:00:37. > :00:42.Today with a difference. The most powerful man in the world comes to
:00:42. > :00:45.Belfast and delivers a very clear message. Those who choose the path
:00:45. > :00:52.of peace, I promise you the United States will support you every step
:00:52. > :01:00.of the way. We will always be a wind at your back. The Agriculture
:01:00. > :01:04.Minister is accused of turning her face away from fisheries. 50% of the
:01:04. > :01:14.votes were tied up because they could not afford to leave a harbour
:01:14. > :01:22.
:01:22. > :01:30.buildings that ironically people 's minds were focused on matters
:01:30. > :01:37.political. Resident Obama made an early morning visit -- President
:01:37. > :01:42.Obama made an early morning visit to Belfast.
:01:42. > :01:45.We will have a flavour of what he said in a moment. First we are
:01:45. > :01:54.joined by our medical reporter. How do you sum up the importance of what
:01:54. > :01:59.was said today? It was one of those red letter days. It was a remarkable
:01:59. > :02:09.day to see President Obama and Michelle Obama at the Waterfront
:02:09. > :02:13.
:02:13. > :02:16.Hall. Also remarkable to see the G8 leaders gathering in Fermanagh. The
:02:16. > :02:22.speech as the Waterfront Hall will be a speech that will be remembered
:02:23. > :02:30.for a long time. The real trick is whether the soundbites turn into
:02:30. > :02:36.action. Quite a few young people got to meet the President. That was the
:02:36. > :02:45.whole focus of the speech. The majority of people there were young
:02:46. > :02:49.students. That was the theme of President Obama's speech. It was a
:02:49. > :02:54.classic political speech divided up into three areas. There was the
:02:54. > :03:04.past, the present, and the future. When it came to the future he was
:03:04. > :03:11.
:03:11. > :03:21.focusing on the students who were listening. It was an opportunity to
:03:21. > :03:21.
:03:21. > :03:30.listen and an opportunity to shake the hand of the President. The focus
:03:30. > :03:35.shifted to Fermanagh. There was a surprise twists to the tour. There
:03:35. > :03:45.was something and scheduled. On this occasion David Cameron and President
:03:45. > :03:49.
:03:49. > :03:58.Obama hadn't and scheduled stop at an integrated school. This is a
:03:58. > :04:02.little trick of presidential visits. The Prime Minister travelled for 30
:04:02. > :04:10.minutes in the limousine of President Obama. That was
:04:10. > :04:20.interesting in itself. That is right and there are a number of key areas
:04:20. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:27.on the G8 agenda. Jade, tax. -- trade.
:04:27. > :04:30.We will hear more from you later in the programme. Here are some of the
:04:30. > :04:38.highlights of what the President had to say in his speech at the
:04:38. > :04:48.Waterfront Hall this morning will stop thank you. Please be seated.
:04:48. > :04:50.
:04:50. > :04:57.Hello, Belfast. Hello, Northern Ireland. As our daughters pointed
:04:57. > :05:04.out, I cause a big fuss whenever I go. Traffic and barricades and
:05:05. > :05:12.police officers - it is all a big production. I am grateful to
:05:12. > :05:20.everyone for accommodating us. We visited this island two years ago.
:05:21. > :05:25.We were honoured to join tens of thousands of people in Dublin. We
:05:25. > :05:34.went to a village where it turned out my great-great-grandfather was
:05:34. > :05:43.born. We wanted to come here. Place of remarkable beauty history. Part
:05:43. > :05:53.of items -- are part of Ireland which many people share an affinity
:05:53. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :06:01.with. Perseverance, faith, the belief that we make our own
:06:01. > :06:10.destiny. An unshakeable gene that if we work hard something better lies
:06:11. > :06:20.around the bend. Our host disease are bound by blood and belief. --
:06:21. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:28.hour this disease. Our futures are linked. That is why I have come to
:06:28. > :06:35.Belfast today. To talk about the we can build together. Life is changing
:06:35. > :06:41.throughout the North. There was a time people could not have imagined
:06:41. > :06:47.Northern Ireland hosting a gathering of world leaders. Belfast is a
:06:47. > :06:57.different city. Factories are rebuilt. Former industrial sites are
:06:57. > :07:08.
:07:08. > :07:18.reborn. Families crowd into pubs. Students loans in cafes are each
:07:18. > :07:28.
