:00:28. > :00:32.Hello and welcome to Stormont Today. Despite a gloomy economic forecast
:00:32. > :00:36.coming from the Chancellor, there has been some good news for us in
:00:36. > :00:42.his Autumn Statement, with up to �200 million more to spend on
:00:43. > :00:47.public services over the next three years. Also tonight, Emilys call
:00:47. > :00:51.for tougher sentencing for violent crime against older people. We need
:00:51. > :00:55.to send a clear message that a tax on the elderly will not be
:00:55. > :01:01.tolerated, and that, if you attack an elderly person, you are going to
:01:01. > :01:05.go to prison. And he was firing shots across the chamber at the
:01:05. > :01:12.Deputy First Minister. I think that was called a cheap shot. But that
:01:12. > :01:19.is not unusual coming from Gregory. Keeping me company tonight is a
:01:19. > :01:22.pensioner activist, Ivan Baxter a. There was some good news for
:01:22. > :01:28.pensioners and the Chancellor's Autumn Statement that the basic
:01:28. > :01:33.pension going up by �5.30 next year. But is that enough? It is less than
:01:33. > :01:38.we would have liked, of course, because the Chancellor is now using
:01:38. > :01:44.an inflation rate, of the CPR, which is less than the previous
:01:44. > :01:51.inflation rate, the retail price index which was 5.8% this year, so
:01:51. > :01:55.we have lost 0.6% already. If that continues into the future, people
:01:55. > :02:00.will in fact lose quite a few 1,000 pounds of their pensions over a
:02:00. > :02:04.period of time. For less well-off pensioners, I would have thought
:02:04. > :02:09.any increase would have been welcome, given how tight things are.
:02:09. > :02:14.The air was a concern that the Chancellor might not even give the
:02:14. > :02:19.5.2% during the last week or so. There were rumours going around
:02:19. > :02:24.that he would not be able to afford it, but he has done that and I
:02:24. > :02:32.suppose we should be pleased that he has given us 5.2% when we were
:02:32. > :02:37.looking for 5.8%. 5.2% is better than nothing, really. War or other
:02:37. > :02:44.main issues worrying pensioners at the moment? The biggest concern
:02:44. > :02:48.pensioners have is getting through the winter. There is a lot of fuel
:02:48. > :02:54.poverty among pensioners in Northern Ireland. More so than on
:02:54. > :02:58.mainland in Great Britain, because we depend heavily on oil, add or
:02:58. > :03:05.oil has increased, as you know, considerably over the last couple
:03:05. > :03:10.of years. This year, they have reduced the winter grant by �50 for
:03:10. > :03:16.ordinary pensioners, and for those who are 80 years and over, it has
:03:16. > :03:23.been reduced by �100. This has seemed to be a rather peculiar
:03:23. > :03:28.thing to do, given the price of oil is going up. At one time, you could
:03:28. > :03:36.have bought a tanker oil for the winter fuel brand. Now you can only
:03:36. > :03:40.by less than half of and 900 litre tank of oil. So, not only is the
:03:40. > :03:47.amount of the winter fuel brand going down, but the value of it has
:03:47. > :03:52.gone down considerably, because of the oil price inflation. We'll talk
:03:52. > :03:55.more about that later. It was at u p double act that Question Time to
:03:55. > :04:02.stop it when Pitts faced questions on the winter weather and healthy
:04:02. > :04:09.eating. But first it was financed and by Stormont Today, the like to
:04:09. > :04:18.bring breaking news. His Sally Wilson going green? -- is Sammy
:04:18. > :04:24.Wilson going green? I must say, I think his question probably would
:04:24. > :04:30.have required a little more research than it has demonstrated,
:04:30. > :04:35.because as he will know, renewable sources, especially wind energy,
:04:35. > :04:41.which seems to be the main renewable source we are promoting
:04:41. > :04:47.in Northern aren't, is much more expensive than all -- in Northern
:04:47. > :04:52.Ireland, then much -- than all the other sources of electricity. The
:04:52. > :04:58.cost of energy from wind, as opposed to energy from gas, is
:04:58. > :05:04.about 3.5 times more per unit, and therefore, if we're looking at ways
:05:04. > :05:09.of reducing energy consumption and energy bills, the one thing we
:05:09. > :05:17.certainly would not be doing is relying on the untested and
