:00:22. > :00:25.One week into the job and the new First Minister
:00:26. > :00:27.had her first formal outing answering questions on behalf
:00:28. > :00:35.Arlene Foster used the appearance to seek to clarify her position over
:00:36. > :00:41.the forthcoming Easter Rising commemorations in Dublin.
:00:42. > :00:48.Whilst I will not be attending the official commemorations are any
:00:49. > :00:52.other commemorations in relation to what happened in Dublin in Easter
:00:53. > :00:53.1916, I will of course reflect on everything else that took place that
:00:54. > :00:54.year. Meanwhile Mervyn Storey received
:00:55. > :00:57.a warm welcome from a constituency colleague on his first day
:00:58. > :01:05.in the chamber as Finance Minister. I am sure he will bring that
:01:06. > :01:10.well-known North Antrim quality of financial prudence to the post,
:01:11. > :01:12.except when it comes to considering projects from North Antrim itself!
:01:13. > :01:14.And joining me with his perspective on today's proceedings
:01:15. > :01:18.is our political correspondent, Stephen Walker.
:01:19. > :01:22.After all the hoopla of last week, it was down to business in the top
:01:23. > :01:25.The new First Minister was facing her first Question Time
:01:26. > :01:28.in office, though she's plenty of experience at the dispatch box
:01:29. > :01:34.from her previous Executive roles, of course.
:01:35. > :01:37.Mrs Foster was asked to clarify her comments on attending
:01:38. > :01:39.a commemoration of the 1916 Easter Rising, but firstly
:01:40. > :01:44.there was a question about funding for victims' groups.
:01:45. > :01:52.The funding for 2015/16 in the current budget year has been
:01:53. > :01:57.increased with over provided to support the victims
:01:58. > :02:08.sector. provided to support the victims
:02:09. > :02:13.victims. I have fought to protect victims issues and budgets and I
:02:14. > :02:17.will continue to do that within this department. I believe it is
:02:18. > :02:23.something we will be proactive in certainly in the coming year and
:02:24. > :02:28.years to come. Funding for victims and survivors will continue to be a
:02:29. > :02:33.priority for the new executive office if I am returned as First
:02:34. > :02:36.Minister. Could I ask how disappointed she is that the fresh
:02:37. > :02:43.start deal failed to deliver a comments of framework on legacy
:02:44. > :02:50.issues for survivors in Northern Ireland? I think many of us,
:02:51. > :02:55.probably all of us were disappointed that we were not able to have an
:02:56. > :03:02.agreement in relation to the legacy issues. Great work has been carried
:03:03. > :03:07.out. We were close to having a conference of agreement and that is
:03:08. > :03:12.why it is important to continue to engage with our own government and
:03:13. > :03:18.the Government of the Republic of Ireland and with the victims sector
:03:19. > :03:23.as well. But we must be honest and open about the chances of doing that
:03:24. > :03:28.at a particular time and I have been asked if I think this will be sorted
:03:29. > :03:35.before our next election and I must be honest and I think it is not
:03:36. > :03:40.going to happen before the next election because there is an
:03:41. > :03:46.election in the Republic abound and we have an election in May and I
:03:47. > :03:50.don't think -- the Republic of Ireland, and we have an election in
:03:51. > :03:59.May and I don't think we will be able to deal with the issues. Will
:04:00. > :04:07.there be tangible benefits for victims? I share his concern that
:04:08. > :04:14.there are some engaged in trying to write a particular narrative about
:04:15. > :04:23.what happened here and across the island over the past 30 or 40 years.
