17/01/2017 Stormont Today

If yesterday's proceedings amounted to blowing the whistle

on normal play at Stormont, then today was definitely injury time.

With Sinn Fein members largely absent and business lacking any

real sense of urgency, it seemed the parties had at least

one eye on March 2nd. But, despite that, the RHI

controversy did still make its way on to the agenda for the day.

So, tonight, the opposition calls for a public inquiry,

Accountability is a very important principle in public life.

One veteran politician gives his verdict on the last

This is that we the assembly aims, but with a dwindling amount of

interest. And joining me with his thoughts

on a much quieter day in the chamber is the

commentator Chris Donnelly. After postponing the debate

on the Economy Minister's plan to mitigate the projected cost

of the Renewable Heat Incentive for a public inquiry.

today formally called But not all parties

were represented in the chamber. Accountability is a very important

principle in public life. It is the norm around the world except here.

It seems a minister will not take responsibility for a disaster. This

calls for the First Minister to stand aside for the duration of the

enquiry. The format for the enquiry will seek to have cost recovery for

these claims which turned out to be fraudulent. The enquiry should take

no more than six months. That is plausible, with updates at two

monthly intervals. It should be approved by ministers within the

assembly. Sinn Fein have taken the action they have taken because they

want to bring down this assembly. They are getting a part-time the

heartlands, or should I see the former heartlands. Let's be honest,

everyone knows this, everyone watching knows this, if they were

really concerned about these issues, they would have been here yesterday

and here today. The public by a percentage are overwhelmingly

telling me that we have detailed the truth. Having told the truth, he

would be sitting beside me. Everyone is entitled to a public enquiry. I

do not mind which Minister brings it. But it is an ex-minister of Sinn

Fein who is not here this morning. But the actual thing is to do the

right thing. The great thing is to have that enquiry. It is still not

too late to have it. You can call that enquiry today. The ministers

can set that enquiry up. It does not require the consent of your

partners. If we were to do that, you would supported. I wanted the public

enquiry in accordance with the motion in front of the house today.

The motion calls for the ministers to bring forward the plan to lessen

liability to the public purse. Arlene Foster Said I want to make

sure that there is not a potential overspend. I hope the Minister will

continue to stand by that commitment. We are happy for a

public enquiry. I do not want a public enquiry on the nature of

Chilcot or Savile. We want an enquiry but we want it done quickly.

We do not want this having things imposed on us by people who opposed

Arlene Foster. She is far too decent for that and too much liked by the

public. You want to get rid of her because she is good at what she

does. Edwin Poots, speaking up

for his party leader Arlene Foster, and that motion was passed

on an oral vote. More RHI in the chamber today -

and agreement on the way forward Obviously, Sinn Fein were not

present, but all the other parties had committed to some sort of

enquiry. I think we saw Mr rehearsal on what we are going to hear the

theme of the RHI scheme during the election. Also, it seems that there

is a change of tack from the DUP. But, of course, Sinn Fein,

decided not to get involved Part of that, they did wanted to be

the story. I think it was more about a statement that we are demeaning

the legitimacy of the institution and we have called for the

resignation of the First Minister. They recognise that the public would

want to see that the ministers are still interested. We will talk about

later. Thank you. Yesterday, James Brokenshire

was very much at the centre of things on this

side of the Irish Sea. Today, he was back in Westminster,

briefing MPs on the current

state of play here. For our part, we will continue to

stand by our part of the deal fast agreement and do everything we can

to safeguard political stability. -- Belfast agreement. It has not always

been easy with more than a few bumps on the road but with strong

leadership, issues which might have brought the institution Stone have

been resolved through dialogue. Northern Ireland has been able to

present itself to the world in a wave which would've been

unrecognisable a few years ago -- a modern dynamic and outward looking

and Ireland which is a great place to live, work invest in and do

business with. The country has come so far and we cannot allow the games

to be made to be derailed. Yes, we have an election and once that is

over we need to be in a position to continue building a Northern Ireland

that works for everybody. That is the responsibility on all of us and

we all need to raise to that challenge. Does he accept that the

problem remains that calling a public enquiry into the RHI scheme

order photo making it clear that he supports a public enquiry, public

confidence will sink even lower than make restoration of the executive

even more difficult. That is what people are telling me on the street.

