:00:33. > :00:42.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. After the weekend killing of the
:00:42. > :00:48.Garter officer Adrian Donohue, the hunt is on for his killers. Also,
:00:48. > :00:52.the Deputy First minister it reaches out to flag demonstrators.
:00:52. > :01:02.I met with people who were involved in the protest and others who were
:01:02. > :01:09.a good influence and could stop the violence on the streets. And with
:01:09. > :01:14.her insides is our Political Correspondent Martina Purdy. The
:01:14. > :01:22.Justice Minister David Ford said that the PSNI and guard D Baugh co-
:01:23. > :01:25.operate to catch the killers of the Garda officer. Officers paid their
:01:25. > :01:31.respects to guard officer Adrian Donohue he was shot dead last
:01:31. > :01:38.Friday. For us and foremost, I am sure every member of this House
:01:38. > :01:43.will join me in condemning the callous murder of Detective Garda
:01:43. > :01:53.or Adrian Donohue. My thoughts are with his wife and family and other
:01:53. > :01:59.Garda officers. We are committed to working together against the
:01:59. > :02:09.criminal gangs and to protect all our communities, north and south.
:02:09. > :02:11.
:02:12. > :02:17.Can I ask if the minister will join with me to call on everyone with
:02:17. > :02:22.information to co-operate? person who has any information
:02:22. > :02:29.whatsoever relating to this or any other serious crime has a duty to
:02:29. > :02:34.inform be PSNI, the Garter or an organisation like Crimestoppers.
:02:34. > :02:40.The fight against terrorism and organised crime is a fight in which
:02:40. > :02:46.we are all united and one in which is clearly seen by the response
:02:46. > :02:54.coming from the PSNI of and the garden. The in respect of the
:02:54. > :02:59.reports that are coming that these serious organised crime gangs are
:02:59. > :03:08.moving from Dublin and residing in places like Newry, what response
:03:08. > :03:16.can the Minister give to ask that Northern Ireland is not a safe
:03:16. > :03:22.place for them to hide. Last week there was a report of significant
:03:22. > :03:27.efforts being taken by the PSNI along with their colleagues in the
:03:27. > :03:31.garda it to disrupt and deterred and dismember organised crime gangs.
:03:31. > :03:39.Sadly the reality is that some of these crime gangs spread across
:03:39. > :03:47.every part of Europe, if not wider. But I have no doubt that we will
:03:47. > :03:57.see corporation a cross the border and in the United Kingdom generally.
:03:57. > :04:11.
:04:11. > :04:21.-- across the border. There is no doubt in the work that I is going
:04:21. > :04:21.
:04:21. > :04:31.on in terms of cross-border co- operation. Is it by talk that a
:04:31. > :04:40.
:04:40. > :04:49.criminal agency in Northern Ireland will continue? I will continue to
:04:49. > :04:59.highlight the corporation on a 0- south basis. The current situation
:04:59. > :04:59.
:04:59. > :05:09.is a decision has not been reached about the serious and organised
:05:09. > :05:11.
:05:11. > :05:20.crime Association. I am keen to see we have a body operating in line
:05:20. > :05:29.with the police and contributing to the fight against organised crime,
:05:29. > :05:38.and a heinous crimes such as human trafficking. It is essential that
:05:38. > :05:46.there is a seamless transition from the old organisation to be new one
:05:46. > :05:54.-- to the new one. We need to join up law enforcement in the best way
:05:54. > :06:00.in both the jurisdictions of this island. That is why I have regular
:06:00. > :06:04.meetings with the Home Office and the Scottish cabinet minister for
:06:04. > :06:08.justice. All of that is necessary and it is important that Northern
:06:08. > :06:14.Ireland should be joined in to the appropriate UK agencies in the
:06:14. > :06:24.right way, just as we need to maintain the structures we have for
:06:24. > :06:25.
