:00:27. > :00:34.Welcome to Stormont Today. On the programme tonight, the protection
:00:34. > :00:37.of victims or discrimination? MLAs debate a bill which will make it
:00:37. > :00:44.illegal for a certain with a criminal conviction to serve as a
:00:44. > :00:48.advisor. The Mary McArdle pinement highlighted a significant gap in
:00:48. > :00:52.our law and as legislators, we either face up to it, or we ignore
:00:52. > :00:56.it. Also on the programme, concerns over the future of children's heart
:00:56. > :01:01.surgery in Northern Ireland. The health Minister says he prefers an
:01:01. > :01:07.all-island solution and rules out a stand alone service in Belfast.
:01:07. > :01:11.There's no realistic option which would permit a stand alone
:01:11. > :01:15.paediatric, cardiac surgery in Belfast. People might not like that,
:01:15. > :01:19.they might find it hard to accept. But that is just a factual
:01:19. > :01:27.situation. Later we will hear from one mother who is campaigning on
:01:27. > :01:30.the issue. Now an attempt by the TUV to
:01:30. > :01:34.prevent some former prisoners from becoming Ministerial special
:01:34. > :01:37.advisers took another step closer to becoming law after a private
:01:37. > :01:40.members bill passed its second reading in the House this evening.
:01:40. > :01:44.The bill was introduced by Jim Allister following the
:01:44. > :01:48.controversial appointment of the convicted killer Mary McArdle as a
:01:48. > :01:58.special advise tore the culture Minister. She was sentenced to life
:01:58. > :02:05.in prison for the murder of Mary Trafrs in 1984. Young Mary Travers,
:02:05. > :02:10.22 years of age, embarking on a career, full of life, and
:02:11. > :02:18.enthusiasm and from everything I have heard about her, carrying with
:02:18. > :02:27.her those same characteristics of compassion and humanity and great
:02:27. > :02:31.gentleness. She was broughtly -- brutally shot in the back. Estate
:02:31. > :02:37.agents cannot by law be estate agents if they hold certain
:02:37. > :02:44.convictions. Solicitors clerks cannot be solicitors clerks if they
:02:44. > :02:51.hold certain convictions. So why not special advisors? I say
:02:51. > :02:56.that the Mary McArdle appointment highlighted a significant gap in
:02:56. > :03:04.our law and as legislators, we either face up to it, or we ignore
:03:04. > :03:08.it. People have a lot of difficulty with people - we have to move on.
:03:08. > :03:13.Prisoners have to be reintegrated within the community, within
:03:13. > :03:18.society. We can't turn back the clock. There should be no return to
:03:18. > :03:21.discrimination. There should be no return to the days before the Good
:03:21. > :03:28.Friday Agreement and we should really stop bringing legislation to
:03:28. > :03:33.this House and debates to this House which are sitting uneasily
:03:33. > :03:36.with members of the public and we should show leadership on these
:03:36. > :03:40.issues and members of the exprisoners community, regardless
:03:40. > :03:44.of where they came from, steps need to be taken to ensure they
:03:44. > :03:51.reintegrate into society and play a positive role in our communities.
:03:51. > :03:59.We as a party are sympathetic to the declared aim of this bill,
:03:59. > :04:05.which is to tackle the issue of the appointment of Ministerial advisors.
:04:05. > :04:08.In particular, the protection of victims of paramilitary violence
:04:08. > :04:16.from appointment to office, of those who have caused death and
:04:16. > :04:24.injury to their loved ones. However, Mr Speaker, that does not mean that
:04:24. > :04:32.we give unqualified support to the bill. Sinn Fein appointed the only
:04:32. > :04:38.person convicted of this murder to be a special Ministerial advisor.
