:00:26. > :00:28.Hello and welcome to a special edition of Stormont Today,
:00:29. > :00:31.and what an extraordinary day it has been.
:00:32. > :00:34.Recalled to hear a statement by Arlene Foster on behalf
:00:35. > :00:38.of the Executive Office, MLAs from every party except the DUP
:00:39. > :00:40.walked out when Martin McGuinness withdrew his consent to that
:00:41. > :00:43.statement being made, leading to fevered talk of a crisis
:00:44. > :00:48.And a subsequent motion of no confidence in the First Minister saw
:00:49. > :00:50.a spirited defence mounted by DUP Members under attack
:00:51. > :00:58.Angry scenes as the Speaker is challenged for allowing
:00:59. > :01:05.the First Minister's statement to go ahead.
:01:06. > :01:11.I've asked you directly under which standing order you intend to
:01:12. > :01:16.proceed, and the fact you cannot answer forces me to ask again, where
:01:17. > :01:18.do you have the authority? Where do you have the authority?
:01:19. > :01:22.And Arlene Foster continues to insist she did nothing wrong.
:01:23. > :01:29.I also want to make it clear I support the need for an independent
:01:30. > :01:31.investigation free from partisan political interference to establish
:01:32. > :01:33.the facts around the incentive scheme.
:01:34. > :01:35.And helping us to make sense of it all, Professor Rick Wilford
:01:36. > :01:44.Recalls, walkouts and a no confidence motion that stood no
:01:45. > :01:48.It's been a day of high drama at Stormont.
:01:49. > :01:51.The First and Deputy First Ministers may agree on the need
:01:52. > :01:55.for further investigation into the Renewable Heating Incentive
:01:56. > :01:58.scheme, but they remain sharply divided on Mrs Foster's role in it.
:01:59. > :02:02.Last week it was announced that the Assembly was to be
:02:03. > :02:04.specially recalled, so we were always braced
:02:05. > :02:11.for spirited exchanges - and we got them in spades.
:02:12. > :02:13.Rick, some might say today brings to mind that immortal
:02:14. > :02:15.Conor Cruise O'Brien phrase, GUBU - "groteqsue, unbelievable,
:02:16. > :02:28.Indeed. I think he's got it in four words there, really. I watched like
:02:29. > :02:32.you a whole raft of episodes over the years since we've had devolution
:02:33. > :02:36.in Northern Ireland and we had some very spirited exchanges but today
:02:37. > :02:40.was really quite remarkable and in a class of its own. It is
:02:41. > :02:49.unprecedented certainly. Bizarre, yes. A bit like Alice In Wonderland.
:02:50. > :02:53.Things go down the rabbit hole and get curiouser and curiouser. Quite
:02:54. > :02:58.frankly, I can understand the anger of some of the members in
:02:59. > :03:04.challenging the speaker in terms of how he was awarded status to the
:03:05. > :03:05.statement by Arlene Foster. Lots more from you throughout the
:03:06. > :03:08.programme. Thank you for now. Well, let's see how
:03:09. > :03:10.the day panned out - and it started with MLAs gathering
:03:11. > :03:12.for the special statement However, it quickly became clear
:03:13. > :03:16.that this was not how Martin McGuinness saw it,
:03:17. > :03:25.and be aware, there's some flash I want to make it very, very clear
:03:26. > :03:29.from my perspective and that of my party that the statement which
:03:30. > :03:34.Arlene Foster is scheduled to make to the Assembly today does not have
:03:35. > :03:41.my authority or approval as Deputy First Minister. She is speaking in a
:03:42. > :03:49.personal capacity and not in her role as First Minister. First
:03:50. > :03:53.Minister should stand aside to allow the investigation to take place in
:03:54. > :03:55.as conducive and atmosphere as possible.
:03:56. > :03:58.The first attempt to get proceedings going was met by a walkout.