:06:25. > :06:34.the 0-South agreement. Political Correspondent Martina
:06:34. > :06:40.Purdy is with us. Please remind us of the issues regarding
:06:41. > :06:45.international crime? There are plans at Westminster to have this
:06:46. > :06:53.national crime agency which would be a very powerful agency. It would
:06:53. > :07:00.be the British version of the FBI. The difficulty is that criminal
:07:00. > :07:07.justice has been devolved to Norman Ireland. The Executive will need to
:07:07. > :07:15.be able to take back powers and legislate for this new organisation.
:07:15. > :07:23.It was bought to David Ford last week and there were objections.
:07:23. > :07:28.we are having a stand-off? There was an issue over accountability.
:07:28. > :07:38.One of the key concerns was this agency would report directly to the
:07:38. > :07:39.
:07:40. > :07:49.Home Secretary rather than the cheap constable. -- chief constable.
:07:50. > :07:55.
:07:55. > :08:02.Martin McGuinness and Alex at what are involved and after voting, the
:08:02. > :08:07.Unionists and the Alliance agreed to have backing from Westminster.
:08:07. > :08:17.It will have implications for what does or doesn't happen here,
:08:17. > :08:20.
:08:20. > :08:26.whatever happens in the UK? We are hearing that the DUP will do its
:08:26. > :08:36.best to legislate for a national agency. They do need national
:08:36. > :08:39.
:08:39. > :08:48.consensus for these agents to have powers here. There are concerns
:08:48. > :08:58.about accountability. The other issues include the proceeds of
:08:58. > :08:59.
:08:59. > :09:08.crime - do they stay here or go back to Westminster question its --
:09:08. > :09:13.Westminster? Thank you. We will hear more from Martina Purdy later.
:09:13. > :09:23.Today, the Deputy First Minister said but he met some of those
:09:23. > :09:31.
:09:31. > :09:40.involved in the flag protest. protests have led to difficult
:09:40. > :09:44.trading situations for businesses. I have met with representatives of
:09:44. > :09:54.the traders and hospitality industry in the area. They told me
:09:54. > :10:01.
:10:01. > :10:08.that over the weekend there have been 2 million tweeds. -- tweets.
:10:08. > :10:14.These protests should not put people off visiting Belfast. Apart
:10:14. > :10:18.from the financial and moral support, is it not necessary for
:10:18. > :10:27.the Deputy First Minister and First Minister to work together to calm
:10:27. > :10:35.the situation, to condemn violence and to condemn illegal protest?
:10:36. > :10:42.important thing as we move forward is to see and it ends of conflict
:10:42. > :10:50.and violence on the streets. All be political parties have expressed
:10:51. > :10:54.their opposition to the violence. Over two weeks ago I met whip some
:10:54. > :11:00.people who were involved in a protest. I also met with some
:11:00. > :11:07.people who I believed could influence the ending of violence on
:11:07. > :11:14.the streets. I know that the First Minister is also equally committed
:11:14. > :11:19.to ensuring an end to be violence on the streets, as I am. It is
:11:19. > :11:29.crucially important we all work together and that we are seen to be
:11:29. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:43.working together. As in the case of previous incidents, it is important
:11:43. > :11:44.
:11:44. > :11:50.we send a clear message to be violent extremists -- the violent
:11:50. > :11:56.extremists. Would the Deputy First Minister agreed that what the
:11:56. > :11:59.entire community would like to see is the First Minister and Deputy
:11:59. > :12:05.First Minister standing shoulder to shoulder to condemn not only the
:12:05. > :12:10.violence of today, but all violence, past as well as present? It is
:12:10. > :12:14.vital that all of the members in this Assembly and all the political
:12:14. > :12:19.parties in this Assembly are speaking with one voice. I know
:12:19. > :12:23.people have issued their own individual statements. I accept all
:12:23. > :12:27.the people in this Assembly are totally opposed to violence of any
:12:27. > :12:31.description whatsoever and individually all of the political
:12:31. > :12:36.parties have made it clear they won the protests to end. It is also
:12:36. > :12:46.important that we offered to speak to those people involved in the
:12:46. > :12:49.