:05:17. > :05:21.expensive technology which there is from renewable sources. Indeed, I
:05:21. > :05:26.suspect that a more effective way of getting energy costs down, and
:05:26. > :05:31.we have got to do this, given that we have caught a �200 million bill
:05:31. > :05:39.across the public sector, the quicker way of doing that is to use
:05:39. > :05:43.energy more efficiently. Then it was on to rates, and they then got
:05:43. > :05:49.their own back on the minister. notice that the minister has taken
:05:49. > :05:53.to wearing dark glasses. And I think I would be seeking some form
:05:53. > :06:00.of the skies if I was presiding over the Department with a great
:06:00. > :06:03.debt of �150 million. Can I asked the minister to swap his dark
:06:03. > :06:09.glasses for his rose-tinted glasses, and to tell us what serious
:06:09. > :06:14.proposals he has to reduce this debt? I can assure you I do not
:06:14. > :06:21.need dark glasses. Because there are not too many bright, shining
:06:21. > :06:27.lights are coming from the side of the chamber, anyway! Can I just say,
:06:27. > :06:32.he has raised an important point, but, I would like to see some
:06:32. > :06:39.consistency, not only from members of his party, but members of other
:06:39. > :06:45.parties, as well. Of course we have to pursue those people who do not
:06:45. > :06:51.pay the right for packs which has been levied -- to write poll tax
:06:51. > :06:57.which has been levied, but just before I came into the chamber
:06:57. > :07:02.today, there is a balance to be struck, in times of economic
:07:02. > :07:07.difficulty, do we pursue those who have not been able to pay their
:07:07. > :07:13.rates to the ultimate, take them to court, bankrupting them and putting
:07:13. > :07:17.them out of business? I guarantee that if we pursue did a corny it --
:07:17. > :07:23.the draconian line implicit in his question, he would be criticising
:07:23. > :07:26.me for something different, namely, for putting people on the dole. I
:07:26. > :07:31.hope he understands that there is a complexity here, and there's a
:07:31. > :07:35.balance to be struck and we will pursue those who do not pay their
:07:35. > :07:40.rates, but equally, we have got to have recognition that, in a
:07:40. > :07:44.difficult economic climate, some people will not pay their rates,
:07:44. > :07:49.and refuse to pay their rates, and we go after those, there are some
:07:49. > :07:53.people who cannot pay their rates, and it is a balance, and we have to
:07:53. > :08:00.make a judgment. Despite the fact that we're at in a recession, we
:08:00. > :08:08.have brought the Great Britain and the debt burden down -- the Great
:08:08. > :08:14.Britain and the debt burden down.. Held next, and Edwin Poots may
:08:14. > :08:23.manage the biggest budget in the Executive, but can he forecast the
:08:23. > :08:30.weather, as well? I will wait and see what the good Lord sends us. I
:08:30. > :08:35.trust that it will not be as cold as last year. And we hope to have
:08:35. > :08:39.some savings and there are plenty of areas that we can spend money on,
:08:39. > :08:45.always towards the end of the year we tried to buy in more operations
:08:45. > :08:51.and reduce the waiting lists for cardiac care, and orthopaedics. We
:08:51. > :08:58.have ample opportunities to spend money that his insistence. At the
:08:58. > :09:03.moment we are �15 million short of the total budget. We can make that
:09:03. > :09:08.up over the next number of months. I am confident that if we get a
:09:08. > :09:14.warm, wet winter, that we will be able to spend all the resources we
:09:14. > :09:21.have. Nicky Brady of Sinn Fein asked, would the Minister consider
:09:21. > :09:28.giving extra winter fuel payments to the terminally ill? We actually
:09:28. > :09:35.do support some are very vulnerable people, and through the winter, we
:09:35. > :09:42.assist them. It is a very worthy idea, and if we can facilitate them
:09:42. > :09:48.to do it, we certainly will do that. It is quite challenging to be able
:09:48. > :09:55.to identify a those who are most in need, without excluding people who
:09:55. > :10:02.are in real, genuine need. But we are wholly sympathetic to the
:10:02. > :10:06.notion. We will forget the cold spell of last year. Our pensioners