:03:59. > :04:01.Sinn Fein and all the other parties left the chamber when the Speaker,
:04:02. > :04:03.Robin Newton, refused to take points of order.
:04:04. > :04:06.He called an adjournment for half an hour, but MLAs were no more
:04:07. > :04:18.Having taken legal and procedural advice this morning, it is clear
:04:19. > :04:24.that my role in relation to the procedures of the Assembly, not the
:04:25. > :04:29.procedures of the Executive, and I have discharged my responsibilities
:04:30. > :04:34.under standing orders to recall the Assembly. She is making this
:04:35. > :04:39.statement on behalf of herself and that you have received the
:04:40. > :04:42.correspondence to indicate that, but is it difficult -- the convention
:04:43. > :04:46.that on behalf of the Executive the First Minister and Deputy First
:04:47. > :04:56.Minister are advised to make two separate statements to satisfy the
:04:57. > :05:00.recall of the Assembly. I think having taken the legal and perceive
:05:01. > :05:09.right eyes this morning, it is clear that my role in relation to the
:05:10. > :05:12.procedures of the Assembly, not the procedures of the Executive, and
:05:13. > :05:17.that I have discharged my responsibilities in line with
:05:18. > :05:25.standing orders to recall the Assembly. -- legal and procedural. I
:05:26. > :05:30.ask you under which standing order you intend to proceed, and the fact
:05:31. > :05:39.you cannot answer forces me to ask again, specifically which standing
:05:40. > :05:45.order of the operating on, then? -- are we operating? I suppose we are
:05:46. > :05:51.coming close to you challenging the chair's decisions. Where do you have
:05:52. > :05:55.the authority to say to the Executive office, make two
:05:56. > :05:59.statements?! You have a duty to explain that to the House, the
:06:00. > :06:02.people of Northern Ireland and all those who endorsed the Good Friday
:06:03. > :06:06.agreement. You've made yourself quite clear but I have discharged my
:06:07. > :06:14.responsibilities under the standing orders to recall the Assembly. The
:06:15. > :06:18.order paper decrees that we are hearing a ministerial statement. I
:06:19. > :06:20.presume the order paper is administered under your direction?
:06:21. > :06:27.Can you therefore indicate how this can be a ministerial statement from
:06:28. > :06:33.the Executive office since once half of that office has withdrawn? Isn't
:06:34. > :06:37.it the case that what ought to happen now is we should proceed as
:06:38. > :06:41.quickly as it can be arranged procedurally and in relation to the
:06:42. > :06:45.president to an election to this House? Because it's perfectly clear
:06:46. > :06:49.that it does not operate as intended, it is not operating in a
:06:50. > :06:52.way that serves the interests of the people of Northern Ireland and
:06:53. > :07:00.procedurally it seems we are now in La La land and limbo land. Please
:07:01. > :07:03.can we stop this charade! At what stage we going to let the First
:07:04. > :07:07.Minister speak, giving you have outlined that you have taken
:07:08. > :07:10.procedural advice and taken legal advice? At what point are we going
:07:11. > :07:14.to proceed to hear the statement many people from outside of this
:07:15. > :07:19.chamber actually want to hear from the First Minister? She no longer
:07:20. > :07:22.has the confidence of the Deputy First Minister in making this
:07:23. > :07:26.statement and it is my belief that you need to advise the House under
:07:27. > :07:34.what standing order you are allowing this unusual arrangement to proceed,
:07:35. > :07:37.if that was your decision. I am grateful to you for agreeing to
:07:38. > :07:45.recall the Assembly today and permitting me to make the time and a
:07:46. > :07:49.statement about my role in the renewables incentive scheme. Unlike
:07:50. > :07:52.the normal practice, which, by the way, you endorsed, I want to make it
:07:53. > :07:54.clear this statement has not been cleared or approved...
:07:55. > :07:56.And as the First Minister began her statement,
:07:57. > :07:58.Members from the other parties promptly left the chamber.