:12:49. > :12:55.protests. I am willing to speak to more people. I am extending my
:12:55. > :12:59.offer to do this. I am willing to go to the waterside because this is
:12:59. > :13:06.an important year for the city. If this year is a success, every
:13:06. > :13:16.community, every single political party, all of the churches,
:13:16. > :13:18.
:13:18. > :13:25.community sectors will benefit from how we bring the City of Culture
:13:25. > :13:35.here. Also, the legacy we leave could provide were needed
:13:35. > :13:40.
:13:40. > :13:44.Higher and lower at engagement with gay rights groups and they are
:13:44. > :13:48.concerned that there is an increase in Hamill full beer in schools but
:13:48. > :13:54.that is a matter for the schools, and any form of bullying is wrong
:13:54. > :13:59.and that includes a homophobic bullying and bullying is often the
:13:59. > :14:04.products of exterior forces to the school and attitudes within
:14:04. > :14:10.communities on behalf of the household -- and we have to lead
:14:10. > :14:18.from the household. And society has a major role to play in ending the
:14:18. > :14:23.type of language and behaviour we see from adults and if we do that,
:14:23. > :14:30.we will see a decrease in homophobic bullying. Does he
:14:30. > :14:34.believe that teaching in some schools that homosexuality is a
:14:34. > :14:38.saying is against the duty of teachers? It has not been brought
:14:38. > :14:42.my attention that any individual school is teaching that and the
:14:42. > :14:47.ethos of any school is a matter for the board of governors of that
:14:47. > :14:51.school but it isn't a job to deal with morality issues, I have to do
:14:51. > :14:56.with educational issues and I do not believe that such practices are
:14:56. > :15:01.beneficial to the well-being of the community. In the 21st century, we
:15:01. > :15:06.should treat all of our citizens with equality and respect and that
:15:06. > :15:16.being gay and being in a loving relationship isn't descend and in
:15:16. > :15:21.any context of the word by would have. Does the education minister
:15:21. > :15:26.share by aspiration for moving to a single educational system and can
:15:26. > :15:31.he give some idea of a time from? My aspiration is to ease this
:15:31. > :15:37.legislation over the line and that will be the first step towards a
:15:37. > :15:39.greater sharing of sectors and there ever has been before. With
:15:39. > :15:43.the education and library boards around one table but we are now
:15:43. > :15:46.bringing all the sectors around one table under one authority
:15:46. > :15:50.responsible for the delivery of educational policy in the north.
:15:50. > :15:56.That is a major step forward. Education has been pointed to a
:15:56. > :16:01.many times as the solution to sectarianism and I believe that has
:16:01. > :16:05.a significant role to play in resolving sectarianism but
:16:05. > :16:10.education isn't the cause as the terrain isn't. Therefore, it cannot
:16:10. > :16:13.be held up and be responsible for all the ills in the society.
:16:13. > :16:17.Committees and all of us have to move forward to ensure we can reach
:16:17. > :16:23.a stage where everyone is comfortable with a single education
:16:23. > :16:28.system. At the moment, the educational skills are authority,
:16:28. > :16:32.this is a significant step forward. A as a result of the area planning
:16:32. > :16:38.process, does he foresee closer co- operation in border communities
:16:38. > :16:45.between primary schools either side of the board? It is a logical
:16:46. > :16:50.outcome of closer co-operation under the educational sector that
:16:50. > :16:54.we require closer co-operation along the border. It is to benefit
:16:54. > :16:57.the people who live along the border corridors that these
:16:57. > :17:03.proposals are into this but it makes sense in health and an
:17:03. > :17:07.education. It is one of the issues and will raise with my counterpart
:17:07. > :17:11.minister when they next meet. There is no career out there that if you
:17:11. > :17:15.study for you are guaranteed a job and teaching is clearly one of
:17:15. > :17:19.those areas. In terms of graduates and postgraduates coming out of
:17:19. > :17:26.universities across a wide range of subjects, there is no guarantee.
