Jim Wells
South Down · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. In November 1982, I made my maiden speech in the Chamber, and, here we are, 40 years later, and I am making my last speech in the Chamber as a DUP MLA. I was the last person in the Public Gallery when the Assembly collapsed in 1976.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence and for your patience with me over many years. Unfortunately, Mr McGlone has just left the Chamber; I was about to thank him. I have enjoyed my 27 and a half years in this Building.”
“I wish that I could, but I have only five minutes. <BR /> <BR />That was so that a very small number of Irish language zealots could go in and register their marriage or civil partnership in Irish or in dual language: £261,000. Did anybody stop to think about whether there was a more cost-effective way of doing that?”
“We are all perfectly happy with a genuine expression of people's culture. That is fine. However, when the language is so cynically used by militant republicanism, unionism has difficulties. Why, for instance, is there no translation into Irish of the words, "United Kingdom", "Londonderry", "Northern Ireland" or "Her Majesty The Queen"?”
“The Member has made the point for me. The official who came to the Committee made it absolutely clear that £261,000 had been spent already. It was farcical to bring that before either the Finance Committee or the Assembly, because the money had been spent and the processes had been set up.”
“If they want the unionist community to accept the Irish language as a genuine cultural expression, they should get rid of the political baggage and extremism, and stop using the Irish language as a political weapon to try to subjugate unionism.”
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“<BR /> <BR />I am trying to develop a sustainable model that will ensure that we have the money for not just cancer drugs but all specialist drugs and treatments for the foreseeable future. That is why I suggested a very small prescription charge of maybe 30 pence, 50 pence or a pound, with an exemption certificate of £20 or £25. The latest model I have seen has suggested that that will raise an initial £16 million. Is anyone telling me that it is not fair that someone who may be getting thousands of pounds of free prescription drugs cannot pay a pound or 50 pence per item? That is what is out for debate. I will be very interested to see what people's views are on it. To me, that is the sustainable model for the future, long after PPRS is gone.”
“I am glad that he asked that question, because I think we need to look in depth at what he means by the PPRS. This year, 2014-15, we are going to get about £13 million in PPRS refunds. We think that it will be £30 million for next year, 2015-16. I see that the honourable Member for South Belfast does not agree with me, but whether it is £13 million or £14 million is neither here nor there, because we are spending an extra £12 million this year on NICE-approved drugs. Therefore, whatever we get back from PPRS is completely gobbled up. We could carry that £12 million into next year, and we will be spending another, maybe, £13 or million or £14 million on NICE-approved drugs, so that will eat up entirely the PPRS rebate. Of course, the PPRS is a five-year programme; it may not be here in five years' time.”
“Indeed, for some cancers, like testicular cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer, we are now into the 80% range, which is remarkable. Therefore we can hold our head up and say that we are making progress. However, there are still other cancers, such as ovarian, pancreatic and lung, where the survival rates are extremely poor. We need to continue to work on those. Less than 10% of lung cancer patients, for instance, are alive after 10 years, and, for pancreatic, it is less than 5%. Those are the really worrying conditions that we need to bear down on. I think Northern Ireland is doing well in this field, and that is thanks to people like Paddy Johnston and his team of oncologists at Belfast City Hospital —”
“We expect that those new committees will be much more flexible in their approach and that the people of Northern Ireland will not have to jump through hoops, as they were doing under the old criteria. Most of those drugs are life-extending and life-enhancing rather than life-preserving, but, still, my view is that we should try to make certain that someone in Downpatrick is in the same position as someone in Durham or Dundee when it comes to these products. There will still be people who will be turned down under a much lower exceptionality threshold. <BR /> <BR />As far as the more general issue is concerned, Northern Ireland, through the Belfast cancer centre, which is based at the Belfast City Hospital, has been able to produce outstanding, significant progress in survival rates.”
“I thought he was going to ask a question about Downe Hospital, but he has not. As he knows, we have had the review of the individual funding request (IFR). That is out for consultation, and it is indicating that we are going to do away with the 95% exceptionality criteria. Indicative in what I said when I launched that review and its findings was that we will be trebling the amount of money that is being set aside for non-National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)-approved cancer drugs in Northern Ireland. If he reads the figures he will see that the quantum of what we are trying to do is clear. Two committees will be set up to look at individual requests for funding of non-NICE drugs.”
“That is an indication that, when the courts rule, this Department simply has to follow that. We have no option.”
“The honourable Member will know that a judicial review was taken by one of the patients who used the Dalriada Hospital and that interim relief was granted by the courts in response. Therefore, I am abiding by the terms of that legal opinion. There is no change at the moment to services at the Dalriada. <BR /> <BR />I will also say that there has been the most incredible public response in the Moyle area to any change to the status of the Dalriada. Indeed, I think that we have all been taken aback by the sheer scale of it and the input from the entire community. Therefore, we will keep the situation under review, but the trust has confirmed that it will fully comply with the court's interim relief ruling and has restored the status quo at Dalriada by increasing the staffing complement and admitting additional patients.”
“The tide has turned in the sense that people now have confidence in the long-term future of the Causeway and are prepared to apply. The Member rightly said that there was a difficulty in obtaining consultants for posts in the Causeway: that was true. Adverts were not being answered, and the number of applicants was very small. That has changed. We have made a series of major appointments, and we continue to do so. That is good for the future. I also said that the new chief executive of the Northern Trust had made a strong personal commitment to the emergency department in the Causeway. That has to be good for the future of that relatively modern hospital.”
“The honourable Member for North Antrim would need to realise the current services being maintained in the Causeway: the A&E department; day surgery; dermatology; children's ward; coronary care; cardiology; maternity; intensive care unit; X-ray department; mortuary; gynaecology; minor injury unit; various theatres; and older people's services, including a rehabilitation ward. The Causeway has a remarkable range of services already for a relatively small hospital. Compared with Altnagelvin, the Royal or Antrim, the numbers that go through Coleraine are much smaller. Accepting that, I think that that list indicates our commitment to the Causeway. <BR /> <BR />The new management structure in the Northern Trust and — I will be honest — the new chief executive have instilled confidence in the Northern Trust.”
“John Compton, in 'Transforming Your Care', outlined that hospitals should not be identified as silos or islands but should work in partnership with one another. I welcome that. Not only does that help with patient care, but it helps to maintain the viability of individual hospitals. It is important that the numbers are sufficient to maintain viability. <BR /> <BR />I think that the tide has turned for the Causeway Hospital. Things are now moving very much in the right direction. I believe that the new team in charge of the Northern Trust has given new priority to that. From letters that I have received from the Member, I know that he certainly believes that the Causeway Hospital is providing first-rate care. We hope that that is maintained in the future.”
“I am glad the Member has defined what he believes to be the north: that includes Malin Head. All joking aside, we have an excellent relationship with our colleagues in Letterkenny General Hospital. For instance, when we had the fire in Altnagelvin a few years ago, they were in there immediately to try to help us out. I welcome that, and that cooperation will continue. <BR /> <BR />The Causeway Hospital is in a unique situation because it is equidistant from Altnagelvin in Londonderry and Antrim; therefore, there is a crossover. I have already indicated that the consultant cardiologist will be shared by the hospitals because, for folk who live in the Member's constituency, such as in Limavady, it is six of one, half a dozen of the other in terms of moving.”
“I am glad to say that we were able to meet that demand, unlike 13 health trusts in England, where emergency situations were declared, or in the Republic of Ireland, where over 600 patients were on trolley waits at one stage during December and January. Therefore, a lot has been achieved. Indeed, there have been no 12-hour breaches in the Causeway Hospital since September 2013. Well done to all concerned. It has been a huge effort by the Northern Trust team. I believe that there is a brighter future for the Northern Trust and that things are beginning to turn around there. I offer my congratulations to the chief executive and all those responsible.”
“I am glad to say that there has been a dramatic fall in the number of people waiting more than 12 hours at the Causeway Hospital. In 2011-12, there were 1,020; in 2012-13, there were 719; and, in 2013-14, there were 156. That is dramatic and almost an 80% fall. Well done to the staff — the clinicians, the consultants and the nurses — at the Causeway Hospital who have delivered such a fundamental change in outcomes. That, of course, is in the context of quite a significant increase in demand. Indeed, almost 80% of patients in that hospital are seen within four hours. <BR /> <BR />Throughout Northern Ireland, demand on A&E and ED is increasing dramatically. We had over 2,200 more referrals in December this year than the previous year, and that puts significant pressure on our staff.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Causeway Hospital, like several of the other smaller acute hospitals across Northern Ireland, has experienced challenges in attracting permanent staff to some of its specialties in the past. I am therefore pleased to see that the new permanent clinical staff have arrived on site. The trust is also recruiting a further three posts: a consultant in emergency medicine; a consultant physician in general medicine and care of the elderly; and a consultant physician with an interest in respiratory medicine. Those processes remain open. The appointments are good news for the people who use the Causeway Hospital, and it is expected that these permanent postings will enhance the continuity and quality of care for patients.”
“The Northern Trust's model for services in the Causeway Coast and glens area is based around an acute hospital in Coleraine with an emergency department and supporting clinical services, a well-developed intermediate care service and community teams evenly distributed across the area. In January, the trust made a number of new clinical appointments for the Causeway Hospital. The permanent appointments include consultants in surgery, gastroenterology, respiratory — these are hard — obstetrics, gynaecology and a consultant physician in internal medicine. All that I am drinking is water. A joint consultant cardiologist post with Altnagelvin Area Hospital is in the process of being recruited.”
“It is only at the initial stage, but we need to look at that. I do not see why I am training nurses and doctors to go to Sydney, but there is another argument: for years, we have benefited enormously from doctors and nurses coming from places like India, Pakistan and the Philippines. Even in the ward that I recently had experience of, a good proportion of the nurses — first-rate nurses — were from the Philippines. We gain the other way, so it is a double-edged sword. <BR /> <BR />The Member has a point: it is worrying that we lose so many of our top staff. The good news, of course, is that that means that the rest of the world regards our staff as extremely competent and well trained. Therefore, they are the envy of the rest of the world, but we would like to keep them.”
“Unfortunately, while we remain within the European Union, we cannot stop them going elsewhere within the European Union. That is because there is free movement of staff. However, we will have to look seriously at some way not of preventing staff from going but of saying, "If you go, you will pay back a significant proportion of the money that it cost to train you." That has already been implemented in other professions.”
“That is a very interesting point. It costs us £860,000 to train a doctor in Northern Ireland. There is nothing to stop that person, as soon as they are registered, getting on the plane and going to Bondi Beach. Should we be spending Northern Ireland taxpayers' money to train doctors for the rest of the world? It does not cost as much as that to train a nurse, but should we be training nurses to go to Barking, Somerset, Tottenham or wherever else in England?”
“That is making life extremely difficult for those who are trying to manage private nursing homes and private residential homes. We are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Under the workforce review, we need to find a way whereby we can train more nurses to meet the need that she identified. The Southern Trust has been much more successful than other trusts in attracting and retaining staff, and, therefore, its bank agency budget, for instance, is much smaller than the other four trusts'.”
“Yes, I accept what she is saying. In Northern Ireland, we are still short of nurses, GPs and middle-grade doctors and consultants. We have a fundamental problem, in that 20% of nurses who qualify in Northern Ireland go elsewhere. They go to Australia, London, other parts of England or wherever they are recruited. That is a real issue. We have also lost 250 middle-grade doctors who qualified in Northern Ireland and went straight to Australia. We are doing everything that we can to recruit, but there is another point that I need to make. <BR /> <BR />On Saturday night, I attended a dinner of a very successful private residential home in Castlederg. The problem is that, if we extend our recruitment of nurses into the trusts, we find that they inevitably come from that sector.”
“I think the fact that we have managed to recruit 892 nurses in four years indicates that we accept the argument that she is making —”
“Indeed, both those hospitals maintain their positions in the top 40 hospitals in the United Kingdom year after year. If you saw what the competition is like, you would know that that is a remarkable achievement by the Southern Trust area team.”
“We have obviously maintained our priority to invest in front-line services. It is worth saying, for instance, that, since Mr Poots was appointed Minister, we have decreased administration staff by 11% and sports support services by 23%, but we have increased medical and dental staff by 19%, qualified nurses by 9%, and professional and technical staff by 14%. I hope to refer to the huge increase in front-line staff that my predecessor delivered. I will continue to bring in extra staff. Almost 900 new nurses have been taken on since my party took on this portfolio four years ago. That gives a clear indication that we are putting more feet on the wards and moving more resources into front-line care, particularly in hospitals such as Craigavon and Daisy Hill, where we know that it will be well used.”
