:00:32. > :00:37.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up: it is the biggest shake-
:00:37. > :00:39.up to benefits for decades, and today, welfare reform was back on
:00:39. > :00:44.the agenda as the Social Development Minister announced a
:00:44. > :00:46.unique changes to how benefits would be paid here.
:00:46. > :00:52.These payment flexibilities will allow for different payment
:00:52. > :00:55.arrangements where it is necessary. Not least were vulnerable customers
:00:55. > :01:03.will find budgeting difficult. Passions became in flames during a
:01:03. > :01:06.tense debate on the rising unemployment figures. It was one of
:01:06. > :01:10.almost dealing with some children you can hardly be bothered to
:01:10. > :01:13.reprimand, but nevertheless, I will go through the motions. Gareth
:01:13. > :01:22.Gordon shares his insights into what else has been happening in the
:01:22. > :01:26.corridors of power. The social development of Minister
:01:26. > :01:29.was in chipper form at the House today, keen to share with his
:01:29. > :01:34.fellow MLAs that Westminster's reform minister Lord Freud has
:01:34. > :01:38.given him a number of commitments on have benefits can be paid in
:01:39. > :01:43.Northern Ireland in the future. Lord Freud, after our meeting on
:01:43. > :01:51.Tuesday past, has given me a number of commitments and those are in
:01:51. > :01:55.writing. Mr Speaker, the housing cost element of Universal Credit,
:01:55. > :02:00.which will therefore be paid automatically to the landlord,
:02:00. > :02:05.rather than the claimant. There will be an arrangement for those
:02:05. > :02:10.who choose to receive the for the Universal Credit payment and in
:02:10. > :02:17.turn pay their landlord. In addition, the IT system function us
:02:17. > :02:22.it will be developed to enable the computer system, where necessary,
:02:22. > :02:27.to split their if payment between two parties in the household and
:02:27. > :02:32.where necessary, pay two smaller payment per month, rather than the
:02:32. > :02:39.single monthly payment. While in a majority of cases, there will be
:02:39. > :02:43.one single monthly payment to each Universal Credit household, these
:02:43. > :02:46.claimant -- payment flexibilities will allow for different payments
:02:46. > :02:55.where necessary, not least were vulnerable customers will find
:02:55. > :02:58.budgeting difficult. And with this in mind, I have task might
:02:58. > :03:02.officials to develop and then consult the public sector the Rock
:03:02. > :03:05.presenters and voluntary sector representatives on guidelines --
:03:05. > :03:12.public sector representatives, on the way the Universal Credit should
:03:12. > :03:15.respect or made on it twice monthly basis. -- should be split. This way,
:03:15. > :03:21.we can protect the vulnerable whilst maintaining their household
:03:21. > :03:27.monthly payment for those who do not need these bespoke measures.
:03:27. > :03:31.Some in this house and wanted to kill this Bill under various cloaks
:03:31. > :03:36.of convenience -- in this house wanted to kill the spill, and to
:03:36. > :03:40.foolishly ignore the consequences. Consequences which included
:03:40. > :03:46.depriving the many thousands of of people of the Social Fund which
:03:46. > :03:51.they rely on when at their most formidable. Consequences which
:03:51. > :03:57.would have deprived critical government services of �200 million
:03:57. > :04:02.to meet the shortfall in the Budget. And also put at real risk over
:04:03. > :04:06.1,000 existing jobs across Northern Ireland. I would say that they
:04:06. > :04:11.actually reject much of the political content of the minister's
:04:11. > :04:17.statement and I would go on to argue that perhaps with the recent
:04:17. > :04:20.very long protracted debate, it is interesting that these facts have
:04:20. > :04:24.not been pursued by the British government until after that lengthy
:04:24. > :04:30.debate which showed universal opposition to many aspects of the
:04:30. > :04:36.Bill itself. Certainly, our party will be very much to the 4th of
:04:36. > :04:38.welcoming any progress that the minister will be able to announce
:04:38. > :04:42.an particularly I am pleased that the British government have
:04:42. > :04:46.acknowledged that track payments are a good thing. I welcome the
:04:46. > :04:51.fact the first time that this Minister and his government has
:04:51. > :04:55.again acknowledged that they now can concede to some of these
:04:55. > :05:00.flexibilities, even within the context of Parliament, that the IT
:05:01. > :05:05.system can be modified to facilitate this flexibilities.