:17:26. > :17:30.Over the last number of years we have reduced the trainee teacher
:17:30. > :17:36.intake by 32% and our current teacher training colleges are just
:17:36. > :17:40.about operating on a basis when they are viable so we have choices
:17:40. > :17:44.to make in society, we can decide to continue to dramatically reduce
:17:44. > :17:51.the teacher training intake to abbesses weather training colleges
:17:51. > :17:56.become unviable and what will happen is students will travel to
:17:56. > :17:59.England, Wales and the South of Ireland to train and they welcome
:17:59. > :18:04.back here and whoever is in the ministerial post will be asked a
:18:04. > :18:08.question, how many teachers are working? We will have similar
:18:08. > :18:15.figures, we will have lost the colleges, the ability to train our
:18:15. > :18:19.own teachers and the murder might shake his head. I am sure when he
:18:19. > :18:24.was looking at teacher-training numbers for nurses and doctors and
:18:24. > :18:30.other medical professions, this was in his head. To be completely
:18:30. > :18:39.abandoned training here? Or do we plan provisions that allow for an
:18:39. > :18:43.intake which is at the moment around 600. What we have done in
:18:43. > :18:47.tandem is we have encouraged schools to recruit newly qualified
:18:47. > :18:51.teachers, encouraged schools to ensure that when they are looking
:18:51. > :18:55.for substitutes, they use newly qualified teachers so the
:18:55. > :19:01.department has done everything within its power to ensure newly
:19:01. > :19:07.qualified teachers are given a fair playing field. Members are going to
:19:07. > :19:09.have to ask themselves and answer the question, do they want teacher
:19:10. > :19:16.training here or do they want students to travel? That is the
:19:16. > :19:18.next decision. The Education Minister, John O'Dowd. What is the
:19:18. > :19:20.Social Development Minister doing to deliver his department's
:19:20. > :19:27.commitments to tackle social disadvantage? Today, MLAs debated
:19:27. > :19:30.that very question during a motion brought forward by Sinn Fein.
:19:30. > :19:34.underlying principle is to get people into work and off benefits
:19:34. > :19:37.and nobody would disagree with that. The reality is that there are no
:19:37. > :19:42.jobs and to introduce cuts and penalise people at this time will
:19:42. > :19:48.only make the situation worse. A recent report stated that to have a
:19:48. > :19:53.reasonable standard of living, a person needs to earn �7.20 each
:19:53. > :19:57.hour and the minimum wage here is �6.19. A report has found that half
:19:58. > :20:03.of the children in poverty live in working hustles and some of the
:20:03. > :20:08.most deprived wards in the north, poverty figures stand out 63%, an
:20:08. > :20:12.appalling statistic. The average and council areas is 21% in Britain.
:20:12. > :20:16.Explaining how the department is tackling social disadvantage,
:20:16. > :20:18.perhaps a master could spend less time selling welfare reform and
:20:18. > :20:24.getting on with the task of alleviating hardship and
:20:24. > :20:28.deprivation across the six counties. The DST has implemented a number of
:20:28. > :20:34.initiatives that are having a real effect on committees. Campaigns to
:20:34. > :20:38.encourage people to claim benefits, they have no doubt made a direct
:20:38. > :20:42.contribution to raising people out of poverty. I believe the time is
:20:42. > :20:46.right to continue building on the success and try to ensure that
:20:46. > :20:50.current economic climate that the find ourselves in and the impending
:20:50. > :20:57.necessary welfare reforms, we need to keep momentum. It is important
:20:57. > :21:00.to ensure that people realise that people have the system to help them
:21:00. > :21:05.when they need it but life on the system should not be considered as
:21:05. > :21:10.an acceptable alternative. Tackling social deprivation must surely be
:21:10. > :21:13.one of those issues which truly unites all parties. We might differ
:21:14. > :21:18.about what matters we think our past or what programmes are more
:21:18. > :21:25.effective than others, but on the whole, nobody could disagree with
:21:25. > :21:28.the broad objective of tackling fuel poverty and social exclusion.