:10:06. > :10:13.worried about that bad weather, given how difficult it is to find
:10:13. > :10:20.the money to pay the bills? They are certain to be worried. We found
:10:20. > :10:25.last year that there were around 700 pensioners who died because of
:10:25. > :10:32.the Cold War because they did not have enough food to eat, -- because
:10:32. > :10:39.of the cold, or because they did not have enough food to eat. And
:10:39. > :10:45.then of course, some of them did not have the money because they
:10:45. > :10:50.were using it for food, not hitting. So these unexplained deaths
:10:50. > :10:53.amounted to over 700. We will be worried if we get another winter
:10:53. > :10:58.like that with the winter fuel brand going down and oil prices
:10:58. > :11:01.going up, that it will be more than 700 this year, at that will be an
:11:01. > :11:07.absolute disgrace for a well of country, despite the fact that we
:11:07. > :11:16.have economic difficulties, we're still, in global terms, a well-off
:11:16. > :11:19.country. It looks like the Stormont Executive is in line for up to �200
:11:19. > :11:24.million more to spend on public services over the next three years,
:11:24. > :11:28.as a result of measures in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement.
:11:28. > :11:34.George Osborne announced a review into regional pay for public sector
:11:34. > :11:38.employees, that could ultimately lead to pay cuts for 230,000
:11:38. > :11:43.public-sector workers in Northern Ireland. I asked our economics
:11:43. > :11:47.editor Jim Fitzpatrick if it would make a difference. People on the
:11:47. > :11:51.streets of Belfast and Northern Ireland asking themselves, after
:11:51. > :11:55.the Chancellor's Autumn Statement are they better off or worse off,
:11:55. > :12:01.and the answer seemed to be a bit of both. In terms of the headline
:12:01. > :12:05.figure, and the impact on the storeman budget, we are better off.
:12:05. > :12:10.Sammy Wilson had feared that they could have seen a budget cut. In
:12:10. > :12:14.fact we have seen �200 billion more or coming to Stormont to spend over
:12:14. > :12:18.the next three years. Most of that will be infrastructure spending
:12:18. > :12:23.poor roads and railways, so that is good news, but the sting in the
:12:23. > :12:26.tailors for public-sector workers. There are 230,000 people employed
:12:26. > :12:30.in the public sector here and the Chancellor has told us that after
:12:30. > :12:38.their PP's comes to an end they will only see their pay increase by
:12:38. > :12:42.1%, instead of 2%, up to 2015. When inflation is currently at 5% that
:12:42. > :12:46.is a real terms reduction in living standards. What is more, there
:12:46. > :12:51.could be worse to come for workers in Northern Ireland, because the
:12:51. > :12:56.Chancellor announced a review of public sector pay, to consider the
:12:56. > :12:59.idea of regional variation. If there was the Asian in Northern
:12:59. > :13:05.Ireland, it would certainly not mean pay increases, because
:13:05. > :13:10.currently, the median pay in the public sector is 40% lower than it
:13:10. > :13:16.is you and the private sector. So the starting point of any
:13:16. > :13:25.negotiations is a downward trend. That is the news tonight, good or
:13:25. > :13:29.bad, a bit of both. U p m p Nigel Dodds wanted more detail on the
:13:29. > :13:34.statement. It is good to see some effort made to boost growth. How
:13:34. > :13:39.will it play out in practice? We need to see the fine print. We have
:13:39. > :13:44.to see what happens now with the 60% of the banks that are southern
:13:44. > :13:50.Irish own. And we have to see what this means in terms of the Barnett
:13:50. > :13:55.consequentials. We have to see what at actually means. Northern Ireland
:13:55. > :13:57.will benefit to the tune of �142 million over the next two years
:13:57. > :14:02.which is good news for construction and those involved in capital
:14:02. > :14:07.projects. How will that trickle- down? It comes straight across in
:14:07. > :14:11.the Barnett formula. There is very significant investment on
:14:11. > :14:16.infrastructure coming up across the United Kingdom. That will benefit
:14:16. > :14:20.Northern Ireland directly. But the detail of it, which projects are
:14:20. > :14:26.chosen, is in hands of local politicians and the Executive.
