17/02/2014 Stormont Today


17/02/2014

Similar Content

Browse content similar to 17/02/2014. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up on the programme.

:00:25.:00:29.

The Education Minister comes under fire for remarks made about school

:00:30.:00:38.

funding at the weekend. Is it in your power to ask the education

:00:39.:00:42.

minister to come to this house and clarify what those changes are?

:00:43.:00:52.

The Finance Minister puts his faith in his Executive and party

:00:53.:00:53.

colleague. I will continue to support the

:00:54.:01:02.

Minister of health. And I'm joined by our Political

:01:03.:01:05.

Correspondent, Martina Purdy, who'll run her expert eye over today's

:01:06.:01:06.

proceedings. spotlight again. John O'Dowd insists

:01:07.:01:26.

he was never planning to cut any school's budget to support

:01:27.:01:28.

establishments where students are less well off. So why is the DUP

:01:29.:01:32.

chairman of the Education Committee not convinced? Our Political

:01:33.:01:34.

Correspondent, Martina Purdy, is here with more on the story.

:01:35.:01:40.

First of all, Martina, remind us of the background to this row?

:01:41.:01:47.

The schools ministers, John O'Dowd, thinks that the way the schools are

:01:48.:01:51.

funded is not fair. He wants to put more money into schools that are in

:01:52.:02:03.

disadvantaged areas. He says he wants to make sure the money goes to

:02:04.:02:07.

the most needy. It is very controversial. If you apply the

:02:08.:02:12.

formula, it could lead to quite a number of schools losing funding. A

:02:13.:02:23.

recent consultation found that most respondents said they were opposed

:02:24.:02:28.

to this formula being applied. The minister was on the Sunday politics

:02:29.:02:31.

show yesterday and he insisted that his intention is to help

:02:32.:02:36.

disadvantaged schools, not to cut the budget of others. You must

:02:37.:02:43.

trying to reassure people that cuts were never on his mind.

:02:44.:02:48.

Obviously the chairman of the Education Committee was watching

:02:49.:02:50.

because he was clearly exercised by that interview this morning. Yes,

:02:51.:03:01.

Mervyn Storey was not happy with the Minister's interview. He felt the

:03:02.:03:06.

Minister was being even a sieve and he was concerned that the minister

:03:07.:03:09.

was yet to make up his mind about how the education money would be

:03:10.:03:14.

distributed. He said he was in a position where he would confirm that

:03:15.:03:18.

no school would lose any funding as a result of the changes.

:03:19.:03:21.

However at the weekend, the education minister made reference to

:03:22.:03:28.

the fact that he was yet to make up his mind, which was also in

:03:29.:03:33.

agreement with what the education his mind, which was also in

:03:34.:03:46.

house and clarify and inform members what those changes are as they have

:03:47.:03:51.

not been copied to the education committee and are in contribution to

:03:52.:03:57.

what he has said in this house -- and are in contravention. There is a

:03:58.:04:12.

number of avenues that members can pursue ministers on if they feel

:04:13.:04:16.

strongly that they have not received a satisfactory answer.

:04:17.:04:25.

Is Mervyn Storey likely to get answers?

:04:26.:04:32.

We will have to see what the Minister says. The fact that there

:04:33.:04:37.

is uncertainty... Thank you.

:04:38.:04:43.

And continuing on the education theme, the UUP brought a motion

:04:44.:04:46.

promoting shared education to the floor today. However, two amendments

:04:47.:04:49.

were tabled - one from the DUP calling on the Education Minister to

:04:50.:04:52.

assist the OFMDFM develop shared campuses, and one from Sinn Fein to

:04:53.:04:56.

reflect the work already being done in shared education. Here's the

:04:57.:04:59.

motion's proposer, Danny Kinahan. We have all heard the quote, the

:05:00.:05:05.

hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. Education

:05:06.:05:10.

is the key to making our society the world's success it should be. After

:05:11.:05:18.

the Euro protest, the ongoing division over the house proposals,

:05:19.:05:29.