:21:28. > :21:33.Unfortunately, recent difficulties have made what was already at
:21:33. > :21:38.difficult life for many people in Northern Ireland even harder. We
:21:38. > :21:41.have the highest level of economic inactivity across the UK. And even
:21:41. > :21:47.Astwick, we learnt that a number of people claiming unemployment
:21:47. > :21:54.related benefits stood at a startling 65,200. That was in
:21:54. > :21:58.December. An increase of 500 over the previous month. The month in
:21:58. > :22:02.which Christmas a Kurd. The Minister will not be surprised to
:22:02. > :22:07.hear that I believe he is failing to deliver adequate social housing.
:22:07. > :22:10.He will stay -- say he has met its targets but even given that the
:22:10. > :22:15.social housing development programme has significantly
:22:15. > :22:20.underspent to the tune of �8 million this year, that in some
:22:20. > :22:24.ways shows a lack of ambition on his part. I looked at the number of
:22:24. > :22:28.people on waiting lists, especially those in housing stress, and I
:22:28. > :22:33.don't see it being reduced enough to merit the handing back of so
:22:33. > :22:36.much money. The targets for the last Programme for Government left
:22:36. > :22:43.a lot of lines in Red Ed writing, which meant that those particular
:22:43. > :22:48.targets had not been met. There was a target to have child poverty
:22:48. > :22:53.halved by 2010 and that was not delivered. The target to work
:22:53. > :22:59.towards ending severe child poverty by 2012, obviously not delivered.
:22:59. > :23:04.The target to make the reduction of 15% on the rate of suicide, still
:23:04. > :23:07.in the red. And to reduce by 50% a life-expectancy differential
:23:07. > :23:12.between the most disadvantaged areas and the Northern Ireland
:23:13. > :23:17.average, still in the red. There was a target to increase attainment
:23:17. > :23:21.levels in primary schools to which the majority of pupils with their
:23:21. > :23:28.neighbourhood renewal areas would be within 5% of the average, still
:23:28. > :23:31.not delivered. We have a real difficulty, 120,000 young people
:23:31. > :23:37.and children still living in poverty and I am not going to stand
:23:37. > :23:40.here and defend the Minister for Social Development because they
:23:40. > :23:45.understand he has a very particular role in dealing with this and it is
:23:45. > :23:49.very difficult when we look at what has coming down the tracks. None of
:23:49. > :23:52.us can stand on the sidelines and pretend it is the fault of Mr
:23:52. > :23:57.McCausland or someone else, each and every minister in the Executive
:23:57. > :24:03.has responsibility to deliver the end of social disadvantage and the
:24:03. > :24:07.end of child poverty. I hope all parties take that very seriously.
:24:07. > :24:11.And that we understand that it is a cross cutting issue. The most
:24:11. > :24:17.important issue to try to end social disadvantage. My Department
:24:17. > :24:22.has made and continues to make good progress in meeting our targets.
:24:22. > :24:28.Four other six targets concern housing issues. Housing plays a
:24:28. > :24:32.hugely significant role in creating as safe, healthy and prosperous
:24:32. > :24:36.society had my first strategy in Northern Ireland, launched with
:24:36. > :24:40.public consultation in October, set out my vision for housing in
:24:40. > :24:45.Northern Ireland. In this I have set out my proposals for housing as
:24:45. > :24:49.a means to have support and sustain economic recovery created -- create
:24:49. > :24:55.employment and to regenerate some of our most deprived communities.
