Arlene Foster
Fermanagh and South Tyrone · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Yet, like too many projects, it has been tied up in legal wrangles. Too many infrastructure projects are being swallowed up in the courts. We need to improve the expertise in infrastructure delivery. We need better infrastructure for the next generation, but key projects being delayed by 10-plus years is unsustainable.”
“Any agreement involves compromises but NDNA had two central pillars that, I believe, remain important: ambition for devolution and a new cultural deal. The breadth and depth of issues that NDNA set us all to deliver on would have been enough to fill an entire term or perhaps more, let alone two years of government.”
“That confidence-and-supply agreement will leave a legacy but also highlights our challenges. Some £150 million has been rolled out via Project Stratum to bring broadband to rural areas and leave Northern Ireland as the best-connected region in Europe. When it is completed, the project will be transformational to our economy.”
“However, such short-term advantage comes at the cost of long-term harm to relationships. It is not a real partnership. Imbalance and instability are built in that will fester and deteriorate. If Brussels continues to think that the protocol is enough, it is in denial.”
“Colleagues inside and outside the House know very well that all periods of leadership must come to an end. That is why, when we are privileged and, indeed, honoured to hold such a position, we must not waste a moment in frivolous brinkmanship but forge ahead on behalf of those whom we represent.”
“The recommendations of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) are to be taken forward as well. I encourage all of you to do all of it, to take it forward in its totality and to speak of and implement it as one complete, independent package: a new cultural deal for Northern Ireland's new century.”
The complete record
Every one of 3,345 lines we hold for Arlene Foster, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 32 of 67.
“The delivery of the three Delivering Social Change signature programmes announced in September 2014 and being jointly funded with Atlantic Philanthropies is progressing well. These three cross-cutting programmes have placed an increased focus on the areas of early intervention transformation, dementia services and shared education. The total estimated costs associated with the programmes is £56·3 million. Atlantic Philanthropies has committed itself to funding 40% of the total estimated cost, which is £22·5 million. The remaining 60% will be funded through central funds and lead Departments, which is £22·5 million and £11·23 million respectively.”
“For me, it is an equality issue, and I was somewhat surprised that a petition of concern was used by Sinn Féin and the SDLP to block an amendment just last week. It is a 35-year-old exemption, and the Equality Commission last reviewed it in 2004. I was somewhat surprised when I checked that that was the case, because, of course, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has a duty to review the exemption and has not done so for coming on for 12 years. It is long past the time for the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland to review the matter again and bring forward proposals to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister.”
“We have not yet received correspondence from the Minister of Education on the exception of teachers from the fair employment provisions contained in article 71 of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998. I understand that the Minister of Education wrote to the Speaker's Office on the matter in February 2015 and stated that he did not believe that there was a need to continue with the exception and that it was a matter for OFMDFM to take forward. Our Department's position is that, although we are responsible for the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, the issue clearly impacts on the Department of Education. Therefore, we are working with that Department to consider the matter further.”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will ask junior Minister Pengelly to answer this question.”
“It was a despicable murder attempt that, thankfully, did not succeed. As the Secretary of State said, we have to be lucky all of the time; the bad guys only have to be lucky once. I call on the public to be vigilant, particularly given the activities in Carnfunnock in Larne at the weekend as well. I praise the member of the public who brought the arms cache to the attention of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. We must make sure that the entire public give their support to the Police Service of Northern Ireland so that we can bring these people to justice and make sure that Northern Ireland continues on a positive and productive journey to the future.”
“<BR /> <BR />I want to take the opportunity, given that the Member referred to European victims' day, to say how much I utterly condemn the attack on the prison officer last weekend.”
“First of all, no prisoners' groups have had victims' funding. That is the first thing to say. The second thing to say in relation to the question that was asked is that it was my party, of course, that tried to change the definition of "victim". It is this party that wants to do that. Unfortunately, there are others in the House who do not want to see that happening. We will continue to try to legislate in the next mandate to deal with that matter, but we need others to join us to do that. That is the reality. The "victim" definition was set before devolution, but, of course, that is something that Mr Allister conveniently does not tell people. We have to deal with that reality. I am dealing with realities, not fantasy politics.”
