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 62 of 67.
“I join with the rest of the Members who will speak on this motion in fundamentally condemning the attacks that took place over a number of days in Paris and outside Paris. <BR /> <BR />They came after other attacks on mainland Europe, particularly the attack on the Jewish museum in Brussels. The crimes of the victims in France varied from satire, being Jewish or simply being a police officer on duty that day. A real sense of fear, even through our television screens, came across because there was a sense of the unknown pervading the streets of Paris and elsewhere. <BR /> <BR />Of course, we are very much aware that Islamic extremists were the perpetrators. Just as in Northern Ireland, where the terrorists did not speak for the community during their worst excesses, very much Islamic terrorists do not represent the Muslim world.”
“They will help us to have more fuel diversity in our heating market, allow us to be more competitive and to look to the future with confidence. I thank Members for their contributions and urge them to support the motion.”
“I have had a number of complaints from people who have put solar panels in place through Ofgem and have not been paid yet. <BR /> <BR />Mr Wilson referred to the Carbon Trust loan. I am indebted to officials for allowing me to include that in the regulations. I felt that that was the best way to give clarity, because there had been a bit of toing and froing over whether it was state aid and how to deal with it. So I am pleased to have been able to help businesses that have had difficulty with that issue. <BR /> <BR />I very much agree with Mr McCrea that this is important legislation, which we have been waiting on for some time. I am delighted that we can deal with the issue today. If the regulations are agreed today, it is my hope that the domestic RHI can begin immediately. <BR /> <BR />I encourage the House to support the regulations.”
“The regulator has been trying to deal with those issues. <BR /> <BR />Mr Kinahan asked whether air-source heat pumps are included in the domestic RHI. Air-to-water heat pumps are included, but air-to-air heat pumps are not. Air-to-air heat pumps are not included because concerns were raised about their efficiency and use. They have not been included at this stage, but that does not mean that we will not include them later. Air-to-water heat pumps are included, and again there is an upfront payment of £1,700, followed by the tariff. <BR /> <BR />I have addressed installation costs. <BR /> <BR />Did we consider Ofgem to administer the scheme? We did, but we felt that DETI was better placed to deal with the Northern Ireland situation. I have to say to the Member that "agile" is not a word that I would use to describe Ofgem.”
“With biomass boilers and stoves, you get an upfront payment of £2,500, which helps you to purchase the equipment, and then you get help for seven years. That is a good way to bring in the domestic RHI. It is done differently in Great Britain, which just has the tariff incentive but does not have the upfront payment, which I felt was needed. <BR /> <BR />I will not get into the wider issues about falling oil costs and upward price trends, because I am sure that the regulator will want to look at those issues herself. Suffice to say that I am not sure that the generators will agree with Mr Kinahan's view; it is not the impression that I am getting from them. It is important, however, that we have steady prices. The last thing we want with electricity prices are spikes and valleys, because they lead to a lot of uncertainty for consumers.”
“It is certainly something that I will be speaking to the new DSD Minister about. <BR /> <BR />He mentioned the boiler replacement scheme. One of the attractions of that scheme, which was a point also made by Mr Kinahan, is that there is a payment up front in relation to the domestic RHI, depending on your technology. You will get help initially and then be able to avail yourself of the seven-year tariff incentives.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank those Members who contributed to the debate, sometimes going way beyond what is in front of us, but still important to address. I thank the Chair and members of the Committee for their scrutiny of these matters. <BR /> <BR />I will pick up on a few issues that were raised. In relation to Mr Flanagan's comments about Bryson staff in Fermanagh, he will not be surprised to know that that is an issue I have been aware of. I raised it with the last DSD Minister, and commitments were given in relation to allowing those people in Fermanagh, who do an absolutely marvellous job from Fermanagh House, to stay in position until the new system came online in March 2015. I hear what the Member is saying about the readiness of that scheme in 2015.”
“The domestic RHI scheme — as was the case with its predecessor, the renewable heat premium payment scheme — will be administered in-house by DETI, which is the most cost-effective option for delivery. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, I ask that Members support the passage of the regulations. If they do, I will launch the domestic RHI scheme as soon as possible.”
