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 47 of 67.
“I want to see a Northern Ireland that is confident in itself and which wants to move forward with economic growth. <BR /> <BR />Roy Beggs made the comment that without welfare reform the Budget was unsustainable. That is absolutely right. Mr Allister asked what would happen if we did not do welfare reform. He suggested that we would not be able to get the adjustments that we needed because Sinn Féin would have to agree to them at the Executive. <BR /> <BR />The First Minister has always made it clear that this party will not implement a Budget that has £600 million of cuts in public services. Therefore, if welfare reform does not happen, there is no Budget. If there is no welfare reform, there is no Stormont House Agreement, no Assembly and no Executive. It is very clear. We will not have to go through a budgetary process.”
“He made reference to historic discussions between Brian Cowen and Mark Durkan, missing a number of fundamental points, in particular Fianna Fáil's role in what happened in the Republic of Ireland. He wanted to deal with hard, concrete issues — but not welfare reform. <BR /> <BR />He then made a personal statement about his children and my children and the need to put children front and centre. Let me say — I am sorry that he is not here for me to make these comments to him — that it is precisely because of my children that I want to grow the economy in Northern Ireland. It is precisely because of them that I want to see an economy in Northern Ireland that is aspirational and which will not leave people behind. <BR /> <BR />A Member today made reference to trapping people in welfare. That is not the Northern Ireland I want to see.”
“The economic inactivity strategy will make a difference only if it is funded, and the only way that we can get funding is if we implement the Stormont House Agreement. Yet again, that point was missed. <BR /> <BR />He said that new thinking did not require new money. I look forward to hearing what that new thinking is. He said that Mr Ross made an important contribution by saying that we needed new thinking and to move away from what we have been dealing with and into brave politics. He went on to talk about looking for new money from elsewhere. <BR /> <BR />I intervened to say that we would be engaging with the European Union to draw down money from there.”
“We may get a good deal at this point in time, but what we would get out of it after that is another question. <BR /> <BR />He took grave exception to the comparison with Greece made by Mr Farry, but make no mistake: if we do not implement welfare reform, our Budget situation will become untenable. I have made that point many times in recent weeks. <BR /> <BR />Of course, we benefit from being part of the United Kingdom. Whilst the UK deficit needs to be repaired, it is manageable. In fact, the Office for Budget Responsibility projects a UK budget surplus by the end of this decade. That is something that we must work towards as a United Kingdom. <BR /> <BR />He talked about the economic inactivity strategy and how we were not making a difference in terms of devolution.”
“He took issue with Mr Farry's comments about Northern Ireland not being far behind Greece. I have to say to him that, when he made that comment, his credibility was completely thrown out the window when he then said that we should consider joining the euro. I could not follow that train of thought at all.”
“He said that the principle of consent should not be elevated to a position where we have to accept all of Westminster's decisions. Well, the reality is that this place is a devolved Administration, which is here under the sovereign will of the United Kingdom Government. That is what the principle of consent is about and until such times as the people of Northern Ireland decide otherwise, we will remain part of the United Kingdom. <BR /> <BR />Mr Attwood then went on to talk about how radical middle politics has to prosper. We look forward to that manifesto coming forward. We look forward to those ideas coming forward. I think that it would be very much to the benefit of his party if it had a radical middle way instead of mimicking Sinn Féin all the time.”
“The business community felt very strongly about that argument and that it should come forward. Well, the issue is very similar in Northern Ireland; will we allow a number of parties in this House to completely destroy the public services that are delivered in Northern Ireland? They need to put their voices forward and be heard. <BR /> <BR />I will move to Mr Attwood's contribution. He started off by making some very kind comments about my new position as Minister of Finance and Personnel. Then, he went on to say that the Alliance Party was really the NIO, which was really the Tory party. He then berated the Labour Party, which I was a little surprised about given the SDLP's relationship with the Labour Party, but then misinterpreted what Mr Farry said about the principle of consent.”