:07:59. > :08:02.Rick, Members were clearly exasperated with the line
:08:03. > :08:07.taken by the Speaker throughout those exchanges.
:08:08. > :08:15.Not just exhaust rated but utterly confused. I think the speaker and
:08:16. > :08:19.his officials in his office have tried post Hoch, as it were, to
:08:20. > :08:22.dance on the head of a procedural pain, and that is because the
:08:23. > :08:32.original request for the statement to be recalled was made. --
:08:33. > :08:35.procedural pain. Clearly statements have been made in the past few days
:08:36. > :08:43.about what it might or might not contain. It was said, I am not
:08:44. > :08:49.prepared to stand without. So the speaker was put into the invidious
:08:50. > :08:54.position where having received a request to summon the Assembly on a
:08:55. > :08:59.joint basis, then proceeding as though that's still applied, where
:09:00. > :09:07.in fact it didn't. So although the office, and certainly Arlene Foster
:09:08. > :09:12.herself must have believed she was being First Minister, but it could
:09:13. > :09:16.only be understood as a personal statement as the head of the DUP,
:09:17. > :09:25.not as First Minister. The fact that he, as the speaker, was doing it as
:09:26. > :09:33.a piece of politeness rather than a piece of procedure on the role she
:09:34. > :09:36.performed. She says it was unclear or approved by the Deputy First
:09:37. > :09:43.Minister but at no point does she say it is a personal statement. No,
:09:44. > :09:47.I think had she said that it would have allayed any confusion felt by
:09:48. > :09:52.members in the chamber, and they're clearly were very confused members
:09:53. > :09:56.and they were very angry, and quite rightly, because it is not a
:09:57. > :10:03.precious point, it's an important operational principle of an
:10:04. > :10:07.institution, the Executive, that things are jointly exercised. Going
:10:08. > :10:12.ahead on this basis, a unilateral basis, flies in the face of that
:10:13. > :10:16.principle. And therefore it's no wonder that the other parties in the
:10:17. > :10:20.chamber were actually very cross indeed, and I think quite rightly so
:10:21. > :10:22.it was not allowed to proceed on that basis.
:10:23. > :10:25.The Speaker took the unprecedented step of writing to MLAs this
:10:26. > :10:27.afternoon to explain how he'd made his decisions about this
:10:28. > :10:31.Various figures, among them Mike Nesbitt, Jim Allister
:10:32. > :10:33.and Eamonn McCann, went on to suggest to the media
:10:34. > :10:35.in the Great Hall that the Speaker's position is "very close
:10:36. > :10:57.Well, of course, for those critics, they have been in quite recent form.
:10:58. > :10:59.I don't think untenable but it has made things much more difficult.
:11:00. > :11:08.Now, thank you. Extraordinary scenes,
:11:09. > :11:10.and we haven't even heard So, finally, Arlene Foster got
:11:11. > :11:16.to make her statement on the renewables scheme
:11:17. > :11:19.at the centre of the controversy, albeit to a smaller audience
:11:20. > :11:21.than she might have expected. It lasted almost half an hour
:11:22. > :11:27.but here are some of the highlights. I want to make it clear this
:11:28. > :11:29.statement has not been cleared or approved by the Deputy First
:11:30. > :11:31.Minister. I felt it was important I came before the House at the
:11:32. > :11:36.earliest opportunity. For almost two weeks they has been a barrage of
:11:37. > :11:39.media coverage on this matter, including wild claims and
:11:40. > :11:44.allegations, many of which have been based on spin rather than reality.
