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.”
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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 56 of 67.
“I thank the Member for her question. We will continue to work with the new council, as we did with the previous two councils. She may be aware that Invest NI has agreed to co-fund the development of the integrated economic strategy for the new Derry City and Strabane District Council area, which I wholeheartedly support. I was also delighted to see the new app promoting Strabane as an investment destination launched on 10 March this year. It has highlighted the inward investments that are already there and, on the Member's second point, it has made everyone aware of the fact that land is available in the Strabane area that can be marketed to inward investors as well as investors within Northern Ireland who may wish to set up business in Strabane.”
“My Department has engaged extensively with the former councils in the north-west to understand the local investment proposition and will continue to do so with the new council. In addition, Invest NI's international investment division intends to hold a planning meeting in Londonderry at the end of April 2015. The programme will include meetings with council officials, university and college representatives and other stakeholders, with inward investment at the top of the agenda.”
“That Department is engaged in running two pilots to try to see what support is required by credit unions that may need help in relation to the provision of longer opening hours, training for staff or volunteers, and marketing material. The second proposal is to look at the feasibility of supporting credit unions to provide enhanced banking services and products in the context of benefits. My Department, DSD and DARD have all been engaged in working with the credit union movement and that will be the case in future as well.”
“That is an issue that has caused us grave concern, particularly through the work that we have carried out in our financial capability strategy; there are those who feel that they have no other option. We are not that concerned about payday loans — even though they can cause grave difficulties, they have their place — it is the loan sharks and the unregulated loans that cause us the deepest concern. <BR /> <BR />The Department for Social Development and my colleague Minister Storey have been looking at ways in which they can work with the credit union movement to allow people who are perhaps on low income to access financial products.”
“It has always been my hope and desire that we will be able to do that. As I have indicated, the Committee has finished its stage, and, hopefully, I will be able to take a paper to the Executive in May of this year and then introduce the matter into the House. I know that time may not be on my side in relation to the matter, but I am hopeful that we will be able to deal with it in this mandate.”
“I am sure that that is an issue that the Member, bearing in mind his constituency, which is like my constituency, will have concern about. I hope that post offices, in particular, and credit unions will be able to fill that gap.”
“Absolutely. Indeed, part of what we hope will be achieved by the Bill is that services from the credit unions will be more widely available. I say that also in the context of the fact that there have been a number of bank closures in rural areas over the past period of time. I recognise that that can be a difficulty, particularly for individuals and small businesses who perhaps do not have cause to go to the larger towns where the banks are now situated. It was an issue that was acknowledged by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report on banking, which recognised that the banks' position is that closures are inevitable due to a decline in branch transactions and that that could potentially leave customers financially excluded, particularly those in rural areas.”
“My Department has been working closely with the sector in identifying appropriate updates to Northern Ireland legislation. That will be achieved by way of the introduction of an Assembly Bill. The Bill will remove restrictions on Northern Ireland credit unions and thereby permit them to expand further the range of services that they offer to reach out to new groups. Following a public consultation in the summer of 2013, I wrote to the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee in December 2013 with policy proposals for the legislation. Following a number of queries raised by the Committee, which have now been answered, I hope to bring the draft Bill to the Executive in early May 2015, with a view to its introduction in the Assembly soon after.”
“Bearing in mind the comments that have been made around the House today, I hope that you, Minister, will exercise your discretion again and will look at the particular circumstances of the case. In doing so, I hope that you will recognise that this is a very particular circumstance and that Colin Worton deserves to have the case looked at again.”
“<BR /> <BR />Even if the Minister feels that he cannot act for whatever reason on the serious default, he could still act under the part of the scheme that deals with exceptional circumstances. Again, I appeal to the Minister. I have to accept that he has received legal advice from officials on the matter, particularly on the judicial review case, but I urge him to seek further legal advice on the matter in the context of what I put to him today. That judicial review was on the exercise of the Secretary of State's discretion; it was not on whether it met the ex gratia scheme. Wade's 'Administrative Law', which is the textbook on the issue, says that, whilst discretion is not unfettered, it can be wide or narrow. I argue firmly that you have a wide discretion to act in this case.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Maginness talked about the ex gratia scheme, and it is that that I want to concentrate on. I would firmly argue that there are two elements to the ex gratia scheme: the serious default element, which was referred to in the judgement, and the fact that Lord Justice Kelly, at that time, did not believe that there were improper actions by the police. That is accepted. That does not necessarily mean that there was not serious default. When one looks at the circumstances of the case, one sees that, as Mrs Kelly pointed out, there certainly should have been somebody present with Colin Worton when he was being interviewed by the police. If that had happened, he might not have been in the situation that he found himself in, so I would say that the circumstances of the case lead to a serious default.”