“I am sure that some of the primary-school children who were here earlier would understand that that is the case. <BR /> <BR />Mr Dunne made what I thought was a very important point, which was that the business community really needs to speak up and support those in this place who want to move forward and deal with responsible government here in Northern Ireland, instead of performing the contorted sort of interviews that I have been listening to from some of the business community over this past couple of weeks. They do not want to get involved in the grubby world of politics and all that sort of thing. That did not stop business organisations from getting involved in the politics of Scotland when they had to deal with the debate on whether Scotland would be better within the United Kingdom or outside of it.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. Indeed, he illustrates very well that when we talk about vulnerable people, we are not just talking about people who are in receipt of welfare; we are talking about people who receive public services from the Health Department, the Department of Justice and the Department of Education. All of those people will be impacted because of the non-implementation of welfare reform. That is the point that we have been trying to make. Unfortunately, some do not accept that. I cannot understand the reason for that, because if you take £604 million out of your current Budget because of the non-implementation of welfare reform amongst other things, you are dealing with an inevitable cut to public services. It is not rocket science. It is very simple to understand.”
“Despite that, the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours from attendance to discharge or admittance was only up slightly, to 3,175, compared to 3,109 in the year 2013-14. That was significantly lower than the levels seen between 2009-2010 and 2012-13.”
“I pay particular tribute to the exceptional work of staff in the health service in continuing to meet the challenges of providing unscheduled care services, not least those who recently treated you, First Minister. Indeed, I hear from Mr Murphy that Cathal Boylan has been in a similar position recently, so it is something that we should always appreciate and make reference to. <BR /> <BR />I am advised by the Health Minister that emergency departments continue to face significant pressure. The number of people attending emergency departments has been increasing. The number of people needing to be admitted has also increased. Provisional information indicates that over 708,000 people attended an emergency department in 2014-15. That is an increase of nearly 14,000 on the previous year.”
“There have been no productive solutions brought forward from the SDLP. It just wants to be destructive in relation to the economy in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />Mr Moutray, from the point of view of OFMDFM, raised a number of budget pressures within that Department, including the £400,000 pressure for match funding from Atlantic Philanthropies. I am sure that he will agree that, throughout the debate, we have heard of a number of very worthwhile projects and programmes that face funding shortfalls. Again — I almost feel as if I should have a choir behind me by this stage — unless the Stormont House Agreement is implemented in full, we will not have access to money to deal with those issues. <BR /> <BR />Mrs Dobson raised a number of concerns with our health service.”
“It is something that he and I worked on together when I was in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. <BR /> <BR />He referred to what he saw as the ludicrous situation of the SDLP, because, depending on who you were speaking to, you got a different answer on what was happening in relation to the Budget Bill. The leader, Dr McDonnell, said in his speech that he would vote against the Budget. Mr Ramsey said that he would not divide the House on the Budget. Alex Attwood, apparently, had said on radio that he would not divide the House on this occasion but would vote against it on a later occasion. It reminded me of the sketch from 'Little Britain' when Vicky Pollard would be asked a question: "No, but yes, but no." It really is the Vicky Pollard of the Assembly.”
“We brought forward the jobs fund. We brought forward financial instruments to help small and medium-sized businesses. When they could not access finances from the banks, we brought forward schemes to do that. We have provided a buffer here in Northern Ireland. It has been to the credit of this Administration that we have been able to do that. <BR /> <BR />Mr Farry set out, from his own perspective, the pressures around his Department and his reduction in university funding. He said that those who are against welfare reform are preventing us from creating jobs and opportunities. Indeed, he talked about the economic inactivity strategy, which, again, is a devolved policy. It is the only economic inactivity strategy in the United Kingdom.”
“He felt that the two nationalist parties and the Green Party were really undermining that principle of consent that, for him, was a key part of the Good Friday Agreement. <BR /> <BR />He went on to talk about how devolution has provided a buffer against some of the policies that have come from Westminster. That is absolutely right. One only needs to look at the record of this Administration to see how we have provided Northern Ireland solutions to some of the issues that have come. We pay almost £16,000 less to study for a degree than in England and Wales. We have attempted to protect people from the worst effects of the recession through freezing the regional rate and not introducing water charges. We have brought forward an economy and jobs initiative that was made in Northern Ireland to deal with the issues that were in front of us.”
“He said, and I agree with him, that our credibility would be very much stronger — it would be enhanced — if we balanced our books in Northern Ireland to begin with. <BR /> <BR />He talked at some length about the principle of consent. He mentioned the fact that we are a devolved Administration within the United Kingdom and that the United Kingdom Government have legitimacy and sovereign power in Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is time to move from fiction to reality and deal with this as the responsible Government that we are supposed to have in Northern Ireland. I hope that when Mr Ó Muilleoir quotes from fictional poems and literature in the future, he remembers that they are just that — fictional. We have to deal with reality in the House. <BR /> <BR />Stephen Farry gave us some of that reality. He said that we need to deal with the future spending difficulties in front of us — and others referred to that — and that we need to challenge the Government on the direction of their future public spending plans. We have no difficulty in looking at those plans and challenging the Government when we believe that they are not in the best interests of Northern Ireland.”