:14:27. > :14:32.that money is ring-fence? That is quite clear. One of the issues talk
:14:32. > :14:36.about is this idea of regional public-sector pay. We have to see
:14:36. > :14:41.how the consultation pans out. It could be to the benefit of Northern
:14:41. > :14:45.Ireland, because it has poor property costs, and some are like
:14:45. > :14:49.London, it could bring more activity to Northern Ireland. But
:14:49. > :14:54.it is worth looking at what we have done right across the board for
:14:54. > :14:58.families. We had added the only last week on fuel. What the
:14:58. > :15:03.Chancellor has managed to do on fuel prices is significant. The
:15:03. > :15:06.planned Labour increases have not come about. As a result your duty
:15:07. > :15:16.is 10 pence lower than it would have been under Labour. -- fuel
:15:16. > :15:21.One budget that has been ring- fenced his help. Despite that,
:15:22. > :15:26.changes on the way and we need to change our mind set about what we
:15:26. > :15:30.want from hospitals. John Compton is delivering his report to the
:15:30. > :15:37.health minister this week. Last year it was nearly bankrupt. I
:15:37. > :15:41.asked him if that was still the case. There was a debate about what
:15:41. > :15:51.should and should not be in the Budget settlement. We know at what
:15:51. > :15:55.we have got. We have got about �4.7 billion. It is not easy in a health
:15:55. > :16:05.and social care because we do have demands. However, we are looking at
:16:05. > :16:09.how we will spend that money and that is what the review is about.
:16:09. > :16:14.Have you come up with a golden figure, the number of hospitals we
:16:15. > :16:23.should have? We haven't. It is about the quality of treatment and
:16:23. > :16:29.care for people. He explained what that is an show evidence. We need
:16:30. > :16:39.to get away from thinking about hospitals as a separate entity.
:16:40. > :16:40.
:16:40. > :16:47.They are part of one a system of care. Do we have to change our mind
:16:47. > :16:53.set about how hospitals operate? need to change our mind set about
:16:53. > :17:03.what we want out of hospital care. People want the best outcome and
:17:03. > :17:03.
:17:03. > :17:11.when we are able to explain why it is better to reorganise services,
:17:11. > :17:15.no-one disagreed. If you look at some of the services we have
:17:15. > :17:20.reorganised, some of the cancer services for example, I think
:17:20. > :17:25.people understand you get a better outcome. What is not reasonable is
:17:25. > :17:29.to ask people to travel to make someone else's life convenient. If
:17:29. > :17:34.people have to travel, it is because the outcome will be better.
:17:34. > :17:38.One of the difficulty for people in rural communities is we do not have
:17:38. > :17:41.great infrastructure in terms of public transport. Is there anything
:17:41. > :17:51.in your report that says we need to look at that if we are going to
:17:51. > :18:00.close or stop services in particular areas, expect people to
:18:00. > :18:04.travel further? We heard people talking about the poor road
:18:04. > :18:11.infrastructure, particularly in the West. It goes to the heart of
:18:11. > :18:15.joined-up government. The review will say something about trying to
:18:15. > :18:19.make that more real and it will reflect on rural transport because
:18:19. > :18:28.it is an issue. People are talking about this as a once-in-a-lifetime
:18:28. > :18:33.issue. Is there that political well throughout to implement the changes
:18:33. > :18:37.you are recommending? I hope so. The difficulty is there aren't any
:18:37. > :18:42.neutral decisions. If people said we do not want to implement your
:18:42. > :18:47.review, I can tell you now there will be changes anyway. It will
:18:47. > :18:51.happen in an unplanned and disjointed manner. I would hope
:18:51. > :18:57.that the political system would recognise the need for change and
:18:57. > :19:00.support the change. It is right it is challenged to make sure the
:19:00. > :19:09.change is designed to deliver a better service, but I hope there
:19:09. > :19:18.will be support for it. MLAs had voted for mandatory prison
:19:18. > :19:22.sentences for people who commit violent crimes against older people.