:07:28. > :07:36.other what is the crack. -- aspirin each other what is the crack.
:07:36. > :07:41.It has been 15 years since the Good Friday Agreement. The people of this
:07:41. > :07:48.island faltered in overwhelming numbers to CB and the scars of
:07:48. > :07:58.finance and mistrust -- to say beyond the sky is of violence and
:07:58. > :08:08.mistrust. Four years few conflicts in the world seems more intractable
:08:08. > :08:10.
:08:10. > :08:14.than the one in northern Ireland. As someone who knows how politics can
:08:14. > :08:17.encourage division, I admire the Northern Ireland executive for
:08:18. > :08:27.making power-sharing work. That is not easy to do. It requires
:08:28. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:40.compromise. It requires and saw a some pain from your own site. --
:08:40. > :08:47.
:08:47. > :08:53.absorbing some pain. I commend their effort. Issues like segregated
:08:53. > :08:57.schools and housing, lack of jobs and opportunity, symbols of history
:08:57. > :09:07.that are a source of pride for some and a source of pain for others,
:09:07. > :09:11.
:09:11. > :09:21.these are not tangential to peace, they are essential to it. Remember
:09:21. > :09:28.
:09:28. > :09:34.what President Clinton said in Belfast. He said that a bomb was the
:09:34. > :09:42.opening attack on peace. Whenever peace is attacked you must decide
:09:42. > :09:52.how to respond, whether with Waverley, -- whether with bravery,
:09:52. > :10:03.
:10:03. > :10:09.or whether you succumb to the worst instincts. Peace is harder than war.
:10:09. > :10:12.It's constant fragility is part of its beauty. To those who choose the
:10:12. > :10:20.path of peace I promise you the United States will support you every
:10:20. > :10:30.step of the way. We will always be a wind at your back. As I said two
:10:30. > :10:39.years ago I am convinced that this little island, its best days are yet
:10:39. > :10:46.ahead. Good luck and God bless all the people of Northern Ireland.
:10:46. > :10:52.was President Obama speaking this morning. I am now joined by Patrick
:10:52. > :10:56.Corrigan and Professor Jon Kirton. Welcome to the programme. Patrick
:10:56. > :11:00.Corrigan, you have not been entirely uncritical about the G8 in the
:11:01. > :11:06.run-up to the summit. What did you make of what President Obama had to
:11:06. > :11:11.say? It was a great speech. It was President Obama doing what he does
:11:11. > :11:21.test, which is good great speeches. He addressed the issues in a broad
:11:21. > :11:21.
:11:22. > :11:30.brush way. We would have liked tend to have been more specific. Dealing
:11:30. > :11:34.with the past, putting in a bill of rights. But indeed he invited the
:11:34. > :11:40.young people not to wait for the politicians. That is a message we
:11:40. > :11:44.are happy to endorse. Professor Jon Kirton, here you are as a Canadian,
:11:44. > :11:50.watching an American resident address an audience in Belfast.
:11:50. > :12:00.thought it was up powerful speech. He was speaking from the heart, from
:12:00. > :12:04.
:12:04. > :12:14.the soul, from first-hand experience. Until recently it would
:12:14. > :12:30.
:12:30. > :12:35.have been illegal to cast a ballot. Even in the 1960s, 1970s. President
:12:35. > :12:45.Obama recently said that no where is America more divided than on a
:12:45. > :12:47.
:12:47. > :12:50.Sunday morning. He is saying that we are all in this together. He is
:12:50. > :12:56.saying that what has been achieved in Northern Ireland is a message for
:12:56. > :13:02.the United States. We were listening to what the President had to say.
:13:02. > :13:09.You headed off to Fermanagh to take part in a protest. How did that go?
:13:09. > :13:15.I have been very busy protesting over the last few days. We had a
:13:15. > :13:25.message for President Obama will stop we had a message for President
:13:25. > :13:28.
:13:28. > :13:38.Putin. We had an estate international activists. -- Amnesty
:13:38. > :13:51.