“I hope that, as I continue with my comments, I can point out that that certainly is not the case and that there is a discretion for the Minister to exercise. Whilst he may not be able to deal with Mr Worton's case under the statutory scheme — that is accepted because Colin was never convicted of a crime — there is still a way in which he can deal with the case. <BR /> <BR />Many Members spoke, including Members from Colin's constituency. Mr Kennedy rightly reflected the wider family support that Colin has received over the years and the fact that he is entitled to have his good name restored. Mr Poots related that all murders are wrong and helpfully pointed out the particular circumstances of Colin's case, as opposed to the scattergun approach that some would seek to take in relation to the case.”
“That fact was reflected by Mrs Kelly when she acknowledged that many murders had been committed over the years, many of them by the IRA, who, of course, murdered Roman Catholics and Protestants alike throughout Northern Ireland. I want to acknowledge the brutal murder of Adrian Carroll and the pain and grief that that caused his family, his friends and the community at that time and, indeed, continues to cause pain to his family. <BR /> <BR />This debate is the continuation of an Adjournment debate that took place in June 2011 and is an attempt to secure justice and compensation in the particular circumstances of Colin Worton's case. Stewart Dickson moved the amendment making the case that the Minister had an inability to provide compensation to Mr Worton.”
“The case of Colin Worton, of course, has received widespread support. We heard a list from Mr Bradley of those who have seen fit to support Colin in his long fight for justice over 30 years, and we continue to support him in that fight for justice. <BR /> <BR />The motion today is about what happened in November of that year. It is specifically about Colin Worton and the particular circumstances of his case, in the context of the UDR four case. There have been some spurious reasons given by Sinn Féin for why they cannot support the motion today — very spurious indeed and nearly as spurious as some of the moral authority we had from them in relation to the many deaths that occurred over the past 35 to 40 years.”
“If one looks at the judgement in the judicial review case, one sees that it is a very narrow judgement. It looks at whether the Secretary of State had the right to exercise or not exercise his discretion. The judge is not saying whether he believes that there was a serious default or whether there were exceptional circumstances, because that is for the Secretary of State at the time to determine, not the judicial review judge. I argue very strongly that it is still within your discretion as Minister of Justice to deal with the case.”
“I accept entirely what the Member says in relation to the serious default, but does he also agree with me that the judgement then goes on to say that there may be exceptional circumstances that may justify compensation? For me, there are actually two parts to that: there is the serious default element — I believe that the case falls within the serious default element — but I also believe that there is a case to be made in respect of the exceptional circumstances part as well.”
“I know that there are Members in the House who are absolutely myopic in what they want to talk about today, but this is a statement about what happened at the last tourism sectoral meeting. It might surprise the Member to know that there was no discussion in relation to the 2016 commemorations at all because, if the Government of the Republic of Ireland decide to have a commemoration, that is a matter for them, and it is a matter for them to decide what they do for it. As far as I am concerned, Tourism Ireland has a duty to make sure that it promotes all of the island in a way that does not offend anybody.”
“I thank the Member for his questions. Indeed, VAT was one of the main issues discussed on Friday at the Hotels Federation's summit on tourism. It is something that I know our MPs are taking a particular interest in. Indeed, the Finance Minister has written to his counterpart in Treasury to raise the issue again, to make him aware that it has a very disproportionate impact on Northern Ireland, particularly on tourist accommodation businesses along the border. Therefore, it has been raised again. <BR /> <BR />I am not too sure which issue he is mentioning in relation to licensing. If he wants to give me the specifics, I am sure that I will be able to speak to my party colleague the Minister for Social Development on that issue.”
“<BR /> <BR />I was at a tourism event held by the Hotels Federation on Friday, and there really is a very positive sense of the potential of tourism for Northern Ireland, and I hope that we can build on that.”