-- Haase, we need to show that Northern Ireland can put in place

:05:30.:05:35.

and all-encompassing education framework which will help resolve

:05:36.:05:42.

our differences. In supporting the amendment, let me pay tribute to

:05:43.:05:46.

those schools. We come into this house so often and talk in general

:05:47.:05:50.

terms and we somehow forget that for a year after year after year, there

:05:51.:05:58.

are teachers, there are schools, there are governors, there are

:05:59.:06:02.

parents, there are organisations that work tirelessly to ensure that

:06:03.:06:07.

their school is a school where it is inclusive, it is a shared facility.

:06:08.:06:17.

We had a launch of shared campuses in January. As outlined, it is not

:06:18.:06:22.

so much government that is leading the way on this but local schools,

:06:23.:06:27.

community 's and teachers and families. They have invested a huge

:06:28.:06:36.

amount of work. I do not believe the UUP motion pays sufficient tribute

:06:37.:06:50.

to this. For rural schools under threat of closure, shared education

:06:51.:06:52.

offers are viable and practical alternative. Those of us who think

:06:53.:07:00.

the best way to bring our children to gather is to educate them

:07:01.:07:04.

together in the same school, in the same class, those of us who think

:07:05.:07:11.

that way will take little comfort from what ever decision the house

:07:12.:07:17.

comes to. If it is to be viewed as a step on the road to an integrated

:07:18.:07:27.

system, that is to be welcomed. But I realise it is not going to happen.

:07:28.:07:37.

We must have the confidence to embrace sharing across the divide.

:07:38.:07:42.

My role is to support them in taking the steps they need. But I won't

:07:43.:07:51.

shared education to be livered in such a way as to deliver social

:07:52.:07:54.

inclusion and equality of opportunity.

:07:55.:08:00.

Following a vote, the DUP amendment was successful and the motion was

:08:01.:08:03.

then passed. That old perennial issue of welfare

:08:04.:08:06.

reform came up during Question Time to the Finance Minister today. Simon

:08:07.:08:09.

Hamilton was also asked about the Health Department's budget and how

:08:10.:08:12.

the local construction sector is faring.

:08:13.:08:16.

There is no doubt our economy is showing signs of recovery. We have

:08:17.:08:18.

had some encouraging indications that we are beginning to emerge from

:08:19.:08:24.

the recession. The latest construction bulletin

:08:25.:08:26.

the recession. The latest demonstrated great versatility and

:08:27.:08:41.

resilience. A number of larger local construction firms have indicated

:08:42.:08:47.

that over 50% of their turnover comes from projects outside Northern

:08:48.:08:52.

Ireland. Can he outlined what government has done to assist the

:08:53.:08:59.

recovery of the construction sector? We are now spending the same level

:09:00.:09:06.

as prior to the 2007 credit crunch and downturn. It was just below

:09:07.:09:15.

40%, total investment is now 54% of total spend. That is testament to

:09:16.:09:21.

the spend we as a government are putting in. There is still

:09:22.:09:26.

significant delays and many capital projects from government hitting the

:09:27.:09:34.

ground. What can be done to improve the situation? One of the biggest

:09:35.:09:45.

capital projects was the road project, the A5, which fell foul of

:09:46.:10:00.

the courts. I think there are lessons for all of us to learn from

:10:01.:10:04.

that. One of the lessons that I hope we learn other subgroup -- that I

:10:05.:10:16.

hope we learn is creating a pipeline... That there are

:10:17.:10:25.

sufficient volume of projects that have advanced to a stage to be of

:10:26.:10:33.

that funding. What discussions have there been regarding the pressures

:10:34.:10:40.

on the health service? I have regular discussions with the health

:10:41.:10:46.

Minister, with colleagues from the executive. I gave ?30 million and

:10:47.:11:00.

was under. I am not satisfied that it was just 30 million. I think the

:11:01.:11:09.

pressures deserved more money. But trying to balance competing

:11:10.:11:15.

pressures, I do not recall the Minister for regional development

:11:16.:11:20.

offering additional help. We have to balance a range of additional

:11:21.:11:31.

measures. And I will continue to support the Minister for health when

:11:32.:11:40.

he faces the inescapable pressures that he inherited when he became

:11:41.:11:47.

health Minister. The Finance Minister, Simon

:11:48.:11:51.