:05:05. > :05:08.Members were then asked to vote on a Sinn Fein motion calling for the
:05:08. > :05:13.Newman Ireland Human Rights Commission to assess whether the
:05:13. > :05:19.welfare reform bill is compatible with human rights -- Northern
:05:19. > :05:24.Ireland. A proposal was rejected. Politicians are still discussing
:05:24. > :05:29.Commons by the Attorney-General on abortion. Last week, he offered to
:05:29. > :05:35.assist the December's justice committee should it choose to
:05:35. > :05:39.assess the at Marie Stopes off clinic that opened in Belfast.
:05:39. > :05:43.Speaking before he became Attorney- General, Mr Larkin had made
:05:43. > :05:48.controversial comments in a radio interview. Gareth Gordon it with me.
:05:48. > :05:55.For clarity's saved, what precisely it did John Larkin say four years
:05:55. > :05:57.ago -- clarity's sake? It emerged that he had made the offer to the
:05:57. > :06:02.justice committee last week to become involved in the Marie Stopes
:06:02. > :06:09.issue. Then some people remembered a debate John Larkin had taken part
:06:09. > :06:13.in on radio or stay in 2008, before he became Attorney-General, and
:06:13. > :06:17.during the course of that he said, "If one is prepared to contemplate
:06:17. > :06:20.the destruction of a highly disabled, unborn child in the womb,
:06:20. > :06:28.of which will also be able to contemplate putting a bullet in the
:06:28. > :06:31.back of the head of the child two days after it is born?". There is
:06:31. > :06:36.political reaction both for and against John Larkin, it caused a
:06:36. > :06:39.great deal of shock and the fall- out is continuing. Those comments
:06:39. > :06:43.have certainly been controversial. Gerry Adams was in parliament
:06:43. > :06:49.buildings here and he gave his reaction to what Mr Larkin had said.
:06:49. > :06:54.Perfectly entitled to make those remarks and, as it is everybody
:06:54. > :07:03.else under our conflicting and very diverse views on this very
:07:03. > :07:06.important and emotive issue. I think that in all of this, that the
:07:06. > :07:11.health committee, the Health Department, the Health Minister and
:07:11. > :07:17.the regulations set in place of what is going to govern our way out.
:07:17. > :07:20.That is what Gerry Adams is saying on the Jon Parkin controversy.
:07:20. > :07:26.Gareth, how does it tally with what his Sinn Fein colleagues have been
:07:26. > :07:31.saying? In other interviews today, Gerry Adams is making it clear that
:07:31. > :07:35.what John Larkin said was absolutely wrong, and his party
:07:35. > :07:40.colleague who reacted in the immediate aftermath of the 2008
:07:40. > :07:44.remarks being re ventilated, she didn't say that he is perfectly
:07:44. > :07:49.entitled. In fact, there are described as wholly inappropriate
:07:49. > :07:52.and this afternoon, a statement from the vice-chair of the justice
:07:52. > :07:56.committee said it basically cast doubt over Jon Parkin's ability to
:07:56. > :08:03.make sure his personal opinions that interfere or had any assertion
:08:03. > :08:06.he makes in regard to legal issues and the ongoing debate, a reference
:08:06. > :08:10.back to what John Larkin has offered to justice committee. The
:08:10. > :08:14.Sinn Fein spokesman says there is no difference in the Commons from
:08:14. > :08:19.Mr Adams and any other party member and in fact, they believe that John
:08:19. > :08:26.Larkin, what he said, was unacceptable. Had there, it's also
:08:26. > :08:29.a Scot -- caused difficulties for the SDLP? The party leader was on
:08:29. > :08:33.the programme with Mark Devenport on Friday evening and when he heard
:08:33. > :08:37.what John Larkin had said on -- in 2008, he kind of defended him and
:08:37. > :08:41.said he had made those remarks in a personal capacity and before he was
:08:41. > :08:46.Attorney-General, but today, he has very hardened his stance -- very
