:00:28. > :00:34.today. Coming up on tonight's programme - another day at Stormont
:00:34. > :00:39.and another day debating our new planning law. Not everyone was happy
:00:39. > :00:44.with the proposals. You get cowboy planning, cowboy builders. What do
:00:44. > :00:48.you expect from cowboy politicians? The National Trust came under fire,
:00:48. > :00:52.as questions were asked about the Giants Causeway. It is
:00:52. > :00:58.disproportionate. I have to ask myself if I went with my family
:00:58. > :01:05.would I be happy to pay that amount of money to access the visitor's
:01:05. > :01:12.centre? I am not sure I would. joined by the news letter's
:01:12. > :01:17.correspondent Sam McBride. So, a second day has been spent
:01:17. > :01:22.debating the new planning law. Last night a controversial proposal to
:01:22. > :01:27.create planning zones to be by the first deputy ministers was passed.
:01:27. > :01:33.This evening another amendment was approved. We will get a flavour of
:01:33. > :01:40.the debate in a moment. First the News Letter's correspondent is here.
:01:41. > :01:48.We will touch first on the economic zones and the OFMDFM taking control.
:01:48. > :01:53.It has been called a power-grab by opponents. That is obviously how
:01:53. > :01:58.they see it? From the point of view of Alex Attwood t Planning Minister,
:01:58. > :02:03.it is taking powers which are his, which will go to local councils
:02:03. > :02:10.under the views of local administrations that the expanded
:02:10. > :02:14.councils we'll have. It has given it to the first Minister and Deputy
:02:14. > :02:20.First Minister. The Assembly would have a chance to vote op any if the
:02:20. > :02:25.Environment Minister of the time didn't agree with the creation of an
:02:25. > :02:30.economic zone in a certain area. But there was intense controversy about
:02:30. > :02:34.this. It emerged that short notice last week - there was no
:02:34. > :02:38.consultation on this. Even some of the MLAs found it sketchy, the
:02:38. > :02:44.detail of it. One sounded critical of it at
:02:44. > :02:50.points. It was an unusual debate. What about the significance of
:02:50. > :02:54.today's developments? It follows in the same way. These are seen as
:02:54. > :02:59.radical, probably more in terms of the DUP than from Sinn Fein. Both
:02:59. > :03:05.parties are signed up to these in radical ways to make the planning
:03:05. > :03:09.system faster, make it responsive to the economy. Critics say that just
:03:09. > :03:15.letting people build is not necessarily the same as economic
:03:15. > :03:19.development. The example was given of an airport and said, if for
:03:19. > :03:23.instance, they extend Belfast City airport, you display jobs from one
:03:23. > :03:28.airport to the other. It was a debate that was not informed I
:03:28. > :03:32.suppose by a great deal of time because it came at such short notice
:03:32. > :03:37.and that showed from the DUP and Sinn Fein benches. Allegations from
:03:37. > :03:42.the other parties being thrown about quassy corruption. In some cases
:03:42. > :03:47.that was denied. It has been a tough four or five days for Alex Attwood,
:03:47. > :03:53.hasn't it? It has been a bruising few days. Whether he surviving
:03:53. > :03:57.longer as minister - there were rumours he would be replaced by Joe
:03:57. > :04:02.Burn, his party colleague. It will be a huge test as to whether he
:04:02. > :04:07.moves this. He has the power, potentially, if he uses his nuclear
:04:07. > :04:12.option to stop it in its tracks. We'll hear more from you in a
:04:12. > :04:16.moment. Thank you. There were forthright and heated exchanges
:04:16. > :04:21.today. Here is a flavour of what was said. The question for the House
:04:21. > :04:25.today is whether or not we're going to choose to provide balance in our
:04:25. > :04:31.planning system or further load the dice in favour of developers. It
:04:31. > :04:35.seems the DUP are so beholden to their developer donors they have
:04:35. > :04:40.tabled a table of this today, to ensure that even if we do get, even
:04:40. > :04:45.if it is the democratic will of this House to introduce third party right
:04:45. > :04:51.of appeal, they will choose to block it. Amendment 26 is proposed this
:04:52. > :04:58.evening, this afternoon moves Northern Ireland more to a
:04:58. > :05:06.deregulated Texas-style system. The system you get coy boy planning,
:05:06. > :05:15.cowboy builders. What do you expect from cowboy politicians? I was lost
:05:15. > :05:20.for words by amendment 20, Mr Speaker. I was gobsmacked by
:05:20. > :05:25.amendment 24. I have great pride in our demock ca I have. To take --
:05:25. > :05:29.democracy. To takeaway the review that you feel are wrong, to me seems
:05:29. > :05:35.like we are taking steps towards a dictatorship. I was concerned over
