Patsy McGlone
Mid Ulster · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“Limiting the power to dismiss charges involving the death of or serious physical harm to a vulnerable person will enhance the fairness and integrity of those criminal proceedings.”
“The SDLP welcomes the provisions for the long-overdue establishment of a statutory Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses of Crime. That is a significant step forward in the development of our justice system.”
“Putting the office on a statutory footing will ensure that the commissioner's role is legally recognised and accountable to the public and the justice system. The Minister outlined a number of the measures in the process of accountability.”
“OK. I thank my colleague — indeed, the Minister — for responding. It is, as the Minister said and my colleague highlighted, a sensitive area. People who are approached to give a reference should think long and hard about the implications of the references that they give: where they might wind up; the circumstances in which they give them;…”
“The SDLP welcomes the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill and the opportunity to debate it, alongside the Chairperson — or should I say, "Mr Amendment" — at its Second Stage.”
“I accept that the Minister's Department, as she has stated repeatedly, does not have the capacity or resources to develop those legislative provisions during this mandate.”
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“Many of the people who gave evidence to that Committee, including key stakeholders and potential business investors and the like, saw access to the European markets on mainland Europe as a key factor in their making a decision to invest here. Those are the important things. <BR /> <BR />We have also seen the consequences of people taking a two-way bet by getting a further passport. Indeed, I have noticed people from all backgrounds doing that. The biggest lie of the lot, however, was the one about the £350 million, some or all of which was to go to the health service. Already, two of the authors of that misleading part of the campaign, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, have backed off from it. People bought that lie. They had concerns and they bought that lie, and now it has turned out to be exactly that.”
“Sorry, but I have other comments to make. <BR /> <BR />That is why I see it as being important for stability, important as a social driver and important for cultural accommodation and diversity within our communities. That stability is crucial. The fact is that 440,707 people in Northern Ireland bought that. They saw the importance of stability. They saw the importance of the future and of buying into it. <BR /> <BR />There are a number of other facts that we need to solidify around the Chamber. As a direct consequence of Thursday's vote, the UK slipped into sixth place as an economy, we saw the run on the currencies, and we have heard about firms moving their location. On that point, I sat as Chair of the Enterprise Committee and took evidence on the important issue, as it was then, of corporation tax.”
“I thank the Member for making that comment. It is a crucial one. Members may not appreciate that, but that is the way that it is and the way that I see it. That is why, along with —”
“I feel that I have to reiterate for the benefit of some people why I bought into the European project. We have to clarify to ourselves why, in the first instance, it was set up. It is the world's largest international peace process. Fundamentally, that is what was at stake. As Europe was ravaged after two world wars, people and leaders saw the need to come together in the spirit of peace and reconciliation, and, ultimately, in the spirit of accommodation of difference. In the week that is in it, with the anniversary of the Somme, I do not see any jocularity in anybody thinking that a world war is something to make jokes about. I feel that the spirit — the true spirit — of the EU is as important today as it was on previous occasions since its foundation.”
“According to the media reports yesterday, there are limited amounts of available vaccine to eradicate or limit TB. Has the Minister made further inquiries about the amounts available and has the Department ruled out the possibility of a cull of badgers to deal with the prevalence of TB?”
“Will it address the licensing for certain locations where there will be under-18s, as that even leads to the very big anomaly for people attending church events?”
“I thank the Minister for his comments and wish him well in his new appointment. He and I have shared a number of Committees, and I am certain that he will bring dedication to the post; there is no doubt about that. It is well acknowledged by Hospitality Ulster that the food and hospitality sector sustains upwards of 60,000 jobs here in Northern Ireland. Does the paper that he has introduced address the anomalies that exist around the licensing hours on the Saturday after Good Friday and Easter Sunday, for example, and the anomaly that exists with regard to the situation —”
“I challenge the Executive and the Minister. Have they ducked these questions? Have they ducked addressing the hole that there is likely to be in the public finances? Have they ducked the challenges that face us consequently? <BR /> <BR />Those are the questions that I leave with the Assembly. We have been provided with some information here today. However, we need much more information to absorb the direction of the Executive. Have the Executive sat down and worked through the void that there inevitably will be post-23 June if the wrong decision is made? Those are key elements for our Executive, the Assembly and, more importantly, the people whom we represent.”
“Educational underachievement is present. The OECD international comparison study of last year demonstrated that, in the North, academic ability among 16- and 17-year-olds is among the lowest in the United Kingdom and that wealth generation options are relatively low due to the size of our private sector. Our private sector accounts for only one third of our total economic output. The Executive have previously failed even to propose the development of a manufacturing strategy to help address that. As a result, a heavy burden is being placed on the public sector — a public sector that the two-party Executive plan to cut. <BR />Our low-wage and low-skill economy is not best equipped to perform well and create prosperity, but those are the challenges facing us. Therefore, I come back to my original point.”