Hamilton. ?26 million allocated to six

:11:52.:11:54.

projects aimed to help those most in need. It might sound like a perfect

:11:55.:11:58.

example of good government, but today the OFMDFM committee brought a

:11:59.:12:01.

motion to the Assembly calling on the six Signature Programmes to be

:12:02.:12:04.

more efficiently run. In a moment, we'll hear from the chair of that

:12:05.:12:08.

committee, Mike Nesbitt, but first of all, here's some of what was said

:12:09.:12:11.

during the debate. In its report, the committee

:12:12.:12:13.

recommends that OFMDFM should stick to ensure that effective and timely

:12:14.:12:25.

consultation is taken. In shaving discussions with regard to

:12:26.:12:30.

education, it was picked to me by all stakeholders that while the

:12:31.:12:34.

initiative would yield positive results, it would have been possible

:12:35.:12:38.

to yield even better and more lasting positive results have there

:12:39.:12:44.

been a different and more engaged form of pre-consultation on behalf

:12:45.:12:52.

of the devolved government. Good projects should get funding, bad

:12:53.:12:57.

projects should not get funding. When projects get funded, they

:12:58.:13:01.

should be funded on the basis of the very best of practice and processed.

:13:02.:13:07.

The report is clear in stating that the programmes may not be the answer

:13:08.:13:12.

to all the problems but a collection of cross

:13:13.:13:15.

to all the problems but a collection are indicative of this approach. The

:13:16.:13:23.

to all the problems but a collection society problems. We welcome the

:13:24.:13:26.

committee's engagement with the key stakeholders and have read with

:13:27.:13:30.

interest the report itself and the recommendations coming from the

:13:31.:13:33.

event which was held last November. The executive is fully committed to

:13:34.:13:41.

delivering social change framework which represents a new level of

:13:42.:13:44.

joined up working right across government to achieve real and

:13:45.:13:50.

long-lasting social benefits for those in our society who need it

:13:51.:13:53.

most. The Junior Minister, Jonathan Bell,

:13:54.:13:56.

and that motion was passed. Joining me now is the chairman of the OFMDFM

:13:57.:14:04.

Committee, Mike Nesbitt. Your report is pretty damning. It talks about a

:14:05.:14:09.

lack of consultation, a lack of long-term working, a need for joined

:14:10.:14:13.

up planning. How far short of the bar does it fall? It depends what

:14:14.:14:19.

measure you are looking at but in terms of consultation, what was

:14:20.:14:22.

clear to me in the stakeholder event that we ran, I was chairing the

:14:23.:14:29.

meeting and making the point that while this will work, it is not

:14:30.:14:34.

going to be a waste of money, there will be positive outcomes, but they

:14:35.:14:37.

could have been much more positive outcomes if OFMDFM had consulted in

:14:38.:14:44.

advance. But that is not to say that the principle is not right. Any

:14:45.:14:50.

government in the world tends to operate vertically. You say

:14:51.:14:53.

education is a matter for the education department but we know it

:14:54.:14:57.

is not. For a child to do well, it is not just need a good school, they

:14:58.:15:03.

need a good house, good transport. It is about turning from the

:15:04.:15:08.

vertical into horizontal cross cutting exercise. The signature

:15:09.:15:13.

projects are all led by OFMDFM but they involve no fewer than five

:15:14.:15:17.

other government departments who lead on these specific programmes

:15:18.:15:21.

and the challenges, how do you scrutinise that? Is part of the

:15:22.:15:26.

problem that nobody takes overall responsibility?