:19:22. > :19:28.The motion was passed by a narrow majority.
:19:28. > :19:38.When need to send a clear message that attacks on older people, or
:19:38. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :19:54.senior citizens will not be tolerated and that if you attack an
:19:54. > :19:58.elderly person, you are going to go to jail. Clearly an message has to
:19:58. > :20:06.get out there tougher sentences are important in relation to this type
:20:06. > :20:16.of violent crime. I cannot agree with mandatory sentencing in this
:20:16. > :20:16.
:20:16. > :20:26.context. I do not believe that you can simply have a mandatory minimum
:20:26. > :20:27.
:20:27. > :20:31.sentence and believes that that inflexible instrument will cure all.
:20:31. > :20:41.A pensioner paedophile assaulted a young boy. The father of that young
:20:41. > :20:49.boy took it upon himself to go round to that pensioner's house. He
:20:49. > :20:57.struck him. He broke his jaw. Now, should back father go to jail for
:20:57. > :21:02.seven years or any time, or should he be treated through a suspended
:21:02. > :21:07.sentence, for example? In his is a difficult issue for older people,
:21:07. > :21:13.not just experiencing crime, but the fear of crime and living with
:21:13. > :21:20.that feeling of fear. How big an issue is it and would you like to
:21:20. > :21:25.see tougher sentences? Well, we condemn all attacks on older people,
:21:25. > :21:30.but they are actually relatively rare. The thing is, there is a fear
:21:30. > :21:38.of crime which is prevalent amongst older people and it was one of the
:21:38. > :21:47.main concerns. The pensioners were concerned about sentencing policy,
:21:47. > :21:52.they were more concerned about preventive measures. One of those
:21:52. > :21:56.is seen policemen out on the beat. By and large, that would be a
:21:56. > :22:00.solution that would sit well with pensioners - a more visible
:22:00. > :22:03.approach to the prevention of crime. Thank you.
:22:03. > :22:07.The Deputy First Minister has been back at his desk here in Stormont
:22:07. > :22:09.for a number of weeks, but earlier today he was back in the Chamber
:22:09. > :22:12.reporting to members on a North South Ministerial Council.The issue
:22:12. > :22:15.of the A5 road scheme and his recent unsuccessful foray into
:22:15. > :22:18.southern politics both came up for discussion. Roy Beggs was one of a
:22:18. > :22:27.number of MLAs seeking guarantees on funding promises from the Dublin
:22:27. > :22:33.Government. Given the withdrawal of the �400
:22:33. > :22:37.million, this is a significant amount to have been withdrawn and
:22:37. > :22:43.then is to be a re examination on the affordability of any such
:22:43. > :22:51.project. Can he advise how certain we can be of even the offer of �50
:22:51. > :23:00.million, given that the 400 million has been withdrawn? Well,
:23:01. > :23:06.government has gone on record and made it clear that 25 million
:23:07. > :23:11.sterling will be made available. I agree with a member that it is
:23:11. > :23:21.hugely disappointing for all of us. I know especially for your own
:23:21. > :23:21.
:23:21. > :23:29.constituency because it is a flagship project along with the A5.
:23:29. > :23:39.So, the challenge for all of us is how we ensure that the commitments
:23:39. > :23:45.