:05:35. > :05:41.some of the remarks of both of the last two speakers in terms of the
:05:41. > :05:47.fact that both made sort of like snide remarks in relation to my
:05:47. > :05:52.party. It noticeable indeed - remarks such as who's pulling the
:05:52. > :05:57.springs? Can I say it seems to be that the chair of the committee has
:05:57. > :06:02.been lost for words on our amendment. I have to say I maybe
:06:02. > :06:08.give praise to the chair that someone who is lost for words seems
:06:08. > :06:11.remarkable Leigh quaous. We have a reputation when it comes to getting
:06:11. > :06:15.planning applications finally approved. That is not solely the
:06:15. > :06:21.responsibility of the current minister. It is a legacy of our
:06:21. > :06:28.legal system, where we have all seen business rivals lodge appeals in
:06:28. > :06:35.order to simply block or impede the progress of all this. Our numbers
:06:35. > :06:40.are not about, our amendments are not a numbers game. There are the
:06:40. > :06:45.number of appeals on record taken over the last few years. He's
:06:45. > :06:51.missing the point in they have damaged our reputation in regard to
:06:51. > :06:57.final decisions made. The SDLP supports third party appeals and we
:06:57. > :07:02.will support the amendment of the Green Party. We commend the minister
:07:02. > :07:06.for the proposals he has brought forward in the bill, which will deal
:07:06. > :07:10.much more effectively with enforcement against those who flout
:07:10. > :07:15.planning laws and of course the potential for a higher ceiling of
:07:15. > :07:21.fines to be enforced by the judiciary. That is something I
:07:21. > :07:27.believe u ought to be welcomed. looks like -- likes like in the
:07:27. > :07:29.future you will be able to choose any area, any side and create an
:07:29. > :07:35.economically significant planning zone and then do what you like there
:07:35. > :07:39.and you will not from amendment 26 be able to challenge it, if I
:07:39. > :07:44.understand it correctly, unless it happens to be against your human
:07:44. > :07:49.rights or against EU laws. It is a real shame on both those parties to
:07:49. > :07:56.be agreeing this. I am warning this House that if we go down this route,
:07:56. > :08:03.on this particular amendment, on any amendment, on any topic, this issant
:08:03. > :08:13.amount to a totalitarian state in the fascist mood. What you cannot
:08:13. > :08:19.challenge any longer under thisty ran anial proposition is a proposal
:08:19. > :08:27.which is unlawful by virtue of being irrational cannot be stopped, cannot
:08:27. > :08:35.be challenged by urt courts and... Oh, yes, I'll give way. Instead of
:08:35. > :08:41.it being a developer's charter, he wants it to be a lawyer's charter,
:08:41. > :08:51.where fat cat lawyers can make a fortune out of stopping jobs coming
:08:51. > :09:04.
:09:04. > :09:09.coming here. That has been a case on Wlabt this, the would be -- what
:09:09. > :09:19.about this - the would be objectors. It is and planning challenging is
:09:19. > :09:39.
:09:39. > :09:47.the Stormont ministers. This is them moving to try to say, get out of our
:09:47. > :09:51.territory in some ways. Thank you. Closing hospital beds, waiting times
:09:51. > :10:01.and residential care for the elderly. All issues which feature in
:10:01. > :10:01.
:10:01. > :10:45.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds
:10:45. > :10:55.a statement from the Health Minister It must take place with full
:10:55. > :11:18.
:11:18. > :11:22.engagement with service users so members that the future statutory
:11:22. > :11:27.care homes will be considered on a case by case basis, recognising we
:11:27. > :11:32.must do what is in the best interest of the current residents T latest
:11:33. > :11:38.statistics show that the performance improved significantly in May. The
:11:38. > :11:46.health service is not meeting the standard that 95% of patients
:11:46. > :11:50.attending an emergency department should be. . Seen within four hours.
:11:50. > :11:54.There are signs of improvement within hospital services. This can
:11:54. > :11:58.be seen, for example, in waiting times for elective care, where the
:11:58. > :12:03.number of patients waiting and the length of time they are waiting are
:12:03. > :12:08.being driven down. You had mentioned and congratulated yourself and your
:12:08. > :12:10.department on the improvement and waiting times. Do you acknowledge
:12:11. > :12:15.minister, because this is something as a committee we have been looking
:12:15. > :12:19.at, do you acknowledge this has only been achieved because there has been
:12:19. > :12:25.millions of pounds put into the private sector? Do you not accept
:12:25. > :12:35.this is a court fix approach and, as hard as this, or how we tackle the
:12:35. > :12:35.
