:00:28. > :00:32.Good evening and welcome to Stormont Today.
:00:32. > :00:39.New research has found that Northern Ireland is the happiest
:00:39. > :00:43.place in the UK. But does that apply to our MLAs?
:00:43. > :00:52.He has not manage to recover from the fact that he is not the
:00:52. > :01:00.minister for justice. He knows why. But things are more come as members
:01:00. > :01:10.listen to Anna Lo. I am thinking back to the young person who tried
:01:10. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:22.to take my car. Why did he want to do this? With me throughout the
:01:22. > :01:31.programme is Jane Beavis. Sammy Wilson at risk to the wrath
:01:31. > :01:38.of bigger retailers when he introduced higher rate for bigger
:01:38. > :01:48.stores. Have the bigger stores accepted this now? We are faced
:01:48. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :01:55.with a better complete. -- fait accompli. We very much support of
:01:56. > :02:02.the rate relief being given to smaller businesses. And that is all
:02:02. > :02:10.small businesses, not just shops. The bet that we did not like is
:02:10. > :02:13.that it is only larger retailers that have been asked to fund it.
:02:13. > :02:18.That is a high burden for them. Many other stores are making
:02:18. > :02:24.healthy profits. Surely they should pay a little bit extra to help
:02:24. > :02:34.those people who are going under? There is a lot of confusion because
:02:34. > :02:40.of the larger turnovers that multiple retailers have. Retailers
:02:40. > :02:45.generally make a profit of a 5% margin. But you do not think it
:02:45. > :02:49.will cost anybody to pull out of Northern Ireland? We do not say
:02:49. > :02:59.that it will result and anybody pulling out. But if a larger format
:02:59. > :03:12.
:03:12. > :03:18.Straw became they could, -- store became vacant, new retailers it
:03:18. > :03:27.might think twice. The UK and Europe are a relatively attractive
:03:27. > :03:37.markets. We are not seem big growth in consumer demand. -- we are not
:03:37. > :03:39.
:03:39. > :03:43.see him. Sammy Wilson and Alex Attwood are everywhere. Today, they
:03:43. > :03:52.were Question Time's double act. We will hear from the finance minister
:03:52. > :03:57.in a moment, but we start with the Environment Minister.
:03:57. > :04:02.As I previously indicated, I have two streams of conversation going
:04:02. > :04:12.on with the Association of British Insurers animal that. 1 in respect
:04:12. > :04:13.
:04:13. > :04:21.of administrative means in the trading -- training of novice
:04:21. > :04:31.drivers. The second is a relation to bearing down on the issue of
:04:31. > :04:37.cost. One of those factors is that ensures will not let it be known
:04:37. > :04:41.that profit and loss as they have in respect of their businesses,
:04:41. > :04:46.including here in Northern Ireland. I find that situation and
:04:46. > :04:52.acceptable. I believe that information should be shared. Given
:04:52. > :05:02.the higher cost of insurance in the north of Ireland, particularly in
:05:02. > :05:09.rural areas, I believe they should assure that information. Reform of
:05:09. > :05:17.local government has finally been agreed. This is a once and a
:05:17. > :05:22.political lifetime opportunity to remodel local government. I think
:05:22. > :05:32.it is desirable even if we fight about detail. We need to be mindful
:05:32. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:45.that we do not have for ever. We now have a deadline of elections in
:05:45. > :05:49.
:05:49. > :05:53.May 2014. File that is adequate time to get all the issues, and
:05:53. > :06:00.they are big issues around questions of assets and liabilities
:06:00. > :06:10.and human resources, we have enough time, but we need to be mindful
:06:10. > :06:15.
:06:15. > :06:25.that we apply our mind if it is they will of the Assembly. I thank
:06:25. > :06:25.
:06:25. > :06:30.the Minister in light of his response. When people voted in 2011,
:06:30. > :06:38.those councillors will remain as representatives of for the entirety
:06:38. > :06:46.of the term? Yes, I am pleased to confirm this is a hybrid situation
:06:46. > :06:50.that could end up in a muddle. Councillors elected in May 2000 the
:06:50. > :07:00.14th, if they are MLAs about time, they will be entitled to continue
:07:00. > :07:03.
:07:04. > :07:13.as MLAs and councillors until May 2015. The shadow councils in 2015
:07:14. > :07:15.
:07:15. > :07:25.will all Labour shadow until a year later. -- will only be shadow.