“It was not quite that bleak, but he reminded me of a fictional character from an earlier author — one Wilkins Micawber from Dickens's 'David Copperfield'. Micawber's poor, beleaguered wife often said that he needed to be more careful with his money and deal with it in a financially responsible way. What was his answer to that? Does anyone in the House know what Micawber said to his wife? He said that something would "turn up". Frankly, that has been the attitude of Sinn Féin and the SDLP throughout the process. They feel that something will turn up to deal with welfare reform. They will not have to give it much thought: they will just complain about it, say that it is terrible and that the Tory Government are doing awful things to us, but they will not come forward with any solutions — something will "turn up".”
“I am not saying that that is how I felt on Monday night.”
“<BR /> <BR />We had erudite references to the 'Financial Times' and even a quote from T S Eliot's rather obscure poem 'The Waste Land'. I wondered whether Mr Ó Muilleoir had read the beginning of the poem. It is preceded by some words in Latin and Greek, which I will translate into English for the House because my Latin and Greek are not very good. It goes:”
“He also said that, if we accepted the agenda from London, the institutions were doomed. Mr McCrea mentioned my use of the doomed word yesterday, but Mr Ó Muilleoir's feeling is that, if we accept an agenda from London, we are doomed. I sometimes wonder whether some Members are aware of how a democratic Government work. Proposals are put forward and brought to the Floor of the House of Commons, where they are scrutinised and voted on, and the decision is clear. That is what happened with welfare reform in the House of Commons, but, of course, Mr Ó Muilleoir's colleagues might not be aware of that because they do not go to the House of Commons. Other Members of Parliament from this part of the United Kingdom do go to the House of Commons and raise their voice on these issues.”
“We need to be more radical in our approach to reducing and, eventually, eradicating bovine TB. I also agree with the Member on June monitoring: given our financial position, Departments cannot rely on additional funds being made available through in-year monitoring. That is just not going to happen this year because the funding is not there. <BR /> <BR />We were then treated to a lyrical contribution by Mr Ó Muilleoir. It is unfortunate that he is not here because I wanted to share some things with him, but I am sure that he will read Hansard. He talked about how small boats do not get lifted by the tide. It is good, then, that we are part of a very large ship. We are part of the United Kingdom, thankfully, and can benefit from that. We have seen other small boats, as he put it, having difficulties in the past.”
“That, of course, is available only if all aspects of the agreement are implemented, including welfare reform. Without the implementation of welfare reform, the reductions in public services here would have to intensify dramatically. That is something we will not allow to happen; it would be impossible to deal with public services in relation to the amount of cuts that would have to come if welfare reform were not implemented. <BR /> <BR />Mr Irwin, on behalf of the Agriculture Committee, mentioned a number of issues. Of course, I and my party are entirely committed to the agrifood sector. We have shown that by our actions throughout devolution. Therefore, I share the Committee's concerns with regard to the persistently high cost of bovine TB to our economy.”
“This means that the Executive will now have to argue for access to their own funds that were previously rolled into end-year flexibility, which could be deemed by Her Majesty's Treasury to be forfeited EYF and, therefore, lost to the block. My officials will continue to engage with their counterparts in Whitehall to reclaim that £30 million funding for allocation elsewhere in 2015-16. Given that 2016-17 will represent the commencement of a new Budget period, it should be noted that the cross-service college project would have to be funded entirely from the Northern Ireland block allocation. <BR /> <BR />Mrs Overend also highlighted the issue of the additional £500 million for shared education that was provided in the Stormont House Agreement.”
“The Executive allocated £53 million to that project in the 2015-16 Budget, but that was conditional on access to end-year flexibility (EYF) from Her Majesty's Treasury. With support from the Justice and Health Ministers, the steering group has asked the programme board to develop a revised business case for consideration by the Executive in the autumn. A key option in the business case is that consideration will first be given to sites and premises currently owned by the services and the Policing Board, including Desertcreat, of course. Included in the EYF pot is £30 million initially provided by the Executive for the Health element of the college.”
