:00:00. > :00:14.Hello and welcome to BBC Newsline. News
:00:15. > :00:16.The DUP say they're working on emergency legislation to deal
:00:17. > :00:19.with the overspend of the renewable heat incentive scheme.
:00:20. > :00:21.They want to recall the Assembly next week, and economy minister
:00:22. > :00:23.Simon Hamilton says they'll seek approval for proposals that
:00:24. > :00:25.would reduce the cost to the Northern Ireland budget
:00:26. > :00:28.to zero from the current projected overspend of nearly half a billion
:00:29. > :00:33.But already Sinn Fein have given the suggestions a chilly response,
:00:34. > :00:34.with finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir saying he's
:00:35. > :00:38.Earlier, I heard from our business correspondent, Julian O'Neill
:00:39. > :00:59.This is a 20 year scheme which at the moment is projected to cost one
:01:00. > :01:05.billion. Now, more than half of that, about 600 will be coming
:01:06. > :01:09.directly from the Treasury, so not out of the Northern Ireland budget,
:01:10. > :01:15.funded directly from London. Here is where the problem lies, a projected
:01:16. > :01:21.overspend of 400. And it is that which the DUP now intends to
:01:22. > :01:27.eliminate altogether. -- almost ?500 million. Their plan is to introduce
:01:28. > :01:31.emergency legislation which would redraw the highly lucrative tariff
:01:32. > :01:36.rates currently being received by about 1800 RHI beneficiaries. Now,
:01:37. > :01:40.this is in the early stages. It still needs Sinn Fein's endorsement,
:01:41. > :01:45.is my understanding, but the economy minister believes the plan offers
:01:46. > :01:54.the real prospect of correcting a huge financial mess. We have come up
:01:55. > :01:59.with that idea, it is an option that is being seriously considered. I
:02:00. > :02:03.want to develop that further, put that to the Executive in the coming
:02:04. > :02:05.days and bring it back to the Assembly for approval and get this
:02:06. > :02:06.measure moving forward which will reduce the cost potentially down to
:02:07. > :02:07.zero. Well the Sinn Fein finance minister,
:02:08. > :02:11.Mairtin O Muilleoir, says his party has not received
:02:12. > :02:14.a scrap of paper from the DUP detailing their plans,
:02:15. > :02:16.and he's bemused that they announced them through the media,
:02:17. > :02:28.rather than contacting him. I have no idea what is in this plan
:02:29. > :02:33.but what I would say is this, to all those who are concerned about the
:02:34. > :02:37.loss of money from our age DUP is in a whole. They should stop digging,
:02:38. > :02:41.share whatever option or plant may have got, do it now, but nobody
:02:42. > :02:45.should think within the DUP that they will budge the Department of
:02:46. > :02:47.Finance in clearly within a do or two days a plan to sort out a ?600
:02:48. > :02:52.million mess which they created. The First Minister Arlene Foster has
:02:53. > :02:54.again rejected calls In an interview with Sky News,
:02:55. > :02:58.she claimed some of the calls for her to go were made
:02:59. > :03:00.because she's a woman, and her political rivals were trying
:03:01. > :03:03.to remove a strong unionist leader. But the claims have been heavily
:03:04. > :03:06.criticised by her opponents. Our political correspondent
:03:07. > :03:11.Gareth Gordon reports. It is more than a fortnight since
:03:12. > :03:14.we saw Arlene Foster in public. Since then, calls
:03:15. > :03:15.for her to step aside Today, she said much of that was
:03:16. > :03:22.down to the fact she is a woman. Oh, I think there is
:03:23. > :03:24.a lot of it personal, sadly misogynistic as well, because
:03:25. > :03:27.I am a female, the first female leader of Northern Ireland,
:03:28. > :03:30.so I firmly believe I have come through a lot worse
:03:31. > :03:40.than venomous attacks and I intend to continue
:03:41. > :03:43.to lead. All of the other parties in
:03:44. > :03:48.the Assembly have called for her to go, but she singled out her
:03:49. > :03:50.Executive partners, Sinn Fein. It is no secret that
:03:51. > :03:52.during my childhood secret that in the past
:03:53. > :03:57.my father, it is no So, do I really think
:03:58. > :04:03.that I am going to step aside at the
:04:04. > :04:06.behest of Sinn Fein? I am here because
:04:07. > :04:14.the electorate that There has not even been
:04:15. > :04:19.an investigation into this The Public Accounts Committee
:04:20. > :04:22.have not finished their investigation, I want
:04:23. > :04:24.an inquiry take place so that we can deal
:04:25. > :04:25.with Meanwhile, Sinn Fein are on a party
:04:26. > :04:30.political mission to get me to step aside, to weaken Unionism,
:04:31. > :04:33.which I will never allow to happen. So, what did her
:04:34. > :04:35.critics make of that? The SDLP's response
:04:36. > :04:37.to this financial fiasco would be exactly the same
:04:38. > :04:40.regardless of whether it was a woman It is about getting
:04:41. > :04:44.to the truth, establishing the facts, establishing
:04:45. > :04:46.who is responsible and holding them Gender or Unionist persuasion
:04:47. > :04:54.comes nowhere near into it. There is misogyny in politics,
:04:55. > :04:56.there is sexism in politics. They are very serious
:04:57. > :05:02.issues that many of us face, but when you actually use
:05:03. > :05:07.that card to try to escape and evade your responsibilities, I think that