:08:46. > :08:49.much. He said the Commons were deeply upsetting and the Attorney-
:08:49. > :08:53.General must be allowed to prove that he can act impartially on the
:08:53. > :08:58.issue, so some political pressure coming on John Larkin. One other
:08:58. > :09:03.issue to touch on, the minor parties and independents appear,
:09:03. > :09:09.campaigning for better speaking rights in the Chamber. You don't
:09:09. > :09:12.often see David McMurray, David McLarty, etc, singing from the same
:09:12. > :09:17.hymn sheet, but they don't often find themselves on the same side of
:09:17. > :09:21.the argument, but today, they do. They are united on one thing, that
:09:21. > :09:26.they don't get a fair crack of the whip. They said they are not
:09:27. > :09:33.allowed to speak of the nerve during debates. Three of them
:09:33. > :09:36.actually held a news conference to kill -- call for it more rights for
:09:36. > :09:39.the smaller parties and as if to illustrate the point, one told bit
:09:39. > :09:44.about that none of them were called on that debates during unemployment
:09:44. > :09:48.rates. -- one told me today. Do we know if that will happen, if there
:09:48. > :09:51.will be clarity as to whether they get better rights? They would
:09:51. > :09:54.certainly like them immediately but I'm not sure if they will get them
:09:54. > :09:59.at all or how the issue is going to be dealt with. But they have made
:09:59. > :10:03.their point. They certainly have. We will leave it there for now,
:10:03. > :10:06.thank you very much. An SDLP motion expressing concern
:10:06. > :10:10.at of rising unemployment rate was debated on the floor of December
:10:10. > :10:18.this afternoon. The motion was the subject of an Ulster Unionist
:10:19. > :10:22.amendment which accused BSL I of acceptance. The people who
:10:22. > :10:25.represent this Assembly need jobs and they need them now. They cannot
:10:25. > :10:33.wait for long-term diplomacy to get its way slowly through their
:10:33. > :10:38.decision-making process in China. One visit has already suited the
:10:38. > :10:42.Chinese, this party. To attract investment from countries with
:10:42. > :10:46.established and emerging markets is welcome, but it beats better
:10:46. > :10:52.support for our own local companies. Once tragedy that has real
:10:52. > :10:59.potential for job creation and has been ignored, if not neglected by
:10:59. > :11:05.the champagne the DUP programme for government -- the Sinn Fein, is the
:11:05. > :11:09.green New Deal. It will leave fewer people in fuel poverty, cut carbon
:11:09. > :11:12.emissions and lay the foundations of a new, competitive locale of
:11:12. > :11:17.economy. That is the future. We don't have the fiscal levers
:11:17. > :11:21.necessary to set out our own economic policies just quite yet.
:11:21. > :11:28.But we do have the key powers to bring forward such creative,
:11:29. > :11:31.innovated new programmes. After the revelation that 760 jobs were being
:11:31. > :11:35.left that F G Wilson, the chief Executive said that if he were in
:11:35. > :11:41.charge of the company, he would have made the same decision. He
:11:41. > :11:45.also said he was not surprised by the move. That is not the way to
:11:45. > :11:50.seek to build converse in our economy. That is no way to support
:11:50. > :11:54.the workers of FG Wilson and it is totally improper it from someone in
:11:54. > :11:58.his position. I believe this House should expressed dismay over this
:11:58. > :12:03.particular, its and the resigned acceptance of the job losses, which
:12:03. > :12:06.was apparent in his remarks. SDLP motion and the DUP amendment
:12:06. > :12:11.calling for action around youth unemployed are but flawed and out
:12:11. > :12:19.of date, but have been proposed by the SDLP and the D B, so I am not
:12:19. > :12:23.sure what we expected -- UUP. What was described as a resigned
:12:23. > :12:28.acceptance to the trend of jobs moving overseas is also ill judged.