:04:38. > :04:41.That appointment was both insensitive and provocative. Some
:04:41. > :04:44.may on first sighting perceive there is potential pher knit some
:04:44. > :04:47.aspects of the bill. If indeed there is merit then it would
:04:47. > :04:50.probably be more appropriate that the department itself would bring
:04:50. > :04:56.forward such legislation as it would be more considered and
:04:56. > :05:02.balanced and reflect policy elsewhere. Why I am supportive of
:05:02. > :05:09.this bill is I do not want to have another victim suffer in the same
:05:09. > :05:14.way. Undoubtedly, if someone else who had been involved in a
:05:14. > :05:21.murderous act were to be appointed, they will come into the public
:05:21. > :05:25.domain. The issue will be forced upon those victims' families to
:05:25. > :05:30.relive the incident. Every time that advisor, because the advisors
:05:30. > :05:35.are always close to their Minister might be caught on camera, or on TV,
:05:35. > :05:41.they will relive that incident. think that this is an issue of
:05:41. > :05:45.equality and it's an issue of fairness. I think if people are in
:05:45. > :05:50.any way bringing any sense of honesty or integrity to this debate,
:05:50. > :05:54.then they should state it for what it is. This is an attempt to
:05:54. > :05:58.prevent Republican ex-prisoners from fulfilling the role of special
:05:58. > :06:01.advisors and indeed the proposal of the bill -- proposer of the bill
:06:01. > :06:05.has a long history of saying Republican ex-prisoners shouldn't
:06:05. > :06:08.have any sense of ekwult and fairness -- ekwult and fairness and
:06:08. > :06:14.this is part of that particular process. The way in which Sinn Fein
:06:14. > :06:19.did deal with the appointment of the advisor to the Minister for the
:06:19. > :06:27.department of culture, arts and leisure, great hurt was caused to
:06:27. > :06:31.an individual. However, great anger was also caused in the general
:06:31. > :06:38.community and I think that it was the way in which Sinn Fein
:06:38. > :06:44.themselves handled the reaction to that that highlighted that they
:06:44. > :06:49.really didn't get where the community was on these things.
:06:49. > :06:52.finance Minister, Sammy Wilson, and Jim list Jim -- Allister is with me
:06:52. > :06:55.here. Can we pick up on Sammy Wilson first of all, the finance
:06:56. > :07:01.Minister, of course, put measures, guidelines in place to deal with
:07:01. > :07:06.this issue sometime ago. Why do you think legislation is necessary?
:07:06. > :07:10.Well, his guidelines so far as they went, have not been implemented in
:07:10. > :07:13.the sense that Sinn Fein are refusing to operate them. Therefore,
:07:13. > :07:17.since those guidelines came in last September, we have had two Sinn
:07:17. > :07:21.Fein special advisors appointed who have refused to go through the
:07:21. > :07:26.vetting procedures set out in Mr Wilson's guidelines and there is
:07:26. > :07:31.now a standoff about that and consequence they're not being paid.
:07:31. > :07:35.What I am saying is that we need to put on a statutory footing issues
:07:35. > :07:41.like vetting so that rather than guidelines we have it in law what
:07:41. > :07:46.is required, and therefore, there's no wriggle room for anyone and
:07:46. > :07:49.these are special advisors who equate to senior civil servants,
:07:49. > :07:52.they're vetted, so why not special advisors, that's one part of the
:07:52. > :07:58.the bill. The hrepbl hraeugs you want to see -- legislation you want
:07:58. > :08:02.to see would include a vetting procedure which is mandatory and
:08:02. > :08:06.the current system couldn't be the case in a future scenario? Yes,
:08:06. > :08:11.because the past year proves that Sinn Fein can thumb its nose at
:08:11. > :08:16.those proposals and carry on with people with access to highest level
:08:16. > :08:19.Government papers as special advisors and the guidance on the
:08:19. > :08:22.vetting has not been implemented because they refuse co-operate on
:08:22. > :08:25.it. I am saying they've brought this on themselves in that regard.
:08:25. > :08:28.Let's get it on a statutory basis and do the other things that need
:08:28. > :08:32.to be done on the bill. difficulty is that you got the
:08:32. > :08:37.legislation, the proposed legislation through today 2-1,
:08:37. > :08:41.majority of about 30 votes in the House. With DUP support, Ulster
:08:41. > :08:45.Unionist support, and SDLP support. It's going to become mired in
:08:45. > :08:49.committee stage now and there will be all sorts of horse-trading and
:08:50. > :08:54.compromises and it may bear little resemblance if it comes out the
:08:54. > :08:59.other end to what you put on the table today. Let's wait and see. It
:08:59. > :09:06.has certain core principles in the bill. I am not hard and fast on the
:09:06. > :09:11.exact detail. I can negotiate about minuteua but the principles are
:09:11. > :09:15.important and the principles I hope will emerge the other side in tact.
:09:15. > :09:20.Are you confident the DUP will continue to support new future?
:09:20. > :09:25.Well, I can only judge by today, I had support from across the chamber.
