:00:11. > :00:14.A woman has admitted killing her 91-year-old neighbour -
:00:15. > :00:16.after a fire in her garage spread to his home.
:00:17. > :00:29.91-year-old Samuel Carson was at sleep --
:00:30. > :00:35.asleep at his home in September 2014.
:00:36. > :00:38.In the early hours a fire began in the garage in the
:00:39. > :00:46.The fire spread to an oil tank on Mr Carson's property.
:00:47. > :00:48.Rescue services took him from the house,
:00:49. > :00:53.He was described as a well-loved member
:00:54. > :00:56.An animal lover who also kept horses.
:00:57. > :00:59.Initially police said it was not a suspicious incident, but two days
:01:00. > :01:10.later they were treating it as arson and arrested a woman, a neighbour,
:01:11. > :01:23.Today she pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
:01:24. > :01:25.Two more charges of arson endangering life will be kept
:01:26. > :01:29.Psychiatric reports have been ordered, and she has been released
:01:30. > :01:33.Providing care at home for sick and older people keeps
:01:34. > :01:37.But the private companies that provide the service say the costs
:01:38. > :01:38.are becoming increasingly challenging.
:01:39. > :01:40.They say one of the main reasons is the recent introduction
:01:41. > :01:46.But according to the unions the independent or private sector
:01:47. > :01:50.Our health correspondent Marie-Louise Connolly reports.
:01:51. > :01:53.Charlene is a full-time care assistant, which means she looks
:01:54. > :01:58.after the sick and elderly in their own homes.
:01:59. > :02:02.It is hard work, with some calls lasting just 15 minutes.
:02:03. > :02:06.You cannot make an assessment in 15 minutes.
:02:07. > :02:09.Never mind trying to clean him and getting him dressed.
:02:10. > :02:11.We always have to think of our client, and 15
:02:12. > :02:23.It all seems very pressurised, and that is often felt by the person
:02:24. > :02:39.You're afraid in case you don't get the toilet in time,
:02:40. > :02:43.Following in Charlene's footsteps, these new care assistants are being
:02:44. > :02:46.The service they will provide however is
:02:47. > :02:48.organised and paid for by the local health trust.
:02:49. > :03:01.They pay the company ?12 per hour; from that, providers
:03:02. > :03:02.train staff, pay wages and other costs.
:03:03. > :03:05.But since the introduction of the national living wage,
:03:06. > :03:08.they also have to pay staff an additional 50p per hour.
:03:09. > :03:13.With inflation, increased regulation, increased costs, we
:03:14. > :03:19.haven't got enough money to cover those costs.
:03:20. > :03:22.You have to question why they are in the business of health care
:03:23. > :03:25.provision and particularly home care provision,
:03:26. > :03:28.why they think you should be able to make a profit out of the
:03:29. > :03:34.condition of vulnerable older people in particular,
:03:35. > :03:37.and what exactly they mean by the fact that there is going
:03:38. > :03:42.to be a modest pay rise for home care workers.
:03:43. > :03:44.Does that mean their businesses are not on a sound
:03:45. > :03:54.According to the health trusts, they have recognised the additional
:03:55. > :03:55.costs, and increased their funding to the
:03:56. > :03:59.The first televised debate of the Assembly election campaign
:04:00. > :04:02.has taken place featuring the five main parties.
:04:03. > :04:04.Arlene Foster, Mike Nesbitt, Colum Eastwood and David Ford joined
:04:05. > :04:09.Martin McGuinness at the UTV election debate at the Lyric
:04:10. > :04:23.Our political correspondent Stephen Walker watched it unfold.
:04:24. > :04:31.For Arlene Foster and Colum Eastwood, this was their first
:04:32. > :04:34.election debate. For the DUP leader, there was a nervous start.
:04:35. > :04:40.I want to make a real difference to people's lives. On election day you
:04:41. > :04:45.have a choice... Later she seemed more confident when
:04:46. > :04:50.she and Mike Nesbitt differed over abortion.