“Minister Kennedy has advised that work on the new environmental statement and new draft statutory orders is now complete and that he intends to circulate a paper regarding the A5 to Executive colleagues shortly. <BR /> <BR />For transport infrastructure in the north-west, it is also worth mentioning that the second phase of the upgrade of the Coleraine to Londonderry railway line is now under way, which is going to see £46 million of investment in signalling equipment and a new passing loop, which, when completed, will allow hourly services from Londonderry and Coleraine to Belfast. That should be very much welcomed, as I have done on previous occasions. <BR /> <BR />Sandra Overend and, I think, some others, but Sandra in particular, mentioned Desertcreat.”
“Pat Ramsey spent a little bit of time talking about regional imbalance. He very much welcomed the Executive's decision to set up a committee to look at regional imbalance across Northern Ireland. He talked about the link between regional imbalance and the infrastructure deficit. In particular, he raised concerns about transport infrastructure in the north-west, particularly the A5 and A6 roads. It is worth pointing out that the budget was in place for the dualling of the A5 road, but, as the Member is very much aware — unfortunately, he is not here — the project has not been delayed because of a lack of money; it was delayed as a result of a judicial review. That is the reality. Sometimes, we forget that.”
“Michaela Boyle, on behalf of the Public Accounts Committee, raised the issue of Excess Votes. I welcome that Committee's work on scrutinising departmental accounts, and I note that it has recommended that the Assembly agrees legislative cover to excess expenditure in 2013-14 for the Education and Health Departments and the Public Prosecution Service. Clause 5 authorises additional resources to the Health Department and the Department of Education, and the Excess Vote for the Public Prosecution Service will be included at the spring Supplementary Estimate stage for the Assembly's agreement.”
“I think that it was Mr McNarry who pointed out that those who are vigorously opposed to austerity are in a tiny minority compared to those who want to move ahead and develop the economy of the United Kingdom. Whilst, of course, we respect the mandate of those who oppose what is happening at present, surely the contrary must be the case as well. If you accept the principles of democracy, you have to accept that the current Government are a Conservative Government and that this is the process that we are engaged in.”
“The June monitoring round is when we have to deal with the problem of living within those control totals, and, of course, the only way that we can live within the control totals is by ensuring that the Stormont House Agreement is honoured and that welfare reform is implemented. As I said, he gave conditional support to the Budget, and he talked about his mandate and the need to respect the mandate of those who are opposed to what he called the Tory Government's austerity plans. It does beg the question: if only there were a way to gauge public opinion on these matters across the United Kingdom. Of course, we have just come out of a general election. One would have thought that, if people wanted to express their opinions, that was the place to do it.”
“However, I urge the universities to protect university places as much as possible to make sure that that is their primary focus and motivation. Of course, everyone across government is having to face significant pressures and having to decide on their priorities as they move forward. <BR /> <BR />Martin McGuinness came into the Chamber and made a speech where he told us that he was giving conditional support to the Bill. He indicated that it does not amend the opening Budget position as approved by the Executive in January. That is absolutely right; this is a continuation of that Budget.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mrs Cochrane also made reference to the fact that we were in a United Kingdom framework and that we are in a devolved settlement and that those not supporting welfare reform will cause other public services to be cut. Of course, it is very true that failure to implement the Stormont House Agreement was plunging us into financial uncertainty. She and Pat Ramsey made reference to budget cuts in higher education, and I think that there was a general concern about the cuts that were having to be made in higher education and the impact that that was going to have on skills development. I am aware, of course, of the reductions that have had to be made, and the universities have reported that such reductions will cause there to be job losses and fewer undergraduate places.”
“We can only proceed with it if the Stormont House Agreement is implemented. <BR /> <BR />Judith Cochrane and Sammy Wilson talked about the reduction in early years funding. I understand that, in relation to the specific early years fund, the budget was reduced by £2 million in 2015-16, leaving £941,000 available. That money that is left will enable all current recipient groups to receive continued support to the end of the current academic year, which is the end of August 2015. I understand that the Education Minister will continue to review his budget, but it is ironic that, of course, we are losing £2 million a week in penalties, which is exactly the same amount of money that it takes to deal with that early years fund.”
