:00:28. > :00:32.Hello, and welcome to Stormont Today. Coming up on the programme:
:00:32. > :00:34.more care homes are to close, this time in the west of Northern
:00:34. > :00:41.Ireland. The Health Minister defends the move towards more care
:00:41. > :00:45.at home. We're very clear early - focused on what we want to do, and
:00:45. > :00:51.that's create better options for elderly people to maintain their
:00:51. > :00:56.independence and dignity. We'll be joined by the chair of Store moth's
:00:56. > :01:01.health committee. Also tonight, all transport issues were on the agenda
:01:01. > :01:04.from the A15 to Narrow Water Bridge. We have run out of road or bridge
:01:04. > :01:10.when it comes to this matter being concluded, and if that doesn't
:01:10. > :01:13.bring people to their senses, I don't know what will. Martin
:01:13. > :01:23.McGuinness gets his acronyms in a twist. I think the work that is
:01:23. > :01:26.
:01:26. > :01:30.happening from the IRA - sorry - the IFA. Whoa! So the Western
:01:30. > :01:33.Health Trust has joined the northern and southern trusts in
:01:33. > :01:38.announcing the closure of its residential homes. Relatives and
:01:38. > :01:42.residents were told the plans. It's all part of major change approved
:01:42. > :01:47.by the Health Minister last month which is aimed at allowing more
:01:47. > :01:53.elderly people to be looked after at home. This is what Edwin Poots
:01:53. > :01:57.took -- told Newsline. We want to create better options for elderly
:01:57. > :02:01.people to maintain their independence and dignity, and we
:02:01. > :02:05.believe that support and care is a much better option for the elderly.
:02:05. > :02:08.However, there is an issue about how we handle those elderly people
:02:08. > :02:14.who are currently in residential homes who are content, and we
:02:14. > :02:17.understand that it can cause a huge amount of stress to them if there
:02:17. > :02:23.is a proposal to move them. What we're looking at is a
:02:23. > :02:26.different form of care. The care will provide support for people who
:02:26. > :02:30.become frail and will have to move into residential care, and that is
:02:30. > :02:34.different option for them. I think the people who are currently in
:02:34. > :02:38.care, those are the people we need to demonstrate to that we will
:02:38. > :02:43.treat them with dignity, care and respect, and the trust have
:02:43. > :02:49.identified they want to close 100% of homes. There's a consultation
:02:49. > :02:57.exercise to take place, and it's very important we listen. I am
:02:57. > :03:01.joined by the chair of the health committee at Stormont, Sinn Fein's
:03:01. > :03:05.Sue Ramsey. We know it was proposed closing 50%
:03:05. > :03:10.of care homes with a much greater emphasis on caring for people in
:03:10. > :03:14.their own homes, supported care, it's called system that something
:03:14. > :03:18.you're happy with in principle? think most people are happy with
:03:18. > :03:22.the vision of transforming your care. The committee is happy with
:03:22. > :03:25.the vision. What struck me is when you're building a house, you have
:03:25. > :03:32.your plans and put your foundation in. We need to see the foundations
:03:32. > :03:38.around Transferring your Care. And closing residential homes now
:03:38. > :03:42.actually doesn't go a long way to people buying into this. We have
:03:42. > :03:45.the cart before the horse - the closure of the homes before the
:03:45. > :03:49.framework that'll succeed them in place? That's some of the stuff we
:03:49. > :03:52.need to tease out, and we have the committee meeting tomorrow. We'll
:03:52. > :03:58.be asking the Chief Executive of the board to answer those questions,
:03:58. > :04:03.but the concern is some people don't know what Transforming Your
:04:03. > :04:09.Care is, and eldly people who have been in homes - some of them 10, 15,
:04:09. > :04:12.20 years are being told the home will close. We need to have people
:04:12. > :04:17.buy to this it to have the plan in place. The Minister says that
:04:17. > :04:21.within three to five years, 50% are closing. Now it seems all the homes
:04:21. > :04:26.are closing. You, as chair of the committee, and your committee, in
:04:26. > :04:31.allowing the Minister to go down this road - if he said 50% of homes
:04:31. > :04:34.would close - that's what he expected would happen - was that
:04:35. > :04:38.not the green light to the trusts to close all the homes, which was
:04:38. > :04:43.exactly what they have done? It was inevitable? I don't think we have
:04:43. > :04:47.missed the trick. It's not a final decision, and tomorrow, as chair of
:04:47. > :04:52.the Health committee, I have asked Mr Compton to come up and explain
:04:52. > :04:55.as the Health and Social Care Board to explain what this means. The
:04:56. > :04:59.final decision rests with the Minister. If he's saying 50% of the
:04:59. > :05:03.homes will close between three and five years, and the trust says
:05:03. > :05:08.we're doing it now, he needs to say, I am the Minister. You'll do as I
:05:08. > :05:13.say. That's an interesting question as to where the balance of power
:05:13. > :05:14.lies. It's actually up to the trusts to deliver the health care
:05:14. > :05:19.on the ground. That's not the Minister's responsibility.