:12:35. > :12:43.issue of waiting lists in the long term? I accept we have done this
:12:43. > :12:47.using the private sector. I don't make any apologies for. I welcome
:12:47. > :12:52.the statement. But I do not welcome the fact we received little over an
:12:52. > :12:57.hour's notice of it. It runs to about 4,000 words. That it contains
:12:57. > :13:01.at least seven distinct new areas of public policy being announced and
:13:02. > :13:07.that it is going to be subject to limited scrutiny because the whips
:13:07. > :13:12.of this House have agreed that we would only have one member per party
:13:12. > :13:19.to ask questions during questions so as to expedite the business of the
:13:19. > :13:27.day. My question is this, firstly, what grounds of public policy did he
:13:27. > :13:37.override his Permanent Secretary's advice on the business cases for the
:13:37. > :13:37.
:13:37. > :13:40.lis born. -- Lisbon new centres? I did not override anybody's decision.
:13:40. > :13:45.Civil servants are here to make recommendations and that is
:13:45. > :13:51.something we, as politicians, should ensure always remains the case.
:13:51. > :13:56.Health Minister, Edwin Poots. The Tourism Minister has criticismed the
:13:56. > :14:05.National Trust to charge people to use the car park at the Giants
:14:05. > :14:15.Causeway. Arlene Foster called it disproportionate. She had something
:14:15. > :14:21.
:14:21. > :14:26.Ireland went across the world during the G 8 summit. We showed Northern
:14:26. > :14:30.Ireland at its best and we had the most peaceful summit in the history
:14:30. > :14:34.of G 8 summits. That is something we should be proud about and the fact
:14:34. > :14:38.it gives us stand out across the global markets. One of our
:14:38. > :14:41.difficulties from the past has been the fact that when people think of
:14:41. > :14:46.Northern Ireland think they of it in a particular way. I think the G 8
:14:46. > :14:52.will have done so much good in relation to the safety and security
:14:52. > :14:57.issues over those two short days last week. I am very pleased that it
:14:57. > :15:01.will go out across the world in a positive way. We look forward of the
:15:01. > :15:04.working the tourist board w invest Northern Ireland and Tourism
:15:04. > :15:09.Northern Ireland to make sure that Fermanagh and Northern Ireland gets
:15:09. > :15:19.the standout it deserves after the G8 summit. That is a job of work I
:15:19. > :15:28.
:15:28. > :15:31.have tasked the three organisations in congratulating them. If she's
:15:31. > :15:38.asking me if I was pleased with the work carried out by the three
:15:38. > :15:44.agencies, very pleased indeed. I have no difficulty in saying I am
:15:44. > :15:50.pleased with the work of tourism Ireland. I have no difficulty saying
:15:50. > :15:53.that they provided a good job in relation to G8. I do know that there
:15:53. > :15:58.have been a number of complaints and I've listened to colleagues from
:15:58. > :16:05.across the political spectrum making those complaints in relation to the
:16:05. > :16:12.car parking at the Giant's Causeway. With the Minister agree that it is
:16:12. > :16:17.grossly unfair and a disincentive to tourism that if a car load of four
:16:17. > :16:21.people arrived to park at the Giant's Causeway, not intending to
:16:21. > :16:30.use the centre because they have already seen it, but intending to go
:16:30. > :16:35.to the stoned, that they are each charged park, which is an
:16:35. > :16:40.extortionate amount and a gross disincentive? As tourism minister,
:16:40. > :16:45.will she condemned that and press for change? I do think that there
:16:45. > :16:48.are difficulties in and around that, I think it is disproportionate. I
:16:48. > :16:53.have to ask myself if I went with my family would type the happy to pay
:16:53. > :16:59.that kind of money to access the visitor centre. I'm not sure that I
:16:59. > :17:05.would. I think The National Trust me to consider in relation to their
:17:05. > :17:10.current charging policy whether it is the correct one. We heard Arlene
:17:10. > :17:13.Foster speaking about the most peaceful G8 summit ever but it was
:17:13. > :17:21.also an opportunity for those campaigning on global issues to air
:17:22. > :17:29.their views. The IF campaign was vocal and MLAs put forward a motion
:17:29. > :17:32.to recognise that. What was the purpose of the motion? The purpose
:17:32. > :17:39.was to recognise the hard work and creative campaign that have been
:17:39. > :17:45.overawed when many organisations across Northern Ireland. And a lot
:17:45. > :17:52.of community artist that we have put on an excellent concept at the
:17:52. > :17:55.botanic Gardens, linking on three issues of tax, land and aid. The
:17:55. > :18:03.deck narration that came out of the G8 referenced work there needed to
:18:03. > :18:12.be done on a lot of those key issues. The purpose of this motion
:18:12. > :18:19.is to grab a stamp that, not to move the debate forward? It is to
:18:19. > :18:22.recognise the hard work and give the commitment of this assembly and make
:18:22. > :18:28.sure that they deliver to those commitments that they have laid out
:18:28. > :18:33.at the G8. Do you think the leaders that were involved at the G8 summit
:18:33. > :18:40.heard when you had to say and acted upon the calls that you made?