“<BR /> <BR />These regulations will support the introduction of the domestic RHI and set a clear framework for the scheme, including how payments will be calculated and made, the conditions of the scheme and eligibility standards.”
“In addition, it is expected that the RHI will provide other, wider benefits in the form of fuel diversity, lower emissions and, importantly, jobs, particularly in association with the installation of the new technology. <BR /> <BR />The launch of the domestic RHI in conjunction with the grant support already in place represents up to £25 million of funding to 2015, with a further budget profile in annually managed expenditure until 2020. That amount demonstrates the national Government's commitment to increasing levels of renewable heating. Our targets in the Programme for Government have to be met, as do our European Union targets nationally, towards which we make a small contribution. It is accepted that it is a small contribution; however, it is one we still need to make.”
“The regulations laid today are in relation to the domestic RHI, but there is one non-domestic issue in the regulations. The very last regulation is in relation to an issue that was brought to me about Carbon Trust loans and the RHI. A number of local businesses in receipt of 0% Carbon Trust loans could not avail themselves of the non-domestic RHI because their loans were classed as state aid. The regulations include an amendment to the non-domestic RHI to facilitate the payback of grants or aid. This will enable applicants to pay back their loans and become eligible for the RHI. <BR /> <BR />It is expected that the extension of the RHI to the domestic sector will increase the number of properties switching to renewable technologies and help achieve our target of 10% renewable heat by 2020.”
“<BR /> <BR />The domestic RHI will replace the grant support for householders currently available through my Department's renewable heat premium payment scheme, which I launched in May 2012. Through that scheme, over 1,200 renewable heat installations have been supported, and this represents a total investment of over £3 million. Householders who availed themselves of the premium payment scheme will be able to transfer across to the new domestic RHI scheme. <BR /> <BR />We already have a very successful non-domestic RHI scheme in Northern Ireland, which has been in place since 2012. Applications are currently running at 4% of all UK applications, well ahead of the expected 3%. I hope to bring forward proposals to extend the non-domestic scheme in 2015.”
“The RHI will support generators of renewable heat in the domestic sector through upfront and long-term incentive payments that are designed to cover the additional costs involved in renewable technologies, as well as to provide a favourable rate of return for investors. Although our focus is often on renewable electricity generation, heating and transport are our two largest energy needs. Ensuring a more competitive and diverse heating market in Northern Ireland is therefore a key priority. In order to reduce our current reliance on fossil fuels, heat from indigenous and renewable sources must be promoted. To incentivise a switch to renewable heating technologies, the domestic RHI will provide households with upfront payments followed by seven years of tariff payments.”
“This statutory rule is made under powers contained in the Energy Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, which prescribes that these regulations must be laid in draft for approval by affirmative resolution of the Assembly. The draft regulations provide the statutory basis for the introduction of the Northern Ireland domestic renewable heat incentive (RHI). Policy proposals for the development of the Northern Ireland RHI were subject to public consultation last year. The consultation highlighted the need for further work to finalise the policy position and to draft these regulations. This has taken longer than I would have liked, but I am pleased to introduce the scheme now, and I hope that all Members will be supportive. <BR /> <BR />This legislation will provide the necessary powers for my Department to implement the domestic RHI scheme.”
“As I understand it, the matters that affect Northern Ireland are all contained in the LCM, and I do not foresee anything coming forward that is not contained in it. I hope that the Committee has been fully briefed on the range of issues that I mentioned in the House this morning.”
“I thank the Members for their comments. There has not been any real contention about the Bill, principally because we are tidying up a lot of things that have stayed on the statute books and which should have been taken off a considerable time ago. I am pleased to say that the regulatory reform bug — I can talk about bugs this morning because I have one — seems to have now caught on. I am pleased about that because it means that we are tidying matters that otherwise would have stayed on the statute book. I welcome the positive way in which the Committee dealt with the issue. The changes are minor but they will simplify the whole regime. <BR /> <BR />Mr Kinahan mentioned the House of Lords matter.”