:05:19. > :05:22.deliver on his proposals and his policy, and the Transforming Your
:05:22. > :05:26.Care policy is about ensuring more services are available at ground
:05:26. > :05:30.level. This proposal coming from the trust is proposing homes close
:05:30. > :05:34.right away. The Minister told us it would be 50% within three to five
:05:34. > :05:38.years. He has serious questions to ask of his trust's Chief Executives.
:05:38. > :05:42.He was asked on BBC Newsline tonight, do these announcements go
:05:42. > :05:46.too far? Is it too far to say, as three of the trusts have said, that
:05:46. > :05:51.a hundred percent of their trusts would close? He didn't say it was
:05:51. > :05:55.going too far. He said it was going further than he expected. There are
:05:55. > :05:58.currently proposals. As the Minister, he has the duty to ensure
:05:58. > :06:02.his policies and strategy is implemented. If the trust is going
:06:02. > :06:05.beyond what he has requested, he needs to question them. You can
:06:05. > :06:08.understand it because the trusts are under pressure. They're having
:06:08. > :06:11.to make savings left, right and centre. This is one way of doing it
:06:11. > :06:16.and doing it in a relatively straight forward way and saving
:06:16. > :06:20.quite a lot of money in a pretty straight forward way.Ing see the
:06:20. > :06:24.attraction of it. By attacking the most vulnerable. Is that the way
:06:24. > :06:27.you see it? The elderly and our children we always see as the most
:06:27. > :06:30.vulnerable in our society. The issue - we would then need to pay
:06:30. > :06:34.for that care, so if that care is in the community, we'll have to pay
:06:34. > :06:38.for it anyway. If people need care in private, homes will have to pay
:06:38. > :06:43.for it, so we need to look at efficiency savings, but not by
:06:43. > :06:46.attacking those who are the most vulnerable. That's very colourful
:06:46. > :06:50.language to be using. You're obviously not very happy about it,
:06:50. > :06:54.but what are you actually going to do about it? We have John Compton
:06:54. > :06:57.in front of the committee tomorrow and will be questioning him. The
:06:57. > :07:01.other issue we'll be dealing with within the committee is over
:07:01. > :07:04.187,000 cancelled appointments last year within the trust, cancelled by
:07:04. > :07:07.the hospital and by consultants. That's where we can get efficiency
:07:07. > :07:12.savings which will free up more. Interesting to watch how the debate
:07:12. > :07:19.unfolds in the weeks and months ahead. Thank you very much for
:07:19. > :07:28.joining us. Cross-border relations were top of the agenda when the
:07:28. > :07:38.assembly convened this morning. First up was the Deputy fir pir --
:07:38. > :07:44.