:05:08. > :05:10.you demeaned the struggle that other women have in nontraditional
:05:11. > :05:12.sectors who are facing these It is because she has
:05:13. > :05:19.nowhere to hide that she is now trying to throw up
:05:20. > :05:24.the stuff about gender and nonsense. forward with a bit of
:05:25. > :05:28.humility and contrition. Both myself and Martin McGuinness
:05:29. > :05:31.met with Arlene Foster We restated the Sinn Fein
:05:32. > :05:35.position in relation We made very clear that
:05:36. > :05:39.Arlene Foster needs to step aside to allow for that
:05:40. > :05:47.school, independent investigation to Anything could still happen, but
:05:48. > :05:53.a day which began with the parties shouting across the airwaves
:05:54. > :05:55.and ended with them meeting across a No signs to note of any
:05:56. > :05:59.breakthrough, but if the sun is sitting on Stormont,
:06:00. > :06:03.it may yet do so slowly. The public are being urged only
:06:04. > :06:06.to attend their hospital Emergency There have been exceptionally long
:06:07. > :06:10.waits and people are being asked to use out of hours GPs
:06:11. > :06:16.where possible instead. Here's our Health Correspondent,
:06:17. > :06:19.Marie-Louise Connolly. Understaffed and overstretched,
:06:20. > :06:22.it has been a tough time for many of those working on the front line
:06:23. > :06:26.of the health service. This Christmas saw
:06:27. > :06:28.a spike in the number of Norovirus cases right
:06:29. > :06:34.across Northern Ireland. This placed additional
:06:35. > :06:36.pressure on hospitals, with many wards having to close,
:06:37. > :06:39.creating a shortage of hospital beds Whilst all emergency
:06:40. > :06:47.departments are feeling the strain, some are feeling
:06:48. > :06:49.it more than others. Too many patients and ward
:06:50. > :06:52.closures caused a major incident to be declared
:06:53. > :06:54.at one hospital on Monday. A member of staff told
:06:55. > :06:56.the BBC that it was She told me that staff
:06:57. > :07:05.are at breaking point, and that management do not care
:07:06. > :07:07.about patient safety or staff A spokesperson for the Western
:07:08. > :07:12.Health Trust said the emergency plan was enacted
:07:13. > :07:14.following a particularly busy and challenging day,
:07:15. > :07:17.but was quickly stood down. Those in charge of managing
:07:18. > :07:19.the health service accept I am very mindful of
:07:20. > :07:24.how distressing it is, It is not the service I want
:07:25. > :07:35.for my family or the service I think But I would reassure
:07:36. > :07:38.people that our Health and Social Care professionals right
:07:39. > :07:40.across the system are working Their focus is on maintaining
:07:41. > :07:45.safe care, providing The Health Minister intends
:07:46. > :07:49.to visit a hospital in the next 24 hours
:07:50. > :07:50.to I think that there has
:07:51. > :07:55.been major improvement in terms of some of
:07:56. > :08:02.initiatives they have been able to take
:08:03. > :08:04.-- put in place, but is the current picture good enough?
:08:05. > :08:15.Many people had to wait more than 12 hours over the Christmas period.
:08:16. > :08:17.While health unions accept that winter pressures are unavoidable,
:08:18. > :08:19.they say building up the local workforce
:08:20. > :08:20.both in hospital and in
:08:21. > :08:25.the community must become a priority.
:08:26. > :08:31.Meanwhile, more than 5000 people could be left without a GP service
:08:32. > :08:35.in Portadown. One medical practice is at risk of closure in just two
:08:36. > :08:38.weeks because its last doctor has resigned. Other surgeries in the
:08:39. > :08:39.town say they cannot take on any new patients.
:08:40. > :08:48.Brace yourself for a very chilly night. Temperatures will fall to
:08:49. > :08:52.freezing and blow across the board, especially in the countryside,
:08:53. > :08:55.allowing widespread frost. Ice patches first thing tomorrow.
:08:56. > :08:59.Otherwise, not a bad day. It will be cold but much like today, largely
:09:00. > :09:03.dry and from the beginning, there will be spells of sunshine coming
:09:04. > :09:07.and going. Those winds barely noticeable, quite liked around the
:09:08. > :09:11.coast. If you are travelling first thing, a similar picture right
:09:12. > :09:24.across Ireland. The frost should burn very quickly but a
:09:25. > :09:28.chilly. Lots of blues on the map right through until mid-morning. It
:09:29. > :09:30.will be very cold but not a bad afternoon to come. Plenty of
:09:31. > :09:32.sunshine, feeling quite chilly. Across Ireland, with cloud rolling,
:09:33. > :09:34.temperatures rising to about 8 degrees. Injured in middle of the
:09:35. > :09:37.afternoon and evening, is of sunshine continued to come and go on
:09:38. > :09:39.to winds will stay late. The cloud will begin to to thicken up later
:09:40. > :09:42.tomorrow afternoon and into the evening. Eventually introducing rain
:09:43. > :09:45.to parts of the West. That will make its way eastward through the course
:09:46. > :09:50.of the night. Some will be everybody made a night in store, with eight or
:09:51. > :09:55.9 degrees the lows. As for Friday, a cloudy day. The winds will be light
:09:56. > :09:55.and through the weekend, very little changes.
:09:56. > :10:01.Our next BBC Newsline is at 6:25 in the morning,