:12:28. > :12:32.We cannot ignore that for the fact is for Northern Ireland to move
:12:32. > :12:36.forward, more so they might be able to not compete with certain areas
:12:36. > :12:41.in terms of labour costs, we can adapt and grow a more knowledge-
:12:41. > :12:46.based economy in Northern Ireland. Coming to the green New Deal, this
:12:46. > :12:50.has been an opportunity missed by the Assembly. Alongside many of the
:12:50. > :12:55.parties, we said this in our 2011 manifesto, and we are disappointed
:12:55. > :12:58.it has not been developed in the way put forward by the proposals
:12:58. > :13:03.suggested, and therefore there was a need for the Executive to review
:13:03. > :13:06.these proposals and the potential that they have for creating
:13:06. > :13:11.employment, developing critical skills and improving energy
:13:11. > :13:14.efficiency within Northern Ireland. Whilst I do believe that there is
:13:14. > :13:18.consensus in this Assembly that we must do much more for the economy,
:13:18. > :13:22.I would have liked to have heard, and I think it would have been
:13:22. > :13:32.useful if we heard, much more from speakers in terms of the demand for
:13:32. > :13:47.
:13:47. > :13:50.Approach. Resources are spread too thin in the global market place.
:13:50. > :13:55.Listen to people saying we need an economic strategy, a job creation
:13:55. > :13:59.strategy it. It is already there in the programme but Government and
:13:59. > :14:03.the economic strategy will stop it people have ideas they want to add
:14:03. > :14:08.on, we will look at them because the Sub-Committee that looks at the
:14:08. > :14:12.economy meet regularly. They had said from the beginning they are
:14:12. > :14:17.happy to look at it Coulstock the men and that talks about the main
:14:17. > :14:21.motion talks about implementing the jobs plan from the business
:14:21. > :14:26.alliance. The business alliance were in close its co-operation with
:14:26. > :14:30.the Executive informing the economic strategy. I don't know
:14:30. > :14:35.where that piece comes from in the amendment and the motion. I'd do
:14:35. > :14:38.welcome the recognition motion and the central role in this has been
:14:38. > :14:44.growing the economy will stop I'd be reviewed the allegation that a
:14:44. > :14:49.we display, and I used the word we, because I do work very much as part
:14:49. > :14:58.of the team a week Alastair Hamilton, that we display put
:14:58. > :15:02.resigned acceptance to the trend of jobs moving overseas. What nonsense
:15:02. > :15:08.Mr Deputy Speaker. The minister does seem to beat her cheek.
:15:08. > :15:14.Disappointed that this, disappointed at that. The tone of
:15:14. > :15:18.her voice was almost one of dealing with some children he could not be
:15:18. > :15:21.bothered to reprimand but will go through the motions. Basil McCrea
:15:21. > :15:24.with a pointed message for the Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster.
:15:24. > :15:27.And the amended motion was passed with 89 members voting - 48 voted
:15:27. > :15:29.yes and 41 voted no. The pressing subject of helping
:15:29. > :15:32.those without work was also the focus of questions to the
:15:32. > :15:34.Employment and Learning Minister, Stephen Farry. He detailed help
:15:34. > :15:38.being given to so-called NEETS - those not in employment, education
:15:38. > :15:45.or training. But first he addressed what's being done for those
:15:45. > :15:53.affected by the recent job losses at FG Wilson. A officials working
:15:53. > :15:58.with the company's appointed, represented locally to organise a
:15:58. > :16:04.job, training and recruitment there, a beach of the three sites. These
:16:04. > :16:09.boats commence this week. On Friday evening, though what 14 companies
:16:09. > :16:14.listed to participate in the jobs there has with a further 28 Post
:16:14. > :16:21.identified in the food processing sector,. I am delighted at this
:16:21. > :16:30.response. Could I ask with the eye- level of skilled agency workers
:16:30. > :16:34.employed at the various sites, can the Minister ensure the house of a
:16:34. > :16:40.quality? I am happy to give the assurance about those affected by
:16:40. > :16:43.the redundancies. We have a self interest in doing this be on our
:16:43. > :16:48.overriding requirements as well, in that these workers are skilled,
:16:48. > :16:51.they had a lot to offer for the future of the economy. It is
:16:51. > :16:56.important we capture these workers in a predicted weight rather than
:16:56. > :17:06.have them falling into unemployment. Can the minister outlined in the
:17:06. > :17:06.