:07:44. > :07:49.fish fish with matters all iernd. - 2020 period compared with 2007,
:07:49. > :07:53.2013 - obviously, that's disappointing. We continue to
:07:53. > :07:59.ensure the final agreement delivers a flexible cap particularly in
:07:59. > :08:04.relation to the move to flat-rate payments. I would like the thank
:08:04. > :08:10.the Deputy Prime Minister for - Deputy First Minister for His
:08:10. > :08:17.statement, and I wonder, could he update us, was the A5 and the
:08:17. > :08:21.Narrow Water Bridge, these very important cross-border projects
:08:21. > :08:25.discussed? Our Government are fully implemented to the A5 project.
:08:25. > :08:29.Everybody is conscious of the recent judicial review where a
:08:29. > :08:35.judgment was made in the context of one of 12 objections. The Minister
:08:35. > :08:40.decided not to appeal, but to go for a remedy. It appears that that
:08:40. > :08:44.remedy will probably require a period of some - a year to 18
:08:44. > :08:48.months to resolve. There is still a total commitment from the checktive
:08:48. > :08:53.and the Irish Government to the scheme. We also took the
:08:53. > :08:59.opportunity during the course of the discussions with Mr Gilmore to
:08:59. > :09:02.remind him that the First Minister and I in previous conversations
:09:02. > :09:06.with Enda Kenny pressed the Irish Government to ensure the decision
:09:06. > :09:11.they took to withdraw from their part of the scheme with the
:09:11. > :09:14.exception of 50 million, that that needed to be reviewed on an ongoing
:09:14. > :09:18.basis. The Taoiseach actually gave us a commitment that would be
:09:18. > :09:24.reviewed in 2013. In relation to the Narrow Water Bridge, the
:09:24. > :09:27.Department of Finance and Personnel are currently undertaking a
:09:27. > :09:33.rigorous critical review of that bridge project. I hope there is an
:09:33. > :09:38.early and positive decision, given that the vital importance of this
:09:38. > :09:43.project - and certainly from my own experience and the Speaker himself
:09:43. > :09:47.knows well the impact that a very small bridge in our own city has
:09:47. > :09:51.made not just to the architecture of the city, but to the psychology
:09:51. > :09:55.of the citizens. What do you think the legacy will be at the end of
:09:55. > :09:58.the presidency, that people can look back on and say, we have moved
:09:58. > :10:02.forward. This was our main achievement during that six months'
:10:03. > :10:08.period? Well, obviously, the presidency has been held by the
:10:08. > :10:13.Irish Government, and I think from their perspective, we had our own
:10:13. > :10:16.discussions with them prior to taking over the presidency. The big
:10:16. > :10:21.concern was around whether or not there would be agreement at the
:10:21. > :10:24.European level on the budgets, and the last time the First Minister
:10:24. > :10:27.and I were in Brussels, the British Government in particular were
:10:27. > :10:30.getting a very bad press from European leaders.
:10:30. > :10:36.That has now been resolved. At a governmental level, there is
:10:36. > :10:39.agreement. At European level, there is agreement. The only body now to
:10:39. > :10:44.adjudicate this - and I think the vote will probably come in June -
:10:44. > :10:48.will be the European Parliament. If that goes through, if the cap
:10:48. > :10:51.negotiations go through in the way in which they have designed them, I
:10:51. > :10:57.think the Irish Government will consider that to be a major success
:10:57. > :11:00.for them. The Deputy First Minister there who touched on the A5 road
:11:00. > :11:03.project, and the transport theme continued with statements from the
:11:03. > :11:06.Environment Minister and the Minister for Regional Development,
:11:06. > :11:12.but it was building bridges, not roads, they were concerned with,
:11:12. > :11:18.and in particular, the Narrow Water Bridge project between Counties
:11:18. > :11:22.Down and Lythe. Let's be frank about this. We're at the 11th hour
:11:22. > :11:27.or one minute to midnight or whatever way you want to convey it.