:07:25. > :07:32.to finance. That will draw spent on consultantss was less than a �60
:07:32. > :07:42.million. That is a reduction of �56 million from the level which was
:07:42. > :07:45.
:07:45. > :07:55.reported in 2007 and 2000 added. -- 2008. The Executive is committed to
:07:55. > :07:56.
:07:56. > :08:05.reducing that level every year. We set the target, then a require that
:08:05. > :08:10.any consultancy spend above �10,000 has to be approved by ministers,
:08:10. > :08:13.and that has affected the number of applications that has come.
:08:13. > :08:21.Ministers can a low were that the threshold within their own
:08:21. > :08:31.department. -- at ministers can reduce that threshold. Does the
:08:31. > :08:33.
:08:33. > :08:43.minister for see a day when they can do without consultants. It has
:08:43. > :08:47.
:08:47. > :08:51.to be kept in mind that we will always require some consultants in
:08:51. > :08:56.any public body. There will be occasions when the expertise does
:08:56. > :09:06.not reside with them back at department. It may be a one off
:09:06. > :09:07.
:09:07. > :09:14.piece of work when there is no point in a employing their
:09:14. > :09:24.expertise full-time. While we tried to get consultancy spend down as
:09:24. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:37.much as possible, and indeed, we can build into the contract that
:09:37. > :09:44.consoled hims a train up people with they mack the department, I do
:09:44. > :09:53.not foresee a situation where we will not have any consultants. --
:09:53. > :10:01.within the department. I should have said a 56% of production, not
:10:01. > :10:08.�56 million. A motion for calling for tougher sentences for
:10:08. > :10:12.carjacking was passed at this evening. It is about sending out
:10:12. > :10:21.the message that if you are involved in this crime, you are
:10:21. > :10:26.going to pay for the consequences. We cannot panda to these people are
:10:26. > :10:29.we think they are above the law. That is why we felt this amendment
:10:29. > :10:35.was necessary. It does not take away from the existing motion, we
:10:35. > :10:38.would not want to do that. But they just felt it out a little bit. We
:10:38. > :10:44.acknowledged the fact that this is a crime in there should be dealt
:10:44. > :10:51.with as a crime. I am not known to my liberal views in relation to
:10:52. > :10:57.criminals. Those who break the law should be dealt with. In this
:10:57. > :11:02.instance, we have a scenario where the person targeted is generally
:11:02. > :11:05.female and alone. Cars are stolen and destroyed. No right-thinking
:11:05. > :11:15.individual could or would do anything other than condemn these
:11:15. > :11:24.actions. I think there has been 21 carjacking is in Belfast this year.
:11:24. > :11:32.That is not acceptable. There needs to be visible community policing.
:11:32. > :11:37.There has been a... Community policing should not just be
:11:37. > :11:42.comforting phraseology. It should be at the heart of everything the
:11:42. > :11:47.police do. The committee have a role, the justice system has a role,
:11:47. > :11:52.and the police have a role in bringing this to an end.
:11:52. > :11:59.appreciate the PSNI has established a special task force to step up
:11:59. > :12:03.patrolling and gather intelligence to make arrests. I am thinking back
:12:03. > :12:09.to be done person who tried it could take my car. I wonder why he
:12:09. > :12:19.wanted to do this? Breaking the law and putting himself and others at
:12:19. > :12:22.
:12:22. > :12:26.Anna Lo mentioned joyriding there, and there is a certain irony to all
:12:26. > :12:35.of this, when joyriding figures have had gone down, we have this
:12:35. > :12:43.increased threat of carjacking. and they think what some of these
:12:43. > :12:50.criminals are doing is carjacking and hijacking. We had the seen a
:12:50. > :12:57.week ago where a man was hit with a hammer. The fact is that the
:12:57. > :13:03.criminals have stepped up their game. This is the next step, upping
:13:03. > :13:11.the ante on it. They are hijacking cars and throwing people out and
:13:11. > :13:21.injuring people in the Moses -- in the process. It is very difficult
:13:21. > :13:22.