The basically need clarity. We are having an election here any fog. It

is clear that the issues surrounding the RHI scheme are largely central

to the election being cold. It is critical with regard to establishing

confidence once again with the public in relation to what has taken

place. Could the Secretary of State confirm that post-election, the

framework of a dissolve the assembly, of the is the settled

framework for moving forward and that joint authority with the

Republic Ireland or renegotiation of the agreements in place do not form

part of his plan for moving forward. If he does not give certain

particular, for the draft will orca. I can see that that is absolutely

the approach they take to this. It is about getting through the

election and the re-establishment of the executive and the

re-establishment of devolved government. How I hear all the broad

discussions, that has to be the focus. We need to re-establish the

trust in the institutions we have saw the country can move forward.

The Secretary of State, making it clear he wants to see Stormont

up and running again after the election.

Chris, the big question is, how easy will that be to achieve?

Because it looks as though Sinn Fein wants big changes

before it will agree to rejoining a devolved administration.

I think he is definitely the most prominent Secretary of State to say

a few no. Now we have the collapse of the institutions, it looks as if

Sinn Fein, if not renegotiating previous agreements, are looking for

some clarity in that regard. They may be want these to be

front-loaded. That is clearly something that the DUP will be

looking to resist. It does look like some form of direct rule is on the

cards. Could we be looking

at a prolonged period of direct It is certainly on the case that

National Assembly Irish government are wanting more involvement in the

talks which will have to take place with regard to Brexit. Obviously, in

the past, the British woman has resisted Irish involvement in any

discussions. Meantime, while Sinn Fein MLAs

had absented themselves from the morning's business,

the Infrastructue Minister, Chris Hazzard did put

in an appearance, It

department solves every problem with every rural road, so we have to

prioritise. When it comes to schools, we want to repeal the writ

which has the shortest distance. Schools go above what is above them,

but that, cannot be up around every corner to solve them. We have been

fairly fortunate so far that the weather has been mild, but we have

invested millions of pounds in sorting out the network you be

rejoining the budget of hundreds of millions of pounds if we were to

properly do it. The A5 and A6. Can he assure the construction industry

that the proposed road works and improvements on these will happen.

It is very clear that the funding is in place going forward. As Minister,

I have left clear instructions with regard to the executive power

priority projects, such as the A5 and A6. With the number of

departmental board 's priorities, a recently published my decision to

accept the independent factors report. We will begin to gauge with

the community the number of issues we are having which have arisen from

that. For tourism and commuters, will

there be a time schedule outlined? There are a number of issues making

it difficult to outline a very accurate timescale in relation to

moving forward with the York Street Interchange, not least the funding

difficulties that we faced. I would suggest have been exacerbated by the

Prime Minister Barak statement today, around Brexit, and it is very

clear we are heading for a very hard Brexit, in any rate. The member can

say here, here, till the cows come home, but when farmers lose out on

various grounds for various things the cows will be coming home to an

empty shed because at the end of the day we are able to facilitate...

