:00:07. > :00:10.Good evening and welcome to BBC Newsline.
:00:11. > :00:12.The Health Minister has revealed details of how the Health Service
:00:13. > :00:17.Pay restraints on staff and further reducing expenditure
:00:18. > :00:20.on home care packages are among the controversial measures.
:00:21. > :00:24.The paper, seen by the BBC, paints a stark picture and came
:00:25. > :00:26.on the day a former Health Minister broke his silence on
:00:27. > :00:33.Here's our health correspondent, Marie-Louise Connolly.
:00:34. > :00:35.According to officials, some health and social care services
:00:36. > :00:40.Earlier, the Minister wrote to the Executive and the Health Committee
:00:41. > :00:46.While these are just proposals, they're a stark reminder of how
:00:47. > :00:53.Pay restraint for health care staff - with a warning this
:00:54. > :01:02.Major cuts to care packages for the elderly.
:01:03. > :01:05.There will be less money for drug therapies such as cancer,
:01:06. > :01:09.And the Round-the-clock cardiac centre at Altnagelvin
:01:10. > :01:22.Of course he wants us to look at money over here and the pressure is
:01:23. > :01:27.everybody else's fault. The reality is, it is his plan and his fault and
:01:28. > :01:30.when he comes before the committee next week, we will put questions
:01:31. > :01:32.about whether he has been interrogating the plan sufficiently.
:01:33. > :01:35.On the day the Health Minister chose to announce the impact of potential
:01:36. > :01:38.cuts, his predecessor chose to break his four year silence and told
:01:39. > :01:43.the BBC he can empathise with the man currently in the firing line.
:01:44. > :01:50.I do have sympathy for him. I think he is not getting the support he is
:01:51. > :01:56.entitled to from his Executive colleagues and I think we, as the
:01:57. > :01:59.public, expect to see that happening now and it is very important that
:02:00. > :02:05.the Executive get behind the Health Minister and the health service and
:02:06. > :02:11.find the money required to keep the show on the road. If they don't,
:02:12. > :02:15.lives will be lost. I am extremely angry about the way the health
:02:16. > :02:16.service has been treated. This is a bad budget...
:02:17. > :02:19.When he was Health Minister, hardly a week went by without
:02:20. > :02:24.criticism from some quarter for his handling of the budget.
:02:25. > :02:26.Responsibility for the budget in this Assembly...
:02:27. > :02:28.In 2011, the budget was slashed by ?300 million.
:02:29. > :02:30.According to Mr McGimpsey, the Executive still fails to grasp
:02:31. > :02:38.that funding needs to match demand which is increasing annually.
:02:39. > :02:45.We made lots of efficiencies and lots of changes. The fact is, we
:02:46. > :02:49.note demand is rising for health and social services in Northern Ireland.
:02:50. > :02:54.You have to increase the provision in order to meet that demand. How
:02:55. > :03:00.this party politics in Northern Ireland damage the running of the
:03:01. > :03:04.department, in particular, health? I constantly pleaded with other
:03:05. > :03:07.parties, let's not play politics with the health service, it is too
:03:08. > :03:11.important. We all need to work together to make it work. Those
:03:12. > :03:13.pleas, by and large, fell on deaf ears.
:03:14. > :03:17.And the former Health Minister says that party politics is interfering
:03:18. > :03:20.with the running of the service, which means interfering with saving
:03:21. > :03:22.Both these ministers know what a poisoned chalice running
:03:23. > :03:26.And if no extra funding is allocated, it's highly possible
:03:27. > :03:30.The police are appealing for information about racist attacks
:03:31. > :03:33.on the homes of two families from Sudan in north Belfast.
:03:34. > :03:35.Windows were broken in the houses where children and a heavily
:03:36. > :03:53.The two homes off N. Queen St each tab a window smashed around 230 AM.
:03:54. > :03:57.They are inhabited by families who fled the conflict in Sudan. The
:03:58. > :04:01.window has not been replaced. Elsewhere in the house, the balloons
:04:02. > :04:06.are because there is a birthday party this evening, despite the fact
:04:07. > :04:10.the house was attacked. In the kitchen, the family are looking for
:04:11. > :04:18.this evening. Here is Mohammed and his wife. Tell me first of all, the
:04:19. > :04:22.party is going on despite what happened. You are not frightened.
:04:23. > :04:27.You are staying anywhere, aren't you? We do not know what to do,
:04:28. > :04:33.exactly. We don't have any choices. We come from an unsafe country. We
:04:34. > :04:39.are looking to live a normal life, like anyone. This is my first
:04:40. > :04:46.celebration with my son after six years' separation. The first time
:04:47. > :04:51.you have celebrated his birthday? I left him in my country. He joined me
:04:52. > :05:02.in December. This is my first celebration with him. We felt it was
:05:03. > :05:04.unsafe. You live happily here, do you have good relations with your
:05:05. > :05:10.neighbours? They are good people, they are very nice. Their children
:05:11. > :05:17.play with my son and they are very happy. They are nice people. It has
:05:18. > :05:21.been a big day for his son. A new school, a party with his friends,
:05:22. > :05:25.Well, we've had a huge response from you -
:05:26. > :05:28.by email and on our Facebook page - to our report on how the price
:05:29. > :05:31.of school uniforms here has been driving some parents to use swap
:05:32. > :05:34.The Minister for Education has threatened to
:05:35. > :05:37.bring in a new law if schools don't make uniforms more affordable.