:04:24. > :04:29.Some are trying to rewrite what happened in 1916, so we shouldn't be
:04:30. > :04:33.surprised. But I will resist any attempts to rewrite what happened in
:04:34. > :04:46.the past. With the First Minister clarify her position? Which she
:04:47. > :04:51.agreed to attend commemorations for -- or events surrounding the
:04:52. > :04:56.commemoration of the Easter Rising in Dublin or elsewhere? I thanked
:04:57. > :05:03.him for his kind comments in relation to my appointment to this
:05:04. > :05:08.office. I wish him well in his retirement from office. He served
:05:09. > :05:16.their constituents of north Belfast for a long time and I wish him well
:05:17. > :05:21.in retirement. In terms of the issues surrounding Easter 1916, I
:05:22. > :05:28.was asked a very specific question by a journalist as to whether I
:05:29. > :05:31.would attend the commemorations in Dublin for that event and I
:05:32. > :05:37.indicated that I would not and that is still my position. I have since
:05:38. > :05:45.indicated on a wider perspective that I am very aware that the events
:05:46. > :05:52.that happened in Dublin in Easter 1916 were part of a wider context of
:05:53. > :05:57.what was going on in these islands at that time, and further afield,
:05:58. > :06:02.and I am more than content, in fact I am looking forward to attending
:06:03. > :06:11.lectures, symposiums, discussions in and around the year of 1916 and the
:06:12. > :06:15.context of what was going on. Whilst I won't be attending official
:06:16. > :06:21.commemorations or any other commemorations in relation to what
:06:22. > :06:22.happened in Dublin in Easter 1916, I will reflect on everything else that
:06:23. > :06:24.took place that year. And I think it's now pretty clear
:06:25. > :06:28.what the First Minister will and will not do
:06:29. > :06:36.in connection with 1916? Yes, it is very clear and it was
:06:37. > :06:41.very clear from what we heard in the Assembly today. She is happy to take
:06:42. > :06:46.part in a conference or symposium but she will not take part in an
:06:47. > :06:52.official commemoration for the 1916 Easter Rising. She made that clear
:06:53. > :06:57.in the interview with the impartial reporter and the interview with you
:06:58. > :07:02.last week. She understands the importance of the Easter Rising, the
:07:03. > :07:03.importance to many people, but she will not take part officially in any
:07:04. > :07:04.commemoration. And staying with the past,
:07:05. > :07:06.not surprisingly the issue of victims and the legacy
:07:07. > :07:23.of the past cropped up Yes, this whole legacy of the
:07:24. > :07:28.troubles -- Troubles haunts our politics. Arlene Foster was
:07:29. > :07:36.disappointed there was not an agreement about the legacy in the
:07:37. > :07:40.fresh start... And we are looking to the end of March and then you have
:07:41. > :07:44.the Assembly elections in May so there's very little time so there is
:07:45. > :07:53.a general consensus that it will be very difficult to make progress in
:07:54. > :07:55.the weeks are left. Quite an important day.
:07:56. > :07:57.So what was the general verdict on Mrs Foster's first
:07:58. > :08:07.It was a good performance, sure-footed. Arlene Foster is no
:08:08. > :08:12.stranger to the Assembly or the dispatch box. She was economy
:08:13. > :08:17.minister, Finance Minister, she stood in for Peter Robinson before.
:08:18. > :08:21.I think she would have predicted the questions and been well briefed and
:08:22. > :08:21.people generally regard it as a good debut.
:08:22. > :08:23.And news of an interesting example of the First
:08:24. > :08:25.and Deputy First Ministers working together?