:17:06. > :17:10.House how the families are actually targeted and round the whole NEETs.
:17:10. > :17:15.Because I do have a concern we will fall into this trap of only
:17:15. > :17:20.Tracking areas of high deprivation? The programme we are talking about
:17:20. > :17:26.in terms of this question is a pilot. And co-pilots week to choose
:17:27. > :17:30.areas to stop. We are looking to deliver that through the current
:17:30. > :17:36.leaders scheme, which is a very keenly based intervention in terms
:17:36. > :17:41.of dealing with people who on employed. The Careers Service will
:17:41. > :17:46.have an important role. We would like to have one to one mentoring
:17:46. > :17:51.with people who fall into the NEETs category will stop it is important
:17:51. > :17:55.we were in close co-operation with the Department of Education to
:17:55. > :18:00.identify young people at risk from an early stage. We can track them
:18:00. > :18:05.through the education system. is one of the issues I have raised
:18:05. > :18:09.in Committee about how it is dealt with. One of the concerns I have
:18:09. > :18:14.had his the 36,000 plus young people left school without any
:18:14. > :18:21.GCSEs. As there been anything specifically tailored to meet that
:18:21. > :18:25.you people's needs? As a ball, given his local interest we're
:18:25. > :18:31.starting the roll-out of the scheme in west Belfast, so no doubt he
:18:31. > :18:36.will take some comfort from that. We are conditions there are a lot
:18:36. > :18:39.of you people lead school without sufficient qualifications or indeed
:18:39. > :18:44.no qualifications. The opportunities in the labour market
:18:44. > :18:50.for people in that situation Ossa to decline dramatically over the
:18:50. > :18:55.next 10 years. Less than 10% of job opportunities will be considering
:18:55. > :18:59.people of that label of education. There is a challenge in turning
:18:59. > :19:03.that situation around. We do have the training or success programme
:19:03. > :19:08.which offers a guaranteed training place to any 16 to 18 year-olds,
:19:08. > :19:11.and that is outside the confines of formal apprenticeships. We would
:19:11. > :19:17.want people to consider how they can progress through the system and
:19:17. > :19:20.we also of the essential skills training which offers people a
:19:20. > :19:22.little two qualification in literacy and numeracy.
:19:22. > :19:25.The Employment and Learning Minister, Stephen Farry. Now,
:19:25. > :19:28.Arlene Foster, was at the Despatch Box again this afternoon when the
:19:28. > :19:35.subject of tourism became a focus during today's questions to the
:19:35. > :19:40.Enterprise Minister. Might give the minister and the
:19:40. > :19:44.Northern Ireland Tourist Board for the marketing campaign, in
:19:44. > :19:48.particular the flexibility shown with the gods to modified use of
:19:48. > :19:53.the branding and the strap line or that campaign. Can I ask the
:19:53. > :19:59.Minister how damaging of the scenes of street violence we saw during
:19:59. > :20:04.the summer in Northern Ireland to the tourism product? What are the
:20:04. > :20:07.key actions that need to be taken to secure tourism growth on the
:20:07. > :20:11.long-term bases in Northern Ireland? I thank him for his
:20:11. > :20:16.positive comments. The whole idea behind the branding was that it
:20:16. > :20:20.would be something that would be taken up, not just by the tourist
:20:20. > :20:25.board but the industry in general. I am pleased to say they very much
:20:25. > :20:29.there forward and owns the brand, and when I was recently in than
:20:29. > :20:33.gammon speaking to some retailers, they were indicating they felt it
:20:33. > :20:38.helped in the town centre as well. I think it is very positive. As
:20:38. > :20:43.well as the tourism nature of Northern Ireland 2012, we saw it as
:20:44. > :20:48.a way of building civic pride in Northern Ireland. It is
:20:49. > :20:52.disappointing when street violence is related right across the world
:20:52. > :20:56.and in Northern Ireland, it tends to be related across the world. Is
:20:56. > :20:59.there in violence that market there is violence and Birmingham on
:20:59. > :21:04.Manchester, it does not even get that on page of the local papers.