:13:22. > :13:25.to police this kind of crime. indeed. A short time ago, I saw a
:13:25. > :13:31.case where Cartwright to be carjackers, but when you look at
:13:31. > :13:40.the research out today, it is not only in Belfast, and it is not a
:13:40. > :13:49.new crime. There is a media attention on it in recent times,
:13:49. > :13:53.and rightly so. But it is happening north, south, east and west Belfast,
:13:53. > :13:58.so it is hard to police. But the police are doing all they can to
:13:58. > :14:07.address people. The judicial system needs to be doing all it can to
:14:07. > :14:11.make sure that sentences are put on people. Interesting figures, up to
:14:11. > :14:15.six years for people who have been convicted. That sounds like a fair
:14:15. > :14:21.enough sentence for that type of crime. The maximum term but no
:14:21. > :14:25.individual can get his 15 years, but the fact is David Ford, the
:14:25. > :14:33.Minister, had 26 cases in recent years where people had been
:14:33. > :14:38.convicted. And if you add the 26 convictions, it wouldn't even add
:14:38. > :14:45.up to 15 years together. The maximum sentence has never been
:14:45. > :14:50.imposed on an individual. So the justice department needs to step up
:14:50. > :14:56.to the market and make sure that it is made quite clear to anybody who
:14:56. > :15:00.is talking about it, there is a lack of confidence, and that
:15:00. > :15:03.confidence Mr be restored. The poor state of the economy has
:15:03. > :15:07.many knock-on effect, some of which are already being felt now. During
:15:07. > :15:12.the boom, many sites were bought and cleared with a view to
:15:12. > :15:21.development. But after the bust, they have been left vacant. Many
:15:21. > :15:30.are not only are eyesores but pose a danger to locals. Mary Creagh
:15:30. > :15:35.would called on the Environment Minister to act. We would like
:15:35. > :15:38.property owners to take steps to secure and tidy up premises. There
:15:38. > :15:42.are a significant limits to the powers, and this has been
:15:42. > :15:46.acknowledged through the answers to written questions by the Minister.
:15:46. > :15:49.There are a number of areas in my own constituency, and I have no
:15:49. > :15:56.doubt this is the case throughout Northern Ireland, where sites are
:15:56. > :16:00.lying and secure. -- insecure. Sometimes this is because a portion
:16:00. > :16:04.of land is left were materials were left during building, or other
:16:04. > :16:08.areas which have been cleared in readiness for development. In
:16:08. > :16:13.today's economic climate and the devastating in Cap -- impact this
:16:13. > :16:18.has had on the building trade, the latter example is very prevalent.
:16:18. > :16:25.Some may have fencing around them, others no fencing at all. But it
:16:25. > :16:29.appears that local councils have no powers to secure a green field
:16:29. > :16:33.sites, but can secure site awaiting development. This gap is not filled
:16:33. > :16:43.by the Health and Safety Executive either, I Magnus -- a matter which
:16:43. > :16:44.
:16:44. > :16:51.was confirmed. This has been referred to us as an urban problem,
:16:51. > :16:56.but in fact it is a rural one as well. It does make reference to
:16:56. > :17:04.clear sites. There are towns where the developer has come in, demolish
:17:04. > :17:14.the building on site, and leave something which looks like the
:17:14. > :17:16.
:17:16. > :17:22.Sahara desert. Serious health problems can arise, and am quite
:17:22. > :17:25.serious about that. That can go on for years, if the companies go into
:17:25. > :17:28.liquidation. During that debate, the Environment
:17:28. > :17:31.Minister promised to call councillors together for a summit
:17:31. > :17:35.to see how the issue could be tackled, and he said he hoped to
:17:35. > :17:39.release money to improve town centres. The motion was carried
:17:39. > :17:42.unanimously. Do improving town centres are a big
:17:42. > :17:48.issue for your organisation, we have 1,000 shops that closed last
:17:48. > :17:57.year, 14% remaining vacant as we speak. Yes, we have seen at the
:17:57. > :18:04.highest levels of shop vacancies here in Northern Ireland, and that
:18:04. > :18:08.is obviously a worrying feature. So we are looking forward to the
:18:08. > :18:11.Minister bringing forward the business -- Business improvement
:18:11. > :18:15.District legislation, and one of the ways you can encourage
:18:15. > :18:21.partnership and start to invest in and restore those town centres, and
:18:21. > :18:28.for the planning reforms to come in, too. Obviously planning is a big
:18:28. > :18:32.issue. In terms of regeneration, big stores coming in, we are
:18:32. > :18:40.waiting for John Lewis, but what is the experience of other towns and
:18:40. > :18:44.cities across the UK? Retell can play a major part in helping
:18:44. > :18:49.redevelop. If you look at a place like Cardiff, for example, where
:18:49. > :18:54.there is a major new shopping centre, St David's. It has some
:18:54. > :18:59.really big names as the anchor stores. That has completely
:18:59. > :19:05.transformed Cardiff, lots more visitor numbers there, lots more
:19:05. > :19:07.spending, and that has really helped the local economy. Thank you.