:11:27. > :11:30.We have run out of road or out of bridge when it comes to this matter
:11:30. > :11:34.being concluded. President Barrosso opens up the European funding door
:11:34. > :11:38.for us, a door that in my view we have a lot more to do in order to
:11:38. > :11:43.get through, and that's a comment upon on my own department as it is
:11:43. > :11:48.a comment upon Government. So how do we reconcile that Barroso opens
:11:48. > :11:53.a door for European funding, and we close the door when it comes to
:11:53. > :11:56.Narrow Water? I think that doesn't add up politically. I think it is
:11:56. > :12:02.disrespectful to the European authorities, and I think, more than
:12:03. > :12:07.anything else, it cuts off our nose to spite our face. So I think that
:12:07. > :12:11.if this matter doesn't conclude itself in the next couple of weeks,
:12:11. > :12:18.then we may be past one minute to midnight in terms of getting us
:12:18. > :12:21.over the line, and therefore, I think that there is only one way
:12:21. > :12:29.forward, and that is make the decision, and make the decision now.
:12:29. > :12:37.There is a battle - an ongoing battle, it seems to me, a turf war,
:12:37. > :12:43.of a type, competing between the SDLP and Sinn Fein as to the
:12:43. > :12:49.ownership of this project and how - and who should celebrate who can
:12:49. > :12:54.claim victory with it. I have no interest in that. It's not - that
:12:54. > :13:00.is not relevant to the work of me or my department. I'm dealing with
:13:00. > :13:05.the legal processes which I have to deal with. I will consider after
:13:05. > :13:08.the consultation period has ended whether or not I am bound to
:13:08. > :13:12.consider, actually - whether or not it will be necessary to bring
:13:13. > :13:15.forward a public inquiry. I am aware that the Minister for Finance
:13:15. > :13:21.and Personnel has to consider the business case. I have no doubt that
:13:21. > :13:28.he will consider that on its proper basis. But it is not helped to have
:13:28. > :13:33.to say by unnecessary political grandstanding, which has been
:13:33. > :13:43.engaged in by the two Nationalist parties in that area attempting to
:13:43. > :13:49.
:13:49. > :13:52.Let's talk about a couple of these projects, the Narrow Water Bridge.
:13:52. > :13:56.It was said this was the 11th hour, definitely going to happen, has to
:13:56. > :14:06.happen. Not sure where the DUP stands on it. Do you think it is
:14:06. > :14:10.going to happen? I think it probably will. I think they're used to be a
:14:10. > :14:16.phrase about people playing silly games and I think that he is trying
:14:16. > :14:26.to make a point about the political issue. Quite why, I don't know. It
:14:26. > :14:31.
:14:31. > :14:35.is an �18 million project, a lot of jobs, good for tourism,
:14:35. > :14:43.communication, trade. This is happening as part of an EU peace. We
:14:43. > :14:47.had people saying yesterday they were trying to complete a euros with
:14:47. > :14:52.the Executive saying they would not go ahead would be a very negative
:14:52. > :14:56.message to the European Union about the interest that people of Northern
:14:57. > :15:01.Ireland have about the money. We also have a very unclear picture as
:15:01. > :15:07.far as A5 is concerned. Martin McGuinness said he is still
:15:07. > :15:13.committed to its construction. is a lot of confusion around the
:15:13. > :15:17.project, with the question of the land that has been vested and now
:15:17. > :15:24.apparently has been given back to the farmers, from whom it was vested
:15:24. > :15:28.in the first place. That is a muddle at the moment and how it is going to
:15:28. > :15:34.be resolved would be pretty tricky. Maybe they have spent the money they
:15:34. > :15:40.have already got. On the bigger picture, it looks like it is going
:15:40. > :15:46.to take a few years. The Irish government said they are politically
:15:46. > :15:49.committed to seeing the work achieved but, unfortunately, they
:15:49. > :15:54.don't have the money saw not financially committed. If things
:15:55. > :16:04.pick up in the next few years, maybe the money will come. Ireland is
:16:05. > :16:06.