“I have noticed in my seven years in Health that, in almost every indicator, the Southern Trust has been at the top of the league in Northern Ireland. We need to support and confirm that success by investing further in what is a first-rate service.”
“No, we are not that far on. We leave it to the trust's board and the new chief executive, Paula Clarke, and her team, to work that out. Whilst we have a rough indication of where we are going budget-wise next year, we have not yet nailed down what money is going where. I can say, from my experience of the Southern Trust, that the extra £22 million will be very well spent. I was at a function on Thursday where we said goodbye to the outgoing chief executive of the Southern Trust, Mairead McAlinden, and quite a few Members from the House were present. Even with the loss of Mairead, I think that we have a very strong team in the Southern Trust. I think that that £22 million will be very well spent.”
“<BR /> <BR />Whilst there is an increase in planned allocations, all of the trusts must deliver substantial savings in order to live within their budget and meet rising demand. Indeed, I have those proposals from the Southern Trust. As she knows, the Southern Trust has a very strong management team and it has been very quick to come back with proposals. I think most of them are sensible and deliverable. <BR /> <BR />Savings from non-front-line areas will be maximised. However, given the scale of the challenge that health and social care faces in 2015-16, savings will also need to be delivered from front-line services, and that will inevitably impact on those who are trying to meet their needs. In any case, I can assure her that we will maintain the safety of services for patients and clients across the trusts.”
“The final budget for 2015-16 is exceptionally challenging for my Department. Work is ongoing with all of the trusts, the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), the Public Health Authority (PHA) and other arm’s-length bodies to clarify the implications of the Executive’s final budget and develop detailed savings proposals for 2015. As part of the process, the board is currently finalising the budget allocations for each of the trusts. However, at this stage, I can give an indication that we plan to allocate an extra £28 million to the Southern Trust for 2015-16. That represents about 22% of the total planned increase to all of the trusts. The Southern Trust spends about 16% of the total budget at the moment, so an increase 22% is a real and significant increase.”
“I would like to know more about it, and I am sure that I have prompted both the Member and Mr Kinahan to ensure that my ignorance is swept away very quickly.”
“No, I have not. When I was looking at the material in connection with the condition, it surprised me that, as far as we can trace — apart from Mr Boylan, who takes a personal interest in the subject — I have not come across much material on Huntington's disease. It is one of those conditions that, because there are a relatively small number of sufferers in Northern Ireland, has not crossed my constituency casework either. No doubt this will open up the doors to an avalanche of material from the charity, and I would welcome that. It is still life-limiting. The average onset is at 30 to 45 years of age and life expectancy following that is 15 to 20 years, so it is certainly life-limiting and a very painful and difficult condition.”
“I would be delighted to. There are 169 registered health charities in Northern Ireland, and I think that each of them has been through my door at least five times, but I must say I have not had direct contact with the Huntington's Disease Association. If the Member wishes to coordinate a meeting, I would be absolutely delighted. It is a condition that, until the question was asked, I, frankly, did not know an awful lot about. I was obviously aware of it, but I was not aware of the scale. I am always very interested in the charitable sector, which provides so much useful information to me and to the Department in general. I find it extremely beneficial to meet those charities, and the door is certainly open to the Huntington's disease folk.”
“I do have a personal interest, because I have a rare disease and so does my daughter, so I am always very interested to see what happens with those conditions and what treatments and care pathways are available. I am taking particular interest in the subject, and I look forward to the publication of the full plan, hopefully by the end of August 2015.”
“The consultation on the draft Northern Ireland implementation plan ended on 19 January 2015. Following the analysis of the responses and the amendments to the plan, it is envisaged that we will definitely have it by the summer of this year. I have a particular interest in the rare disease partnership, and I have attended all the various events associated with the implementation plan.”
“That does not mean that we do not take it seriously, but it makes it difficult to develop large-scale projects for that relatively small number of patients. Based on clinical need, there is always the option of travelling across to the mainland of the United Kingdom for specialist care, but that case would have to be made by the clinician and funded accordingly.”