:15:27.:15:29.

problem that nobody takes overall where it is incumbent is on the

:15:30.:15:43.

committee, that is what frustrates me in the chamber, you will ask a

:15:44.:15:46.

question of a minister who will say, that is not enter me. I don't think

:15:47.:15:52.

that is good enough. If we are genuinely committed to this

:15:53.:15:55.

horizontal crosscutting work, ministers are going to have to take

:15:56.:15:59.

on responsibility. I am not saying we take on the minutiae of

:16:00.:16:03.

everything that is going on in every department, but just saying it is

:16:04.:16:06.

nothing to do with me is not good enough. We need to look at things in

:16:07.:16:13.

a more holistic way. We need to agree the programme for government

:16:14.:16:16.

before we divide in the ministries. Then you have a clear commitment

:16:17.:16:21.

before you say, I am only concerned about the Minister for regional

:16:22.:16:23.

development or roads or health already dictation. How do you fix

:16:24.:16:31.

it? We have got this system, this artificial forced coalition, and

:16:32.:16:34.

ministers can always point to someone else. Never mind what we

:16:35.:16:38.

might do in future, what do we do now? I think we continue to support

:16:39.:16:43.

initiatives like delivering social change. Scrutinise, which is not to

:16:44.:16:52.

say we are going to criticise, you can scrutinise and praise,

:16:53.:16:55.

scrutinise and recommend improvements, and scrutinise and say

:16:56.:17:00.

this is just wrong. We will see whether anyone takes that on board.

:17:01.:17:07.

Thank you very much. Has the Agriculture Minister failed

:17:08.:17:10.

the farming community? That was the question posed by one DUP MLA during

:17:11.:17:13.

a debate criticising the department for failing to effectively notify

:17:14.:17:16.

more than a thousand farmers that their single farm payments could be

:17:17.:17:18.

delayed. It should quicken up the process for

:17:19.:17:23.

inspections, it should mean that more farm businesses will be paid

:17:24.:17:28.

their single farm payment is quicker so, in a general sense, remote

:17:29.:17:34.

sensing is a good thing. The issue here is that it seems to be that the

:17:35.:17:39.

Department of agriculture and rural development was not fit for purpose

:17:40.:17:47.

in order to advance remote inspection, remote sensing

:17:48.:17:48.

inspections, to the level of inspection, remote sensing

:17:49.:18:03.

farm payment is, some ranging in the thousands, the tens of thousands. It

:18:04.:18:08.

makes no sense to focus on speedy payment if it is to be followed by

:18:09.:18:13.

penalties from Europe. Farmers have at their game in how claims are

:18:14.:18:19.

submitted through to when they are paid out and we have seen steady

:18:20.:18:22.

improvements over these past two years. We have heard the number. One

:18:23.:18:27.

thousand one hundred and thirty nine. Stakeholders will trot that

:18:28.:18:36.

statistic out. Those are one thousand one hundred and thirty nine

:18:37.:18:42.

farmers. I have heard it referred to tonight as one thousand one hundred

:18:43.:18:47.

and thirty nine businesses. It is not. It is families who are sitting

:18:48.:18:53.

at this moment in time with major cash flow problems. In twenty

:18:54.:18:58.

twelve, my department used remote-sensing technology for the

:18:59.:19:05.

first time. In twenty thirteen, as we recognise the benefits of this

:19:06.:19:08.

approach, we significantly increase the number of benefits managed in

:19:09.:19:17.

this way. This meant that we ended up checks using control with

:19:18.:19:25.

remote-sensing techniques. Remote-sensing is a tried and tested

:19:26.:19:30.

methodology in the member states and I think members have picked up on

:19:31.:19:40.

that. It involves careful examination of a satellite image or

:19:41.:19:46.

photography. Members can't have it both ways. On one hand you are

:19:47.:19:50.

asking for things to be speeded up and get payments out and on the

:19:51.:19:53.

other house you are quick to come to the chamber and criticise. I

:19:54.:19:58.

absolutely accept and I have always said is that if you are in that

:19:59.:20:01.

small percentage of people waiting to have that claim, I understand the

:20:02.:20:05.

stress that has. I am doing everything I can and I have a proven

:20:06.:20:10.