:11:45. > :11:48.-- there has been. I want to give the actual facts to the Assembly. To
:11:49. > :11:59.repeat what I've said in media interviews, I also want to make it
:12:00. > :12:01.clear that in order to get to the bottom of this entire issue, I am
:12:02. > :12:03.prepared to waive the normal conventions and give evidence to the
:12:04. > :12:06.Public Accounts Committee. The one thing we can all agree on is that
:12:07. > :12:09.there were shocking errors in the scheme and a catalogue of mistakes
:12:10. > :12:12.all of which coincided to create the perfect storm, resulting in the
:12:13. > :12:15.position in which we now find ourselves. In all of this it is
:12:16. > :12:19.critical lessons are learned and that the costs of the scheme are
:12:20. > :12:23.brought under control. I'm sorry that the initial scheme did not
:12:24. > :12:28.contain cost control measures and that there were fundamental flaws in
:12:29. > :12:32.the design. This is the deepest political regret of my time in this
:12:33. > :12:38.House. As minister, I accept responsibility for the work of the
:12:39. > :12:42.department during my time at DETI. Once again, for the avoidance of
:12:43. > :12:47.doubt, I feel it is right and proper I answer to this Assembly it about
:12:48. > :12:51.my role in the scheme, and not for one moment do I seek to shirk or
:12:52. > :12:55.skirt around that responsibility. But if we are to learn lessons from
:12:56. > :12:58.this entire experience, it is essential we know exactly where
:12:59. > :13:03.things went wrong. One question asked by many is why we did not
:13:04. > :13:07.simply replicate the Great Britain arrangements into Northern Ireland.
:13:08. > :13:10.The answer is quite simple. In Great Britain, the main obstacle to the
:13:11. > :13:19.growth of renewable heat was and is the wide availability of affordable
:13:20. > :13:21.natural gas. Here, the main heating fuel is oil and gas market is
:13:22. > :13:25.relatively immature. It was even more so in 2012. Hence it is clear
:13:26. > :13:29.that to simply import the arrangement would not have been
:13:30. > :13:33.appropriate at that time. Well this statement is not the place to
:13:34. > :13:37.rehearse every feeling or flaw in the process, there is one matter I
:13:38. > :13:40.believe it is important I addressed. Because it is this error that goes
:13:41. > :13:44.to the very heart of why the costs of the scheme ran out of control.
:13:45. > :13:49.The crucial mistake in scheme was that the tariff for the most
:13:50. > :13:53.commonly used boilers, small to medium biomass, was set at a level
:13:54. > :13:58.higher than the market price of the relevant fuel, namely wood pellets.
:13:59. > :14:00.In essence, this created an incentive to continue to benefit
:14:01. > :14:06.your oval and above the levels required for the relevant functions.
:14:07. > :14:10.-- to continue to burn the fuel. I would remind I did not simply impose
:14:11. > :14:15.this scheme on the people of Northern Ireland. The tariff was set
:14:16. > :14:18.out in schedule 3 and was scrutinised by the investment
:14:19. > :14:23.committee and passed after debate by the Northern Ireland Assembly, and
:14:24. > :14:29.indeed the chair of the committee said, and I quote, the committee's
:14:30. > :14:33.scrutiny of the development has been considerable and reflects the
:14:34. > :14:36.importance and long-term nature of the proposals. Before supporting the
:14:37. > :14:42.RHI, the committee sought and received insurances on incentive and
:14:43. > :14:47.tariff levels, incentives for domestic consumers, payments to
:14:48. > :14:51.participants and support levels for the renewable payment he scheme. The
:14:52. > :14:55.unfortunate reality is nobody in government or in this Assembly in
:14:56. > :14:56.their work creating a passing this legislation picked up on this
:14:57. > :14:59.crucial failing. Mrs Foster then moved on to two
:15:00. > :15:02.major figures in this whole saga - the whistleblower who attempted
:15:03. > :15:05.to alert her then department to flaws in the heating scheme,
:15:06. > :15:07.and her former colleague, She turned first
:15:08. > :15:16.to the whistleblower. The BBC's Spotlight programme and
:15:17. > :15:20.comment has neared play of a concerned citizen and I would ask
:15:21. > :15:24.the entire assembly to join me in thanking a person for all she did to
:15:25. > :15:27.try and prevent the calamity we have fallen into. She deserves our
:15:28. > :15:31.highest respect and a sincere apology on behalf of my former
:15:32. > :15:35.department which should not have dismissed claims with disbelief but
:15:36. > :15:41.examined them with diligence. It is no exaggeration to say that had she
:15:42. > :15:44.been listened to on any of the three occasions when she approached DETI,
:15:45. > :15:48.the crisis would have been avoided. Unfortunately it has been difficult
:15:49. > :15:51.to establish the exact facts around contact between the concerned
:15:52. > :15:56.citizen and myself in the department. When I asked by
:15:57. > :15:59.Spotlight about the concerned citizen, I said I pass them onto
:16:00. > :16:03.officials to investigate and it is now obvious that these investigation
:16:04. > :16:07.should have highlighted the failings of the scheme and action should have
:16:08. > :16:13.been taken. I made this statement from memory and an advice appeared
:16:14. > :16:17.to indicate that she raised concerns with me directly. This is my normal
:16:18. > :16:21.and the appropriate practice to pass any concerns received from members
:16:22. > :16:26.of the public to the relevant officials. However, my response was
:16:27. > :16:29.made without the benefit of having reviewed the original letter. It is
:16:30. > :16:35.now clear that the initial communication to me did not raise
:16:36. > :16:38.concerns with the RHI scheme and I understood from the Department of
:16:39. > :16:41.the economy officials who have spoken to the person that this was
:16:42. > :16:53.the only correspondence sent directly to me. A subsequent e-mail
:16:54. > :16:55.to my private account the following week has now come to light in which
:16:56. > :16:58.there are references to concerns about the scheme. Since the
:16:59. > :17:00.announcement of my decision to make the statement, the former minister
:17:01. > :17:03.has given an interview to the BBC and he makes a number of allegations
:17:04. > :17:05.in relation to the decision to amend and subsequently close the scheme. I
:17:06. > :17:08.think that it is important that I also take this opportunity to put on
:17:09. > :17:12.record the factual position in relation to a number of those
:17:13. > :17:16.allegations. Mr Bell alleged on several occasions that he took
:17:17. > :17:20.action immediately to introduce cost control measures into the scheme and
:17:21. > :17:25.signed off the submission at the most immediate point that he could.
:17:26. > :17:31.This is untrue. Mr Bell further claims that other SPADs became
:17:32. > :17:35.involved in the process who were not allowing the scheme to close. The
:17:36. > :17:40.fact remains that the Minister signed off a proposal which was to
:17:41. > :17:43.take effect from the 4th of November, 2015. The only further
:17:44. > :17:47.delay in the introduction of cost-control measures was as a
:17:48. > :17:50.result of legal and financial issues are being resolved by departmental
:17:51. > :17:54.officials and which were unconnected to any ministerial decision. This is
:17:55. > :17:57.not an exhaustive rebuttal of the allegations made by Mr Bell but I
:17:58. > :18:03.hope will convey with documentary evidence of what happened. I also
:18:04. > :18:06.want to make clear that I support the need for an independent
:18:07. > :18:13.investigation, free from partisan political interference to establish
:18:14. > :18:18.the facts around the Isles of Sheppy. This must be made public and
:18:19. > :18:19.any investigation must be conducted speedily to assist in building
:18:20. > :18:24.public confidence --. RHI. It's likely, then, that we will see
:18:25. > :18:28.an inquiry in the New Year, but any fears that the institutions
:18:29. > :18:30.were under real threat because of today's events seemed
:18:31. > :18:33.to be allayed when Martin McGuinness gave an interview to my
:18:34. > :18:34.colleague Mark Devenport. The Deputy First Minister says he's
:18:35. > :18:37.more interested in repairing any financial damage the flawed