“People diagnosed with Huntington's disease have access to the full range of core community health and social services across Northern Ireland, including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, community nursing, speech and language therapy, dietetics, social work, social care, domiciliary care and day care. The Huntington's disease regional service is provided by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and I fully support the need to develop research, particularly in the rare diseases sector, so that patients can receive the appropriate treatment at the earliest opportunity. <BR /> <BR />Currently, 120 patients in Northern Ireland are being treated for Huntington's disease, which means that it constitutes a rare disease. It is a very serious genetic condition, which is life-limiting.”
“While I have no plans to develop a regional strategy specifically for Huntington’s disease, following publication of the United Kingdom strategy for rare diseases in November 2014, my Department is currently developing the Northern Ireland rare diseases implementation plan. This will set out how the commitments identified in the strategy will be taken forward in Northern Ireland. It is anticipated that the final plan will be published in summer 2015.”
“I find it quite worrying because not only is HIV increasing but the number of sexually transmitted infections diagnosed at GUM clinics increased by 28% between 2000 and 2011. In 2011, 7,661 new diagnoses were made in those clinics, which is a very worrying statistic. We need to get the message home to our population and to those who have come into our community that there are important steps that can be taken to avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections. It very much depends on the community listening to that message and taking advice that will prevent what is, to me, quite a worrying change in the situation.”
“I presume he means Northern Ireland when he refers to the North rather than Malin Head. <BR /> <BR />In 2013, the review team found that Northern Ireland does not as yet have a specific set of agreed standards for sexual health services. There is a need for standardisation of practice across all those services. The review also indicated that we needed to do more in commissioning, leadership training, workforce planning and capacity of services. <BR /> <BR />It is very worrying that Northern Ireland in particular has a greater increase, but we started from a much lower base and, as Northern Ireland has become a much more cosmopolitan society, we have found that that has led to an increase in sexually transmitted infections.”
“Of course, it is much more of an issue for young girls than it is for young boys, but we are keeping that issue under review. We are having considerable success in on both counts — HPV and teenage pregnancies. We will be guided by the evidence when it comes to HPV vaccinations but, once again, extending that to a wider population will require more funding. One of the fundamental issues that I face is the fact that I have no finances at all for new service development in 2015-16. That is an area of profound concern to me because there are so many worthy initiatives that could be rolled out to protect public health. At the moment, we do not see where we are going to get the money to pay for them.”
“This is quite a good-news story. In 2012, there were 1,100 recorded births to teenage mothers in Northern Ireland. That is 6% lower than 2011, when there were 1,170. Even more fundamentally, it is 27% lower than a decade ago, when it stood at 1,502 births. However, I emphasise that the birth rate for teenage mothers aged 13 to 16 remains two to three times higher in the most deprived parts of Northern Ireland. That is still an issue, but at least it is an issue that we are tackling with considerable success. We know that the outcomes for children born from teenage mothers are often much poorer than those of mothers who wait until a more mature age before giving birth. <BR /> <BR />The HPV vaccine has been a success.”
“HIV has been with us now for almost 30 years, and there has been a very intensive public education programme to alert people to the dangers of certain practices that run the risk of contracting HIV. Sadly, even though that extensive campaign has been well managed by the Public Health Agency and has targeted the entire population, we are still seeing an inexorable rise in the number of HIV diagnoses. That is very unfortunate, because there are very simple and effective ways of avoiding contracting that condition.”
“As the Member will be aware, the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) undertook a review of the provision of specialist sexual health services. That report was published in October 2013. I think that one of the reasons that he is raising this is that there is a staff vacancy in the present provision for a grade 6 nurse. That post has been advertised and trawled, and I think that we will be in a position fairly soon to indicate that there has been an appointment. We believe that that will bring us up to the full complement of staff required. <BR /> <BR />He raised the issue of HIV. In total, 522 people were receiving HIV care in Northern Ireland in 2011. That is the latest figure. Also in that year, 82 new diagnoses were made of HIV. That is very unfortunate.”
“Importantly, they act as centres for training and governance for sexual health networks.”