:05:38. > :05:39.Guidance from the Department says schools
:05:40. > :05:41.should eliminate exclusive deals with uniform suppliers and make sure
:05:42. > :05:47.uniforms are available from high street or internet retailers.
:05:48. > :05:48.However, rather than complying with the guidelines,
:05:49. > :05:51.some schools are being accused of adding even more expensive
:05:52. > :06:04.It seems to be year-on-year, the prices of uniforms are either
:06:05. > :06:09.increasing or the level of what the school requires is increasing. It is
:06:10. > :06:13.PE shorts, then it has escalated to tracksuits, now you need the
:06:14. > :06:17.waterproof coat, the fleece, the heady, and all of these things.
:06:18. > :06:21.People are saying they cannot afford it. I have said to schools that if
:06:22. > :06:24.the guidance does not work I will consider legislation to ensure
:06:25. > :06:28.schools allow a free market in terms of provision of uniforms, and to
:06:29. > :06:33.ensure that there is equality of access maintained. Barriers such as
:06:34. > :06:37.cost of uniforms should not prevent the Bulls accessing schools.
:06:38. > :06:39.International football manager Michael O'Neill says he believes
:06:40. > :06:41.Northern Ireland can qualify for Euro 2016.
:06:42. > :06:43.The campaign begins in just over a week against Hungary.
:06:44. > :06:45.Today the manager revealed his 26 man squad
:06:46. > :06:48.which includes two players who made headlines this week as they helped
:06:49. > :07:04.It has been quite a week for Will Grigg and Ben Reeves. Reeves scored
:07:05. > :07:09.twice in the stunning 4-0 win over Manchester United. The road for
:07:10. > :07:19.both, a up into the international squad. He was in or under 21 team.
:07:20. > :07:25.He scored two against United and that was fantastic for his
:07:26. > :07:31.confidence. Ben Reeves is a player that has put in a lot of work. He
:07:32. > :07:37.qualifies through the eligibility route. He is a young player who is
:07:38. > :07:39.building his club career but who now has the opportunity
:07:40. > :07:43.building his club career but who now international stage as well. He is
:07:44. > :07:49.good technically and I am excited. Jonny Evans is ruled out because of
:07:50. > :07:52.suspension. Northern Ireland have never qualified for the European
:07:53. > :07:55.Championships but 24 teams instead of 16 can get through now and
:07:56. > :08:01.Michael O'Neill believes his side will be one of them. I believe we
:08:02. > :08:05.are capable of finishing in the top three on that has to be the aim for
:08:06. > :08:14.this group. The important thing is that we go in to the second phase of
:08:15. > :08:18.the campaign with a two aim for. A difficult task, but if they qualify
:08:19. > :08:22.it will be Northern Ireland's first major tournament in 30 years.
:08:23. > :08:27.What has the weather got in store? Here is Barra Best. Not a great
:08:28. > :08:30.night. It is windy with gale force winds
:08:31. > :08:32.along the coast and rain. Some of the rain will be heavy. The Met
:08:33. > :08:34.Office has issued a weather warning. the rain will be heavy. The Met
:08:35. > :08:38.Office has issued a weather There may be disruption as a result. Most
:08:39. > :08:42.of the heavy rain will clear the East Coast as we get into tomorrow
:08:43. > :08:47.morning. Behind that it will ease, but there will be showers behind and
:08:48. > :08:55.some will be heavy. A mild night and temperatures of 13 Celsius for many
:08:56. > :08:58.of us. Tomorrow, quite windy, rusty at times. Spells of sunshine but
:08:59. > :09:02.also scattered showers. The showers likely to affect the north coast,
:09:03. > :09:06.some heavy and possibly thundery. South of that, not as bad, dry and
:09:07. > :09:11.bright. The most unsettled picture will be across Ireland, for Wales
:09:12. > :09:16.and Scotland. A better picture across England with lots of dry
:09:17. > :09:19.weather. Rather cloudy with temperatures in the low 20s. Further
:09:20. > :09:24.north and west, temperatures not too bad there either. Across Northern
:09:25. > :09:29.Ireland tomorrow there will be one or two showers but also decent
:09:30. > :09:34.spells of sunshine for many places. One or two of us will be affected by
:09:35. > :09:38.persistent rain. Temperatures, 17 or 18 degrees typically in any
:09:39. > :09:42.sheltered areas. In the best sunshine, 19 or 20 in one or two
:09:43. > :09:48.places. The low pressure will clear for Saturday. Temperatures up into
:09:49. > :09:51.the high teens. Plenty of dry weather in the forecast and just a
:09:52. > :09:56.handful of showers. Sunday into Monday, settled weather on the way
:09:57. > :09:59.and it looks set to get a little bit warmer as well. Looks like it will
:10:00. > :10:04.get better for the weekend. You can keep up to date with news
:10:05. > :10:06.online and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Good night.