track record that we have improved things year-on-year and will

:20:11.:20:12.

continue to do things in the future. Michelle O'Neill, and that

:20:13.:20:24.

continue to do things in the future. of other options, but some MLAs

:20:25.:20:26.

seemed keen to stick with more traditional fossil fuels. First,

:20:27.:20:29.

though, the Minister faced a question concerning her own

:20:30.:20:33.

constituency. In terms of rebalancing the economy,

:20:34.:20:36.

will be Minister accept that this term, and she explained how she's

:20:37.:20:47.

going to rectify that situation? Obviously, we are dealing with that

:20:48.:20:53.

issue. In particular the way the band had to do with area of islands

:20:54.:20:58.

in the past and the fact that a lot of our infrastructure was damaged in

:20:59.:21:03.

that particular way. I am delighted that the licence competition for gas

:21:04.:21:08.

to the West has been announced. We look forward to natural gas being

:21:09.:21:17.

available to the citizens and the businesses in the west of the

:21:18.:21:22.

problems for the very first time. Does the Minister agree that in

:21:23.:21:25.

order to bring down prices we need to increase our investment in wind

:21:26.:21:30.

and reduce our overall reliance on expensive fossil fuel such as gas? I

:21:31.:21:35.

have always said to the member it is not just about wind energy, it is

:21:36.:21:41.

about renewable energy from all different types of technologies and

:21:42.:21:46.

at present, we are probably overreliant on wind in terms of our

:21:47.:21:50.

renewable energy source. I do hope that other sources of renewable

:21:51.:21:54.

energy will come forward in the future, whether that is tidal, or

:21:55.:22:01.

indeed Marine. Would the Minister agree with me that if we follow the

:22:02.:22:05.

policy of the Green Party, we would be back to the dark ages,

:22:06.:22:09.

blackouts, no competitive agency and increased fuel poverty and really we

:22:10.:22:13.

should be going for greater adversity from fossil fuels which

:22:14.:22:19.

must let -- much less expensive? I do agree with the member that we

:22:20.:22:22.

need to be very much aware of our security of supply issue and as

:22:23.:22:27.

members of this house will know, in twenty sixteen, there will only be,

:22:28.:22:33.

I think it is two hundred megawatts above the balance and therefore we

:22:34.:22:37.

should be concerned about that. We will be taking action in relation to

:22:38.:22:39.

that issue over the coming will be taking action in relation to

:22:40.:22:54.

but particularly for industry. How could we possibly say to people that

:22:55.:22:57.

they should come and invest in Northern Ireland if we did not have

:22:58.:23:04.

a secure energy platform? Does the Minister still believe that the

:23:05.:23:08.

forty % target for renewable energy is still realistic and achievable? I

:23:09.:23:14.

think the biggest challenge for us in terms of renewable energy is in

:23:15.:23:18.

terms of the grid and we have had a stronger uptake in terms of small

:23:19.:23:24.

renewable projects and that has therefore put a strain on the grid.

:23:25.:23:31.

More so than the larger energy renewable projects. We do have a

:23:32.:23:35.

challenge in terms of our grid, we are looking at that proactively at

:23:36.:23:41.

present, the regulator has allowed invest in the grid but we are also

:23:42.:23:49.

looking at some European funding which would need to be match fund by

:23:50.:23:53.

the industry yet to see if that is available to us as well,

:23:54.:23:57.

particularly in the west of the province. Was the Minister surprised

:23:58.:24:04.

when the former Minister for the environment and the former finance

:24:05.:24:08.

minister called the seemed impossible and economic the

:24:09.:24:12.

destructive? I was not surprised that all!

:24:13.:24:18.

Short and to the point. The response from the Enterprise Minister, Arlene

:24:19.:24:21.

Foster, to that question from Robin Swann. Now, it feels like it's all

:24:22.:24:26.

we've been talking about for weeks - the situation in our Accident and

:24:27.:24:28.

Emergency departments. Last week, the Health Committee heard from the

:24:29.:24:31.

Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency about how those

:24:32.:24:34.

departments are staffed and just how much of the workload falls to junior

:24:35.:24:40.

doctors. I put the consultant in that amber

:24:41.:24:44.

colour so they are mainly around during the day. And then you get

:24:45.:24:48.

senior and junior trainees in the blue and green. A game, because of

:24:49.:24:54.

the dependence of the health service on junior doctors and trainees to

:24:55.:24:58.

provide out of hours cover, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week,

:24:59.:25:05.

the trainees disproportionately do more work out of

:25:06.:25:19.

the trainees disproportionately do undergone, they have and -- --

:25:20.:25:21.

attractive to recruit so it would be an advantage to an anaesthetist to

:25:22.:25:25.

have them coming or general care or general medicine or general

:25:26.:25:29.

practice. Even though they have gone through and emergency medicine

:25:30.:25:32.

training Corps programme, they will go off in another of directions,

:25:33.:25:36.

they will not stay in emergency medicine, and it is their choice to

:25:37.:25:41.

do so. Some will go overseas. We lose quite a few every year to go to

:25:42.:25:46.

Australia. That can be very attractive for the Australian

:25:47.:25:48.

government to have them come and work in Australia. If you look at

:25:49.:25:53.

emergency medicine staffing in Northern Ireland, I would put the

:25:54.:25:55.

staffing of all the training grades on this and you see that the

:25:56.:25:59.

greatest number of trainees actually working in emergency medicine come

:26:00.:26:07.

from the most junior group, the F2 groups. They are only going to be a

:26:08.:26:10.

full two months in emergency medicine. They are coming in raw out

:26:11.:26:15.

of foundation year one, they don't have any experience, they need to be

:26:16.:26:19.

very heavily supervised. They are not the type of people you want

:26:20.:26:21.

looking after you during the middle of the night as a sole

:26:22.:26:25.

practitioner. They are junior, they need to be supervised. You also have

:26:26.:26:31.

GB trainees will be working there. They need this experience to help

:26:32.:26:36.

them become general practitioners but again, whenever they are

:26:37.:26:39.

starting, they have never done emergency medicine before and they

:26:40.:26:43.

need to be supervised. The crisis in emergency medicine staffing is a

:26:44.:26:49.

problem across the UK, it is not unique to Northern Ireland. As a

:26:50.:26:52.

result, there has been an emergency medicine task force set up

:26:53.:26:58.

nationally within England, led by health education England, working

:26:59.:27:01.

with the College of emergency medicine and the Department of

:27:02.:27:05.

Health in England. They have looked at this to see how they can improve

:27:06.:27:09.

the recruitment and retention within emergency medicine, so that is

:27:10.:27:12.

partly about promoting emergency medicine as a career, trying to make

:27:13.:27:19.

it more attractive and trying to reduce any barriers or blockages

:27:20.:27:21.

that would prevent people from either entering or from staying in

:27:22.:27:25.

this specialty. Dr Keith Gardiner appearing before

:27:26.:27:28.

the Health Committee last week. And Martina Purdy is with me again.

:27:29.:27:31.

Health matters there Martina, and for

:27:32.:27:44.

Health matters there Martina, and week. Is he lying low? I think now

:27:45.:27:47.

he is enjoying the calm after the storm. His party seems to be fairly

:27:48.:27:52.

relaxed about his performance. He was giving interviews last Thursday

:27:53.:27:57.

and basically, the party is saying he has taken difficult decisions,

:27:58.:28:00.

some of these things are beyond his control, and when they hear the

:28:01.:28:05.

Unionist leader call for his resignation, they are accusing them

:28:06.:28:10.

of taking cheap political shots. The Health Minister will be appearing in

:28:11.:28:13.

the chamber tomorrow. The assembly is debating the final changes of the

:28:14.:28:19.

tobacco retailers built. That legislation is aimed at cracking

:28:20.:28:23.

down on retailers who still sell cigarettes to children under the age

:28:24.:28:27.

of eighteen and this continues to be a problem. More than two thousand

:28:28.:28:31.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS