Browse content similar to 28/02/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Good evening and welcome to Stormont Today. | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
New research has found that Northern Ireland is the happiest | :00:32. | :00:39. | |
place in the UK. But does that apply to our MLAs? | :00:39. | :00:43. | |
He has not manage to recover from the fact that he is not the | :00:43. | :00:52. | |
minister for justice. He knows why. But things are more come as members | :00:52. | :01:00. | |
listen to Anna Lo. I am thinking back to the young person who tried | :01:00. | :01:10. | |
:01:10. | :01:15. | ||
to take my car. Why did he want to do this? With me throughout the | :01:15. | :01:22. | |
programme is Jane Beavis. Sammy Wilson at risk to the wrath | :01:22. | :01:31. | |
of bigger retailers when he introduced higher rate for bigger | :01:31. | :01:38. | |
stores. Have the bigger stores accepted this now? We are faced | :01:38. | :01:48. | |
:01:48. | :01:51. | ||
with a better complete. -- fait accompli. We very much support of | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
the rate relief being given to smaller businesses. And that is all | :01:56. | :02:02. | |
small businesses, not just shops. The bet that we did not like is | :02:02. | :02:10. | |
that it is only larger retailers that have been asked to fund it. | :02:10. | :02:13. | |
That is a high burden for them. Many other stores are making | :02:13. | :02:18. | |
healthy profits. Surely they should pay a little bit extra to help | :02:18. | :02:24. | |
those people who are going under? There is a lot of confusion because | :02:24. | :02:34. | |
of the larger turnovers that multiple retailers have. Retailers | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
generally make a profit of a 5% margin. But you do not think it | :02:40. | :02:45. | |
will cost anybody to pull out of Northern Ireland? We do not say | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
that it will result and anybody pulling out. But if a larger format | :02:49. | :02:59. | |
:02:59. | :03:12. | ||
Straw became they could, -- store became vacant, new retailers it | :03:12. | :03:18. | |
might think twice. The UK and Europe are a relatively attractive | :03:18. | :03:27. | |
markets. We are not seem big growth in consumer demand. -- we are not | :03:27. | :03:37. | |
:03:37. | :03:39. | ||
see him. Sammy Wilson and Alex Attwood are everywhere. Today, they | :03:39. | :03:43. | |
were Question Time's double act. We will hear from the finance minister | :03:43. | :03:52. | |
in a moment, but we start with the Environment Minister. | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
As I previously indicated, I have two streams of conversation going | :03:57. | :04:02. | |
on with the Association of British Insurers animal that. 1 in respect | :04:02. | :04:12. | |
:04:12. | :04:13. | ||
of administrative means in the trading -- training of novice | :04:13. | :04:21. | |
drivers. The second is a relation to bearing down on the issue of | :04:21. | :04:31. | |
cost. One of those factors is that ensures will not let it be known | :04:31. | :04:37. | |
that profit and loss as they have in respect of their businesses, | :04:37. | :04:41. | |
including here in Northern Ireland. I find that situation and | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
acceptable. I believe that information should be shared. Given | :04:46. | :04:52. | |
the higher cost of insurance in the north of Ireland, particularly in | :04:52. | :05:02. | |
rural areas, I believe they should assure that information. Reform of | :05:02. | :05:09. | |
local government has finally been agreed. This is a once and a | :05:09. | :05:17. | |
political lifetime opportunity to remodel local government. I think | :05:17. | :05:22. | |
it is desirable even if we fight about detail. We need to be mindful | :05:22. | :05:32. | |
:05:32. | :05:35. | ||
that we do not have for ever. We now have a deadline of elections in | :05:35. | :05:45. | |
:05:45. | :05:49. | ||
May 2014. File that is adequate time to get all the issues, and | :05:49. | :05:53. | |
they are big issues around questions of assets and liabilities | :05:53. | :06:00. | |
and human resources, we have enough time, but we need to be mindful | :06:00. | :06:10. | |
:06:10. | :06:15. | ||
that we apply our mind if it is they will of the Assembly. I thank | :06:15. | :06:25. | |
:06:25. | :06:25. | ||
the Minister in light of his response. When people voted in 2011, | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
those councillors will remain as representatives of for the entirety | :06:30. | :06:38. | |
of the term? Yes, I am pleased to confirm this is a hybrid situation | :06:38. | :06:46. | |
that could end up in a muddle. Councillors elected in May 2000 the | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
14th, if they are MLAs about time, they will be entitled to continue | :06:50. | :07:00. | |
:07:00. | :07:03. | ||
as MLAs and councillors until May 2015. The shadow councils in 2015 | :07:04. | :07:13. | |
:07:14. | :07:15. | ||
will all Labour shadow until a year later. -- will only be shadow. | :07:15. | :07:25. | |
to finance. That will draw spent on consultantss was less than a �60 | :07:25. | :07:32. | |
million. That is a reduction of �56 million from the level which was | :07:32. | :07:42. | |
:07:42. | :07:45. | ||
reported in 2007 and 2000 added. -- 2008. The Executive is committed to | :07:45. | :07:55. | |
:07:55. | :07:56. | ||
reducing that level every year. We set the target, then a require that | :07:56. | :08:05. | |
any consultancy spend above �10,000 has to be approved by ministers, | :08:05. | :08:10. | |
and that has affected the number of applications that has come. | :08:10. | :08:13. | |
Ministers can a low were that the threshold within their own | :08:13. | :08:21. | |
department. -- at ministers can reduce that threshold. Does the | :08:21. | :08:31. | |
:08:31. | :08:33. | ||
minister for see a day when they can do without consultants. It has | :08:33. | :08:43. | |
:08:43. | :08:47. | ||
to be kept in mind that we will always require some consultants in | :08:47. | :08:51. | |
any public body. There will be occasions when the expertise does | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
not reside with them back at department. It may be a one off | :08:56. | :09:06. | |
:09:06. | :09:07. | ||
piece of work when there is no point in a employing their | :09:07. | :09:14. | |
expertise full-time. While we tried to get consultancy spend down as | :09:14. | :09:24. | |
:09:24. | :09:32. | ||
much as possible, and indeed, we can build into the contract that | :09:32. | :09:37. | |
consoled hims a train up people with they mack the department, I do | :09:37. | :09:44. | |
not foresee a situation where we will not have any consultants. -- | :09:44. | :09:53. | |
within the department. I should have said a 56% of production, not | :09:53. | :10:01. | |
�56 million. A motion for calling for tougher sentences for | :10:01. | :10:08. | |
carjacking was passed at this evening. It is about sending out | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
the message that if you are involved in this crime, you are | :10:12. | :10:21. | |
going to pay for the consequences. We cannot panda to these people are | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
we think they are above the law. That is why we felt this amendment | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
was necessary. It does not take away from the existing motion, we | :10:29. | :10:35. | |
would not want to do that. But they just felt it out a little bit. We | :10:35. | :10:38. | |
acknowledged the fact that this is a crime in there should be dealt | :10:38. | :10:44. | |
with as a crime. I am not known to my liberal views in relation to | :10:44. | :10:51. | |
criminals. Those who break the law should be dealt with. In this | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
instance, we have a scenario where the person targeted is generally | :10:57. | :11:02. | |
female and alone. Cars are stolen and destroyed. No right-thinking | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
individual could or would do anything other than condemn these | :11:05. | :11:15. | |
actions. I think there has been 21 carjacking is in Belfast this year. | :11:15. | :11:24. | |
That is not acceptable. There needs to be visible community policing. | :11:24. | :11:32. | |
There has been a... Community policing should not just be | :11:32. | :11:37. | |
comforting phraseology. It should be at the heart of everything the | :11:37. | :11:42. | |
police do. The committee have a role, the justice system has a role, | :11:42. | :11:47. | |
and the police have a role in bringing this to an end. | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
appreciate the PSNI has established a special task force to step up | :11:52. | :11:59. | |
patrolling and gather intelligence to make arrests. I am thinking back | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
to be done person who tried it could take my car. I wonder why he | :12:03. | :12:09. | |
wanted to do this? Breaking the law and putting himself and others at | :12:09. | :12:19. | |
:12:19. | :12:22. | ||
Anna Lo mentioned joyriding there, and there is a certain irony to all | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
of this, when joyriding figures have had gone down, we have this | :12:26. | :12:35. | |
increased threat of carjacking. and they think what some of these | :12:35. | :12:43. | |
criminals are doing is carjacking and hijacking. We had the seen a | :12:43. | :12:50. | |
week ago where a man was hit with a hammer. The fact is that the | :12:50. | :12:57. | |
criminals have stepped up their game. This is the next step, upping | :12:57. | :13:03. | |
the ante on it. They are hijacking cars and throwing people out and | :13:03. | :13:11. | |
injuring people in the Moses -- in the process. It is very difficult | :13:11. | :13:21. | |
:13:21. | :13:22. | ||
to police this kind of crime. indeed. A short time ago, I saw a | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
case where Cartwright to be carjackers, but when you look at | :13:25. | :13:31. | |
the research out today, it is not only in Belfast, and it is not a | :13:31. | :13:40. | |
new crime. There is a media attention on it in recent times, | :13:40. | :13:49. | |
and rightly so. But it is happening north, south, east and west Belfast, | :13:49. | :13:53. | |
so it is hard to police. But the police are doing all they can to | :13:53. | :13:58. | |
address people. The judicial system needs to be doing all it can to | :13:58. | :14:07. | |
make sure that sentences are put on people. Interesting figures, up to | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
six years for people who have been convicted. That sounds like a fair | :14:11. | :14:15. | |
enough sentence for that type of crime. The maximum term but no | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
individual can get his 15 years, but the fact is David Ford, the | :14:21. | :14:25. | |
Minister, had 26 cases in recent years where people had been | :14:25. | :14:33. | |
convicted. And if you add the 26 convictions, it wouldn't even add | :14:33. | :14:38. | |
up to 15 years together. The maximum sentence has never been | :14:38. | :14:45. | |
imposed on an individual. So the justice department needs to step up | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
to the market and make sure that it is made quite clear to anybody who | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
is talking about it, there is a lack of confidence, and that | :14:56. | :15:00. | |
confidence Mr be restored. The poor state of the economy has | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
many knock-on effect, some of which are already being felt now. During | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
the boom, many sites were bought and cleared with a view to | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
development. But after the bust, they have been left vacant. Many | :15:12. | :15:21. | |
are not only are eyesores but pose a danger to locals. Mary Creagh | :15:21. | :15:30. | |
would called on the Environment Minister to act. We would like | :15:30. | :15:35. | |
property owners to take steps to secure and tidy up premises. There | :15:35. | :15:38. | |
are a significant limits to the powers, and this has been | :15:38. | :15:42. | |
acknowledged through the answers to written questions by the Minister. | :15:42. | :15:46. | |
There are a number of areas in my own constituency, and I have no | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
doubt this is the case throughout Northern Ireland, where sites are | :15:49. | :15:56. | |
lying and secure. -- insecure. Sometimes this is because a portion | :15:56. | :16:00. | |
of land is left were materials were left during building, or other | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
areas which have been cleared in readiness for development. In | :16:04. | :16:08. | |
today's economic climate and the devastating in Cap -- impact this | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
has had on the building trade, the latter example is very prevalent. | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
Some may have fencing around them, others no fencing at all. But it | :16:18. | :16:25. | |
appears that local councils have no powers to secure a green field | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
sites, but can secure site awaiting development. This gap is not filled | :16:29. | :16:33. | |
by the Health and Safety Executive either, I Magnus -- a matter which | :16:33. | :16:43. | |
:16:43. | :16:44. | ||
was confirmed. This has been referred to us as an urban problem, | :16:44. | :16:51. | |
but in fact it is a rural one as well. It does make reference to | :16:51. | :16:56. | |
clear sites. There are towns where the developer has come in, demolish | :16:56. | :17:04. | |
the building on site, and leave something which looks like the | :17:04. | :17:14. | |
:17:14. | :17:16. | ||
Sahara desert. Serious health problems can arise, and am quite | :17:16. | :17:22. | |
serious about that. That can go on for years, if the companies go into | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
liquidation. During that debate, the Environment | :17:25. | :17:28. | |
Minister promised to call councillors together for a summit | :17:28. | :17:31. | |
to see how the issue could be tackled, and he said he hoped to | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
release money to improve town centres. The motion was carried | :17:35. | :17:39. | |
unanimously. Do improving town centres are a big | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
issue for your organisation, we have 1,000 shops that closed last | :17:42. | :17:48. | |
year, 14% remaining vacant as we speak. Yes, we have seen at the | :17:48. | :17:57. | |
highest levels of shop vacancies here in Northern Ireland, and that | :17:57. | :18:04. | |
is obviously a worrying feature. So we are looking forward to the | :18:04. | :18:08. | |
Minister bringing forward the business -- Business improvement | :18:08. | :18:11. | |
District legislation, and one of the ways you can encourage | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
partnership and start to invest in and restore those town centres, and | :18:15. | :18:21. | |
for the planning reforms to come in, too. Obviously planning is a big | :18:21. | :18:28. | |
issue. In terms of regeneration, big stores coming in, we are | :18:28. | :18:32. | |
waiting for John Lewis, but what is the experience of other towns and | :18:32. | :18:40. | |
cities across the UK? Retell can play a major part in helping | :18:40. | :18:44. | |
redevelop. If you look at a place like Cardiff, for example, where | :18:44. | :18:49. | |
there is a major new shopping centre, St David's. It has some | :18:49. | :18:54. | |
really big names as the anchor stores. That has completely | :18:54. | :18:59. | |
