17/06/2013 Stormont Today

Today with a difference. The most powerful man in the world comes to

Belfast and delivers a very clear message. Those who choose the path

of peace, I promise you the United States will support you every step

of the way. We will always be a wind at your back. The Agriculture

Minister is accused of turning her face away from fisheries. 50% of the

votes were tied up because they could not afford to leave a harbour

buildings that ironically people 's minds were focused on matters

political. Resident Obama made an early morning visit -- President

Obama made an early morning visit to Belfast.

We will have a flavour of what he said in a moment. First we are

joined by our medical reporter. How do you sum up the importance of what

was said today? It was one of those red letter days. It was a remarkable

day to see President Obama and Michelle Obama at the Waterfront

Hall. Also remarkable to see the G8 leaders gathering in Fermanagh. The

speech as the Waterfront Hall will be a speech that will be remembered

for a long time. The real trick is whether the soundbites turn into

action. Quite a few young people got to meet the President. That was the

whole focus of the speech. The majority of people there were young

students. That was the theme of President Obama's speech. It was a

classic political speech divided up into three areas. There was the

past, the present, and the future. When it came to the future he was

focusing on the students who were listening. It was an opportunity to

listen and an opportunity to shake the hand of the President. The focus

shifted to Fermanagh. There was a surprise twists to the tour. There

was something and scheduled. On this occasion David Cameron and President

Obama hadn't and scheduled stop at an integrated school. This is a

little trick of presidential visits. The Prime Minister travelled for 30

minutes in the limousine of President Obama. That was

interesting in itself. That is right and there are a number of key areas

on the G8 agenda. Jade, tax. -- trade.

We will hear more from you later in the programme. Here are some of the

highlights of what the President had to say in his speech at the

Waterfront Hall this morning will stop thank you. Please be seated.

Hello, Belfast. Hello, Northern Ireland. As our daughters pointed

out, I cause a big fuss whenever I go. Traffic and barricades and

police officers - it is all a big production. I am grateful to

everyone for accommodating us. We visited this island two years ago.

We were honoured to join tens of thousands of people in Dublin. We

went to a village where it turned out my great-great-grandfather was

born. We wanted to come here. Place of remarkable beauty history. Part

of items -- are part of Ireland which many people share an affinity

with. Perseverance, faith, the belief that we make our own

destiny. An unshakeable gene that if we work hard something better lies

around the bend. Our host disease are bound by blood and belief. --

hour this disease. Our futures are linked. That is why I have come to

Belfast today. To talk about the we can build together. Life is changing

throughout the North. There was a time people could not have imagined

Northern Ireland hosting a gathering of world leaders. Belfast is a

different city. Factories are rebuilt. Former industrial sites are

reborn. Families crowd into pubs. Students loans in cafes are each

other what is the crack. -- aspirin each other what is the crack.

It has been 15 years since the Good Friday Agreement. The people of this

island faltered in overwhelming numbers to CB and the scars of

finance and mistrust -- to say beyond the sky is of violence and

mistrust. Four years few conflicts in the world seems more intractable

than the one in northern Ireland. As someone who knows how politics can

encourage division, I admire the Northern Ireland executive for

making power-sharing work. That is not easy to do. It requires

compromise. It requires and saw a some pain from your own site. --

absorbing some pain. I commend their effort. Issues like segregated

schools and housing, lack of jobs and opportunity, symbols of history

that are a source of pride for some and a source of pain for others,

these are not tangential to peace, they are essential to it. Remember

what President Clinton said in Belfast. He said that a bomb was the

opening attack on peace. Whenever peace is attacked you must decide

how to respond, whether with Waverley, -- whether with bravery,

or whether you succumb to the worst instincts. Peace is harder than war.

It's constant fragility is part of its beauty. To those who choose the

path of peace I promise you the United States will support you every

step of the way. We will always be a wind at your back. As I said two

years ago I am convinced that this little island, its best days are yet

ahead. Good luck and God bless all the people of Northern Ireland.

was President Obama speaking this morning. I am now joined by Patrick

Corrigan and Professor Jon Kirton. Welcome to the programme. Patrick

Corrigan, you have not been entirely uncritical about the G8 in the

run-up to the summit. What did you make of what President Obama had to

say? It was a great speech. It was President Obama doing what he does

test, which is good great speeches. He addressed the issues in a broad

brush way. We would have liked tend to have been more specific. Dealing

with the past, putting in a bill of rights. But indeed he invited the

young people not to wait for the politicians. That is a message we

are happy to endorse. Professor Jon Kirton, here you are as a Canadian,

watching an American resident address an audience in Belfast.

thought it was up powerful speech. He was speaking from the heart, from

the soul, from first-hand experience. Until recently it would

have been illegal to cast a ballot. Even in the 1960s, 1970s. President

Obama recently said that no where is America more divided than on a

Sunday morning. He is saying that we are all in this together. He is

saying that what has been achieved in Northern Ireland is a message for

the United States. We were listening to what the President had to say.