:13:51. > :13:57.is what you study and you follow the G8 at its various meetings. What
:13:57. > :14:05.about the real business that those eight leaders are doing at the
:14:05. > :14:10.moment? What have you made of that? They are off to a good start. They
:14:10. > :14:16.have got a lot of achievements in the bag. Today began with the
:14:16. > :14:22.announcement of the formal launch of negotiations for free trade and the
:14:22. > :14:28.big agreements between the EU and the United States. -- deeper
:14:28. > :14:34.agreements. That will lead to prosperity for everybody in the
:14:34. > :14:42.United Kingdom, Europe, United States and beyond. Might advance has
:14:42. > :14:50.already come on tax fairness. There has been some on transparency. I
:14:50. > :14:56.have no doubt we will seize on terrorism. The question is, I guess,
:14:56. > :15:03.the prospect of tolerance in a future serial, where Christians
:15:03. > :15:10.would be prosecuted. -- a future Syria, where Christians would be
:15:10. > :15:18.prosecuted. You are concerned about that as well?
:15:18. > :15:22.Putin has already armed Assad. Now it looks like the US could do
:15:22. > :15:31.something similar. That is able to pay for more petrol on the flames in
:15:31. > :15:34.Syria. -- that it petrol. Professor Jon Kirton and Patrick
:15:34. > :15:36.Corrigan, thank you. The Agriculture Minister, Michelle O'Neill, had a
:15:36. > :15:39.busy day today. She joined her Executive colleague, Arlene Foster,
:15:39. > :15:42.to welcome the President and the First Lady when they touched down at
:15:42. > :15:46.Belfast International Airport this morning. After the drama of that, it
:15:46. > :15:48.was very much business as usual for the Minister when she responded to a
:15:48. > :15:51.call for an aid package for fishermen whose earnings have been
:15:51. > :15:53.reduced due to bad weather and EU catch regulations. The DUP's Paul
:15:53. > :15:59.Frew, who also chairs the Agriculture Committee, proposed the
:15:59. > :16:06.motion. It is significant that the fishermen
:16:06. > :16:10.have been asking for meetings and assistance from the Minister. It
:16:10. > :16:16.seems, from this side of the House, that the Minister has turned her
:16:16. > :16:20.face away from fisheries. Our fishing industry has been in
:16:20. > :16:28.decline for many years, and despite the efforts of our fishing ministry
:16:28. > :16:33.and the Department, fisher men do feel let down. Our local fishing
:16:33. > :16:37.communities, both out at sea and on the processing units on land, have
:16:37. > :16:44.never injured such a lengthy struggle in order to survive. I hope
:16:44. > :16:52.that the Minister will double, redouble her efforts to make sure
:16:52. > :16:55.the decline is halted. 50% of the boats were tied up last
:16:55. > :17:01.week because they could not afford to leave the harbour. I spoke to one
:17:01. > :17:10.man who fished 524-hour days only to generate just over �500 from his
:17:10. > :17:15.catch. From that he needs to pay himself, as well as his men, as well
:17:15. > :17:21.as the mortgage on his trawler. Some boats can't leave the harbour
:17:21. > :17:25.because they can't afford the fuel. I know the Minister earlier welcomed
:17:25. > :17:30.the president of the United States to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. I
:17:31. > :17:37.listened to his speech and I was struck by 13 worded sentence that he
:17:37. > :17:43.came out with. Those words were these. Hope is infectious. Is it too
:17:43. > :17:53.much to ask that today in debate, the Minister in fact the fishing
:17:53. > :17:54.
:17:54. > :17:58.fleet with hope? As I said last week, I don't believe
:17:58. > :18:08.an eight passage for bad weather is justified at this time. -- and aid
:18:08. > :18:08.
:18:08. > :18:15.passage. I'm happy to keep it under review.