“In relation to the multiplier effect, the Member raised his concern that there will be a negative multiplier from the voluntary exit scheme, but, as I am sure the Member will appreciate, there will actually be an injection of £700 million into our local economy as a result of the exit payments. That will represent a significant positive multiplier impact on the local economy, because obviously those people will be spending that money in the local economy. The Member must also appreciate that we can only, again, access that additional spending power if we implement the exit scheme. The exit scheme is essential, and many Members around the House have mentioned it during the debate. If we are going to balance this Budget and deliver essential front-line services to the people of Northern Ireland, it is important that we proceed with it.”
“Mr Cree also highlighted some of the issues raised by a Member on the opposite Benches. I add my support to the concerns Mr Cree has over Sinn Féin's fiscal ideology. It is abundantly clear that Sinn Féin do not do financial responsibility, and they definitely do not do irony. Definitely not.”
“It is expected that the voluntary exit scheme will realise some £150 million annualised savings and roughly between £60 million and £80 million in-year. However, it depends on when the staff are released, so it has to be a projection and cannot be a firm figure. Departments obviously have targets that they need to work to, and this scheme is helping them to do that. If it is delayed, there will be an impact on the ability to deliver those budgets. So, the Budget Bill is predicated on the Stormont House Agreement and assumes that £200 million is available in-year for the voluntary exit scheme. <BR /> <BR />Mr Cree also raised the OECD review, which is conducting a series of meetings. Initial recommendations from its draft report are due in September, with the final report being completed this November.”
“I confirm that we secured Her Majesty's Treasury's agreement — again, within the Stormont House Agreement — to utilise borrowing to fund the voluntary exit scheme. It will become very clear, as I continue with my speech, that the whole budgetary process is underlined by the Stormont House Agreement. No matter what question you ask me, I will answer, "It's dependent on the Stormont House Agreement." <BR /> <BR />Of course, the savings that were to be generated from the voluntary exit scheme have already been put into this Budget. I think that it was Mr McCallister who asked me about that. Therefore the savings that were to come would more than cover the cost of borrowing in the longer term.”
“<BR /> <BR />Leslie Cree raised a number of issues around the 2014-15 financial year. Whilst it is not related to the Budget Bill before us, I confirm that I will report provisional out-turn, which includes asset sales income, underspends and carry forward under the budget exchange scheme. I will bring that to the House with the conclusion of the June monitoring round. Members should be well aware of the figures involved, because the Department reports forecast out-turn to the Committee. The March return was not significantly different from the provisional out-turn. However, I reassure the Member that I expect out-turn to come within budget exchange limits set out by Treasury, ensuring no loss to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />Mr Cree also raised the issue of reinvestment and reform initiative (RRI) borrowing.”
“So the devolution of corporation tax is conditional upon us having a sustainable Budget and progressing on welfare reform. The Stormont House Agreement is very clear on that issue, and anybody who thinks otherwise should look at what it actually says. <BR /> <BR />There has been some commentary in the media on an issue raised in our debate here on Monday, when I said that time is running out in relation to the devolution of corporation tax. I said that because, when you set a date and a rate, you have to give Alastair Hamilton and his team, and any Ministers who go out to talk about corporation tax, the time to sell our rate of corporation tax. We are losing precious selling time by not setting the date and the rate, and the longer we prevaricate on them the longer we will be putting off using a transformative tool for our local economy.”
“So, the Bill that was to bring corporation tax was to proceed at the same time as:”
“<BR /> <BR />In relation to the devolution of corporation tax powers, I have already stated that I believe that it has the potential to transform the economy. I very much want Northern Ireland to be the go-to place for businesses that are looking for a place in the United Kingdom or access into wider Europe. Having that competitive rate of corporation tax is very much one of the key levers that we have to make that happen. <BR /> <BR />As an Executive, we need to agree on a rate and a start date. That is very much part of the Stormont House Agreement. It is important that we look back to the Stormont House Agreement to see what it actually says about corporation tax. On the very last page, it talks about the process for the devolution of corporation tax, stating:”
“We are back here talking about another all-party process when we thought that everything had been agreed on 23 December. The Stormont House Agreement really underpins this Budget, and, without the implementation of the full Stormont House Agreement, the Assembly and the Executive do not have the mechanism to move forward. So, we need to implement the full Stormont House Agreement. <BR /> <BR />Mr McDonnell repeatedly referred to the need to have greater efficiencies and Budget reductions, but not once did he tell us how he was going to deliver those efficiencies. There were no ideas coming forward as to how those efficiencies were going to happen. He also called for a re-engineering of public expenditure, but, again, did not provide us with very much insight as to what that actually meant in his world.”