:18:38. > :18:47.scheme has caused. We need a robust, independent
:18:48. > :18:51.investigation into the biggest financial scandal any bus have
:18:52. > :18:59.witnessed in a long time regarding the RHI scheme. We need a credible
:19:00. > :19:05.working relationship between Simon Hamilton and Martina Willey in order
:19:06. > :19:10.that we cut back on the money which potentially we could lose over the
:19:11. > :19:16.course of the next two decades and of course, in my conversation with
:19:17. > :19:23.Arlene Foster, a number of days ago, outlined, not an instruction, but
:19:24. > :19:28.what I would do if I was in a similar circumstance -- Mairtin O'
:19:29. > :19:33.Mueillor. That was to accept a robust investigation and that I
:19:34. > :19:38.would stand aside for what I think would be a short period to allow the
:19:39. > :19:41.investigation to report. Arlene Foster made it clear that she was
:19:42. > :19:46.not standing aside and she went ahead with this statement, has that
:19:47. > :19:49.damage the joint nature of your office? My concern about the
:19:50. > :19:53.statement and the staters of the statement would have been, if there
:19:54. > :19:59.had been anything in the statement that indicated an action, on behalf
:20:00. > :20:05.of herself, either as leader of the DUP or, depending on her thinking,
:20:06. > :20:11.as First Minister, that would have brought us to a major crisis. In the
:20:12. > :20:14.event, none of that happened. Gerry Adams said in a speech on Saturday
:20:15. > :20:18.that your health issues were making the handling of this more
:20:19. > :20:23.problematic, what can you share with us about your health at the moment?
:20:24. > :20:27.I am being attended to by a wonderful group of doctors and
:20:28. > :20:30.nurses from our health service and I think that is all I need to say
:20:31. > :20:33.about it at the moment. Is it the kind of thing where you can come
:20:34. > :20:54.back to work, you're confident you will be able to come back to work?
:20:55. > :20:56.We made it clear from the very beginning, when they issued the
:20:57. > :20:58.statement explaining the circumstances of China that I was
:20:59. > :21:01.continuing with my ministerial duties and anyone who has seen me
:21:02. > :21:01.recently and today can see that I am doing that.
:21:02. > :21:03.Martin McGuinness talking to Mark Devenport.
:21:04. > :21:06.What is Sinn Fein's strategy in all of this?
:21:07. > :21:08.Is the party endeavouring to position itself in the hope
:21:09. > :21:12.They are leaving some concessions and other policy areas. I think they
:21:13. > :21:15.are determined, as they see themselves, Sinn Fein that is, as
:21:16. > :21:20.the defenders of the institution, to ensure that would ever investigation
:21:21. > :21:25.or enquiry is undertaken, is actually seem to be robust and is
:21:26. > :21:29.fully transparent. There is a real difference between an investigation
:21:30. > :21:34.which is what the DUP one, which suggests to me, and in-house
:21:35. > :21:39.investigation by officials, which is what Sinn Fein is asking. Those
:21:40. > :21:43.things are very far apart. They are and the judge led enquiry would have
:21:44. > :21:48.many more powers and would be much more forensic in its approach and it
:21:49. > :21:53.would be external to the Assembly and all the other institutions.
:21:54. > :22:00.There is one point worth acknowledging as a result, whether
:22:01. > :22:05.it is an investigation, or a full-fledged enquiry, in opting for
:22:06. > :22:09.an enquiry or some kind of investigation, it actually says we
:22:10. > :22:13.do not have any confidence in the Public Accounts Committee of the
:22:14. > :22:16.Assembly, it pulls the rug from underneath its authority. Just a
:22:17. > :22:21.quick word about the performance of Arlene Foster. Did she flirt with
:22:22. > :22:24.humility as one commentator said in advance of her statement, that you
:22:25. > :22:31.very much needed to do? I agree with that. I thought a prime requirement
:22:32. > :22:38.for Arlene Foster is that she should take a big helping of humble pie and
:22:39. > :22:41.she didn't, she was quite abrasive and non-conciliatory and competent.