transformed Cardiff, lots more visitor numbers there, lots more | :18:59. | :19:05. | |
spending, and that has really helped the local economy. Thank you. | :19:05. | :19:07. | |
The Justice Minister will be reappointed using a cross-community | :19:07. | :19:14. | |
vote and not the previous system, it has been decided. This means the | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
current Minister, David Ford, is likely to stay in post. The SDLP | :19:17. | :19:22. | |
are not happy, arguing that the post should be allocated in the | :19:22. | :19:26. | |
same way as other ministries. Martin McGuinness accused the | :19:26. | :19:29. | |
alliance Party of entering into a devilish packed with the DUP and | :19:29. | :19:39. | |
:19:39. | :19:42. | ||
Sinn Fein. Complicit in this arrangement was the abandonment of | :19:42. | :19:45. | |
the principal opposition for the unprincipled seeking of office and | :19:45. | :19:51. | |
power. And indeed by sacrificing principle for office, they got | :19:51. | :19:58. | |
their just reward. But there subjugation to the DUP and to Sinn | :19:58. | :20:05. | |
Fein is something they will live to regret. And have to say to Mr | :20:05. | :20:09. | |
McGuinness, hell hath no fury like a would-be Minister scorned, and | :20:09. | :20:14. | |
very clearly, he hasn't managed to recover from the fact that he is | :20:14. | :20:19. | |
not the Minister for Justice M elected by this House. And he knows | :20:19. | :20:22. | |
why the people of Belfast would not have confidence in him having his | :20:22. | :20:27. | |
position. We would have preferred that the Justice Minister was | :20:27. | :20:31. | |
elected in the same way as all the other Ministers in this Assembly. | :20:31. | :20:41. | |
:20:41. | :20:43. | ||
However, we know that at that time it wasn't possible. Now, the SDLP | :20:43. | :20:48. | |
are aggrieved at that, because they felt that the Justice Ministry | :20:48. | :20:56. | |
should have been ours. And Albarn McGuinness in his speech talked | :20:56. | :21:05. | |
about how Sinn Fein into DUP perversely used and cynically | :21:05. | :21:12. | |
gerrymandered the process to exclude the SDLP. Perhaps the | :21:12. | :21:17. | |
member hasn't noticed that Sinn Fein didn't benefit from the | :21:17. | :21:25. | |
outcome of those negotiations, and neither did the DUP. Some say I got | :21:25. | :21:33. | |
it wrong. Certainly not. I got it right! Order, order! That is why | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
the DUP belatedly had to run scurrying to get changes made in | :21:38. | :21:42. | |
the 2009 Act, because they were asleep at the wheel, couldn't see, | :21:42. | :21:47. | |
couldn't read what was in the tour to act, couldn't read what was in | :21:47. | :21:54. | |
the 2004 Act, and had to get it changed. That is why some of the | :21:54. | :22:04. | |
:22:04. | :22:07. | ||
powers which are now going back for review were taken out. Order! | :22:07. | :22:14. | |
Nobody in this House speaks with less credibility on the matter of | :22:14. | :22:17. | |
justice than the dissident member for North Antrim. Happily the | :22:18. | :22:23. | |
people of North Antrim put him on his box as he squeaked through one | :22:23. | :22:29. | |
the ninth count. Mr Speaker, I believe we have a balanced and | :22:29. | :22:33. | |
workable way forward. We have shown maturity and made progress on | :22:33. | :22:36. | |
matters which eluded those who went before us. I commend the main | :22:36. | :22:40. | |
motion to this House, and urge the House to resolve accordingly. | :22:40. | :22:45. | |
Now, the Agriculture Minister has warned the next few weeks will be | :22:45. | :22:51. | |
crucial for farmers concerned about Schmoll and bird virus. 83 cases | :22:51. | :22:56. | |
have been reported after the disease cross to the channel from | :22:56. | :23:00. | |
the mainland. It is thought to be carried by midges, and can hit | :23:00. | :23:06. | |
cattle and sheep. We are watching the situation very carefully with | :23:06. | :23:10. | |
other countries, and still have no confirmed cases here. It has | :23:10. | :23:15. | |
reached Luxembourg and Italy, so there are 30 new countries. But we | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
still have not detected any cases. We are trying to get as much | :23:19. | :23:24. | |
information out there as possible to farmers, so it is a new disease. | :23:24. | :23:27. | |
We want farmers to be aware of the new sentence and what they are | :23:27. | :23:32. | |
looking for, and if they suspect, they should contact the Department. | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
What other sentence? As we enter into lambing season, it will be a | :23:37. | :23:42. | |
very good time to detected. When the lambs are born, if there are | :23:42. | :23:46. | |
any birth defect, we want the farmer to inform their vets so that | :23:46. | :23:52. | |
they can report the situation. In adult cattle, it causes diarrhoea | :23:52. | :23:58. | |
and fever. And at this stage, is there any risk that it could be | :23:58. | :24:03. | |
passed from animal to animal? this stage we believe it is coming | :24:03. | :24:08. | |
from vectors, from midges. So I think there is a lot of research | :24:08. | :24:13. | |