:08:26. > :08:36.They went to the king span stadium, about Ireland's bid to host the
:08:37. > :08:40.Rugby World Cup. We saw Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness working
:08:41. > :08:44.together. Really they both understand the importance of key
:08:45. > :08:47.sporting events and they want to bring the Rugby World Cup to
:08:48. > :08:54.Northern Ireland cos they know there will be an enormous economic and
:08:55. > :08:58.social spin off, and political. She looked happy to get her picture with
:08:59. > :09:06.Brian O'Driscoll. Yes. There was quite a buzz about the players but
:09:07. > :09:10.clearly both the Deputy First Minister and First Minister wants to
:09:11. > :09:17.win this bid. We don't know whether Martin McGuinness converted the
:09:18. > :09:20.penalty. We don't know if he got it over the bar. Maybe we will find out
:09:21. > :09:23.eventually. Jobs, how many are being created
:09:24. > :09:25.and where, dominated questions to the Enterprise, Trade
:09:26. > :09:38.and Investment Minister, I think the first thing we want to
:09:39. > :09:46.do is to ensure we get the jobs to Northern Ireland. That must be our
:09:47. > :09:54.priority. We will always target and showcase particular areas for the
:09:55. > :09:58.unique skills that might be there because of the cluster of areas that
:09:59. > :10:03.are there, and working with councils. We have asked them to look
:10:04. > :10:09.at their unique selling points for articular areas. We have asked
:10:10. > :10:23.Invest Northern Ireland to look at Northern Ireland as a whole. During
:10:24. > :10:33.2011-2012 to 2014-15, there were 27,150 jobs. During the same period,
:10:34. > :10:43.businesses created 20,451 jobs. During the same period with Invest
:10:44. > :10:54.Northern Ireland support, businesses created 9000 plus jobs. It is Invest
:10:55. > :10:59.Northern Ireland's wrote to support those companies that bring forward
:11:00. > :11:05.investment projects based on merit, irrespective of where they were
:11:06. > :11:09.based. I am alarmed that for every job created west of the river, there
:11:10. > :11:23.are three comparable ones on the East. Does he accept areas west of
:11:24. > :11:29.the river merit more focus? Can he say when the subgroup intends to
:11:30. > :11:39.meet to discuss the issues that present themselves in Fermanagh and
:11:40. > :11:46.County Tyrone? We have been looking at what we can do. It is important
:11:47. > :11:51.to note that in terms of working alongside Fermanagh and South Tyrone
:11:52. > :11:56.in terms of the regional start initiative to produce a business
:11:57. > :12:06.plan as one of the key early steps to a new business. By November 2015
:12:07. > :12:15.the western regional contract of RSI had delivered 2251 business plan
:12:16. > :12:21.approvals. Manufacturing is hugely important to the Northern Ireland
:12:22. > :12:25.economy. It makes a significant contribution to export levels and
:12:26. > :12:32.research and development in Northern Ireland, both of which are essential
:12:33. > :12:36.to wealth creation. According to the latest economic commentary, in
:12:37. > :12:43.October 2015, manufacturing has continued to post strong growth with
:12:44. > :12:57.output up 3.2% over the past four quarters. In terms of jobs, the
:12:58. > :13:02.sector added 1870 jobs over the past year, which brings the total of
:13:03. > :13:11.manufacturing jobs to more than 80,000, and having taken
:13:12. > :13:17.manufacturing to more than 80,000 jobs, it is the first time we have
:13:18. > :13:22.achieved that since 2008. However there have been a number of major
:13:23. > :13:28.redundancies announced. There was no room for complacency. My department
:13:29. > :13:31.and Invest Northern Ireland will continue to support investment to
:13:32. > :13:32.create jobs and promote competitiveness in the manufacturing
:13:33. > :13:35.sector. Jonathan Bell on the challenge
:13:36. > :13:37.of securing existing jobs Mervyn Storey has been
:13:38. > :13:41.in the Finance role for less than a week, but today he brought
:13:42. > :13:44.to the Assembly floor a bill that Members debated the Consideration
:13:45. > :13:48.Stage of the Legal Complaints and Regulation Bill which contains
:13:49. > :13:50.a proposal to create a Legal Services Oversight
:13:51. > :13:52.Commissioner, who would deal with complaints made against members
:13:53. > :14:06.of the legal profession. Yell and deputy leader, this bill
:14:07. > :14:10.provides for a new process for lawyers and enhanced oversight of
:14:11. > :14:16.the regulation which I believe will age concern was bringing confidence
:14:17. > :14:19.for users of legal services and added transparency. Northern Ireland
:14:20. > :14:26.has high surprisingly low level of them plays. I am sure that this and