:19:07. > :19:14.The Justice Minister will be reappointed using a cross-community
:19:14. > :19:17.vote and not the previous system, it has been decided. This means the
:19:17. > :19:22.current Minister, David Ford, is likely to stay in post. The SDLP
:19:22. > :19:26.are not happy, arguing that the post should be allocated in the
:19:26. > :19:29.same way as other ministries. Martin McGuinness accused the
:19:29. > :19:39.alliance Party of entering into a devilish packed with the DUP and
:19:39. > :19:42.
:19:42. > :19:45.Sinn Fein. Complicit in this arrangement was the abandonment of
:19:45. > :19:51.the principal opposition for the unprincipled seeking of office and
:19:51. > :19:58.power. And indeed by sacrificing principle for office, they got
:19:58. > :20:05.their just reward. But there subjugation to the DUP and to Sinn
:20:05. > :20:09.Fein is something they will live to regret. And have to say to Mr
:20:09. > :20:14.McGuinness, hell hath no fury like a would-be Minister scorned, and
:20:14. > :20:19.very clearly, he hasn't managed to recover from the fact that he is
:20:19. > :20:22.not the Minister for Justice M elected by this House. And he knows
:20:22. > :20:27.why the people of Belfast would not have confidence in him having his
:20:27. > :20:31.position. We would have preferred that the Justice Minister was
:20:31. > :20:41.elected in the same way as all the other Ministers in this Assembly.
:20:41. > :20:43.
:20:43. > :20:48.However, we know that at that time it wasn't possible. Now, the SDLP
:20:48. > :20:56.are aggrieved at that, because they felt that the Justice Ministry
:20:56. > :21:05.should have been ours. And Albarn McGuinness in his speech talked
:21:05. > :21:12.about how Sinn Fein into DUP perversely used and cynically
:21:12. > :21:17.gerrymandered the process to exclude the SDLP. Perhaps the
:21:17. > :21:25.member hasn't noticed that Sinn Fein didn't benefit from the
:21:25. > :21:33.outcome of those negotiations, and neither did the DUP. Some say I got
:21:33. > :21:37.it wrong. Certainly not. I got it right! Order, order! That is why
:21:38. > :21:42.the DUP belatedly had to run scurrying to get changes made in
:21:42. > :21:47.the 2009 Act, because they were asleep at the wheel, couldn't see,
:21:47. > :21:54.couldn't read what was in the tour to act, couldn't read what was in
:21:54. > :22:04.the 2004 Act, and had to get it changed. That is why some of the
:22:04. > :22:07.
:22:07. > :22:14.powers which are now going back for review were taken out. Order!
:22:14. > :22:17.Nobody in this House speaks with less credibility on the matter of
:22:18. > :22:23.justice than the dissident member for North Antrim. Happily the
:22:23. > :22:29.people of North Antrim put him on his box as he squeaked through one
:22:29. > :22:33.the ninth count. Mr Speaker, I believe we have a balanced and
:22:33. > :22:36.workable way forward. We have shown maturity and made progress on
:22:36. > :22:40.matters which eluded those who went before us. I commend the main
:22:40. > :22:45.motion to this House, and urge the House to resolve accordingly.
:22:45. > :22:51.Now, the Agriculture Minister has warned the next few weeks will be
:22:51. > :22:56.crucial for farmers concerned about Schmoll and bird virus. 83 cases
:22:56. > :23:00.have been reported after the disease cross to the channel from
:23:00. > :23:06.the mainland. It is thought to be carried by midges, and can hit
:23:06. > :23:10.cattle and sheep. We are watching the situation very carefully with
:23:10. > :23:15.other countries, and still have no confirmed cases here. It has
:23:15. > :23:19.reached Luxembourg and Italy, so there are 30 new countries. But we
:23:19. > :23:24.still have not detected any cases. We are trying to get as much
:23:24. > :23:27.information out there as possible to farmers, so it is a new disease.
:23:27. > :23:32.We want farmers to be aware of the new sentence and what they are
:23:32. > :23:37.looking for, and if they suspect, they should contact the Department.