:18:15. > :18:22.I don't agree with her with regards to 20% of the profit making parade
:18:22. > :18:28.lost. They are 50% down on their income. What is the difference
:18:28. > :18:35.between your predecessor Minister implementing a financial aid package
:18:35. > :18:37.in 2009 compared to now? The Hajj package in 2008 was in response to
:18:37. > :18:45.particular circumstances at the time. The decision was based on
:18:45. > :18:50.that. I have to be careful. I am in charge of public money. I am
:18:50. > :18:55.accountable to the public accounts committee. What I am saying is that
:18:55. > :18:59.while I acknowledge the difficulties that are there, I have taken
:18:59. > :19:03.measures to address the industry, but that is as far as I can go at
:19:03. > :19:06.this time. Based on my assessment, there is time for the industry to
:19:06. > :19:09.make up a lot of the ground they have lost as a result of the
:19:09. > :19:11.weather. The Agriculture Minister, Michelle
:19:11. > :19:14.O'Neill, and the motion passed unopposed. Another motion carried
:19:14. > :19:17.today was one brought forward by the Health Committee. It called for an
:19:17. > :19:19.inquiry into services for women suffering from endometriosis. The
:19:19. > :19:23.chair of the committee, Sue Ramsey, said the condition causes extreme
:19:23. > :19:32.suffering to those affected but can take up to nine years to be
:19:32. > :19:37.diagnosed. It behaves like cancer. Although the
:19:37. > :19:47.tissue is not malignant, it is caused by the growth of normal --
:19:47. > :19:52.abnormal tissues. Typically, it occurs outside the ovaries. It can
:19:52. > :20:02.spread in the pelvis and bladder. Women who suffer from this
:20:02. > :20:06.condition, from which they initially believe it to be period pain, women
:20:06. > :20:14.can suffer chronic pelvic pain, pain with your rating and pain associated
:20:14. > :20:20.with bowel movement. -- you relating. The disease not only
:20:20. > :20:26.causes extreme pain, but if untreated it can lead to reduced
:20:26. > :20:30.fertility, and indeed infertility. There is also a strong link with
:20:30. > :20:37.depression. We need a hospital dedicated to women's needs which
:20:37. > :20:43.goes much wider than maternity issues. Conditions such as this can
:20:43. > :20:46.have a devastating impact on women's lives, on our sisters, our
:20:46. > :20:50.daughters, our nieces and our friends.
:20:50. > :20:56.The physical and social cost of this condition cannot be underestimated.
:20:56. > :21:03.It causes women to have abscessed -- absences from work mental health
:21:03. > :21:07.issues, and relationships can be negatively impacted. Women with this
:21:07. > :21:10.disease may experience infertility problems conceiving, which in itself
:21:10. > :21:19.brings on a raft of problems for them and their family.
:21:19. > :21:24.The caseload in Belfast exceeds that which is necessary to receive
:21:24. > :21:28.recognition of the treatment for the disease. It is disappointing, I
:21:28. > :21:36.suppose, that, given that, there is no sign of any planning such a
:21:36. > :21:43.centre even in the face of such demonstrable need. I noticed in a
:21:43. > :21:51.recent assembly answer that the Health Minister indicated some 155
:21:51. > :21:58.admissions in Northern Ireland in 2011-2012 work -- involved
:21:58. > :22:05.endometriosis. I welcome this debate today.
:22:05. > :22:12.The Department 30 look at this matter further -- the department
:22:12. > :22:21.would prefer to look at this matter further. It views the needs of
:22:21. > :22:28.sufferers is being attended to in primary care provision, so they do
:22:28. > :22:31.not have a compelling case for integrated service.
:22:31. > :22:33.The Health Minister, Edwin Poots. Meantime, Mr Poots says he has
:22:33. > :22:36.written to everyone living in statutory residential homes to tell
:22:36. > :22:40.them that the proposals to close the homes have been discontinued and a
:22:40. > :22:42.new process will be put in place. The Minister was also asked about
:22:42. > :22:50.the possibility of fluoridating the water supply in Northern Ireland
:22:50. > :22:57.during today's Question Time. We set out a compelling case for
:22:57. > :23:07.changes. It has been widely accepted in the sector and by the community
:23:07. > :23:08.
:23:08. > :23:14.they serve. We need to do this in a transparent way. In terms of the
:23:14. > :23:17.reasons debacle around residential care, could the Minister tell me if
:23:17. > :23:22.the affected homes have been informed that they will not be asked
:23:22. > :23:29.to move from their homes? Minister, I have corresponded with
:23:29. > :23:38.every resident on an individual basis. I have explained that a new
:23:38. > :23:45.process would be going into place and will be held up by the HSP B.