:14:27. > :14:32.the legal services review group, which did a ten month study of this
:14:33. > :14:35.issue, found that it is mainly due to good service provided by
:14:36. > :14:42.professionals in this area. A number of consultees identified that there
:14:43. > :14:48.could be a danger that the recorded numbers of complaints, those
:14:49. > :14:51.complaints which are made to the society could potentially mask a
:14:52. > :14:58.higher number made to individual practices. This, as noted, is more
:14:59. > :15:03.accurate in association to solicitors who, in terms of
:15:04. > :15:09.regulations made by new society, have you set out an individual
:15:10. > :15:15.complaints handling process to the clients. When looking to work in
:15:16. > :15:18.this area, I doubt they would of thought that almost a decade would
:15:19. > :15:24.pass before they would be discussing it here. It has been a long journey
:15:25. > :15:32.but today's debate has taken us closer to the aim of seeing a better
:15:33. > :15:36.system in place. I started today by congratulating the Minister on his
:15:37. > :15:42.appointment and I'm sure it will bring that great quality of
:15:43. > :15:49.financial prudence to the role as well. Especially considering his
:15:50. > :15:53.role itself. It's good to me has been to capture information on the
:15:54. > :16:01.conflict against solicitors, which are made and referred to as the
:16:02. > :16:07.first cheer. They need to do this -- tier. This neatly presented any
:16:08. > :16:14.figures published to date. Currently, they only face this from
:16:15. > :16:21.the Observer and the nature of complaints. There are no powers to
:16:22. > :16:26.investigate. It is not subject to any statuary over site. This would
:16:27. > :16:35.require to number of complaints made against barristers. It has been
:16:36. > :16:38.acknowledged that there has been an ace attract increasing the number of
:16:39. > :16:43.complaints. This has resulted in better awareness of the complaints
:16:44. > :16:46.process, rather than a deterioration of standards. Arising from the
:16:47. > :16:53.evidence received, a number of other stakeholders raised issues regarding
:16:54. > :16:58.the figures surrounding solicitors. The Law Centre pointed out that
:16:59. > :17:07.there is no critical evidence and that one of the complaint is due to
:17:08. > :17:14.lack of satisfaction, or a lack of faith -- some of the complaints. I
:17:15. > :17:20.am always quick to say that, when a constituent come through the door,
:17:21. > :17:25.that a complaint is outside the remit. I am glad to say it is
:17:26. > :17:28.outside the remit of the daily work. Nonetheless, I think it is important
:17:29. > :17:32.that we do is beat your constituents regarding some of the complaints
:17:33. > :17:37.they have and how we deal with them in the process. It is good to be
:17:38. > :17:41.able to say that there is a complaints process to go through and
:17:42. > :17:45.that I believe, certainly through this process, that this bill will
:17:46. > :17:50.ring the necessary clarification and transparency invalidity -- dealing
:17:51. > :17:56.with them. You'll like this is a local bill. It is a local solution.
:17:57. > :18:03.Regarding local conditions. That is the important thing. It has been
:18:04. > :18:09.tailor-made to Northern Ireland and I think Professor Bain and his
:18:10. > :18:19.colleagues, when introduced this, they did not, as it were, this
:18:20. > :18:23.regard the provisions in Britain. The Prime Minister himself regarded
:18:24. > :18:30.to the fact that, in 2006, by a legal services review group chaired
:18:31. > :18:35.by George Bain, the then Minister of Finance and personnel, David Hanson,
:18:36. > :18:40.an end even some of you may remember, the report has been
:18:41. > :18:45.considered by being in subsequent. It has been around for quite a long
:18:46. > :18:50.time. Members referred to the fact that this is not a branch reform but
:18:51. > :18:53.it will bring significant change to the system and will establish a new
:18:54. > :19:01.position of legal services over said Commissioner. The Alliance party has
:19:02. > :19:06.committed having a strong service to the public and holding ourselves
:19:07. > :19:10.accountable. I think this bill goes a long way to achieving that.
:19:11. > :19:12.And the Legal Complaints and Regulation Bill went
:19:13. > :19:16.The Education Minister reported to the Assembly today on the most
:19:17. > :19:18.recent meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council,
:19:19. > :19:21.and John O'Dowd was keen to point out that the level of cross border
:19:22. > :19:23.co-operation in education is increasing.
:19:24. > :19:26.But the Minister still had to answer some testing questions on teachers
:19:27. > :19:32.moving jobs across the border and educational under-achievement.