going on. Because it is a new disease, trying to establish all | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
the contributing factors. worried should farmers be? We don't | :24:17. | :24:24. | |
want to put anybody on alert and panic them, the but we have a | :24:24. | :24:29. | |
surveillance operation, and we need to watch the situation as we enter | :24:29. | :24:32. | |
the lambing season. It will be a key time to establish whether or | :24:32. | :24:37. | |
not we have the disease. The former DUP laid it in Paisley left | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
hospital today after being admitted three weeks ago for heart problems. | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
There was obviously a lot of concern around the building when | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
Ian Paisley was rushed into the Ulster Hospital around three weeks | :24:49. | :24:55. | |
ago. In more recent times, we have learned that he was discharged from | :24:55. | :24:58. | |
intensive care and moved to another unit within the hospital, then we | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
got a statement from the family confirming that he had returned | :25:01. | :25:05. | |
home today. Peter Robinson released a statement that he was delighted | :25:05. | :25:11. | |
by that. Baroness Paisley thanked the medical staff. And she thanked | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
those who sent wishes and prayers, and asked for more privacy while | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
her husband recuperates. We have been talking about new technology | :25:19. | :25:27. | |
within the chamber. There was news on that today? Yes, the Welsh | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
Assembly is particularly hi-tech, and Stormont has lagged behind a | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
little. The problem has been that if MLAs decide to start texting or | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
tweeting from their phones, it interferes with the microphones, | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
and comes out on the televisions. So a committee on procedures has | :25:45. | :25:47. | |
been considering this, and they have decided that there is a way | :25:47. | :25:52. | |
round it, and with the use of wi-fi or tablet computers, politicians | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
can get on with their work in the chamber at the same time as debates | :25:57. | :26:03. | |
going on around them. Gerry Kelly, chair of that, has now put forward | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
that as a proposal to the commission that runs the building. | :26:07. | :26:11. | |
It is a good move to make. Everybody was up for it, even old | :26:11. | :26:18. | |
fogies like me. There also needs to be training to use this type of | :26:18. | :26:24. | |
equipment. If you can do it with wi-fi without ruining the sound | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
quality for that all-important kit for Stormont Today? Absolutely. We | :26:28. | :26:35. | |
have the ability, totally have the ability to bring wi-fi here. That | :26:35. | :26:42. | |
would do away with the interference. And the Environment Minister had a | :26:42. | :26:45. | |
lot to say today. He was taking part in the debate which you have | :26:46. | :26:50. | |
already heard about disused development sites, and he's hopes | :26:50. | :26:55. | |
to spruce up some of the areas that will be open to view by visitors to | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
the Irish Open. He also made a statement about major planning | :26:59. | :27:02. | |
applications, saying he was trying to hurry up the planning system in | :27:02. | :27:09. | |
terms of some more controversial Big contentious decisions, and he | :27:09. | :27:12. | |
promised somewhat seriously that he would clear around seven major | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
planning applications tomorrow. He set himself a deadline of the end | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
of February. He didn't give any details of exactly what those would | :27:19. | :27:23. | |
consist of, but he should have some decisions for us within the next 24 | :27:23. | :27:28. | |
hours. A final thought from you. One other thing we are doing by | :27:28. | :27:35. | |
ourselves here is the plastic bag tax. Where do stores stand and it? | :27:35. | :27:38. | |
We have been involved in some voluntary initiatives over number | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
of years now, and have managed to halve the number of single use | :27:42. | :27:48. | |
carrier bags that were taken through that. The people of | :27:49. | :27:52. | |
Northern Ireland take your bags per head than anywhere in Great Britain | :27:52. | :27:57. | |
for example. So I think a lot of progress has already been made. | :27:57. | :28:01. | |
Clearly we are waiting to see the regulations and how the levy is | :28:01. | :28:06. | |
going to be administered, and we want something that is a light | :28:06. | :28:14. | |
touch and on burdensome. Do you think it will be a reasonable cause | :28:14. | :28:18. | |
to take? We hope we can come up with a system that satisfy as the | :28:18. | :28:21. | |
Government and is easy for business. Could thank you for being addressed | :28:21. | :28:25. |