“<BR /> <BR />I welcome the support provided by my colleagues the Minister for Employment and Learning and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, and indeed the Executive, in allowing me to bring a composite motion before the House for consideration. That in itself shows that my Department, along with DARD and DEL, has been working closely with the Cabinet Office and, indeed, Whitehall Departments to ensure that the Northern Ireland position is recognised and respected in the Westminster Deregulation Bill. <BR /> <BR />Regulatory reform is a key issue for me, the Department and Executive colleagues, and hopefully passing this motion will be an important step in helping to deal with that issue. I commend the motion to the House.”
“<BR /> <BR />There is a range of pieces of legislation that are no longer in practical use and which we are seeking to remove from the statute book. The first relates to the audit of charitable companies in the Companies Act 2006. We are also taking away the Newspaper Libel and Registration Act 1881, the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, the Milk (Cessation of Production) Act 1985, the Mining Industry Act 1920, the Milk (Cessation of Production) (Northern Ireland) Order 1985, the Sea Fisheries Act 1868, the Fisheries Act 1891 and the British Fishing Boats Act 1983. <BR /> <BR />As Members can see, this provides an opportunity to address a number of legislative issues in a timely and efficient manner, which I hope will contribute to reforming regulatory requirements.”
“<BR /> <BR />The provisions under consideration relate to correcting an anomaly in extending the exemption for Sikhs from wearing protective headgear, from construction sites to other less hazardous workplaces which are not currently covered by the exemption; simplifying regulation relating to auditors ceasing to hold office under the Companies Act 2006; correcting some drafting errors in the Companies Act 2006 relating to proxies; and the abolition of the Office of the Chief Executive of Skills Funding, providing for the relevant powers to be transferred to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, thereby ensuring that identified services can continue to be provided for Northern Ireland.”
“First, I apologise for my voice, which is leaving me. That may be good news for some in the House but it is not particularly good news for me. <BR /> <BR />We are here to look at the issue of extending some measures of the Westminster Deregulation Bill to Northern Ireland. I believe that those measures will help to ensure that legislation that is no longer of any practical use is removed from the statute book, simplify the regulatory environment and make things easier for business. They will also mean maintaining parity with the rest of the United Kingdom in those areas and avoiding any potential comparative disadvantage for businesses in Northern Ireland. The consent of the Assembly is therefore being sought for provisions relating to matters devolved to Northern Ireland.”
“The Member knows that he will always get brownie points when he mentions Fermanagh. This will become a self-fulfilling prophecy for the skills that will be available in particular areas, so people will look to those areas for those skills. I hope that we can work in partnership with local enterprise and council agencies so that we can put together a portfolio of the skills that are available in a particular area.”
“I suppose that that is not for me to answer; it is for somebody else. I hope that all colleagues in the Executive will take a very positive role in trying — assuming that the power is devolved to us — to debunk the theory that it is just about big business and banks. It is not; it is fundamentally about jobs, as far as I am concerned. It is about getting people across Northern Ireland into employment, so that argument should be put very strongly.”
“I do not have an actual timescale. However, all I will say to the Member, and I hope that it will reassure him, is that this is probably at the top of Invest Northern Ireland's property portfolio agenda at this time. I will go back to Invest and ask whether it has a timescale for resolving the issue, and I will write to the Member when I have that information.”
“This is turning into a bit of a story, as the Member will know. We very much want to have more industrial land in Omagh, and we put out a call for interested landowners to come forward. About five or six did so, but some of the land was not suitable, as the Member will appreciate. We are still hopeful that we will be able to have more industrial land in Omagh because we are aware that it is very much needed.”
“We absolutely will continue to try to find new markets. I often say that, when I started this job, I spent a lot of my time in the United States of America looking at the market there. I have spent quite a lot of time recently in markets that are further away, such as the Far East and the Middle East, as we are looking for new markets not just for the agri-sector but for all the sectors that we work very hard to support.”
“I certainly have had conversations on price volatility and the Russian ban, which I hope will be reviewed next year, as we were just starting to grow our agrifood sector exports into the Russian area. We will work alongside the sector and use all our good offices here, in Westminster and in Europe to help in whatever way we can.”