:16:06. > :16:12.still in a time of austerity. It could be quite a while before we see
:16:12. > :16:15.cars blazing down a motorway in the north-west. A lot of people want to
:16:15. > :16:18.see that but, as you say, it could be quite some time. I wanted to get
:16:18. > :16:20.your reflections on Sarah Scottish Education Secretary -- Sue Ramsey's
:16:20. > :16:24.comments. She took quite a tough line on what has happening. She
:16:24. > :16:31.talked about the Minister attacking the most vulnerable in our society.
:16:31. > :16:38.That is, as I suggested, pretty colourful language for the Chair of
:16:38. > :16:41.the committee to be using, in relation to a minister's position,
:16:41. > :16:44.isn't it? It is a sensitive position. If you have an elderly
:16:44. > :16:48.parent or grandparent facing that dilemma, you would need some
:16:48. > :16:51.certainty. You don't want a situation where the card is put
:16:51. > :16:58.before the horse. You want to know that if you're going to have care in
:16:58. > :17:01.the community it is going to be proper. If you're not going to have
:17:01. > :17:07.proper care then you want a home for your elderly parent or grandparent
:17:07. > :17:09.to go to. Very interesting to see quite how that plays out in the
:17:09. > :17:12.months ahead. Environmentalists hopes for a Marine
:17:12. > :17:16.Management Organisation have suffered a major setback. The
:17:16. > :17:18.Assembly has dropped an amendment on the Marine Bill that would have
:17:18. > :17:22.created a new organisation to oversee all coastal areas of
:17:22. > :17:27.Northern Ireland. The Alliance MLA Anna Lo tabled the amendment.
:17:27. > :17:31.Sustainable development does not seek to stop us from growing our
:17:31. > :17:34.economy. Rather, it aims to put in place a balance of economic, social
:17:34. > :17:40.and environmental measures to ensure we continue to do things effectively
:17:40. > :17:43.in the years to come. I asked him why did you not go for, as England
:17:43. > :17:49.and Wales, the independent model. The response came back from Scotland
:17:49. > :17:51.that they believed they were too small to have an independent MMO.
:17:51. > :17:56.Whenever you consider that Scotland accounts for roughly two thirds of
:17:56. > :18:00.all of the UK territorial waters, for them to believe that that was
:18:00. > :18:05.too small for them to govern, I think really highlights the fact
:18:05. > :18:15.that, perhaps, Northern Ireland which is a much smaller percentage
:18:15. > :18:17.
:18:17. > :18:23.is far too small. Are we seeing that we want another committee to look
:18:23. > :18:27.after Marine? That is the question that has to be asked. I know that
:18:27. > :18:33.the juror brought up issues of money and the Minister hopefully will
:18:33. > :18:38.reflect on them. I did not hear what his comment was to the cheer at that
:18:38. > :18:44.time but I would like to know because, if that is what it is about
:18:45. > :18:49.and if we are considering cost of an issue, then, if we bring forward
:18:49. > :18:55.legislation, cost will always be an issue. It is a very special place.
:18:55. > :19:00.It has been trashed. It is the only word for it. Vantage have been able
:19:00. > :19:05.to scuba dive. When you drive along the worst mussel beds, or what where
:19:05. > :19:10.horse mussel beds, it looks like you're diving a ploughed field.
:19:10. > :19:18.Except, a ploughed field is ploughed for a purpose. The purpose is to
:19:18. > :19:22.grow new stuff. To manage the land. This has been raped. I listen to
:19:22. > :19:31.Mister McDevitt say that when you step into the sea and butcher
:19:31. > :19:36.goggles on you are in a different world. I accept that. If you go to
:19:36. > :19:40.some of the country places you will feel you are in a different world. I
:19:40. > :19:48.don't believe that is an argument just to have a Marine Management
:19:48. > :19:53.Organisation. I think at the heart of many people's frustrations with
:19:53. > :19:59.these institutions, and probably most of the Executive and government
:19:59. > :20:04.departments, is the failure to work together and the mentality that is
:20:04. > :20:11.perceived at the heart of government. I do believe it is
:20:11. > :20:21.perception. I think to not introduce an MMO, or even almost, I suppose,
:20:21. > :20:26.