:18:40. > :18:49.think that they did. The campaign was a hugely uniting campaign. We
:18:49. > :18:52.were able to make the case direct to the Prime Minister at Westminster.
:18:52. > :18:57.Someone said there had been a bit of a seachange in the way that these
:18:57. > :19:03.issues were discussed. The making poverty work campaign a few years
:19:03. > :19:13.ago found it hard to get any traction but the IF campaign did
:19:13. > :19:17.
:19:17. > :19:25.have an impact. It did, and other campaigns as well. These campaigns
:19:25. > :19:28.are having an impact. A split in the Executive on pension reform last
:19:28. > :19:32.November which stopped Westminster legislative issue on behalf of the
:19:32. > :19:38.pig sector workers here meant separate legislation was brought
:19:38. > :19:44.before the house today. The second stage of the Service Pensions Bill
:19:44. > :19:47.was moved by Sammy Wilson. object of the bill is introduced
:19:47. > :19:55.major changes to public service pensions in Northern Ireland from a
:19:55. > :20:05.rope 2015. The Bill which I put in the Assembly in 2012 kids in fact to
:20:05. > :20:12.
:20:12. > :20:19.the principles of tension reform agreed an executive in March. The
:20:19. > :20:24.model to be adopted for general use in the public services schemes. The
:20:24. > :20:30.Chief Secretary to the Treasury made it clear that a proportional
:20:30. > :20:32.reduction will be applied to the Northern Ireland block allocation if
:20:32. > :20:37.registration to reform public service pension arrangements in
:20:37. > :20:46.Northern Ireland is not concluded to the deadline to the deadlines
:20:46. > :20:51.contained in the Westminster public services pensions act 2013. It was
:20:51. > :20:56.evident that a full macroeconomic analysis or appraisal has not been
:20:56. > :20:59.undertaken of the proposed pension reforms, either locally by the
:20:59. > :21:08.Department or in Britain by the Treasury or as part of the initial
:21:08. > :21:11.Houten review. Representatives emphasise the need to assess the
:21:11. > :21:15.impact of increasing the age of retirement, taking turns of
:21:15. > :21:21.displacement in the labour market and the correlation between this and
:21:21. > :21:23.youth unemployment. The committee will continue to support the
:21:23. > :21:28.Minister in this process and ensuring that consideration of the
:21:28. > :21:34.bill is given priority, but that should not be at the expense of
:21:34. > :21:41.robust scrutiny. This will represent a further attack on public sector
:21:41. > :21:45.workers who have already faced a freezes and a rise in pension
:21:45. > :21:50.contributions as result of previous legislation. This further attack has
:21:50. > :21:54.been pushed through the Assembly by the Finance Minister at a time when
:21:54. > :22:02.his colleagues and indeed all of the parties in the Assembly are seeing
:22:02. > :22:09.their own individual salaries rise. Historically when pitted against the
:22:09. > :22:19.private sector, the public sector was viewed as low on power with
:22:19. > :22:19.
:22:19. > :22:27.salaries, but other benefits work accepted. A salary cap has emerged
:22:27. > :22:34.between the two sectors in the opposite direction. I know that the
:22:34. > :22:42.STL P are always looking for an opportunity to poke the main parties
:22:42. > :22:51.in this assembly in the eye -- SDLP. They love particularly taunting Sinn
:22:51. > :22:58.Fein. We are more socialist than you are, we are redder than you are. He
:22:58. > :23:02.should be read in the face after that's each!. Londonderry seems to
:23:02. > :23:12.be the centre of the world at the moment and it was no surprise when
:23:12. > :23:12.
:23:12. > :23:16.the British Irish Council to the decision to meet their last week.