Right enough. Europe has been good to hear two-year research projects,

at the end of the day, and it is one such project that has suffered at

the hands of Brexit, and cheers at the other side of the house, that of

the situation we have found. warning of

the implications of Brexit. The Justice Minister also

faced her final Question Time of the mandate today

and she was asked about the mistakes made in the

investigation of the murder Earlier this month, it was revealed

that 40-year-old Damien McLaughlin, who is charged in connection

with the murder, has breached his bail conditions

and not been seen by police The DUP MLA Trevor Clarke asked the

Justice Minister about the matter. I would like to begin by expressing

my heartfelt sympathy to the family of David Black, no one should have

to endure what they have done and I have spoken to the family over the

past week in relation to events reported in the media. The

monitoring of bail conditions of the matter for the Belize and while the

PSNI falls on the remit of my department, they have only

operational autonomy. Consequently it would be inappropriate for me to

interfere with that and therefore cannot involve myself in individual

cases or operational cases. I understand the PSNI has issued an

unequivocal apology to the black family, and commissioned a review of

the processes and I agree with their ascension that all sectors should

reflect. This is a failure. This is a hireling embarrassing and

representable act, that this may have involved this man, and I think

to apologise to the family of Mr Black isn't enough, so I am asking

the Minister can I ask again to review a decision? In terms of my

decision, as I said, it's not a decision that operationally rests

with me, it ultimately is with the courts and PSNI, with bail. That

said, I'm appalled by what has happened and I'm not scared to

Sayed, even though it is outside my jurisdiction in this matter. I have

made my feelings clear to the Chief Constable how this has been allowed

to happen, so I can give the member assurance that I do have a focus on

this particular issue, to try and ensure that it won't happen again,

we have in terms of the bail review, something ongoing within my

department since October. It is something that I have asked my

officials in light of this, and I say that reluctantly, because it

should not be in light of this because this should not have

happened, but I have asked my department to expedite it in any way

they can that can give comfort to black family because... The black

family have gone through enough, and this will keep continuing to raise

those issues with him Billy Mack them, and it is devastating and I

think we need to do generally start putting victims Hirst that are

victims first here, too insecure that they are being put first. Does

the Minister agree that this is a shocking indictment of our criminal

justice system about that when someone charged with aiding and

abetting one of the most horrendous murders of recent years was treated

with such kid gloves by the system, or by the courts, through serial

relaxations of his bail removed to tagging restraint, reduced the

number of days he had to sign, allowed him out to attend hotel spa

weekends... And then surprise surprise, he skipped bail, and the

police don't discover it for over a month. Could they be a more shocking

indictment? Can the Minister tell us, have any lessons being learned?

