up the political career so she will not come back and abandon a | :28:11. | :28:17. | |
teaching career. It is sad to say ago, she was one of the better | :28:18. | :28:23. | |
younger ones. In terms of the five into six, better off. You can maybe | :28:24. | :28:31. | |
bank 40 or 50 as certainties. It will be very chaotic but it will be | :28:32. | :28:38. | |
fascinating to nerds like us. You cannot be sure very much. It will be | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
great for those of us who like to put bet on. We look forward to it. | :28:43. | :28:46. | |
Thank you very much as ever. The Assembly is sitting tomorrow | :28:47. | :28:50. | |
and we'll have a Stormont Today So for now, from everyone | :28:51. | :28:52. | |
in the team - good night! The View holds politicians to | :28:53. | :29:03. | |
account and we ask the questions that our audiences | :29:04. | :29:06. | |
want answers to. We reflect what's happening in the | :29:07. | :29:09. | |
political world but I think we also set the agenda in the interviews | :29:10. | :29:13. | |
that we conduct on the programme. I always assume that an interviewee | :29:14. | :29:16. | |
is telling the truth but the question is, | :29:17. | :29:19. | |
is that necessarily the whole truth? One of the key things about The View | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
is Commentators Corner. A great breadth of knowledge and | :29:24. | :29:26. | |
a context to the political conversation that's | :29:27. | :29:29. | |
just taken place. | :29:30. | :29:33. |