:19:33. > :19:40.The council welcomed the ongoing cooperation in both due restrictions
:19:41. > :19:46.on matters to reduce obstacles to teachers. This includes the waving
:19:47. > :19:56.of faith to teachers, credited by the National teaching Council. It
:19:57. > :20:05.also agrees teaching application. It requires teachers to provide a
:20:06. > :20:09.quality. This includes the impact of the structure of the postgraduate
:20:10. > :20:21.certificate and that a European directive 2005,. DVD double report
:20:22. > :20:26.was I could not be better to revisit the report on the series of
:20:27. > :20:30.recommendations that have been already put in place in 1998 new
:20:31. > :20:42.Morrissey and literacy? It is something we need to draw on. Can I
:20:43. > :20:47.ask -- numerically and literacy. I am not in favour of carrying out
:20:48. > :20:53.studies for the sake of it. I think in terms of examining best practice
:20:54. > :20:56.on both sides of the border, and tackling educational achievement, it
:20:57. > :21:01.is worth money and worthwhile doing. I have studied numerous reports. I
:21:02. > :21:09.have studied the most recent report in relation to education and
:21:10. > :21:14.underachievement, we need to tackle it. We need to tackle it head on
:21:15. > :21:18.every serious about tackling educational underachievement. The
:21:19. > :21:22.cost of the review to each department and the jurisdiction is a
:21:23. > :21:37.?40,000. I think it is ?40,000 spent. Sorry, just to clarify, that
:21:38. > :21:40.is ?40,000. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I know the First Minister has properly
:21:41. > :21:43.had enough questions and is of cross-border arrangements. They
:21:44. > :21:49.didn't see that the dangers from the north can now apply for teaching
:21:50. > :21:55.posts in the south but it doesn't say how successful they are. --
:21:56. > :22:03.teachers. Is there anything to say that teachers are actually getting
:22:04. > :22:06.these jobs? I do not have those figures at hand. There they are a
:22:07. > :22:11.will, I am more than happy to share them. There have been buyers in the
:22:12. > :22:19.past digital from idle jurisdiction travelling. I have worked for a
:22:20. > :22:22.number of years to try and remove them. It has been frustratingly slow
:22:23. > :22:25.but we have seen progress in the last number of months. I am more
:22:26. > :22:30.than happy to investigate the numbers further and if there are
:22:31. > :22:33.figures are available and those of the number of teachers applying
:22:34. > :22:34.proposed in the south and the number of teachers who are successful, I am
:22:35. > :22:37.more than happy to share them. We had around 50 uniformed
:22:38. > :22:40.guests at Stormont today. MLAs were keen to have their
:22:41. > :22:43.pictures taken with members of the Northern Ireland Fire
:22:44. > :22:44.and Rescue Service The firefighters were here
:22:45. > :22:49.to protest about cuts And the MLAs also backed
:22:50. > :22:54.the firefighters in the chamber, voting to pass a motion calling
:22:55. > :23:06.on the Health Minister Sitting here today, we can have very
:23:07. > :23:10.little comprehension of the scenes of which these brave men and women
:23:11. > :23:18.are faced with in the course of their duties. Many lives in the
:23:19. > :23:22.communities ourselves by them. It is difficult to put into words the
:23:23. > :23:26.emotions they must go through in the course of those duties. They are
:23:27. > :23:31.very clear in your priorities and that is saving lives. Their message
:23:32. > :23:34.to me on numerous occasions as being that they have already been working
:23:35. > :23:41.hard to deliver efficiencies in recent years. These should be
:23:42. > :23:46.agreed, not forced. Firefighters you responded to a total of nearly
:23:47. > :23:53.23,000 emergency incidents across Northern Ireland, that is including
:23:54. > :24:06.traffic collisions, recipes, flooding and we have all witnessed
:24:07. > :24:11.that. -- rescues. Firefighters are there when the public's lives are
:24:12. > :24:17.put on your line. We must never compromise public safety. Any
:24:18. > :24:24.savings should be prioritised while minimising the impact on the
:24:25. > :24:29.public's safety. This is something that has been outlined for some
:24:30. > :24:33.considerable time. Any changes have always been said they would be risky
:24:34. > :24:42.asset to ensure the continued safety of both the public and firefighters.
:24:43. > :24:49.Risk assessed. Your mac they are very clear on the effect of the cuts
:24:50. > :24:52.we are having. -- they are very clear on the effect of the country
:24:53. > :24:59.are having. It has been very difficult in this financial year.