:20:26. > :20:31.be half way house of the Scottish model, -- model... I see this as a
:20:31. > :20:37.model for which this Government can define and reconfigure its ambition
:20:37. > :20:43.over the lifetime of this mandate. The Marine Bill should be followed
:20:43. > :20:47.by a climate change bill. Before the climate change Bill, there should be
:20:47. > :20:54.a second levy bill. After the climate change Bill, there might yet
:20:54. > :20:59.be a national parks bill. The environment Minister. The role
:21:00. > :21:04.of the Public Accounts Committee is to scrutinise the working of public
:21:04. > :21:11.bodies and how they manage their money. Last week, the troubled Fire
:21:11. > :21:16.and Rescue Services was called into these questions on how it operates.
:21:16. > :21:18.There have even management problems. Here is a flavour of
:21:18. > :21:25.seedings in our weekly look at committee business. The problems
:21:25. > :21:29.started to come late in 2009. You are saying today that you are still
:21:29. > :21:33.tried to appoint people. That is four years afterwards. That is
:21:33. > :21:39.taking too long. For years in a culture that has been particularly
:21:39. > :21:45.bad according to this report. This report is damning the organisation.
:21:45. > :21:50.It comes to light in 2009. We are still talking about it in 2013.
:21:50. > :21:58.came to light in 2009. We then had a change of board, change of German, a
:21:58. > :22:01.series of changes. It was around the time of the investigation into the
:22:02. > :22:07.whistleblowing that Peter retired and I then had to have very serious
:22:07. > :22:13.discussions with the cheer as to how to then deal with the situation. I
:22:13. > :22:18.was also talking to the Chief Fire rescue adviser to local communities
:22:19. > :22:23.and government in England. To take advice at the highest level as to
:22:23. > :22:32.how to provide interim leadership in a context where there was not a pool
:22:32. > :22:36.of applicants stepping forward. We have had such a turnover. So, yes,
:22:36. > :22:38.some things began to emerge in 2009 but the full picture, coming through
:22:38. > :22:45.the whistleblowing, and we need to acknowledge and appreciate that that
:22:45. > :22:49.happened, and make sure that, that came through during 2011. It was a
:22:49. > :22:55.gradually emerging picture. If I sound a little bit annoyed it is
:22:55. > :22:58.because, there was a whistleblower in 2002. He gave valuable
:22:58. > :23:03.information that could have resolved all these problems. That
:23:04. > :23:08.whistleblower was sacked. -- sacked from the border during a period of
:23:08. > :23:15.suspension. That person was Rosemary Creek. She won't mind me mentioning
:23:15. > :23:18.that. You know it anyway. We are now dealing with a new set of
:23:18. > :23:24.whistle-blowers and we know what happened to them before. We know
:23:24. > :23:28.what happened to others. We know about Mister Boyle has spent several
:23:28. > :23:33.months down in Enniskillen. If you are a professional accountant, has
:23:34. > :23:37.humiliated mustard be to be taken from your posts and sent out to
:23:37. > :23:44.Siberia, so to speak. Doctor McCormick, in view of the evidence
:23:44. > :23:48.before this committee today, do you not think that there is scope for a
:23:48. > :23:53.further deep dive investigation into what was going on, particularly
:23:53. > :23:58.since the current chairperson is not prepared to acknowledge that he did
:23:58. > :24:07.anything wrong, that he was not part of the problem and, in my opinion,
:24:07. > :24:10.quite honestly, should call? I think we need to reflect on all of the
:24:10. > :24:16.conclusions that you reached that were accountable to you and in your
:24:16. > :24:21.report on this issue that that would then go to the Minister, not only to
:24:21. > :24:25.myself but, at that stage, when you make your recommendations, those
:24:25. > :24:31.that we financially consider, my advice, at the present time is that,
:24:31. > :24:36.my judgement is, that we have investigated to inappropriate and --