Both by the judiciary, who are not above reproof in this matter and the

police. Have any real lessons being learned? Is she satisfied about

that? Again, I am appalled that this particular case. And have any

lessons being learned that might if they haven't been, Mrs Biggar, then

there's that we should be and I think that's all I can say, without

reiterating. Claire Sugden accepting

the shortcomings of the system. A late addition to the day's

business was an urgent oral question about the future of a GP

practice in Portadown, Bannview Medical Practice has 5,200

patients on its books, but now faces closure, after its

last remaining doctor resigned. The fifth January 2017, a new GP

contract confirms to the health and social care board that they would

take on the band view medical practice from early March 20 17. --

Bannview Medical Practice. Yesterday, officially that

contractor withdrew their intention to take on the practice. What is

your response to the anger of the patients in Portadown, and was the

contract signed as a stalling tactic because of the organised patients

rally? I can say to all patients that they will continue to use

receive safe clinical services and the board will monitor that. We have

in place medical and nursing cover, we have arrangements with other

practices, in terms of out of hours independent prescribers. All work

collectively as part of a team to make sure that patients have access

to first is deeply services which they rightly are entitled to. I

think it is important that we don't scaremonger, it is important that we

are responsible about this. What I will ensure and the board have been

asked to do is to direct every member of the surgery to make sure

that they are fully abreast of the situation,. The macro to say we are

extremely disappointed, is an understatement. It isn't

scaremongering. I am sad that this is left on the DUP. I have supported

you as chair of this committee, we have all decided to take the

politics out of health and I still want to take out at the politics. We

are at the end of the road when it comes to did you beat writers,

especially in Portadown, but not only that, this week my colleague

and I are meeting with a GP practice in west Belfast a Belfast issue now

as well. Actually believe I'd and very much behind taking the politics

out of the situation. The reality is... The reality is for all the

people do have confidence, more transformation is the happen,

companies need to be having the institutions, that health decisions

are being taken by the right reason, and they need to know that the

ministers taking the decisions had a quality, report, and integrity and

respect the -- dins disrespect... The backbenches can chapel they

wish. The reason we are in the situation is because the DUP

arrogance. Pure and simple. Michelle O'Neill single-handedly

facing down her critics The final serious piece of business

today perhaps best reflected the situation Stormont now

finds itself in. The opposition parties brought

a motion recognising The DUP opposed it and Sinn Fein

did not turn up for it. That kind of sums it up in terms of

how Sinn Fein, and the DUP can I have run government. For the last

ten years. Protect the individuals, protect the parties, never mind the

country. This is ten years of failure. Of scandals, of debacle, of

disappointment. I hope the people have had enough. I hope the people

say on the 2nd of March we will look to parties who want to put the

country first, ahead of the party, and ahead of the individuals within

that party. Ultimately, for power-sharing to work it is more

than simply the right institutional design them and we can forge you

make improvements in that regard but other leader has TB trust,

partnership and mutual respect, and most clearly we do not have that.

Whatsoever. We have instead dysfunction, characterised by

bickering, political instability, ultimately to the situation to you

today where institutions are seriously imperilled. It is

profoundly sad that it has come to this. But I think we need to be

honest. The reason why we are at this point is because one party,

Sinn Fein, did not like the outcome of the election, and they saw, in

RHI, an opportunity to have a rerun. They haven't been talking... There

haven't been talking about RHI, they've been listing various

nationalist and republican totems in the run into the election, and we

will face them on those issues and we will prevail in the election. We

are here to talk about the failure of the Executive, and all you had to

do is look around. I don't even need to make a speech to illustrate the

failure of this executive. But I will give it a go. It is utterly

surreal what has gone on in this building today. The oxygen has been

dragged out of this place. The public are just bemused and people

keep talking about the anger out on the streets. People aren't angry, Mr

Deputy Speaker, they are utterly furious that we have got to this

point. Strange atmosphere around the base today, and I have noticed it

since we came in as one. You wouldn't know what to make of it, Mr

Debord is big. The debating of Sinn Fein's benches, they have always

bounced around, there's never any one on the DUP benches... We at only

in a vacuum. This is the way the assembly ends. You know, if not with

a bang with a sort of whimpering and innuendo. We slink away. Achieving

what question not having achieving what? Nothing for them. For them,

strategic decision they have decided Stormont is over. The only thing

that will bring them back here is if the continuance of Stormont so

serves their ends because the DUP decides after the election for the

sake of office to fill Sinn Fein's boots with more concessions. Yes,

you can have a Stormont under mandatory coalition if you are

willing to pay that impossible price, and Sinn Fein is testing you.

To see just how desperate you are to hang on to power.

And Chris Donnelly joins me for a final word.

Eamonn McCann talked about

"a whimpering diminuendo of interest".

No-one up here today could have been in any doubt we are heading

No, there's no doubt, and as a matter of interest there was one

political party, Sinn Fein, singularly not present, most of the

Brits in vain representatives clearly hitting the ground. Most of

the selection conventions have taken place, the running registry

campaign. Some of the other parties think that Sinn Fein have caught a

march on them and they won't be long behind in catching up, now. It is

interesting that that that two People

Before Profit candidates will be running in West Belfast.

What do you make of that? with seats going down from 60 to

256, it means that for Sinn Fein to hold onto therefore, people bought

for their profits, and SDLP and it would her to lose out. Both of those

candidates when you consider that there is a large unionist

population, and not enough to have one quota, but enough to be

kingmaker. I think it is likely that there is going to be one People

Before Profit in Jerry Kyle, and one other, whether it will be Alex

outwards, or another People Before Profit, who knows? I would think it

is more likely to be Alex Attwood, there isn't a second candidate who

has a profile in the constituency at the moment. Claire Sugden cleared

today, hoping to be back after the election, independence, East

Londonderry, of course. Maybe a justice minister once again? There

is no doubt that her profile has been raised to to the fact that she

felt though rolled I think it is extremely unlikely that she would

get that role again. Really when you consider it for Sinn Fein to agree

Claire Sugden to take that role, will have been seen retrospectively

almost as a concession to the DUP, and the whole reason we are where we

are because they are calling time on that. Fascinating times.

That is it for this evening, but don't forget to join me

for The View on Thursday night at 10.40 on BBC One.

Until then, from everyone in the team, good night!

That I will faithfully execute the Office...

And will to the best of my ability...

The Constitution of the United States...

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