:25:00. > :25:06.The figures clearly demonstrate that firefighting is a cost effective
:25:07. > :25:09.service. What we have are some of the bravest and most courageous
:25:10. > :25:13.people who put their lives on your line for the job they are doing.
:25:14. > :25:20.That has already been said that it is to save lives and ensure safety
:25:21. > :25:22.where ever emergency occurs. Even to the bond of sacrificing their own
:25:23. > :25:28.lives. That is what I call dedication to the people they serve.
:25:29. > :25:36.They must be regarded as a front-line service. Anyone who
:25:37. > :25:42.denies this is living in cloud cuckoo land. The services they
:25:43. > :25:46.provide must be in the highest quality. The services must be
:25:47. > :25:54.allocated across the country based on professional assessment of risk.
:25:55. > :25:58.It must opinion deliver new ways of engaging and consulting with the
:25:59. > :26:05.people it serves on how it does its job. Collaborative approaches to the
:26:06. > :26:08.provisions of emergency services must be further explored and
:26:09. > :26:11.developed in order to deliver editors over the public. We must
:26:12. > :26:18.look to the future and continue to support the rescue service and that
:26:19. > :26:20.staff and firefighters are happy to work in and confident in.
:26:21. > :26:23.And Stephen Walker is here for a final word.
:26:24. > :26:26.We had some speculation this afternoon about the DUP's Jim Wells
:26:27. > :26:30.and the forthcoming Assembly election.
:26:31. > :26:42.This is an interesting development. It has been said that he is seeking
:26:43. > :26:46.nomination for the DUP lead role. He may have stepped down as an MLA
:26:47. > :26:52.because his wife, Grace, was very ill. There is a lot of talk as to
:26:53. > :26:55.whether he would run again but he has confirmed today that he will put
:26:56. > :26:59.his name for work. He has put his name forward and it is being
:27:00. > :27:02.considered by the party hierarchy. He needs to wait to see what the
:27:03. > :27:07.party hierarchy are going to say to see if he will be selected for
:27:08. > :27:12.southbound. Obviously, Jim Wells is a very well-known figure, then there
:27:13. > :27:21.is controversy surrounding him and Iraqi has made in the past, he is
:27:22. > :27:25.very well known, well established. He wants to continue his total
:27:26. > :27:28.career and now his name has been considered by party officers.
:27:29. > :27:30.South Down is shaping up to be a fascinating electoral
:27:31. > :27:47.It'll be one of those seats that people are going to watch. It has
:27:48. > :28:00.many names that people very well. There is also a fascinating battle
:28:01. > :28:08.on the unionist side. You would also have a battle going on within the
:28:09. > :28:17.Unionist ranks. A crowded unionist field. And very crowded. It is said
:28:18. > :28:20.that that may open the door to other candidates. Those who agree with
:28:21. > :28:26.unionist unity would not like to see so many unionist candidates in that
:28:27. > :28:28.field. When it comes to the election, southbound will be one of
:28:29. > :28:41.those constituencies that people will want to watch. Yes, big day for
:28:42. > :28:46.Mervyn Storey. Mervyn Storey Newly in the job and he wants to make sure
:28:47. > :28:50.that the people of Northern Ireland are looked after. Visa, he has only
:28:51. > :28:54.been any job a view days. It'll a special day. He will also face tough
:28:55. > :28:57.questions. Thank you. That's it for tonight,
:28:58. > :28:59.but do join me again tomorrow night You can have me any way you want.
:29:00. > :29:12.Fun girl. Vloggers, at this moment,
:29:13. > :29:15.are pioneers. a boy he met while playing
:29:16. > :29:20.online video games... I'm going in.
:29:21. > :29:25.It is psychological warfare. One Click Away, a series of
:29:26. > :29:29.documentaries exploring life online, on Tuesday, January 26,
:29:30. > :29:35.on BBC Three and online. They're making a new panel show
:29:36. > :29:41.about the use of language. Patrick Kielty's brought
:29:42. > :29:47.a few intellectual friends over... Thank you, Patrick!
:29:48. > :29:50...to discuss the finer points... ..language?
:29:51. > :29:57.Here, is this script right? You've popped a couple of things
:29:58. > :30:01.you shouldn't, there.