:24:37. > :24:40.to an appropriate stage. The Social Development Minister has
:24:40. > :24:43.told the Assembly that the restructuring of the Housing
:24:43. > :24:46.Executive in Northern Ireland is in no way predetermined. Nelson
:24:46. > :24:51.McCausland also explain the new form of registration for landlords during
:24:51. > :24:56.Question Time today. Immediately following my statement in February
:24:56. > :25:02.on the proposals, I met with the Housing Executive board and the
:25:02. > :25:05.chief Executive to agree how we could work together to allay staph
:25:05. > :25:09.anxieties throughout the process. My officials have met and will continue
:25:09. > :25:15.to meet with trade unions to ensure staff concerns are raised and keep
:25:15. > :25:20.them as up-to-date on an ongoing basis. With regard to tenants, I
:25:20. > :25:26.have a meeting scheduled with the network established to make sure
:25:26. > :25:30.that tenants have a meaningful involvement. Can ask the Minister if
:25:30. > :25:34.you can reaffirm his previously stated commitment that there will be
:25:34. > :25:39.no predetermined outcome to the future of the Housing Executive?
:25:39. > :25:44.my original statement, I set out a general direction of travel. The
:25:44. > :25:48.details of all of this has still to be worked out. There is a lot of
:25:48. > :25:51.work to be done about getting business case is prepared, to look
:25:51. > :25:54.at various options. There will have to be detailed discussions with
:25:54. > :25:59.attentional funders to see what the best model would be. Therefore,
:25:59. > :26:06.there is nothing predetermined at the moment. They are looking at a
:26:06. > :26:10.direction of travel but nothing else. I informed the Assembly on the
:26:10. > :26:17.15th of January 2013 that it was intended that a landlord
:26:17. > :26:20.registration system would be ready by the summer. While thermal be --
:26:20. > :26:24.may be slippage, work is well underway on the design of the system
:26:24. > :26:31.and a final decision on who will act as the registrar should be made very
:26:31. > :26:41.soon. Can I ask the Minister what specifically is the calls of the
:26:41. > :26:47.
:26:47. > :26:52.delay? -- the cause. The civil servants who are working on these
:26:52. > :26:56.working very hard on them. Like most things in life, it is always very
:26:56. > :27:01.difficult to predict exactly, down to the weeks or days, how long it
:27:01. > :27:05.will take to complete a piece of work. I'm sure the member, in all
:27:05. > :27:12.his years of business and other areas of life, will have found his
:27:12. > :27:16.own experience of that fact. The Bangor town Centre master plan
:27:16. > :27:20.produced to lead a major develop meant scheme was needed to
:27:20. > :27:24.regenerate the town centre. Schemes of this size and ambition are
:27:24. > :27:29.complex and challenging to deliver. A number of key steps need to be
:27:29. > :27:34.taken. The first is to assemble the site. My department has completed
:27:34. > :27:38.the first major step by agreeing to purchase the developer's land.
:27:38. > :27:42.Following completion of the sale, my officials will speak to the
:27:42. > :27:47.remaining property owners within the proposed boundary to discuss our
:27:47. > :27:50.plans for the area and to negotiate the purchase of these properties.
:27:50. > :27:54.Work will also be commenced on the planning application, taking
:27:54. > :28:01.approximately two years. Following approval, it will take another two
:28:01. > :28:05.to three years to complete the design and bring on board a contract
:28:05. > :28:08.to construct the scheme. If all progresses smoothly, construction
:28:08. > :28:13.will commence in 2018. The social -- the Social Development
:28:13. > :28:17.Minister. Just before we go, the otherwise businesslike atmosphere
:28:17. > :28:21.today was treated by his accession of politicians getting their
:28:21. > :28:27.transitory twist. Danny Kennedy referred to the Republic as the Free