:04:51. > :04:54.We should change the law with regard to fatal fatal abnormalities and sex
:04:55. > :04:59.crime, and in the last time what we did was Dickensian.
:05:00. > :05:02.When Mike talks about Dickensian, more of his party voted with me in
:05:03. > :05:09.the last few occasions than with him.
:05:10. > :05:14.It is a broken promise, you made sure you had support from other
:05:15. > :05:19.parties to block bad Bill without having to use petition...
:05:20. > :05:22.After abortion, the debate turned to education.
:05:23. > :05:25.First of all, Martin has told us for many years that he abolished the 11
:05:26. > :05:32.plus. And of course he didn't. We have
:05:33. > :05:37.young children, ten, 11, doing 45 exams outside of primary school.
:05:38. > :05:43.I want to see that system go. The 11 plus was abolished, it was a
:05:44. > :05:47.Government examination. It is still happening now.
:05:48. > :05:51.It is not, the examination is taking place at the moment are under the
:05:52. > :05:55.tutelage of grammar schools. The Government does not impose
:05:56. > :06:00.selection on children at the age of ten and 11.
:06:01. > :06:01.The alliance leader David Ford said integrated education needed greater
:06:02. > :06:06.support. You see what parents want, and a
:06:07. > :06:09.very large number of them want to see the parents educated in
:06:10. > :06:15.integrated schools. It is also one way of avoiding the
:06:16. > :06:20.waste of money, the half empty desks and school buildings. We should put
:06:21. > :06:24.the money into educating children rather than cleaning floors and
:06:25. > :06:29.keeping slaves on roofs. Matters turned to the economy.
:06:30. > :06:33.Proceedings ended with a light hearted question about which actors
:06:34. > :06:35.should pay them back play them in a film.
:06:36. > :06:41.Mike Nesbitt eventually went for Liz Hurley.
:06:42. > :06:48.Martin McGuinness chose: Mini, Arlene Foster Demi Moore, and David
:06:49. > :06:55.Ford chose Liam Neeson, and Colum Eastwood went for Jamie Dornan.
:06:56. > :06:57.Then, the first televised battle of election 2016 was complete.
:06:58. > :07:02.So that's the end of this debate, but not the end of the discussion.
:07:03. > :07:07.The next major televised debate will be on the BBC next month.
:07:08. > :07:10.Eight members of the UK Labour Party are standing
:07:11. > :07:11.as candidates for the Assembly, even though Labour's
:07:12. > :07:13.National Executive Committee is still reviewing whether it should
:07:14. > :07:21.The candidates say they will disband their representation committee once
:07:22. > :07:23.the Labour leadership gives local people permission
:07:24. > :07:27.But they insist they can't wait for Labour's official
:07:28. > :07:41.We had such a demand since the leadership election campaign last
:07:42. > :07:47.summer, our membership's gone up from 350 to 1800 supporters and
:07:48. > :07:54.members. We didn't feel we could wait any longer, were standing as
:07:55. > :07:58.independent candidates, and although we let entrance to the race I am
:07:59. > :08:01.confident we will do very well. -- although we are late entrants.
:08:02. > :08:04.The mother of a teenager who died after taking so-called legal highs
:08:05. > :08:06.says she's concerned proposed legislation to tackle the problem
:08:07. > :08:10.It's a year since Adele Wallace's son Adam was found
:08:11. > :08:14.Adele Wallace doing what no parent should ever have to -
:08:15. > :08:16.making floral tributes for her son's grave.
:08:17. > :08:19.It's a year since 17-year-old Adam died after taking so-called
:08:20. > :08:37.We have to go to a cemetery to see him. The hardest part is when you
:08:38. > :08:48.have to bury your child at 17, it seems so wrong.
:08:49. > :08:51.In the last 12 months Dell has campaigned for more help teenagers,
:08:52. > :09:10.but is worried proposed legislation is tough enough. -- Adele.