:23:45. > :23:49.Can the Minister give an assurance that at the end of the information
:23:49. > :23:55.station -- in fermentation, that there will be a section of
:23:55. > :23:59.residential care which will be retained within the National Health
:23:59. > :24:05.Service provision? What I went -- want is for our
:24:05. > :24:11.elderly population to receive the best possible care. I would commend
:24:12. > :24:19.what members to visit the facility that we opened in Downpatrick on
:24:19. > :24:27.Thursday. You should speak, when you visit there, to the presidents, to
:24:27. > :24:33.the care providers, that is, people employed by us, and speak to the
:24:33. > :24:42.relatives. I would invite any member to visit such a facility and say
:24:42. > :24:52.that my reason for that is wrong. If a proposal to fluoridate the water
:24:52. > :24:56.
:24:56. > :25:01.is suggested, we will consult. I understand there are opinions. We
:25:01. > :25:06.welcome the views of all interested parties. We have received
:25:06. > :25:12.correspondence on it from people who think the Internet is the best
:25:12. > :25:16.resource for scientific information. People do not recognise all of the
:25:16. > :25:23.problems that exist in Northern Ireland and that we have some of the
:25:23. > :25:26.-- worst standards in Europe for dental outcomes.
:25:26. > :25:28.Edwin Poots. The work of the Housing Executive was under scrutiny in
:25:28. > :25:31.questions to the Social Development Minister. While maintenance
:25:31. > :25:39.contracts made headlines last week, today the focus was on energy
:25:39. > :25:42.efficiency and the social housing development programme.
:25:42. > :25:48.Given the encouragement that the US president gave this morning for more
:25:48. > :25:53.integrated housing, can I ask the Minister how much of this housing
:25:53. > :25:59.was oh -- of a mixed or shared nature?
:25:59. > :26:05.Housing is allocated on the basis of need. In a particular area where it
:26:05. > :26:09.will be allocated according to the needy in that area. I would not have
:26:09. > :26:12.any details as to the precise breakdown of that.
:26:12. > :26:17.Can the Minister detail whether these properties have ever been
:26:17. > :26:20.prioritised within previous initiatives to improve their
:26:20. > :26:25.performance? If not, does the Minister believe this may have been
:26:25. > :26:31.an oversight? The word slide is inappropriate. It
:26:31. > :26:36.is a major oversight. -- the works like. We have not had the full
:26:36. > :26:46.report here. I have made enquiries about one particular a state, and
:26:46. > :26:48.
:26:48. > :26:52.asked what work has been on that estimate over the years. -- estate.
:26:52. > :26:58.As far as I can gather, on the information I have, it seems there
:26:58. > :27:06.was no approach at all over the years to tackle this issue until I
:27:06. > :27:10.raised it with the executive. Whether it is double glazing
:27:10. > :27:15.installation or houses without cavity wall insulation, it confirms
:27:15. > :27:18.that we put this issue right up there as a priority.
:27:18. > :27:23.Good as it would be to make provision for these houses, can the
:27:23. > :27:30.Minister say if he has been lobbied directly or indirectly by a party
:27:30. > :27:35.colleague whose family have an interest in a company that just
:27:35. > :27:41.happens to provide this external insulation?
:27:41. > :27:47.The answer to that is in fact no. I was in fact of the view, personally,
:27:47. > :27:52.and I speak as an amateur in these things, I thought the only thing you
:27:52. > :27:56.could do with these houses was knock them down. I was convinced of that
:27:56. > :28:00.until the chair of the housing site took me to look at houses in
:28:00. > :28:04.Liverpool. When I saw what was done there, I was convinced, because not
:28:04. > :28:10.only did you see a House that had been transformed in terms of energy
:28:10. > :28:14.efficiency, but you saw a very attractive House that looked more
:28:14. > :28:16.modern in style. The Social Development Minister,
:28:16. > :28:22.Nelson McCausland. Our Political Reporter, Stephen Walker, is with me
:28:22. > :28:26.again. The issue of speaking rights for the
:28:26. > :28:32.new political party was raised in the chamber today. What happened?
:28:32. > :28:39.This made headlines last week. Basil McCrea claimed the new party would
:28:39. > :28:42.get lost -- less opportunity to speak. He raised the issue with one
:28:42. > :28:46.of the Deputy speakers. He basically shut down the discussion and said
:28:46. > :28:51.there would not be a discussion about it. I suspect this is not the
:28:51. > :28:58.last we have heard of it. It was a quiet day. The G8 discussions
:28:58. > :29:03.continue tomorrow. It was a quiet day. Proceedings hen -- ended at