“He talked about the efficiency of the private sector in some of the things that it was able to offer to the public sector, and he talked about the role of government and whether we should be big government or small government in the lives of individuals. I thought that it was a very considered speech and one that caused a lot of debate around the Chamber on Monday and today. <BR /> <BR />I understand that Dr McDonnell is to leave this House, and his last appearance was yesterday. He has now decided to concentrate on Westminster, and I wish him well as he concentrates on his Westminster activities. He did not bring me much joy with his speech, it has to be said. He said that we needed to get into another all-party process. I have to say that that did not work very well for us in December.”
“We believe very strongly that it is a very important economic lever and that it has the potential to bring about a step change in our economic performance, but, as I will point to later, all that is encompassed in the Stormont House Agreement. All of it is detailed in the Stormont House Agreement, including the devolution of corporation tax. <BR /> <BR />In relation to the point about innovation and doing things differently, which, I think, a number of Members latterly referred to, we need to focus on outcomes. We need to look at how we can do things differently to bring about better outcomes. The last person to make that point was Mr McNarry. How do we, as a public service, do things differently to bring about better outcomes? Instead of looking at processes, how do we have better outcomes? That point was made very clearly by Mr Ross.”
“We know that the Justice Minister has put forward to the Executive proposals to further reduce costs through amending the scope and eligibility of legal aid, and those measures will not be sufficient to meet all the pressures in-years. The Justice Minister has sought the agreement and support of the Executive to introduce emergency legislation to apply a variable levy on those legal aid fees. That will come before us very soon. <BR /> <BR />Mr Ross also talked about fiscal powers. Our top priority still remains the transfer of corporation tax powers. This party has been consistent in continuing to argue for the devolution of corporation tax powers.”
“Mr McKay supported the general principles of the Bill on behalf of the Committee. He noted the importance of public-sector reform and the use of new technology in everything that we do in the future, and that is something that I will come back to in a minute. That was a theme that was also taken up by Mr Ross, who spoke next and who raised a number of issues that I think are worth referring to. <BR /> <BR />First, in his capacity as Chair of the Justice Committee, he raised the issue of legal aid reform. He talked about the fact that the current programme of legal aid reform, which, when fully implemented, would deliver £22 million of annual savings in criminal legal aid. He talked of further changes in Crown Court fees. That will save in the region of £8 million. That was introduced in early May.”
“I did not want to give you a lot of hope there, but I need to deal with the issues that have been raised during the debate over these two days. However, I point Members to that page in the Budget document. <BR /> <BR />I start with the Chair of the Finance Committee, Mr McKay, who asked for clarification on pay bill savings in relation to the voluntary exit scheme. As I explained to him in last week's debate, the expected quantum and spread of savings from the scheme across the Departments is being calculated by the working group under the leadership and chairmanship of the head of the Civil Service. It will be available shortly.”
“It sets out very clearly that Northern Ireland businesses and the public pay taxes to the United Kingdom Government. That Government then allocates a Budget to Northern Ireland, as it does for Scotland and Wales. In our case, we benefit to the tune of an extra £10 billion in relation to the taxes that we pay. Then the Northern Ireland Executive distribute the Budget to different Departments, and the Departments spend their budgets on public services throughout the year. And that is it, in a nutshell. I could end there, but unfortunately I need to answer some of the issues —”
“I thank everyone who has contributed to the debate today, and indeed on Monday. In particular, I want to thank the Chairs and Deputy Chairs of Committees, who set out their departmental perspectives. It is always good to hear the range of departmental issues facing us in this financial year from all those involved in the scrutiny Committees. <BR /> <BR />I want to talk about the fundamentals of the debate. We have heard much reference to the Budget document, obliquely in some cases, and I accept that. It was published on 19 January this year by my predecessor, and, for those of us who have little economic understanding, on page 23 it shows the very basic information that needs to be understood in relation to how a Budget is set.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am not saying that we should not seek to put our best arguments to the Treasury to ensure that our people are treated fairly on public expenditure; rather, we must not allow that to sidetrack us from what should be our primary focus, which is the creation of wealth and prosperity and making sure that that is shared across Northern Ireland society so that we can close the productivity gap. That said, the Committee has compiled a significant body of work in producing this report and drawn on the evidence of many experts and stakeholders. As such, my officials and I will give it careful consideration. It deserves that, and I will give it that. Now that I have received the report, we can move on. Thanks again to the Committee for all its work.”