:23:17. > :23:19.This summit again underlined the British Irish Council's unique role
:23:19. > :23:24.in developing links between its member administration through
:23:25. > :23:30.positive actual relationships and providing a forum for consultation
:23:30. > :23:36.and exchange of information on matters of mutual interest. The
:23:36. > :23:46.council welcomed the hosting of the summit in Londonderry train the city
:23:46. > :23:47.
:23:47. > :23:52.'s tenure as UK City of Culture 2013. The first item on the agenda
:23:52. > :23:59.was a presentation to the council by the chief executive of the Derry
:23:59. > :24:04.Londonderry culture company. It highlighted economic benefits
:24:04. > :24:10.arising from Londonderry's selection as the first UK City of Culture. It
:24:10. > :24:16.aims to deliver a lasting legacy for the people of the city and
:24:16. > :24:19.surrounding area. I understand this is the 20th summit of the British
:24:19. > :24:25.Irish Council. The First Minister detail what he believes to be its
:24:25. > :24:30.greatest achievement? I think if the member looks at the statement he
:24:30. > :24:34.will see immediately that the greatest meant is the sharing of
:24:34. > :24:39.information, learning from the experiences of others, is about
:24:39. > :24:44.things that we should do and things we should not do. I believe it is a
:24:44. > :24:50.useful gathering of the leaders of the various administrations within
:24:50. > :24:55.the overall British Isles. I had that I will get full encouragement
:24:56. > :25:01.from my Unionist colleagues to maintain that east-west link, just
:25:01. > :25:07.as others will be encouraging us to maintain north-south links. Can I
:25:07. > :25:10.ask for his assessment on the presentation given by the culture
:25:10. > :25:16.company on this impact so far, not just for very bad for the region as
:25:16. > :25:22.a whole? The impact goes beyond that. And once most eager to listen
:25:22. > :25:28.to the presentation worthy areas that have it soon for next year's UK
:25:28. > :25:33.City of Culture. They were very much wanting to learn from the experience
:25:33. > :25:38.of the Derry Londonderry company. There was a willingness on the part
:25:38. > :25:43.of the company after the present year is over to share their
:25:43. > :25:53.experiences, both the mistakes and indeed give adages that they had
:25:53. > :26:04.
:26:04. > :26:07.during the course of the year. -- the advantages. There were hot air
:26:07. > :26:15.balloons and music early in the morning and I thought that was
:26:15. > :26:18.something that politicians should not be involved with! The planning
:26:18. > :26:23.Bill has been dominating proceedings putting Question Time there were
:26:23. > :26:28.other legislative matters to deal with. This time it was the reform of
:26:28. > :26:33.local government, but first heritage and history book centre stage.
:26:33. > :26:38.sleeping giant of Irish tourism and potentially of Irish life is the
:26:38. > :26:46.Saint Patrick 's experience. I have been making this argument that on
:26:46. > :26:51.the far side of all the big investments, it is now the time of
:26:51. > :26:59.Saint Patrick, it is now the time of the County of town and we need to
:26:59. > :27:03.grasp that option team now and over the next two decades. Northern
:27:03. > :27:08.Ireland's natural and built heritage is one of our greatest assets but
:27:08. > :27:14.there is a skills shortage of contractors to work on such
:27:14. > :27:20.buildings. If the Minister aware of such rob them? I would welcome
:27:20. > :27:26.hearing precise details of what that might be. Part of the life of the
:27:26. > :27:31.Northern Ireland agency is to have a group of people with the skills
:27:31. > :27:34.bursary to help with the maintenance of our heritage sites. For example,
:27:34. > :27:40.the reason why the walls of Terry part in the state and condition that
:27:40. > :27:45.they are today and arguably the best they have been for decades, is
:27:45. > :27:49.because of resource and skills that exist within the Environment Agency
:27:49. > :27:54.and which are deployed for the preservation and maintenance of the
:27:54. > :27:59.walls. It been my aspiration that the house would have had the
:27:59. > :28:08.opportunity for first and second reading not just of the
:28:08. > :28:12.reorganisation bill but also of the Road traffic Bill. We have had some
:28:12. > :28:17.conversation in that regard at one executive meeting it has not yet
:28:17. > :28:23.come through to a full executive discussion. I would hope that by
:28:23. > :28:32.this Thursday the bill will be discussed by the Executive, that it
:28:32. > :28:38.will be approved by the Executive. And it has been discussed that we
:28:38. > :28:43.should have first reading next week in order that the bill and its
:28:43. > :28:45.contents with the publicly available for people to make comment on over