:09:11. > :09:12.I do have major concerns, because in the South
:09:13. > :09:13.it hasn't been working for
:09:14. > :09:15.prosecutions from 2010 until 2016, which speaks volumes because I
:09:16. > :09:18.believe there are more than four drug dealers down south peddling
:09:19. > :09:22.Adele says she will continue to highlight the dangers of so-called
:09:23. > :09:25."Legal highs", as she doesn't want any other mother to go through this
:09:26. > :09:29.When you think of the loss itself, such a bright future just gone.
:09:30. > :09:33.To the extent that you nearly don't want to go out
:09:34. > :09:35.the door because it is so hard on you emotionally.
:09:36. > :09:41.Adele says she hopes that today people remember Adam the way he was
:09:42. > :09:45.The family of murdered former Sinn Fein official Denis Donaldson
:09:46. > :09:47.say they're to take legal action against the authorities
:09:48. > :09:50.in the Republic over the handling of the case.
:09:51. > :09:53.Mr Donaldson was shot dead at a cottage in Donegal ten years
:09:54. > :09:56.ago, shortly after being exposed as an agent who had worked
:09:57. > :10:02.The inquest into his death was adjourned for the nineteenth
:10:03. > :10:05.The family's lawyer say they will challenge the delays
:10:06. > :10:24.Today I have been extracted not to attend further and there is a
:10:25. > :10:27.defended -- definitive ruling from the courts. It may go to the Court
:10:28. > :10:31.of Appeal of the Supreme Court before but is completed.
:10:32. > :10:33.-- before that is completed. A resident says Belfast City Council
:10:34. > :10:35.has been too slow to respond 18 of the rodents have been caught
:10:36. > :10:40.in and around his rented house in the south of the city since last
:10:41. > :10:42.Friday. This report contains close-ups of
:10:43. > :10:45.dead rats. And there is plenty
:10:46. > :10:48.more where this bucket The rats have been
:10:49. > :10:55.plaguing tenants in Attempts to control the numbers
:10:56. > :10:59.have proved futile. I've had the woman from this house
:11:00. > :11:03.on the phone to me late night in tears, there's three
:11:04. > :11:04.children in the house, The owner says the source
:11:05. > :11:15.of the programme -- He was told by the Council
:11:16. > :11:21.there is a waiting list, and it would take up to ten
:11:22. > :11:24.days to investigate. Local residents say the rabbits can
:11:25. > :11:27.be spotted in this alleyway in broad Some believe they are coming
:11:28. > :11:33.up this broken pipe at This afternoon Belfast
:11:34. > :11:40.City Council said pest Now, with the weather forecast,
:11:41. > :12:02.here's Geoff Maskell. Good evening. The cloudy and damp
:12:03. > :12:07.theme continues for at least one more day. We keep a bit of that rain
:12:08. > :12:12.around overnight, but tomorrow things become increasingly drier and
:12:13. > :12:16.bright, before turning a little bit cooler on Friday. Overnight we've
:12:17. > :12:21.got that fail of cloud sitting across much of Northern Ireland. We
:12:22. > :12:25.keep temperatures on the mild side tonight, five or 6 degrees the
:12:26. > :12:29.overnight low in most places. We will be waking up to a familiar
:12:30. > :12:33.picture tomorrow, with some quite cloudy skies and a few showers
:12:34. > :12:39.around. But as we go through the day we will start to see things brighten
:12:40. > :12:43.up. A high ridge of pressure will be enough to turn off the showers. The
:12:44. > :12:48.view across the whole of the British Isles, you can see we've still got
:12:49. > :12:53.that split in our temperatures, but warmer son of air over England and
:12:54. > :13:00.Wales, with so much cooler temperatures across parts of
:13:01. > :13:05.Scotland and Northern Ireland. -- warmer zone. Into Thursday evening,
:13:06. > :13:10.enjoy it because we have a change on the way on Friday, as this cool
:13:11. > :13:14.front sinks its way slowly south. It means we are going to see rain
:13:15. > :13:19.through the day on Friday, but behind it we have some much clearer,
:13:20. > :13:24.fresher, colder air. So the air temperature at least is going to dip
:13:25. > :13:26.down. The upside is that we should see some brighter skies by the time
:13:27. > :13:29.it gets to this weekend.