“I absolutely wish the Northern Ireland team well, and I look forward to hearing the results. <BR /> <BR />The idea behind the Hunter review of tourism was to build on relationships within the tourism sector in Northern Ireland to allow Tourism Northern Ireland to develop strong relationships with Invest Northern Ireland, particularly in relation to tourist accommodation and grant making, and that Tourism Northern Ireland would work closely with Tourism Ireland. I hope that that will happen. I think that everybody will benefit from it, if we take that collaborative approach. I should, of course, mention that the new councils will have a role to play in tourism in the future. I hope that they will play their part in building up our strong tourism sector.”
“I think that, from a tourism perspective, any event that takes place has to be a positive event. It has to be one that encourages people to come and visit. Certainly, that is what is in my mind when I look at 2016, and that is one reason why I have designated 2016 as the Year of Food. I think that we can really build on our agrifood produce and on what we do best, which is provide very good food, along with good service, for our visitors, building on the product that we have invested in. It has to be respectful and something that people enjoy and will want to come back to, and I am hopeful that that will be the case.”
“I congratulate the Member on moving from North Antrim to East Antrim today; that is a great step forward. He is right to mention the Gobbins path, because that is going to be a new product in our portfolio for this year. It is a very important piece of product that we have, and I look forward to its opening very soon. It adds, of course, to the whole coastal driving route and gives reasons for people to stop and stay. It really is key for tourists that they have not just somewhere to go on a one-off visit but a range of products to take advantage of. Particularly for those who are interested in independent travelling and who drive, I think that the Causeway coastal route has more potential, and I look forward to them fulfilling it.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot be as definitive as I was in relation to InterTradeIreland, because it is over a different period of time. I only have the January to September 2014 figures; I do not have the full year as yet. But I have to say that, in most sectors, it is looking very positive. The one area where we need to see an improvement is in relation to Republic of Ireland visitors. Again, that is probably a lot to do with the euro during this year. We need to pay concern to that. Domestic visitors are up, GB holidaymakers are up, and external visitors are up as well, so things are going in the right direction, but we just need to watch the Republic of Ireland visitor numbers. Again, that is to do with the exchange rate.”
“Of course, any review would have to be instigated jointly because it is a joint body. The Member is correct in saying that Tourism Ireland needs to have regard to the distinctiveness of Northern Ireland. Indeed, its terms of reference in the legislation have specific regard to that. It is important that Tourism Ireland gives a distinctive standout, particularly in the Great Britain market, where there are very natural synergies between the rest of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. That point was made at the North/South Ministerial Council sectoral meeting, and I will continue to make it with the board and with the CEO. However, I point the Member to the fact that our visitor numbers from Great Britain have continued to rise. I welcome that, and I think that it is a positive step forward.”
“We need to be able to reach out to people from Northern Ireland in a similar way, and I am hoping that Northern Irish Connections will be able to do that. It has held a number of events across the world and is now looking for strategic partnerships with people who have left our shores for whatever reason but still want to be positive advocates for Northern Ireland. So, yes, absolutely, we will be working on that.”
“I am sure that the Member is aware that Northern Irish Connections has started that work and is reaching out to our diaspora across the globe. The Republic of Ireland, however, is ahead of us in this game, and it uses its diaspora very well.”
“It was a tremendous weekend of sport. I say weekend, because we should not forget that the ladies' team was also successful; it is important to recognise that. The Rugby World Cup bid for 2023 is moving along, and, since the announcement on 5 December 2014, a bid director has been put in place, and work has commenced on compiling the bid, with the support of the Executive and the Government of the Republic. We will put an overview group in place in the near future to help to oversee progress on the bid. I am very confident in the bid, and we hope that our success on the pitch will be of assistance.”
“We need, therefore, to deal with the issue at Westminster, and I hope that my colleagues who are returned to Westminster will be able to assist me.”
“Absolutely. You will know that the Department commissioned the then Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy to carry out a study of the economic impact on Northern Ireland of short-haul air passenger duty, and it recently published its report The report's central conclusion is that, when the cost to the public finances in Northern Ireland is taken into consideration, APD on short-haul flights is not a strong economic development tool. We, of course, set the air passenger duty for band B long-haul flights at zero; we have already dealt with that. The Finance Minister and I have continued to stress that there is an urgent need for central government to look at APD as it affects the UK as a whole, and we will push for that on behalf of industry here, because it is set in a way that is unfair to the regions of the UK.”
“The Council agreed to meet again in tourism sectoral format in autumn/winter 2015 on a date to be confirmed. I commend the statement to the Assembly.”
“Ministers approved Tourism Ireland's 2015 business plan and recommended the budget provision for 2015 of €53·885 million.”
“<BR /> <BR />I updated Ministers on the Hunter review of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and wider tourism structures. I advised that I will be working with the industry to bring forward a new strategic plan for tourism, which will coordinate the work of key partners in the industry and in central and local government.”
“As one of Tourism Ireland’s objectives is to help Northern Ireland achieve its tourism potential, I highlighted the importance, where the market or event lends itself, for the potential visitor to see positive, specific messaging for Northern Ireland. I also emphasised the vital role of direct air access in developing tourism into a billion-pound industry by 2020, and I encouraged Tourism Ireland to continue its ongoing work with Invest Northern Ireland to attract new air services to Northern Ireland in 2015, particularly from Germany and Canada. <BR /> <BR />The Rugby World Cup 2023 was also discussed, as was the bid by the IRFU to host the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017. The opportunities presented by sporting events, which put Northern Ireland on a world stage, were noted.”
“The board also reviewed and noted the high level of cooperation between Tourism Northern Ireland, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland on hosting the Grande Partenza of the 2014 Giro d’Italia. <BR /> <BR />Ministers received a presentation from the CEO, Mr Niall Gibbons, on Tourism Ireland’s performance throughout 2014. Ambitious targets have been set for growth in 2015, from all main markets, and it was agreed that strong collaboration across the industry was crucial to deliver on these targets. It was noted that Northern Ireland’s distinctiveness has a very important role to play in attracting overseas visitors, and I stressed that one of my key priorities is to see standout for Northern Ireland.”
“It also noted progress on delivering Tourism Ireland's SMART objective performance goals for 2014, which include growing promotable revenue and promotable visitors to Ireland and Northern Ireland; maintaining our high competitive interest ranking in GB, US and France, and improving it in Germany; achieving 500 million social connections by the end of 2014 and delivering 1·8 million commercial referrals to trade and industry from digital activity; and driving the delivery of Tourism Ireland's corporate plan objectives. <BR /> <BR />Ministers were updated on the nine board meetings that have taken place at various locations since the last NSMC tourism meeting. Presentations at board meetings included assessments of the North American, Australian and developing markets.”
“They also noted the current position regarding EU funding programmes and agreed that the relevant tourism stakeholders, in both jurisdictions, would closely monitor developments at EU level to ensure that tourism would benefit from all suitable collaborative funding opportunities. <BR /> <BR />The chairperson, Mr Brian Ambrose, and the CEO, Mr Niall Gibbons, updated Ministers on the work of the Tourism Ireland board over the previous year. The Council noted progress on implementing the corporate plan 2014-16.”
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, I wish to make a statement in compliance with section 52 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, regarding a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in tourism sectoral format. This meeting was held in Armagh on 5 March 2015. <BR /> <BR />Minister Carál Ní Chuilín MLA and I represented the Northern Ireland Executive. The Irish Government were represented by Paschal Donohoe TD, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who chaired the meeting. This statement has been agreed with Minister Ní Chuilín, and I am making the statement on behalf of us both. <BR /> <BR />Ministers noted the support that had been provided to tourism projects under the EU funded INTERREG IVa programme.”
“As the Member will know, appointments are made to InterTradeIreland on a party basis. There are a number of party appointees who have been appointed to InterTradeIreland, Tourism Ireland and other North/South bodies, so it is not surprising that Sinn Féin should seek to put their placepeople on. I think that it is disappointing that they do not seek to put on people who have a wider view of the world. However, it is a matter for them who they put on.”
“I cannot give you figures on jobs from Horizon 2020 because it is the first six months of Horizon 2020. I am quite sure that it will sustain a number of jobs and, indeed, create a number of jobs because of the fact that we have that success rate. As I said, InterTradeIreland's target in 2014 was 1,220, and that was well surpassed, with 1,881 jobs being sustained and created. I am very pleased about that.”
“This is something that I take a particular interest in, and I always say that the Go-2-Tender programme works very well. There was a bit of a kickback at one stage when some of the Northern Ireland companies were being successful with Republic of Ireland government contracts. I am glad to say that that concern has disappeared, and now some of our companies are competing and competing very well for those government procurements. Go-2-Tender is a very important part of what InterTradeIreland does. As I indicated to the Chair of the Committee, I hope that we can make more of an impact with the smaller microbusinesses, as Europe calls them, so that they can benefit as well as some of our larger companies.”