“I know that it was all very exciting at the party conference in La Mon at the weekend, but people should get their facts right before they start making allegations.”
“I noted the comments of the Member's party leader at the weekend, which, of course, were ill informed as to what I had actually said about dealing with the past. What I said about dealing with the past was that we as politicians — this might come as a surprise to some in the House — should be honest with victims and survivors. Do I foresee people coming to an agreement before the Assembly election? No, I do not. Therefore, I think that it is incumbent on me to say that I believe that the matter will not be dealt with before the Assembly election. Does that mean that I would not like to see it dealt with before the Assembly election? Of course not. I would like to have seen it dealt with last November.”
“I am not saying that we do not intend to work with groups in the future; of course we do. They provide crucial services to very many victims and survivors across Northern Ireland, but that is not the only way. We have to understand that, in a collaborative design programme, we have to look further not only at what has happened in the past but at how we can do it better for the future.”
“I can indeed. The collaborative design programme has been progressing. It is also about trying to develop an improved model for service delivery that better meets the needs of all victims and survivors. I go back to the question that Mrs Overend asked, and it is not just about the victims and survivors who find themselves in victims' groups. We have made significant progress, including improved monitoring and evaluation processes, and are running a number of short pilots on the individual needs programme so that individuals are satisfied and that it is not done only through a group.”
“The Stormont House Agreement included a number of commitments that relate to victims and survivors. There is, of course, the comprehensive mental trauma service, the victims' pension for severely physically disabled people, the provision of advocate counsellor assistance and high-quality services, including funding outside of the jurisdiction. We have made significant progress across those commitments and are considering how we can further develop those services in the context of A Fresh Start. I understand that the money for dealing with the past in particular has not yet come to the Northern Ireland Executive, but I believe, as I said in a previous answer, that the time is right for the Secretary of State to look at that again and devolve that money.”
“Funding has always been an area of considerable challenge, especially in the current economic climate. However, I assure the Member that we remain committed to ensuring that funding goes to deliver the most appropriate level of services to those who need it most. Victims and survivors remain one of our key priority groups, as borne out by the budget allocated to the sector from the Northern Ireland Executive since 2011. Since then, the budget has totalled almost £67·5 million, excluding funding from other sources such as European funding. Over £14 million has been provided to support the victims sector in the current financial year alone, and this includes its highest ever opening budget.”
“I personally indicated to Save the Children that I supported that project, and it responded to say that it was very pleased that OFMDFM was expressing its support. That, too, is about early intervention, and, whether through the nurture units set up under Delivering Social Change or under a project such as SATCHEL, which is there to provide early intervention, we are trying to raise the standard at a very early stage so that, when young people come into the school environment, they are ready to learn. Getting children used to reading and used to books is a very important piece of that, and I very much support the programme set out by Save the Children.”
“In the west of the Province, Work Ready West, which is an employment programme, has put 120 people in the western zone into paid employment. That is having a real impact on those people and, indeed, their families. Also, SATCHEL, which is a project run by Derg Valley Care services and Barnardo's, is providing early intervention activities for children up to the age of seven right across the western zone. There have been real and targeted interventions as a result of the work of SIF, and I very much welcome that.”
“That is another good example of how policies that are rolled out from across Departments should complement each other. The social investment fund is certainly helping with child poverty and poverty generally across Northern Ireland. Some 800 people are participating in SIF's employment and early intervention projects. By the end of February, £61 million had been attributed to SIF projects. That is a very good piece of work, given where we were a couple of months ago, and we hope that that figure will rise to around £70 million by the end of the mandate.”
“Thank you. The tackling rural poverty and isolation programme, which sits within the Department of Agriculture, has had a positive impact on the lives of rural dwellers across a wide range of areas, including rural transport; augmenting DETI's work on broadband services by giving more funding to deal with that at a rural level; promoting good health and positive mental health; fuel poverty; and rural childcare. All the actions that have been happening under DARD's tackling rural poverty and social isolation programme will, we hope, set the base for moving forward to deal with child poverty. We need to adopt an integrated approach for child poverty. It certainly should not be seen as the responsibility of the central government Department but should be spread right across government.”
“Therefore, when we move to the new Programme for Government, we will look at the outcomes that we can achieve right across government.”
“I thank the Member for his supplementary question. I am sure that dealing with child poverty will be one of the outcomes that we will very much want to have in our new Programme for Government. As he and, I am sure, everyone else is by now aware, because we have been talking about it for a number of months, we intend to change the focus of the Programme for Government from measuring how much we put in and how much money is spent to looking at the outcomes that we can achieve. That is absolutely the right way to go around that. <BR /> <BR />Child poverty does not sit with just OFMDFM. It sits right across government, whether you are talking about DARD and its programmes to deal with it in a rural fashion, DSD or the Department of Education. Many Departments are involved in dealing with the issue.”
“Following Executive agreement, we will publish a new Executive child poverty strategy, which will set out our plans to address child poverty. The strategy will focus on actions to achieve four outcomes: families experience economic well-being; children in poverty learn and achieve; children in poverty are healthy; and children in poverty live in safe, secure and stable environments. The strategy will include actions to support young people in rural areas in education, employment, childcare, fuel poverty, financial matters and community development. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development's tackling rural poverty and social isolation framework also sets out plans specifically to address rural poverty.”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will ask junior Minister Pengelly to answer the question.”
“She has made some noises recently, which I take as being positive, on allowing some of that money to be released. I encourage her to do that so that we can deal with those elements because, despite the fact that we have no agreement on the past, those issues remain and still have to be dealt with, and I call upon her to release that money.”
“As the Member is probably aware, at the moment, we do not have access to that £150 million because there was a lack of agreement on dealing with the past. I am on record calling on the Secretary of State to release that money so that we can free up the resources that have been needed, not least by the Lord Chief Justice and, indeed, by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I was rather alarmed to hear recently that the Chief Constable was indicating that most of his budget for dealing with the past is being, if you like, seconded to the DPP to deal with issues that have been raised by it. Those issues continue to be very much to the fore of my mind, and I reiterate that I believe that the Secretary of State needs to look at this very carefully.”
“Mr McIlveen is not my PS. He was, when I was in Finance, so maybe that is the issue. The Department has been exploring opportunities to utilise Peace IV funding to try and take forward elements of the trauma-related services. The Member will be aware that my colleague the Health Minister made announcements in relation to mental health services recently in the general sense, and I very much welcome that, but we have been working, through the Peace IV steering group, to try and make sure that we have access to moneys for trauma-related services. The Victims and Survivors Service will take those issues forward on our behalf. There is €17·6 million in that victim sector, including the match funding, and we want to make sure that we draw it down and use it in the most productive way possible.”
“We will consider those suggestions, and if the Member has any particular ones, we welcome them.”
“I thank the Member for her question. One of the concerns we have had over the years is the fact that unless victims had been affiliated to victims groups they could not access the funding. One of the ways that we are trying to deal with this is through the individual pilots that we have been running to see if there are ways that we can reach those people, and that continues to be the case. We are continuing to reach out to people who, otherwise, would not have access to the funding. We understand that it is not necessary for victims and survivors to be involved with victims groups. Some people do not want to become involved in that way, which is perfectly reasonable, but it is about how we reach those people. We are making strides to reach out to them, and we will take any suggestions in the office as to how we can do so.”
“We remain committed to ensuring that victims and survivors receive the best services possible. The Victims and Survivors Service continues to be our front-line delivery body for the provision of these services. Some £14 million has been allocated to victims and survivors in this financial year, which is the highest ever opening budget for the sector. <BR /> <BR />Victims and survivors groups who meet the criteria can also apply for funding from our departmental central good relations fund. The Peace IV cooperation programme for 2014-2020 has recently been launched, and it also includes, for victims and survivors, the sum of €17·6 million. That is anticipated to open for application in autumn 2016.”
“If there are any residents of Northern Ireland who have difficulties in the USA, I am certainly happy to speak about those matters. If the Member will share the information with me, I will be able to take the issue up.”
“It is Mr Flanagan's lucky day: he starts and finishes today's Question Time with me. <BR /> <BR />We intend to have meetings organised by Invest Northern Ireland on the issue that I was speaking about: corporation tax. We will have some political meetings as well. We will have the Northern Ireland Bureau breakfast, which is always a highlight. I am very much looking forward to that and to bringing the good news from Northern Ireland that we have stable government that is looking forward to and planning for the future and that people should look to us to invest.”
“I hear my colleagues saying "DRD". It is a matter for the Department for Regional Development. Obviously, I am not au fait with all the statutory processes that have to be gone through to allow the road to proceed. All I can say to the Member is that that is a commitment that all of the Executive have signed up to. It is in our Budget as a strategic proposal, along with the A6 and a whole list of other issues. I think that it is something that will happen for the people of the west. We want to see all of Northern Ireland benefiting from good infrastructure, which means good roads, good broadband and all the other elements that some people in this country take for granted.”
“As the Member is probably aware, we identified seven strategic capital projects in our Budget for 2016-17, recognising, of course, that we could not set the Budget for those strategic projects because we were dealing with only a single year. One of those strategic projects is the A5.”
“The Member understands that I do not have sight of any of the documents that he is referring to, so it is impossible for me to make a determination on that issue. Obviously, it is a matter for the Northern Ireland Office and the Minister who made the determination as to why he made that determination. Therefore, I advise the Member to raise those issues with him.”
“I am very conscious of my answer to Mr Kennedy's question at the start of topical questions. I certainly do not want to add to the very obvious distress and trauma that the Arkinson family is going through. It was one of the most horrific murders, made all the worse by the fact that Arlene's body was never found. Here we are having the inquest nearly 22 years later. It is a very difficult time for the family. I hear what the Member says about the public-interest immunity (PII) certificate. I am a little unclear as to whether the coroner has the right to make a judgement on the appropriateness of that PII certificate. I am reading conflicting reports on that, but I know that it is causing a lot of distress.”
“The 14 days is actually in the legislation, so, yes, I intend that that will be operative after the Assembly election. The thinking is that it will give us time to have conversations and look at the Programme for Government work. As you know, work in relation to that is ongoing, but obviously it would be disrespectful of the new mandate if that were finished before the election. That work will be completed during that period as well. It will be 14 days, and then we will have our new Government in place.”
“Certainly. In recognition of that commitment, in the past, d'Hondt had to run within seven days of the election as far as I can recall. Under the legislation that is going through Westminster, it will be 14 days. That will give us a little bit more time to come together and decide on the way forward. So, 14 days will be the period before we run d'Hondt. We will need to know in that period whether or not parties are going to take up positions in the Executive.”
“I am glad to say that, as of last Friday, that fund is now open for applications.”
“Absolutely. He will know that we have allocated more money to, and indeed protected, the Victims and Survivors Service, so that is certainly not one that we would be entertaining. It goes back to the point that I used to make frequently when I was Finance Minister. We have a fixed Budget. If you take money from the pot that we have, understandably enough, money will have to be cut from another service that is delivered. People should remember that when they make pleas for more finance for x, y or z. That is all very good, but could you tell me where you want the cut to fall? That is the key issue when you are arguing about a fixed Budget. <BR /> <BR />He mentioned ethnic minorities. I am very pleased to say that the ethnic minority fund is now open for applications. That issue was raised at my last Question Time.”
“I did not hear that last week. People always want to dip into the budget of OFMDFM but you have to understand, as I am sure the Member does, that our budget in OFMDFM has been cut by 5% from its baseline last year and that our resource is therefore just a little over £59 million. Taking close on £1 million out of that would certainly have an impact on other services.”
“We will not just talk about corporate tax, although that is a new tool, but about the fact that we have a low cost base in comparison with other parts of the United Kingdom and, indeed, the Republic of Ireland; the fact that we have a very young, able and skilled population; and the fact that, when companies come, staff are very loyal and work very hard for them. We have a very good story to tell, and that is why we have been able to attract the number of jobs that we have over the past five years — indeed more jobs at any time than under any other Administration here. We have a good story to tell, but now we have an even better story to tell, and I look forward to telling it.”
“I thank the Member for his question. It is not a question of waiting until April 2018, which, as he knows, is the date set for the devolution and reduction of corporate tax in Northern Ireland; we have to start selling the proposition now. Invest Northern Ireland is currently setting about a programme to let the rest of the world know what is happening here in April 2018 and, when I go to the United States in March with the deputy First Minister, we will undertake some visits in relation to this very positive story for Northern Ireland. We will speak to companies that, heretofore, we have not been able to attract, not just about the proposition that we already have but about the fact that we are going to have a lower rate of corporate tax. Those meetings will take place in March in and around the St Patrick's Day events.”
“We indicated after the Fresh Start Agreement that we would continue to discuss issues, particularly with victims' families and various groups. Those discussions continue; indeed, I have a number of meetings today with families and victims' groups. We want to listen to what they have to say to us, so it would be wrong to say that no discussions are taking place. The outstanding issue that prevented agreement in Fresh Start on dealing with the past is one for discussion between Sinn Féin and our Government, as I understand it. Those discussions may well be continuing but, as far as I am concerned, I am engaging with and listening to the various victims' groups.”
“We have to deal with the issues. We have to go through the processes and we will continue, as I have said over the past couple of days, to support the victims in getting justice if that is what they want to do. Indeed, the Member knows, having dealt with victims' families at close quarters, that some want the truth, others want justice, and others simply want it all to go away. For those who want to continue the search for justice, we must continue to support them.”
“I have to say that, when we comment on the past, we all need to be very careful that we are not adding to the trauma that many live with daily. Some of those whom I met recently recounted to me that, when something is said — it may not be a big moment to the person who said it — the victims who hear it are deeply hurt, and many can be re-traumatised. I certainly do not agree that a line should be drawn under the past.”
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will ask junior Minister Pengelly to answer this question.”
“I find it absolutely bizarre that a member of the Ulster Unionist Party can stand up, without laughing, and say that that party brought the issue to a conclusion when it was not even there. The Fresh Start Agreement is a good start to dealing with paramilitarism and criminality, and I look forward to the time when the Ulster Unionist Party admits that it made a mistake and should have stayed and dealt with the issue instead of walking away.”
“I can give a very short answer to that: of course it does. Indeed, the Member refers to paragraph 2.5 of the 'A Fresh Start', and those words will be faithfully translated into the legislation, which, I understand, is to get its Second Reading next week.”
“I could not agree more with the Member, and I welcome the Secretary of State's speech last week. Over the past couple of months if not years, there have been attempts to try to rewrite what happened here over the past 35 to 40 years. It is important that the facts remain, which are that 90% of those who were murdered in Northern Ireland were murdered by terrorist organisations. It was not the state that caused those terrible deaths, and it is important that we remember that when we have a narrative about what happened in the past. Certainly, as far as I am concerned, there will be no amnesty and no rewriting of the past, and we will provide support for victims in their search for justice.”
“It is clear to me that we have set out a very good road map to deal with paramilitarism, which has not been dealt with to date and which I regret. In Fresh Start, we have set out a clear road map to deal with the issues, including a strategy to disband the paramilitary organisations that have been referred to. A task force has been put in place, and a Pledge of Office, which, I understand, is being put into legislation at Westminster as we speak. As far as I am concerned, there is a very clear road map ahead. The Member may want to go backwards, but I want to move forwards.”
“The last time I looked, my partner was somebody completely different, but that is another matter. I refer the Member to various parts of the Fresh Start Agreement; I do not know whether he has had the opportunity to read it yet. That agreement clearly states that no party to the agreement will accept:”
“The former First Minister, Peter Robinson, and the deputy First Minister wrote to Lord Alderdice, Professor Monica McWilliams and John McBurney in December 2015 with the terms of reference for the three-person panel which is to bring forward a strategy for disbanding paramilitary groups before the end of May. The deputy First Minister and I subsequently discussed the matter during our quarterly review meeting on 14 January with the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, and the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. On Tuesday 9 February, the deputy First Minister and I met Lord Alderdice, Professor Monica Mc Williams and Mr John McBurney to discuss their work to date.”