:21:04. > :21:08.But because it is Northern Ireland Ostend to go across the rest of the
:21:08. > :21:14.world. It is damaging to the tourism product, but we will keep
:21:14. > :21:21.moving on. We had begins next year which everybody is looking forward
:21:21. > :21:31.to being as UK City of Culture in Londonderry. Can ask the minister
:21:31. > :21:31.
:21:32. > :21:41.it she agrees the current rates airport duty is discouraging people
:21:42. > :21:42.
:21:42. > :21:46.from coming here. As the Member knows we had a very successful
:21:46. > :21:49.campaign team at the devolution of air passenger duty in respect of
:21:49. > :21:53.international flights devolved and that legislation is going through
:21:53. > :21:58.the House not. I'd think we did very well to achieve that, because
:21:58. > :22:02.then it gives me the opportunity to look for, along with the
:22:02. > :22:07.international airport and the city Airport, and indeed London Derry
:22:08. > :22:12.Airport, to look for new flights to come in. I do except in relation to
:22:12. > :22:17.domestic lights that air passenger duty remains a huge issue. I would
:22:17. > :22:20.support a call to the Westminster Government that they really need to
:22:20. > :22:25.look at our passenger duty in respect of the whole of the UK. We
:22:25. > :22:29.hope they will take that on board from the industry and indeed from
:22:29. > :22:33.politicians. As the minister had any discussions with her
:22:33. > :22:37.counterpart in the south with a view to developing a tourism
:22:38. > :22:44.product on a cross-border glazers, given strict ban is one of the
:22:44. > :22:51.gateways to Donegal? I thank her for her question. I do recognise
:22:51. > :22:55.the ban is one of the gateways to Donegal. I visited a tourism
:22:55. > :23:01.project in straw ban, I was nearly run down by one of the cars going
:23:01. > :23:06.to Donegal. She knows the tourism project I am recovering to us. I
:23:06. > :23:11.know members are disappointed by the fact I still stand... But
:23:11. > :23:16.anyway, the reality is I have had discussions just last week with the
:23:16. > :23:19.tourism minister for the Republic of Ireland. We have not spoken
:23:19. > :23:23.about tourism product on a cross- border basis, we were talking about
:23:23. > :23:27.the number of tourists we need to attract from our biggest market
:23:27. > :23:30.which of course, is Great Britain. Arlene Foster. The man tasked with
:23:30. > :23:32.leading a review of the Department of Education's Common Funding
:23:32. > :23:34.Scheme appeared before the Education Committee last week. Sir
:23:35. > :23:37.Robert Salisbury, told Committee members that his review team had
:23:37. > :23:40.heard a range of often divergent opinions from different
:23:40. > :23:49.stakeholders, as we can hear now in our weekly look at Committee
:23:49. > :23:56.business. Lasts six weeks we have been
:23:56. > :24:02.meeting with anybody who can stand upright and talk about schools and
:24:02. > :24:07.funding. We at met with something like over 50 organisations ranging
:24:07. > :24:13.from schools, anybody who has anything at all to say about the
:24:13. > :24:18.way education runs. We had been like giant sponges. In our face-to-
:24:18. > :24:23.face discussions, we have been asking people what are the
:24:23. > :24:29.strengths of occurrence has done? How is it working, is it matching
:24:29. > :24:33.the policies the department as? Of their weaknesses? What are the
:24:33. > :24:37.things you go back to your own homes and complain about? Where is
:24:37. > :24:43.this is them stretched and not working well? As you can imagine,
:24:43. > :24:47.most people had said they want more money in their particular sector.