:09:25. > :09:28.I think the DUP has been using my bill as an attempt to trade-off for
:09:28. > :09:31.Sinn Fein the threat of the bill to get Sinn Fein to sign up to the
:09:31. > :09:36.guidance. It hasn't worked. If Sinn Fein did, would they back away from
:09:36. > :09:39.my bill? I can't say that but if they did they would be backing away
:09:39. > :09:43.from rectifying the situation which was created by the Mary McArdle
:09:43. > :09:47.appointment and not creating a situation-- where that could never
:09:47. > :09:54.happen again. I want a situation where an instoult a victim's party
:09:54. > :09:56.that was perpetrated by the can never happen again. OK. There
:09:56. > :10:01.are bigger issues potentially as well. The Attorney General
:10:01. > :10:03.expressed concerns at a hearing last week the legislation could
:10:03. > :10:07.contravene the European Convention on Human Rights because it would be
:10:07. > :10:12.like a second punishment for an original crime. It's not a second
:10:12. > :10:18.punishment. He He expressed some concerns about maybe Article 7 of
:10:18. > :10:20.the convention which proheub its -- prohibits secondary criminal
:10:20. > :10:23.penalties. This is simply establishing as a disqualification
:10:23. > :10:26.from holding a post the fact there is a previous conviction. I am
:10:26. > :10:31.quite happy with my situation because the bill is only on the
:10:31. > :10:35.floor of the House. Not just because I say it's competent, not
:10:35. > :10:39.just just because those who advise me, but the Speaker has been
:10:39. > :10:43.advised by lawyers of legal service in the Assembly that it's kpe tent
:10:43. > :10:48.and human rights compliant. other issue, your reaction to the
:10:48. > :10:52.news that the newly appointed chair of the Maze development board sat
:10:52. > :10:58.on the panel that conducted the first trawl for board members?
:10:59. > :11:03.astounded that anyone could sit on a panel, fail to select anyone to
:11:03. > :11:07.appoint anyone, then think they can resign from the panel, apply
:11:07. > :11:11.themselves, and be appointed. You know, I do think there's an issue
:11:11. > :11:16.here that the commissioner for public appointments needs to
:11:16. > :11:20.examine. It seems incredible that arrangement could have been allowed
:11:20. > :11:23.to pass. And we arrive with a board appointed in that fashion. There is
:11:23. > :11:27.no suggestion that the two processes weren't entirely separate,
:11:27. > :11:32.though, and that best practice was not followed. Let's hear what the
:11:32. > :11:37.commissioner says. But I have to say, it does not bode public
:11:37. > :11:40.confidence in the process if someone is sitting on a panel, a
:11:40. > :11:46.panel doesn't appoint and then they themselves apply, come off the
:11:46. > :11:50.panel and are appointed. You know, who advised him to apply? There are
:11:50. > :11:53.all sorts of issues that just leave this wholly unsatisfactory
:11:53. > :11:57.situation. Would you like to see the matter taken further?
:11:57. > :12:00.certainly like to see the matter taken further and I think the
:12:00. > :12:06.commissioner should have a say on this. We will see what happens.
:12:06. > :12:12.Thank you very much. Now, after standing in for Carole
:12:13. > :12:20.ne Killen at questions yesterday John O'Dowd was back this afternoon
:12:20. > :12:24.for questions. As well as The Minister gave details of the new
:12:24. > :12:34.Education Bill. He also responded to questions about a school in
:12:34. > :12:35.
:12:35. > :12:40.Omagh which was destroyed in a fire It is hoped that the pupils will be
:12:40. > :12:44.able to return to the school in January 2013. I have instructed
:12:44. > :12:52.officials to investigate all possible options to allow for the
:12:52. > :12:58.provision of new school buildings on the site as a matter of urgency.
:12:58. > :13:04.I thank the Minister for his response. Can the Minister give was
:13:04. > :13:09.more indication as to when the new build will commence on the site for
:13:09. > :13:15.this school? I think it is important that this new build
:13:15. > :13:21.commences as soon as possible. the member will appreciate, the
:13:21. > :13:28.current situation is not of our making. The fire is continuing to
:13:28. > :13:33.be investigated by the appropriate authorities. We were presented with
:13:33. > :13:37.a catastrophe on the weekend before the school started back. The
:13:37. > :13:42.concern was to identify premises for the children and young people
:13:42. > :13:52.to attend. That has been achieved. We are now looking at the medium-
:13:52. > :13:54.