“I am also a little bit surprised, given that his company, Allstate, has been the recipient of a lot of money from Invest Northern Ireland. We have striven to work with Allstate; it has a tremendously positive influence not just in Belfast but in Strabane and Londonderry, and I hope that that relationship continues. However, as I say, I am disappointed with those comments.”
“I was disappointed to hear what Bro had to say. I do not think that that view is shared by the rest of his business colleagues and certainly not by the other commentator who was on the programme on which he made the comments.”
“I think that it will be a tremendous good news story for Northern Ireland. I very much hope that we get a positive announcement in the next few days.”
“We hope that there will be some indications, this week or next, on whether the power to devolve corporation tax will come to the Northern Ireland Assembly. I suppose that the real debate will begin then. For my part, I believe that it will bring huge benefits to Northern Ireland. I do not just say that; we have had independent work carried out on what it will mean for the economy. Unfortunately, some commentators seem to think that it will be of benefit just to large companies: that is not the case. It will help the whole economy in Northern Ireland. If we are going to have more jobs, people will have money to spend in our restaurants and shops, the level of our economy will rise, and smaller companies will be able to become involved in the supply chain for larger companies.”
“I certainly believe that, if anyone has been engaged in wrongdoing involving the expenses of this place, they should be brought before the appropriate authority — absolutely.”
“Thankfully, both of those who swore are no longer Members of the House, and I welcome that. We need to look to the great potential that we have. This week in particular, I hope that we do not lose our focus. If we get the announcement that we think we are going to get, I hope that we realise the potential for us all and will be positive about it.”
“I hope that it will help to market the area in a very progressive way. It means that they will be able to avail themselves of enhanced capital allowances, so it suits companies that are capital-intensive as opposed to job-intensive. I know that there is a view on the new tenant of the first enterprise zone in Northern Ireland. I wish them well and hope that, once this little barrier has been got over, we can move forward.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I had a useful meeting with him, the council and the University of Ulster to try to sort out the remaining difficulty about land. I understand that we are tantalisingly close to having the matter sorted out. We can then move forward with the enterprise zone for Coleraine.”
“The then Minister for Social Development and I undertook a mapping exercise to find out. Until then, we did not really have a register of the number of social enterprises in existence in Northern Ireland. The mapping exercise finished, I think, last year. We will know when we look at this year whether there has been an increase. Unfortunately, I cannot tell him over a period of time, but, now that the mapping exercise has been completed, we will be able to see whether we are in growth mode, as, I suspect, we are, or whether we are falling back. If he asks me next year, we might have a clearer indication.”
“I have long been a supporter of the social enterprise sector. Indeed, as I indicated, I had the opportunity to be at a very successful social enterprise initiative at the Larne Enterprise Development Company (LEDCOM) just recently. I welcome the opportunity to attend social enterprise initiatives. Another one that I was at recently related to C S Lewis. I am delighted to see the way in which that has been developed in east Belfast. The social enterprise model works well in a range of sectors, and we underestimate it at our peril. As we rebalance the Northern Ireland economy away from the public sector and towards the private sector, the social enterprise model is a very good one to get involved in.”
“I fundamentally do not agree with the Member about Scarva, for example. I have been to Scarva on every occasion. I have been there with visitors to promote Scarva. I have been to the house and done everything that I can to promote Scarva. It is a huge event and is completely under-reported by our media here — very disappointingly, I have to say. <BR /> <BR />I will continue to work. I have not had any requests from the Member to meet her in the Assembly on the subject of tourism. I look forward to her coming forward with requests to meet alongside tourist bodies. She will then realise that I have worked with a number of tourist bodies in Upper Bann.”
“As I said in response to Mr Agnew's question about the funding that has gone to his area, we have to have the applications come forward for support. I was pleased by the way in which Armagh city — I know that it is just outside her constituency — positioned itself for the event held last Saturday. I thought that that went very well. If people come forward with proposals, we will of course try to work with them, as we will with the nine destinations right across Northern Ireland.”
“We closely watch what is happening with milk, particularly given the ongoing price volatility. I actually had an opportunity to speak to Simon Coveney about that very issue a couple of weeks ago when we were at a conference on the future of the agrifood sector. I was a little disappointed because — I do not know whether it was that trade mission on which he signed up to that milk programme — I understand that some Northern Ireland companies expressed a desire to go on the trade mission and were not able to. That is something that we will follow up on. There is a good working relationship there. We are in collaboration on some occasions and in competition on other occasions, but we work closely to make sure that we know what is happening.”