:24:47. > :24:51.But are less forthcoming when we say, where should the money come
:24:51. > :24:58.from? The expectations of what schools ought to be doing, going up
:24:58. > :25:02.all the time. The actual costs of running schools, when it before
:25:02. > :25:06.stabbing, equipment or capital buildings, going up all the time.
:25:06. > :25:12.Taxpayers' willingness to pay very much more education is staying
:25:12. > :25:16.roughly the same, particularly with ageing populations. And the
:25:16. > :25:21.availability of Government spending going down. So the gap between what
:25:22. > :25:27.schools are likely to get and what they think the need is widening.
:25:27. > :25:33.it not important principles retains its and controls over their
:25:33. > :25:39.budgets? Goods and for management could not be bureaucratic in the
:25:39. > :25:45.end and more expensive? Yes, it is a view that has come very strongly
:25:45. > :25:49.to us from the principles. You might be surprised to know that the
:25:49. > :25:55.counter view has come from other organisations we have met. It has
:25:55. > :25:58.felt a bit like being in Wimbledon's sometimes. Some are
:25:58. > :26:02.deserves a volley and it comes back and we have been watching its
:26:02. > :26:08.sights. One of a you thought when you read some of these reports,
:26:08. > :26:13.many of the principles in the North at spent a lot of time in managing
:26:13. > :26:18.a budget will stop at the Budget, when you pace that, you have 10 to
:26:18. > :26:25.15% let. What is your comments particularly in the south where
:26:25. > :26:31.teachers are paid centrally? Would that take the pressure of the
:26:31. > :26:35.principles? In the south, the principle would argue they had less
:26:35. > :26:40.control over their staffing levels, but on the over and they have less
:26:40. > :26:48.of a Budget hat-trick. There is a push for autonomy in some of the
:26:48. > :26:53.larger schools. -- budget headache. Autonomy does not mean you have
:26:53. > :26:56.more money, you just get more control over some of it.
:26:56. > :26:59.A look at last week's Education Committee meeting. Gareth Gordon is
:26:59. > :27:05.with me again. Gareth, before we go a word about an exhibition of
:27:05. > :27:09.photographs which opens in Parliament Buildings tomorrow.
:27:09. > :27:15.marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of Parliament buildings. As
:27:15. > :27:22.you say, photographs and architect roarings from back in the day.
:27:22. > :27:29.Interesting for anybody interesting in politics. I was interested in
:27:29. > :27:34.the artist's impression about Stormont as it the original
:27:34. > :27:41.building should have been built. It is a big unit building as it is but
:27:41. > :27:47.there should have been two wings as well. The reason it was not like
:27:47. > :27:51.that is because of austerity. the decision was taken not to have
:27:51. > :27:57.those extra wings. The amount of concrete, the number of men the
:27:57. > :28:01.worked on it, the huge quantities of Portland stone, they add up?
:28:01. > :28:08.Barrow men's list said that 700 trees died to make Stormont a
:28:08. > :28:16.possibility that stock there are photographs of the basements which
:28:16. > :28:20.is 8 ft 6 deep. That is the basement we are in at the moment
:28:20. > :28:23.and that is what some of the politicians like to keep us. It is
:28:23. > :28:27.interesting to see the basement before the rest of the building
:28:27. > :28:31.went up on top of it? Whatever anyone think of it, it is a
:28:31. > :28:36.building which has made its mark on Ministry of Northern Ireland.
:28:36. > :28:40.Anyone interested in that history should come along. There was a
:28:40. > :28:50.group being shown around this evening its Raja Pervez Ashraf.