You headed off to Fermanagh to take part in a protest. How did that go?

I have been very busy protesting over the last few days. We had a

message for President Obama will stop we had a message for President

Putin. We had an estate international activists. -- Amnesty

is what you study and you follow the G8 at its various meetings. What

about the real business that those eight leaders are doing at the

moment? What have you made of that? They are off to a good start. They

have got a lot of achievements in the bag. Today began with the

announcement of the formal launch of negotiations for free trade and the

big agreements between the EU and the United States. -- deeper

agreements. That will lead to prosperity for everybody in the

United Kingdom, Europe, United States and beyond. Might advance has

already come on tax fairness. There has been some on transparency. I

have no doubt we will seize on terrorism. The question is, I guess,

the prospect of tolerance in a future serial, where Christians

would be prosecuted. -- a future Syria, where Christians would be

prosecuted. You are concerned about that as well?

Putin has already armed Assad. Now it looks like the US could do

something similar. That is able to pay for more petrol on the flames in

Syria. -- that it petrol. Professor Jon Kirton and Patrick

Corrigan, thank you. The Agriculture Minister, Michelle O'Neill, had a

busy day today. She joined her Executive colleague, Arlene Foster,

to welcome the President and the First Lady when they touched down at

Belfast International Airport this morning. After the drama of that, it

was very much business as usual for the Minister when she responded to a

call for an aid package for fishermen whose earnings have been

reduced due to bad weather and EU catch regulations. The DUP's Paul

Frew, who also chairs the Agriculture Committee, proposed the

motion. It is significant that the fishermen

have been asking for meetings and assistance from the Minister. It

seems, from this side of the House, that the Minister has turned her

face away from fisheries. Our fishing industry has been in

decline for many years, and despite the efforts of our fishing ministry

and the Department, fisher men do feel let down. Our local fishing

communities, both out at sea and on the processing units on land, have

never injured such a lengthy struggle in order to survive. I hope

that the Minister will double, redouble her efforts to make sure

the decline is halted. 50% of the boats were tied up last

week because they could not afford to leave the harbour. I spoke to one

man who fished 524-hour days only to generate just over �500 from his

catch. From that he needs to pay himself, as well as his men, as well

as the mortgage on his trawler. Some boats can't leave the harbour

because they can't afford the fuel. I know the Minister earlier welcomed

the president of the United States to the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. I

listened to his speech and I was struck by 13 worded sentence that he

came out with. Those words were these. Hope is infectious. Is it too

much to ask that today in debate, the Minister in fact the fishing

fleet with hope? As I said last week, I don't believe

an eight passage for bad weather is justified at this time. -- and aid

passage. I'm happy to keep it under review.

I don't agree with her with regards to 20% of the profit making parade

lost. They are 50% down on their income. What is the difference

between your predecessor Minister implementing a financial aid package

in 2009 compared to now? The Hajj package in 2008 was in response to

particular circumstances at the time. The decision was based on

that. I have to be careful. I am in charge of public money. I am

accountable to the public accounts committee. What I am saying is that

while I acknowledge the difficulties that are there, I have taken

measures to address the industry, but that is as far as I can go at

this time. Based on my assessment, there is time for the industry to

make up a lot of the ground they have lost as a result of the

weather. The Agriculture Minister, Michelle

O'Neill, and the motion passed unopposed. Another motion carried

today was one brought forward by the Health Committee. It called for an

inquiry into services for women suffering from endometriosis. The

chair of the committee, Sue Ramsey, said the condition causes extreme

suffering to those affected but can take up to nine years to be

diagnosed. It behaves like cancer. Although the

tissue is not malignant, it is caused by the growth of normal --

abnormal tissues. Typically, it occurs outside the ovaries. It can

spread in the pelvis and bladder. Women who suffer from this

condition, from which they initially believe it to be period pain, women

can suffer chronic pelvic pain, pain with your rating and pain associated

with bowel movement. -- you relating. The disease not only

causes extreme pain, but if untreated it can lead to reduced

fertility, and indeed infertility. There is also a strong link with

depression. We need a hospital dedicated to women's needs which

goes much wider than maternity issues. Conditions such as this can

have a devastating impact on women's lives, on our sisters, our

daughters, our nieces and our friends.