:23:37. > :23:42.What other sentence? As we enter into lambing season, it will be a
:23:42. > :23:46.very good time to detected. When the lambs are born, if there are
:23:46. > :23:52.any birth defect, we want the farmer to inform their vets so that
:23:52. > :23:58.they can report the situation. In adult cattle, it causes diarrhoea
:23:58. > :24:03.and fever. And at this stage, is there any risk that it could be
:24:03. > :24:08.passed from animal to animal? this stage we believe it is coming
:24:08. > :24:13.from vectors, from midges. So I think there is a lot of research
:24:13. > :24:17.going on. Because it is a new disease, trying to establish all
:24:17. > :24:24.the contributing factors. worried should farmers be? We don't
:24:24. > :24:29.want to put anybody on alert and panic them, the but we have a
:24:29. > :24:32.surveillance operation, and we need to watch the situation as we enter
:24:32. > :24:37.the lambing season. It will be a key time to establish whether or
:24:37. > :24:42.not we have the disease. The former DUP laid it in Paisley left
:24:42. > :24:46.hospital today after being admitted three weeks ago for heart problems.
:24:46. > :24:49.There was obviously a lot of concern around the building when
:24:49. > :24:55.Ian Paisley was rushed into the Ulster Hospital around three weeks
:24:55. > :24:58.ago. In more recent times, we have learned that he was discharged from
:24:58. > :25:01.intensive care and moved to another unit within the hospital, then we
:25:01. > :25:05.got a statement from the family confirming that he had returned
:25:05. > :25:11.home today. Peter Robinson released a statement that he was delighted
:25:11. > :25:15.by that. Baroness Paisley thanked the medical staff. And she thanked
:25:15. > :25:19.those who sent wishes and prayers, and asked for more privacy while
:25:19. > :25:27.her husband recuperates. We have been talking about new technology
:25:27. > :25:32.within the chamber. There was news on that today? Yes, the Welsh
:25:32. > :25:37.Assembly is particularly hi-tech, and Stormont has lagged behind a
:25:37. > :25:41.little. The problem has been that if MLAs decide to start texting or
:25:41. > :25:45.tweeting from their phones, it interferes with the microphones,
:25:45. > :25:47.and comes out on the televisions. So a committee on procedures has
:25:47. > :25:52.been considering this, and they have decided that there is a way
:25:52. > :25:57.round it, and with the use of wi-fi or tablet computers, politicians
:25:57. > :26:03.can get on with their work in the chamber at the same time as debates
:26:03. > :26:07.going on around them. Gerry Kelly, chair of that, has now put forward
:26:07. > :26:11.that as a proposal to the commission that runs the building.
:26:11. > :26:18.It is a good move to make. Everybody was up for it, even old
:26:18. > :26:24.fogies like me. There also needs to be training to use this type of
:26:24. > :26:28.equipment. If you can do it with wi-fi without ruining the sound
:26:28. > :26:35.quality for that all-important kit for Stormont Today? Absolutely. We
:26:35. > :26:42.have the ability, totally have the ability to bring wi-fi here. That
:26:42. > :26:45.would do away with the interference. And the Environment Minister had a
:26:46. > :26:50.lot to say today. He was taking part in the debate which you have
:26:50. > :26:55.already heard about disused development sites, and he's hopes
:26:55. > :26:59.to spruce up some of the areas that will be open to view by visitors to
:26:59. > :27:02.the Irish Open. He also made a statement about major planning
:27:02. > :27:09.applications, saying he was trying to hurry up the planning system in
:27:09. > :27:12.terms of some more controversial Big contentious decisions, and he
:27:12. > :27:15.promised somewhat seriously that he would clear around seven major
:27:15. > :27:19.planning applications tomorrow. He set himself a deadline of the end
:27:19. > :27:23.of February. He didn't give any details of exactly what those would
:27:23. > :27:28.consist of, but he should have some decisions for us within the next 24
:27:28. > :27:35.hours. A final thought from you. One other thing we are doing by
:27:35. > :27:38.ourselves here is the plastic bag tax. Where do stores stand and it?
:27:38. > :27:42.We have been involved in some voluntary initiatives over number
:27:42. > :27:48.of years now, and have managed to halve the number of single use
:27:49. > :27:52.carrier bags that were taken through that. The people of
:27:52. > :27:57.Northern Ireland take your bags per head than anywhere in Great Britain
:27:57. > :28:01.for example. So I think a lot of progress has already been made.
:28:01. > :28:06.Clearly we are waiting to see the regulations and how the levy is
:28:06. > :28:14.going to be administered, and we want something that is a light
:28:14. > :28:18.touch and on burdensome. Do you think it will be a reasonable cause
:28:18. > :28:21.to take? We hope we can come up with a system that satisfy as the
:28:21. > :28:25.Government and is easy for business. Could thank you for being addressed