“I cannot therefore give you a specific figure for overall funding, but we have worked and will continue to work with the agrifood companies right across Northern Ireland.”
“That is a difficult one because DARD will have particular routes through which it will want to draw down funding, including the rural development funding, which I understand has gone to the Commission for approval. We tend to support companies directly, such as in the Moy Park example I gave earlier or, indeed, we work with the overall group in terms of a marketing body, which is something that we are coming very close to making a decision on.”
“My officials have been working alongside those in Her Majesty's Treasury and HMRC for some time in preparation for the potential devolution of corporation tax to help shape how the regime could work in practice. <BR /> <BR />To inform future FDI strategy, my Department has already carried out research on our competitiveness in key sectors in order to prepare for low corporation tax. Invest Northern Ireland has also begun to look at how its sales proposition and existing business solutions might need to change alongside corporation tax. Work has been ongoing with the Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy to update estimates of the economic impact in advance of the decision. Initial results demonstrate that there is still a very strong economic case, both in terms of job creation and economic growth.”
“A better question to ask me — and I do not have the answer in front of me at the moment — may be this: "How many applications were made for funding in North Down by different companies?", because I or Invest Northern Ireland cannot just go in and make awards of grants and funding; they have to be applied for. So, if the Member would like me to investigate that point, I am certainly happy to do so.”
“I thank the Member for his warm invitation. I am looking forward to going back to North Down, and, when I do, he always has a full agenda packed in for me. Since its inception in April 2011 in North Down, the jobs fund has promoted 201 jobs, and 100 jobs have been created up to September 2014.”
“Between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2014, Invest Northern Ireland promoted 287 jobs in the North Down constituency area. For example, in 2011-12, Invest NI provided £1·5 million of support to Munster Simms Engineering, which will lead to the creation of 59 new jobs in the area. Other companies in the area that have received support from Invest NI include Mango Direct Marketing and Teleperformance.”
“I very much hope that I will have something to do with the tourism strategy moving forward given that I set the policy for tourism in Northern Ireland. As far as marketing Exploris outside Northern Ireland and, indeed, throughout Northern Ireland is concerned, I hope that the new, invigorated Exploris takes the opportunity to do just that and to make sure that it draws visitors down to that beautiful part of the world to have an experience. It is somewhere that I think has been oversold in the past and I hope will be sold very heavily in the future.”
“It is not an issue at all, because the Northern Ireland Tourist Board stands on its own two feet. It is there, according to the Belfast Agreement, to market Northern Ireland within the island of Ireland, and it will continue to do so. It also welcomes a lot of familiarisation trips to Northern Ireland and helps people to familiarise themselves with Northern Ireland. So, that has not come up as an issue at all, and I hope that he is not suggesting that political opponents will raise it as an issue, because they have not done so thus far.”
“I take the view that direct access anywhere into somewhere that is close to Northern Ireland is of benefit. Indeed, I said to Destination Fermanagh that it should interact with Knock airport to see if it could get some of those people up who flew into Knock airport, but we definitely need to have more direct access flights into Belfast so that people can make this their first stop. If they want to travel, that is very good. We encourage that and we would like them to do that, but we need to have more direct access into Northern Ireland.”
“To be honest, in the past, the relationship between the airport and Tourism Ireland has not been too good, but I hope that it has improved. I believe that it should have improved. I hope that Tourism Ireland will continue to market Belfast International as a hub, as well as Dublin, but we need to get more flights into Belfast International. That is the critical point. I hope that Tourism Ireland will work very hard alongside Invest Northern Ireland to make sure that that becomes a reality.”
“I would like to know what is going on behind me, but anyway. Tourism Ireland was set up under the framework of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and is jointly funded by the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government. Any review would, therefore, have to be undertaken within that context. However, as part of the approval process for Tourism Ireland’s three-year corporate plan and annual business plan, my officials review Tourism Ireland’s performance and ensure our key priorities are included.”