:24:55. > :24:59.The strategy not only focuses on the delivery of the Programme for
:24:59. > :25:04.Government but goes much further in creating the conditions for stable,
:25:04. > :25:08.sustainable, accessible, good quality, affordable and well-
:25:08. > :25:11.managed housing to support economic growth and prosperity. The Social
:25:11. > :25:14.Development Minister, Nelson McCausland. The issue of who pays
:25:14. > :25:17.for the shake-up in our local councils was raised by the SDLP
:25:17. > :25:20.this afternoon. There are plans to cut the number of councils from 26
:25:20. > :25:27.to 11 and Dolores Kelly told the chamber that central government
:25:27. > :25:32.should do more to help fund the cost. As members will know, the
:25:32. > :25:37.SDLP is the only party which did not support the budget, which did
:25:38. > :25:43.not allow for any funding for the RPA. The guidelines agreed by the
:25:43. > :25:48.Executive at that time were that the implementation costs associated
:25:48. > :25:51.with reform would not be met by central government. Local
:25:51. > :25:55.government would be required to bear these costs. There is a huge
:25:55. > :25:59.amount of work but the cost to the ratepayer is something that we are
:25:59. > :26:04.very concerned about and that concern is one which colleagues at
:26:04. > :26:09.local council level share. By and large, and I don't seek to speak
:26:09. > :26:14.for everybody, but we have moved forward in debates about the review
:26:14. > :26:21.of public administration and whether it should happen. It is
:26:21. > :26:25.happening and how should it be funded? That is one area of comfort.
:26:25. > :26:30.The second principle adopted by the council past year is that the
:26:30. > :26:32.Executive would not play for those upfront costs and it would be a
:26:32. > :26:40.matter for local government on the basis that they would be the
:26:40. > :26:46.beneficiary. That is unreasonable argument. We have a scenario, we
:26:46. > :26:53.are being asked to buy a car and we don't know it has tyres for wipers
:26:53. > :26:57.or lights, but this has to go ahead. Why? RPA was nonsense. This isn't
:26:57. > :27:02.going to work, there is nothing local about this. This is a dirty
:27:02. > :27:06.deal between yourselves and Sinn Fein. You are trying to force this
:27:06. > :27:12.through. You even add about yourselves... Other councillors
:27:12. > :27:22.don't want it. They don't want this deal. Small parties don't want this
:27:22. > :27:25.
:27:25. > :27:29.deal. Why? Ross Hussey. Martina Purdy John Smith Bay. -- Martina
:27:29. > :27:32.Purdy is with me. Obviously money is tight. Why shouldn't the
:27:32. > :27:37.councils pay for the shake-up when they will benefit from savings?
:27:37. > :27:42.Isn't that what the previous Executive decided? Yes, in the last
:27:42. > :27:46.term but Alex Attwood says that they are going to have to move off
:27:46. > :27:51.this position and his paper says the cost of this shake-up is around
:27:51. > :27:55.100 and out �2 million and the upfront costs are around �40
:27:55. > :27:59.million. Everybody agrees the councils will make savings but the
:27:59. > :28:04.Minister says there are some costs that will not make savings. If you
:28:04. > :28:07.have a severance package for councillors, for example. If the
:28:07. > :28:10.councils don't get the money from the Executive, they will pass it on
:28:11. > :28:14.to ratepayers. The SDLP is obviously championing its Minister
:28:14. > :28:17.but there seems to be some sympathy for his position that money is
:28:17. > :28:20.needed from the Executive. Money might be tight, but as the old
:28:20. > :28:24.adage has it, you must speculate to accumulate. The DUP failed to get
:28:24. > :28:29.the amendment passed and the SDLP, Sinn Fein and Ulster Unionists
:28:29. > :28:32.decided that the Executive needs to come on board. What has happened is
:28:32. > :28:36.that will go back to the Executive, and they can ignore the vote but
:28:36. > :28:44.there will be more pressure on Sammy Wilson, who continues to say
:28:44. > :28:50.no. The deputy and First Minister might meet to resolve this. Do So
:28:50. > :28:53.our two top Ministers might well be off to Rio? They have been
:28:54. > :28:58.consulted about the possibility of travelling to Brazil in March ahead
:28:58. > :29:01.of the visit to the west for St Patrick's Day and Brazil as one of