:13:54. > :13:58.term plans for the site. Some of the buildings on the site can be
:13:58. > :14:04.secured but there is a major clearance operation to take place
:14:04. > :14:07.but a lot of damaged material, including asbestos giving us
:14:07. > :14:13.concerns that asbestos was broken up and destroyed during the fire
:14:13. > :14:16.and should be removed by properly qualified contractors. And we
:14:16. > :14:26.continue to investigate moving the school permanently. I would like to
:14:26. > :14:35.see the school constructed, and open, by 2015. What cross-border
:14:35. > :14:39.co-operation is happening as part of this planning? Cross border co-
:14:39. > :14:43.operation along the border corridor is important and we have passed the
:14:43. > :14:47.education boards to look at this. Candy might provide education
:14:47. > :14:51.services to the benefit of young people in the area on a cross-
:14:51. > :14:58.border basis and will they assess they are rare plans? We will look
:14:58. > :15:03.at that in detail, as well. We're conducting an attitude are no
:15:03. > :15:07.survey along the border corridors to see if there is a demand among
:15:07. > :15:12.parents and pupils to travel across the border. All of that will be
:15:12. > :15:16.taken on board and we want to provide effective and efficient
:15:16. > :15:24.access to education for communities along the border and that might
:15:24. > :15:30.include sure resources on a cross- border basis. Can the minister
:15:30. > :15:36.agree -- outline what the main benefits of their respect will be?
:15:37. > :15:41.The main benefits of the Education Bill is that we will be modernising
:15:41. > :15:47.how we deliver education within society reducing eight bodies done
:15:47. > :15:51.into one, giving us a more modern, efficient, monitoring structure.
:15:51. > :15:56.The monitoring of schools will be the responsibility of the boards of
:15:56. > :16:00.governors, but overall, policy direction that we want to see below
:16:00. > :16:09.what is that each of us will deliver policies set by the
:16:09. > :16:18.department. We want to raise standards. There will be an
:16:18. > :16:25.independent tribunal with the power to stock interference in schools. I
:16:25. > :16:32.think we have achieved the bill, the bill allows us to continue with
:16:32. > :16:37.its functions but it will not be the case that we have centralised
:16:37. > :16:42.control, the boards of governors will continue to run schools. And
:16:42. > :16:47.there will be a lot of autonomy for schools in their day-to-day affairs.
:16:47. > :16:51.Workers at if you will son were told 760 of them would lose their
:16:51. > :16:55.jobs. It was that turn of the implement and learning Minister
:16:56. > :17:00.Stephen Parry to outline what his depart that order to out -- to help
:17:00. > :17:09.those facing redundancy to find alternative employment. Officials
:17:09. > :17:14.have been proactive in identifying up schooling opportunities and
:17:14. > :17:19.alternative employment. They have worked with the company says it it
:17:19. > :17:22.avows that was made in June of this year. We were put the Social
:17:22. > :17:27.Security Agency, further education colleges and other agencies to
:17:27. > :17:33.provide advice of alternative job opportunities, access to training
:17:33. > :17:36.courses, careers advice, as well as a range of other issues such as
:17:36. > :17:41.benefits and taxation. This redundancy advice service is
:17:41. > :17:45.available to all on site to deliver a package of support to each
:17:45. > :17:50.employee. It is vital that we not only retain the skills of the
:17:50. > :17:53.workers, but we also need to formally recognised skills through
:17:53. > :17:59.accreditation it necessary and, where appropriate to provide up
:18:00. > :18:03.skilling up to meet the demands of employers. The department is
:18:03. > :18:07.looking at the skilling staff through the college. The college
:18:07. > :18:11.has informed me that as well as offering up schooling and training
:18:12. > :18:16.it is undertaking a skills audit of staff, and likewise, Belfast
:18:16. > :18:22.Metropolitan coloured has offered a range of support including job
:18:22. > :18:25.search, careers information and access to training facilities.