:22:42. > :22:45.We had come to expect that from her, ordinarily, but this is not an
:22:46. > :22:49.ordinary situation. This is an extraordinary situation and the
:22:50. > :22:54.public is justifiably very cross about this. I would have thought
:22:55. > :22:56.that humility would have been one of the strap line of her approach, but
:22:57. > :23:00.it was not there. Thank you. The other big discussion
:23:01. > :23:03.point today, of course, was an SDLP motion of no confidence
:23:04. > :23:05.in the First Minister. It was never going to pass as it
:23:06. > :23:08.required cross-community support, but it did give Members a chance
:23:09. > :23:10.to voice their concerns about Arlene Foster and for her
:23:11. > :23:20.party colleagues to speak up Today members were expecting to
:23:21. > :23:24.scrutinise the draft budget from the Finance Minister. Yet we meet today
:23:25. > :23:28.to discuss the career of one individual. During the week, there
:23:29. > :23:32.was confusion at whether an Executive Office press release was
:23:33. > :23:36.actually a DUP press release, today we are informed that the First
:23:37. > :23:40.Minister is speaking without the authority of her joint office. All
:23:41. > :23:46.of this is because the DUP leader will not do the decent thing, the
:23:47. > :23:52.dignified thing and step aside. We can't go on like this. The longer
:23:53. > :23:56.the First Minister clings on, the more her credibility will fade and
:23:57. > :24:03.let me assure the First Minister, Christmas will not save her. The RHI
:24:04. > :24:05.to be fully investigated and understood and understood and that
:24:06. > :24:09.is what will happen. We need to know exactly what went wrong and how we
:24:10. > :24:13.are going to fix it. What does not serve the people of Northern Ireland
:24:14. > :24:17.well are those who seek to play cheap political points. I know
:24:18. > :24:21.Christmas is coming, but the attempt to turn this issue into a political
:24:22. > :24:26.pantomime is it a version and a distraction from the important work
:24:27. > :24:40.that is going on. This motion turns what has been a very serious issue
:24:41. > :24:45.into low farce. I am ready and willing to go to the Public Accounts
:24:46. > :24:47.Committee. I have made that clear. But by magic, that is not good
:24:48. > :24:50.enough, they will be out before I get near the committee before I get
:24:51. > :24:53.asked a single question or even open my mouth. So much for due process,
:24:54. > :24:56.so much for justice, so much for the facts. While I might have little
:24:57. > :25:02.sympathy for Jonathan Bell in many things, he was clearly handed a pass
:25:03. > :25:07.if ever there was one. Yet there is no minister who is responsible. It
:25:08. > :25:10.is all the fault of the officials, it was someone else, it was the
:25:11. > :25:15.previous minister. The responsibility, the accountability
:25:16. > :25:20.and need to atone for this disaster lies with only one person. The First
:25:21. > :25:24.Minister was called on today to voluntarily stepped down and allow
:25:25. > :25:28.an investigation to take place without prejudice. I said that last
:25:29. > :25:33.week and they say it again now, to put the integrity of office against
:25:34. > :25:38.the interests of a party. She still has time to do so. The previous
:25:39. > :25:45.First Minister stood aside in order to allow investigation into a ?50
:25:46. > :25:49.million land deal. ?50,000 land deal pales into insignificance in
:25:50. > :25:53.comparison to what we are dealing with here. I'm embarrassed standing
:25:54. > :25:57.here listening to the debate and the debate that has happened so far.