:23:45. > :23:47.made to our flagship projects are brought to fruition. It is not a
:23:47. > :23:51.question of whether or not the product are going to go ahead, it
:23:51. > :23:56.is a matter of how they are going to go ahead and how they will be
:23:56. > :24:00.funded. From our own perspective in the Executive, we need to have
:24:00. > :24:09.certainty around the issue that you raised that the Irish government
:24:09. > :24:14.are going to find the other 350 million, which will be the balance.
:24:14. > :24:17.That is what our discussions are about at the moment, about getting
:24:17. > :24:21.certainty and getting certainty from the Irish government that they
:24:21. > :24:27.are totally and absolutely committed to the construction of
:24:27. > :24:31.this road as aware Executive and this Assembly is. What relevance
:24:31. > :24:41.does the Deputy First Minister think there might be for Northern
:24:41. > :24:44.
:24:44. > :24:50.Ireland, given the Irish Republic's forthcoming EU presidency? I ask
:24:50. > :24:54.that because of the irrelevance of the Irish Prime Minister's
:24:54. > :25:00.involvement in the recent elections. I think that is what is known as a
:25:00. > :25:08.cheap shot, but that is not unusual coming from Gregory. Obviously the
:25:08. > :25:18.Irish presidency of the EU in 2013 was discussed at the meeting. No
:25:18. > :25:20.doubt that will offer opportunities for all of ours. -- or of us.
:25:20. > :25:23.Stormont's hosting its own version of MasterChef tonight. Young people
:25:23. > :25:27.with learning difficulties have been cooking up a feast under the
:25:27. > :25:34.watchful eyes of some local chefs. It's all part of a drive to get
:25:34. > :25:44.better opportunities and jobs. I am doing a surf and turf been a
:25:44. > :25:44.
:25:44. > :25:51.show called Vanessa. I am really looking forward to it. -- with a
:25:51. > :26:00.chef called Vanessa. How important is it for you to be involved?
:26:00. > :26:10.Really important. I want to follow it in my parents's footsteps.
:26:10. > :26:18.they caterers? Meyer parents showed me how to cook and they take a lot.
:26:18. > :26:28.Might that inspired me -- my dad inspired me. He encouraged me to go
:26:28. > :26:30.
:26:30. > :26:36.and get my food and hygiene certificate. Fantastic. What do you
:26:36. > :26:39.hope to do after this project? Do you want to work in a restaurant?
:26:39. > :26:49.want to get the qualifications to go into the Merchant Navy and
:26:49. > :26:52.travel the world. That is my dream. When I come back maybe I will start
:26:53. > :27:02.up a chain of restaurants of my own. It is a fantastic opportunity for
:27:03. > :27:07.
:27:07. > :27:10.them. You might get a new trainees here? I hope so.
:27:10. > :27:14.The public sector strike planned for tomorrow has left many MLAs in
:27:14. > :27:21.a quandary - to cross or not to cross the picket line. So I asked
:27:21. > :27:24.Martina Purdy how the issue would play out. As you know, it could be
:27:24. > :27:27.the biggest right for decades in Northern Ireland and it is going to
:27:27. > :27:32.be interesting to see who crosses the picket line and he does not
:27:32. > :27:37.tomorrow. We are expecting picket at three gates at Stormont in the
:27:37. > :27:45.morning, probably from 7:30am. The expectation is that the number of
:27:45. > :27:52.committees will meets -- meat. there is a party split when it
:27:52. > :28:02.comes to supporting the strike? does appear to be Unionists bursars
:28:02. > :28:12.
:28:12. > :28:17.nationalists. -- versus. There was a challenge in the chamber today?
:28:17. > :28:23.Yes regarding murders during the Troubles. That was ruled out of
:28:23. > :28:30.order. There has been a trend in the Assembly of Unionists accusing
:28:30. > :28:33.the Irish government of various things. And we had various
:28:33. > :28:39.portraits around parliament buildings and a new one has been
:28:39. > :28:45.unveiled. That is right. Eileen Bell was the only woman to have
:28:45. > :28:49.been Speaker here and she was appointed in 2006 before she was
:28:49. > :28:59.endorsed by the members, which was the protocol at the time. She was
:28:59. > :29:00.