:18:25. > :18:29.Could the minister allow brake on the type of training programme that
:18:29. > :18:34.could be available so that more of those made redundant will have an
:18:34. > :18:41.opportunity to get new skills and regain implement? We need to
:18:41. > :18:48.understand exactly who is going to be made redundant. But is why I am
:18:48. > :18:53.stressing the point of the skills audit. The further education sector,
:18:53. > :18:59.which has a very good track record in terms of Engineering, is well
:18:59. > :19:02.placed to provide refresh your courses and conversion courses for
:19:02. > :19:09.stocktaking the general skills that people have and the training them
:19:09. > :19:17.with specific skills that companies wish to take advantage of, of staff
:19:17. > :19:21.the deploying. What sort of liaison is there to make sure that other
:19:21. > :19:25.employers looking for the type of school set that exists in the
:19:25. > :19:29.affected workforce can avail themselves of those people with the
:19:29. > :19:32.right kind of grinning? We need to have a very smooth set of
:19:32. > :19:35.communications around all this. We have to make sure we have a number
:19:35. > :19:40.of different agencies with different specialist functions all
:19:40. > :19:46.pushing in the one direction or. And we avoid duplication of effort
:19:46. > :19:51.which adds complication and stress and makes more difficult for if she
:19:51. > :19:55.wasn't in terms of managing this process. There is an ongoing and
:19:55. > :20:00.active discussion between all the relevant agencies. Even within my
:20:00. > :20:03.own organisation we're trying to set up a single liaison point with
:20:03. > :20:10.the company to make sure we are handling this as smoothly and
:20:11. > :20:14.efficiently as possible. Minister, can you tell us if you are
:20:14. > :20:17.satisfied with the Northern Regional College and other
:20:17. > :20:21.education providers that they will have sufficient resources made
:20:22. > :20:28.available to them to deliver on the promises that have been made to a
:20:28. > :20:34.significant number of employees who, regrettably, are losing their jobs?
:20:34. > :20:39.I thank Mr Dixon Bono those comments. This is a very serious
:20:39. > :20:45.matter when people are losing their jobs, and it is important that we
:20:45. > :20:50.place people with the right skills in companies and to encourage those
:20:50. > :20:56.companies to crawl, and to flourish, and just to stress that Northern
:20:56. > :20:58.Ireland has a real future in terms of manufacturing. Talks with
:20:59. > :21:04.Northern Regional College are ongoing and those issues to be
:21:04. > :21:07.ironed out are about how we take forward training. I give the House
:21:07. > :21:13.a commitment that the wall out of these programmes will not flounder
:21:13. > :21:17.on the issue of money and argument over the sources. And unambiguous
:21:17. > :21:24.commitment from their employment and learning Minister, Stephen
:21:24. > :21:30.Parry. Child heart surgery has been discussed on an All-Ireland basis
:21:30. > :21:40.but before a final decision is made the minister wants to consider all
:21:40. > :21:40.
:21:40. > :21:45.the options. Here is the motion's proposer. Each year 140 children
:21:45. > :21:49.require surgery. Most of it is done at the Royal Hospital. Another -- a
:21:49. > :21:53.number of others are referred to other sectors in Dublin and England.
:21:53. > :21:58.The review was published in July it will like and it found children
:21:58. > :22:04.here with congenital heart disease are well served by a dedicated and
:22:04. > :22:08.experienced team of doctors and nurses. It did not identify any
:22:08. > :22:12.immediate safety concerns with the current arrangements. But the
:22:12. > :22:16.report that conclude the surgical element of the service in Belfast
:22:16. > :22:20.was not sustainable. The review recommended the potential safety
:22:20. > :22:26.risks be addressed within six months and that would mean a
:22:26. > :22:31.paediatric cardiac services will have to stop within six months, too.
:22:31. > :22:34.In England and Wales there are criteria that paediatric Kardex
:22:34. > :22:38.surgery centres should be within three years troubling time by
:22:38. > :22:44.ambulance. Clearly that is never going to be the case with children
:22:44. > :22:49.from here travelling to England. Firstly they cannot travel by land,
:22:49. > :22:52.it would need to be air transport, but in English review they state
:22:52. > :22:59.that travel cannot be relied upon because opera whether, as we have
:22:59. > :23:03.seen this, today. Our Travel is seen as acceptable, or unacceptable
:23:03. > :23:08.for children in my England and Wales but is suggested as suitable
:23:09. > :23:13.for children here - what is the difference? Children and families
:23:13. > :23:19.would not need to travel by air, but would be within a reasonable
:23:19. > :23:22.distance of their own home and families. He would have thought
:23:23. > :23:29.they would give more time to understand the needs of this region
:23:29. > :23:35.and, given that this region is part of an island, it is not a political
:23:35. > :23:40.point I am making, it is an geographic fact, and best nation