:25:58. > :26:00.You're losing the run of yourselves. This issue is about public
:26:01. > :26:05.confidence. The previous Speaker talked about how the Executive has
:26:06. > :26:09.delivered in the last number of months and it has delivered on many
:26:10. > :26:12.fronts, but every action and delivery that has happened to date
:26:13. > :26:16.has been overshadowed by the fact that the DUP cannot accept that as
:26:17. > :26:20.leader needs to stand aside to make sure there is a full investigation
:26:21. > :26:24.into the issues which have been played out, drip fed into the public
:26:25. > :26:29.either for the last number of weeks. I'm not interested in the internal
:26:30. > :26:32.wrangling of the DUP, get mother, fight among yourselves. The First
:26:33. > :26:36.Minister said arrogantly that she has nothing to hide but she
:26:37. > :26:38.certainly does. She was the architect of this whole scheme and
:26:39. > :26:43.she intervened on several occasions to keep it in operation, despite
:26:44. > :26:48.warnings from senior civil servants and others about the scheme. This
:26:49. > :26:51.isn't some administrative air or something that she can pass the buck
:26:52. > :26:54.on -- error. Nowhere else in the world would politicians be allowed
:26:55. > :26:58.to get away with theirs and her position is untenable. I will not be
:26:59. > :27:02.supporting the motion tabled by the opposition because I believe it to
:27:03. > :27:10.be premature. You're asking me to support a motion that excludes the
:27:11. > :27:12.First Minister on the basis of no confidence. My confidence in the
:27:13. > :27:15.First Minister or lack of confidence in the First Minister will be based
:27:16. > :27:18.on unsubstantiated information, not allegations manifested in the media,
:27:19. > :27:22.particularly as Justice Minister, it would be remiss of me to pass
:27:23. > :27:29.judgment without a full hearing. No court in the land would do so. Mrs
:27:30. > :27:33.Foster says this is a Tobacco, the Oxford dictionary defines that as a
:27:34. > :27:40.supplement and ignominious failure. It is a story about confidence,
:27:41. > :27:44.ineptitude and powerlessness. We will now vote, those who go that way
:27:45. > :27:48.are voting for a career, those who go that way are voting for the
:27:49. > :27:51.integrity of these institutions. When it came to it, Sinn Fein
:27:52. > :27:54.didn't turn up to vote, despite taking part in the debate,
:27:55. > :27:56.and, as expected, the motion fell. Has Arlene Foster managed to lance
:27:57. > :28:08.the boil, for now at least? I think she has put a sticking
:28:09. > :28:12.plaster, but if you like to use at theatrical metaphor, this was a
:28:13. > :28:16.prologue to the main proceedings, which is the form that some kind of
:28:17. > :28:22.enquiry or investigation will take. That is the centrepiece of this. My
:28:23. > :28:25.own preference would be for a formal judge led enquiry, I figure would be
:28:26. > :28:33.more frantic and it could be done efficiently. She has not put an end
:28:34. > :28:39.to this, this is just the overture. How wounded do you think she has
:28:40. > :28:44.been by the last week to ten days? I do not think there is any question
:28:45. > :28:50.other than she has been damaged, don't forget, this is a party which
:28:51. > :28:54.prides itself on physical conservatism and here have a party
:28:55. > :28:59.now at the centre of an enormous controversy over the potential
:29:00. > :29:02.overcommitment of ?400 million of taxpayers money. Not only is her
:29:03. > :29:08.personal reputation damage, and it was not helped today by her lack of
:29:09. > :29:13.humility, the party image has been damaged as well. Just finally and
:29:14. > :29:17.briefly, how damage do you think the key relationship at the heart of
:29:18. > :29:21.government in Northern Ireland, that relationship between the DUP and
:29:22. > :29:25.Sinn Fein? The default position of that relationship has always been
:29:26. > :29:29.one of mutual mistrust and suspicion, it is at best and on
:29:30. > :29:35.civil partnership, it is not a happy marriage, this will not have helped,
:29:36. > :29:39.but no doubt, I suspect what will happen in the fullness of time is
:29:40. > :29:42.that they will muddle through. We have proven very adept at muddling
:29:43. > :29:44.through in Northern Ireland and I suspect this is how this will end up
:29:45. > :29:48.as well. Thank you. That's it from this special
:29:49. > :29:50.edition of Stormont Today. We'll be back in January,
:29:51. > :29:52.but until then, from everyone You only grow old once,
:29:53. > :30:18.so you might as well enjoy it.