“Local genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics are an effective means of providing for the diagnosis and care of patients with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and related problems, including contraceptive care, genital conditions and HIV. Confidentiality is a fundamental component of working in the clinic. Staff are trained to deal with all sexual health problems and to provide advice, education and information to patients, their friends and family and outside agencies. <BR /> <BR />The main conditions treated in the specialty are bacterial STIs, such as syphilis, gonorrhoea and chlamydia, and viral STIs, such as the human papilloma virus, herpes and molluscum. GUM clinics may also provide additional services, such as erectile dysfunction management.”
“I thank the Chair of the Health Committee for her contribution. I am extremely grateful for her support and that of the Committee in respect of the amendments in the Health Service Workers (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, and I commend the motion to the House. Once again, I am glad that Members have not taken the opportunity to rehearse the debate on Hutton. These are simply technical changes to ensure that health service workers get the pension that they believe they are entitled to without any consequential tax difficulties. Therefore, I commend it to the House.”
“Specifically, they ensure that parts of the ill-health pensions available to members who fall ill are not measured twice for annual allowance and lifetime allowance limits simply because of the transitional mechanics for payment of ill-health benefits. Put simply, the modifications ensure that the tax regime will apply in the way intended by Government to those members who move into the new schemes and then retire because of illness. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, these are very technical modifications to the wider pensions legislation, which seek to ensure that HSC pension scheme members can get the pension that they expect, without any unexpected effects as a result of tensions with the wider law. I therefore commend these modifications to the House. Subject to affirmative resolution, the regulations will come into effect on 1 April 2015.”
“In addition, modifications to the regulations that govern contracting out, specifically those that dictate the process that a scheme must follow to be contracted out, are also contained in the regulations. For the new HSC pension scheme, the process has been simplified, ensuring that the new scheme, and, therefore, its members, continue to be contracted out of the additional state pension until the end of contracting-out in April 2016. <BR /> <BR />There are also provisions to stop transitional members taking ill-health retirement being assessed twice against annual allowance and lifetime allowance limits. The regulations seek to modify provisions in the Finance Act 2004 to ensure that members with service in both a new and existing pension scheme who retire with an ill-health pension do not face unintended tax consequences.”
“Therefore, their old scheme service will terminate only when they leave the new scheme. That will ensure three things: first, that the benefits that they have accrued in their existing scheme are not revalued as if they were deferred members; secondly, that their right to a cash equivalent transfer value, a refund of contributions or to a cash transfer sum only applies when they leave the new scheme; and, finally, that anti-franking provisions do not apply as if they were deferred members on 1 April 2015. <BR /> <BR />The proposed modifications mean that, for those purposes, such individuals do not cease to be active members of their existing scheme until they leave their new scheme. I hope that everyone is following this because I will be asking questions later.”
“<BR /> <BR />The regulations are simply the means to ensure that the design of the HSC pension scheme, which was widely consulted upon with members and unions, works properly within the wider framework of pensions and tax law. The regulations will make sure that members of the HSC pension scheme get the pension that they expect and that they do not lose out as a result of any tension between the scheme design and wider law. There are also provisions to stop transitional members being treated as deferred members of their pre-2015 scheme. <BR /> <BR />Modifications are being made to the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993, the first of which is needed to ensure that members moving from their existing scheme to the new scheme also remain non-accruing members of the old scheme.”
“That review considered what was needed to be done to have sustainable public-service pensions, given the increases in longevity and the associated costs. <BR /> <BR />Those reforms were much needed to balance the legitimate concerns of taxpayers about the cost of public-service pensions with the need to ensure acceptable levels of retirement income for millions of people who have devoted their lives to the service of the public. I am pleased to say that these reforms received the support of the Northern Ireland Assembly during legislative passage and will apply to all public-service schemes in Northern Ireland, including the HSC pension scheme. The design of the new HSC pension scheme has now been settled, and it will come into operation on 1 April this year.”
“The regulations we are debating today make consequential modifications to the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993 and the Finance Act 2004 to ensure the health and social care (HSC) pension scheme, which was created under the Public Service Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, operates as intended. <BR /> <BR />The proposed regulations make small and technical modifications to the law governing the new HSC pension scheme. I remind members that the Public Service Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 provides a framework enabling legislation for the reform of public-service pensions in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />The Act gives effect to the recommendations from the Independent Public Service Pensions Commission, led by Lord Hutton.”