:23:40. > :23:50.has clinical collaborative networks in this area of medicine that they
:23:50. > :23:57.would have thought about talking to hospitals in Dublin. Is this the
:23:57. > :24:01.way to seriously review such a critical clinical service? The safe
:24:01. > :24:05.and sustainable quality standards suggests the criteria to maintain a
:24:05. > :24:09.centre in Northern Ireland would mean the service should be staffed
:24:09. > :24:15.by four full-time consultant congenital cardiac surgeons. The
:24:15. > :24:19.service should perform a minimum of 400 surgical procedures a year with
:24:19. > :24:26.the recommended number being 500 and that the service must provide
:24:26. > :24:31.enough staff to provide a cool 24 hour emergency service. What
:24:31. > :24:34.legally can plight rotas including cover by a consultant paediatric
:24:35. > :24:39.cardiologist. It is clear that with such small demand a region this
:24:39. > :24:44.size cannot hope to sustain such a centre and it should be clear that
:24:44. > :24:49.safety concerns have not been raised about the quality of care
:24:49. > :24:54.that patients currently get. The issue is on sustainability and
:24:54. > :25:02.future safety of the services to be left -- have it is to be left as it
:25:02. > :25:05.is. I cannot ignore the views of imminent officials as some members
:25:05. > :25:09.of the sow's wish me to do and that would be a very bullish
:25:09. > :25:14.recommendation to make. It is incumbent upon me, as minister, to
:25:14. > :25:18.take appropriate steps to address the concerns. And in so doing, I
:25:18. > :25:23.want to have a clear appreciation of all the options available for
:25:23. > :25:26.the delivery of this service to children in Northern Ireland
:25:26. > :25:32.including an All-Ireland solution, with the Republic of Ireland, but
:25:32. > :25:39.it is necessary and appropriate that I acknowledge that there is no
:25:39. > :25:45.realistic option which would permit a stand-alone paediatric cardiac
:25:45. > :25:48.surgery in Belfast. That is the clear analysis by the relevant
:25:48. > :25:53.experts and is the view of the service commissioners. People might
:25:53. > :25:58.not like that and find it hard to accept but that is the factual
:25:58. > :26:03.situation. The Health Minister. Listening to that is the chair of
:26:03. > :26:07.the heartbeat trust parents group, Katie Boyd. The minister was clear
:26:08. > :26:15.about that. He does not think the stand-alone service in Belfast is
:26:15. > :26:21.an option. Do you accept that? do. The preferred option is an All-
:26:21. > :26:26.Ireland solution. We would like to protect and enhance surgery in
:26:26. > :26:31.Belfast so that we have some form of surgery in this country and also
:26:31. > :26:36.increased links with our Lady's Hospital in Dublin. From your point
:26:36. > :26:42.of view, what the minister says is good news. The worst-case scenario
:26:42. > :26:48.for us would be cardiac children having to have been a sort of air
:26:48. > :26:52.travel. Because this review suggests that that is not a good
:26:52. > :26:59.option because there is this magic three hour period, and that is
:26:59. > :27:03.usually problematic for children from Northern Ireland, specifically.
:27:03. > :27:07.Surgical centres must be able to insure an ambulance with suitably
:27:07. > :27:12.qualified staff that can travel within three goals and that cannot
:27:12. > :27:16.be guaranteed if the ambulance is coming from a centre in England
:27:16. > :27:22.because there has the Irish Sea to contend with. And air travel itself
:27:22. > :27:27.is not 100% reliable. Absolutely. In document it states that air
:27:27. > :27:31.travel is not consider as an option for children in England and Wales
:27:31. > :27:35.because it is not reliable. Why should it be considered for
:27:35. > :27:40.children here? The worst-case scenario is that the minister would
:27:40. > :27:44.try to impose an English solution to Northern Ireland, but he seems
:27:44. > :27:50.to not to want to go down that road. He seems to want to create a
:27:50. > :27:55.completely new solution to this problem on an All-Ireland basis.
:27:55. > :28:01.Absolutely. Sir Ian Kennedy and his team in this report were working
:28:01. > :28:04.from the criteria set for England and Wales, so England with its
:28:04. > :28:09.population of 60 million, Northern Ireland with its population of 1.8
:28:09. > :28:15.million, we need the minister to address this situation in the
:28:15. > :28:22.Northern Irish context. You are satisfied at the moment? At present.
:28:22. > :28:26.Thank you for joining us. That Ms early story concerning Terence
:28:26. > :28:30.Brannigan as chairman of the knees long case development corporation,
:28:30. > :28:35.a statement has been released on that saying that was a Brannigan
:28:35. > :28:38.was a member of the initial competition for the post and it was
:28:38. > :28:41.we run and he applied for the position of cheer himself. The
:28:41. > :28:45.commissioner for public appointments ruled that he was
:28:45. > :28:49.entitled to apply and should be treated in the same manner as any
:28:49. > :28:53.other candidate. The panel insured on the commissioner's advice that
:28:53. > :28:58.questions were not the same as those posed in the first