“I continue to share his concerns about the high energy costs for large manufacturers, and I continue to work with the regulator on those issues. If all goes according to plan, I am having a meeting with the regulator, NIE and SONI at the end of this week on grid connections. We will be able to have discussions around grid connections, which, again, have caused a lot of concerns to consumers and those wishing to connect to the grid. I referred to that in my last Question Time. That meeting is happening, and I am hopeful that we can make some progress.”
“Those last two matters are, of course, not matters for InterTradeIreland but are energy policy matters, so we did not have any discussions about those. <BR /> <BR />On the issues for businesses, I was interested to see the fact that energy costs had dropped back, particularly in Northern Ireland. At its height back in quarter 2 of 2012, that was the top concern of 47% of the businesses. In quarter 4 of 2014, that had dropped to 7%. That is quite a significant drop back, albeit that that has happened over two and a half years. In the Republic of Ireland, rising energy costs is again an issue of concern. Where it is 7% for our companies, it is 10% for companies in the Republic of Ireland. It still is an issue, and I think that the falling fuel costs will have had an impact on energy costs.”
“Yes, absolutely. We hit all our targets, apart from that for first-time innovators: the target was for 66 first-time innovators, and they reached 64. The target for return on investment was 9:1, and the full-year performance on that was 10:1. The target for first-time exporters was 58, and the full-year performance was 127, so that was met very well. The jobs impact target was 1,270, and again, that was well met, with 1,881 being reached. The target for efficiency savings was set at 4%, and that was met.”
“That is something that I very much welcome.”
“On the Member's point about education and its priority status or otherwise within Horizon 2020, that is really a matter for the Education Minister. I agree with his point about STEM subjects and creating an ethos early on within a child's mind about science, technology, engineering and maths. I am, therefore, supportive of doing that. However, that has to come from the education sector through the projects that come forward. <BR /> <BR />The three top areas of cross-border collaboration — after all, this is InterTradeIreland — are health, the Marie Curie actions and ICT. ICT could be an area where we could hook education, even outside the formal classroom setting, to encourage young people to get involved in the sector. There have been a lot of private sector initiatives on coding for children that have been very encouraging.”
“I think that it is the very nature of the programme. We are ahead with successful projects in Horizon 2020. The European average is, I think, about 14%, and we are at 16%. It may appear that we are not very successful, but that is the nature of Horizon 2020 across Europe. It is hugely competitive and, therefore, we must ensure that we take all measures to make sure that we can benefit from it. There has been €80 billion allocated to the project. I am quite pleased that we have as high a number as 45 in place at this early stage in the programme, and we will certainly work very hard to make sure that we benefit even more.”
“The pound is strong, the euro is a lot weaker now, and we need to look to other markets, as well as to our close neighbours.”
“Absolutely. Exporting has been a struggle during the downturn. We looked at new developing markets for Northern Ireland to try to deal with that, but certainly the strong pound in the eurozone has been a disincentive over the past period of time. You can see that through some of the export market figures that are coming out. I am hopeful that we will continue to work with our colleagues in the Republic of Ireland to try to show them the value of the goods and services coming from Northern Ireland. Indeed, I hope that they will recognise that the short supply chain compensates a little for the increased price that they are having to pay for it, given the exchange rate that we are having to deal with. We have to deal with the realities of the situation.”
“<BR /> <BR />I think that the go-to-tender programme has been very useful. It has worked well from InterTradeIreland's perspective, but I think we could do more with the smaller companies. I am hopeful that InterTradeIreland will be able to do that.”
“I thank the Chairman for his point. I was somewhat surprised by the figures when they were given to us at the Council meeting. When we talk about small to medium-sized businesses in that context, it is the European definition that is used, and, as he rightly pointed out, that refers to businesses with fewer than 250 employees. <BR /> <BR />I do not have the further breakdown. I would be hopeful that microbusinesses were in the supply chain, but I will certainly ask the CEO of InterTradeIreland to see whether we can go further down the chain to see whether impacts are being made. I am sure the Chairman will agree that the issue of small companies not being able to break into procurement comes up a lot at constituency and ministerial level. I made the point at the Council meeting that we really do need to get out there and help people.”