The physical and social cost of this condition cannot be underestimated.

It causes women to have abscessed -- absences from work mental health

issues, and relationships can be negatively impacted. Women with this

disease may experience infertility problems conceiving, which in itself

brings on a raft of problems for them and their family.

The caseload in Belfast exceeds that which is necessary to receive

recognition of the treatment for the disease. It is disappointing, I

suppose, that, given that, there is no sign of any planning such a

centre even in the face of such demonstrable need. I noticed in a

recent assembly answer that the Health Minister indicated some 155

admissions in Northern Ireland in 2011-2012 work -- involved

endometriosis. I welcome this debate today.

The Department 30 look at this matter further -- the department

would prefer to look at this matter further. It views the needs of

sufferers is being attended to in primary care provision, so they do

not have a compelling case for integrated service.

The Health Minister, Edwin Poots. Meantime, Mr Poots says he has

written to everyone living in statutory residential homes to tell

them that the proposals to close the homes have been discontinued and a

new process will be put in place. The Minister was also asked about

the possibility of fluoridating the water supply in Northern Ireland

during today's Question Time. We set out a compelling case for

changes. It has been widely accepted in the sector and by the community

they serve. We need to do this in a transparent way. In terms of the

reasons debacle around residential care, could the Minister tell me if

the affected homes have been informed that they will not be asked

to move from their homes? Minister, I have corresponded with

every resident on an individual basis. I have explained that a new

process would be going into place and will be held up by the HSP B.

Can the Minister give an assurance that at the end of the information

station -- in fermentation, that there will be a section of

residential care which will be retained within the National Health

Service provision? What I went -- want is for our

elderly population to receive the best possible care. I would commend

what members to visit the facility that we opened in Downpatrick on

Thursday. You should speak, when you visit there, to the presidents, to

the care providers, that is, people employed by us, and speak to the

relatives. I would invite any member to visit such a facility and say

that my reason for that is wrong. If a proposal to fluoridate the water

is suggested, we will consult. I understand there are opinions. We

welcome the views of all interested parties. We have received

correspondence on it from people who think the Internet is the best

resource for scientific information. People do not recognise all of the

problems that exist in Northern Ireland and that we have some of the

-- worst standards in Europe for dental outcomes.

Edwin Poots. The work of the Housing Executive was under scrutiny in

questions to the Social Development Minister. While maintenance

contracts made headlines last week, today the focus was on energy

efficiency and the social housing development programme.

Given the encouragement that the US president gave this morning for more

integrated housing, can I ask the Minister how much of this housing

was oh -- of a mixed or shared nature?

Housing is allocated on the basis of need. In a particular area where it

will be allocated according to the needy in that area. I would not have

any details as to the precise breakdown of that.

Can the Minister detail whether these properties have ever been

prioritised within previous initiatives to improve their

performance? If not, does the Minister believe this may have been

an oversight? The word slide is inappropriate. It

is a major oversight. -- the works like. We have not had the full

report here. I have made enquiries about one particular a state, and

asked what work has been on that estimate over the years. -- estate.

As far as I can gather, on the information I have, it seems there

was no approach at all over the years to tackle this issue until I

raised it with the executive. Whether it is double glazing

installation or houses without cavity wall insulation, it confirms

that we put this issue right up there as a priority.

Good as it would be to make provision for these houses, can the

Minister say if he has been lobbied directly or indirectly by a party

colleague whose family have an interest in a company that just

happens to provide this external insulation?

The answer to that is in fact no. I was in fact of the view, personally,

and I speak as an amateur in these things, I thought the only thing you

could do with these houses was knock them down. I was convinced of that

until the chair of the housing site took me to look at houses in

Liverpool. When I saw what was done there, I was convinced, because not

only did you see a House that had been transformed in terms of energy

efficiency, but you saw a very attractive House that looked more

modern in style. The Social Development Minister,

Nelson McCausland. Our Political Reporter, Stephen Walker, is with me

again. The issue of speaking rights for the

new political party was raised in the chamber today. What happened?

This made headlines last week. Basil McCrea claimed the new party would

get lost -- less opportunity to speak. He raised the issue with one

of the Deputy speakers. He basically shut down the discussion and said

there would not be a discussion about it. I suspect this is not the

last we have heard of it. It was a quiet day. The G8 discussions

continue tomorrow. It was a quiet day. Proceedings hen -- ended at