“What assessment will be made by the Economy Minister, or will he agree with an assessment by the Finance Minister? These are key parts of our way forward, as is trying to assess and accommodate their impact post-23 June. <BR /> <BR />The output of the Northern Ireland economy is estimated to be £33 billion per annum. Research shows that a Brexit could lead to a 3% fall, which is a £1 billion per annum effect on the Northern economy. Where is the two-party Executive's contingency plan for the impact of a Brexit, for which at least one of the parties is campaigning? <BR /> <BR />The PwC economic outlook report of 2015 stated that our local economy has been characterised as a job-creation economy rather than as an economy driven by productivity. That suggests that we have been able to create jobs despite productivity levels being low.”
“Under INTERREG, there is potential for another €240 million. We had projected targeting by the then Department of Enterprise of the drawdown on Horizon 2020 funding for research and development — a key element of our economy — to develop research and innovation to help bring such jobs to the North, drawing on the resources, wherewithal and specialist knowledge of other parts of the EU and working collaboratively to help our economy rise, help our skills rise, help our knowledge base and improve our attractiveness to other investors. <BR /> <BR />Furthermore, with that comes the potential to realise €40 million and €42 million respectively in match funding. Has any consideration been given to, or any assessment made at departmental level of, the potential impact of the loss of those funding streams? I have mentioned some of them.”
“Do the two-party Executive recognise the potential for further fiscal powers going to them? Do they recognise that, if there is failure to deliver on corporation tax, that will scupper the prospects of further fiscal powers going to the Executive? <BR /> <BR />In the previous Assembly debate on the 2016-17 Budget, it was asked by party colleagues of the then Enterprise Minister whether an assessment was being done on the drop in funds that a Brexit would bring about or on how a Brexit would impact on Budgets. I now ask the Finance Minister — I referred to this earlier — how it is likely to impact on Budgets. <BR /> <BR />From 2007 to 2013, we had investment here of £2·4 billion. In the 2014-2020 programme of EU funding, there is the potential to raise €229 million under one of the EU programmes.”
“No sustainable finances — what sustainable finances? — and no devolution of corporation tax. The Secretary of State went further:”
“On 8 June, the Secretary of State told the House of Commons:”
“That division will, once again, lead to a potential stalemate in the Executive as it has so often done before — the same old, tired stalemate that can lead to the deadlock with the same old, tired parties in this two-party Executive. However, we cannot risk the economy suffering as a result and our people suffering as a consequence. <BR /> <BR />The establishment of the new Department for the Economy, which I welcome in principle, was supposed to present an opportunity to deliver key economic development policies in a collaborative, cohesive and targeted manner. I trust and hope that the divisions that we see within Sinn Féin does not delay a key economic development policy and lead to damage to the prospect of devolution of further fiscal powers.”
“Whether that reboot is expected before or after he attempts to borrow an undisclosed sum from the Treasury is not entirely clear. What is clear is that the Finance Minister has reintroduced the uncertainty over corporation tax that has seen companies delay decisions on investment here. Those loose words risk sinking the economy. <BR /> <BR />The sustainability argument over corporation tax is of course a smokescreen to hide the division within Sinn Féin over a policy to which the deputy First Minister claimed to be fully committed. A commitment that was given on the eve of an election should have come with that significant health warning.”
“The supposed Fresh Start Agreement promised the devolution and reduction of corporation tax to attract foreign direct investment without investment in our people — a highly skilled and motivated workforce — which is a key element of attracting that FDI to the North. Whether that is through investment in childcare to help more women back into the workforce or in additional skills and the acquisition of those skills, this is key to the success of corporation tax. Indeed, stability is key to that, and the instability offered by Brexit would certainly not help with the potential successes of corporation tax. Not only that, but the Finance Minister has told the Committee for Finance that he wants to reboot the negotiations on corporation tax.”
“Support for working families, particularly for working mums and, indeed, for those who have been forced through necessity to leave work rather than pay often expensive childcare, is crucial if we are to help those working mums reach and elevate themselves through the glass ceiling that exists to their advancement in the workplace. That should be, I would hope, a key element of the Budget's outcomes and indeed its policy direction. <BR /> <BR />The British Government are bringing forward an apprenticeship levy. Where is the Executive's investment in apprentices? We had a notional nod in that direction today through the allocation of funding to FE colleges, but perhaps we need that to be expanded a bit more and coupled with investment in higher education.”
“We return to the Budget with little having changed from the debate on the Executive's expenditure proposals for 2016-17 in the previous Assembly. The SDLP could not support that Budget, and we cannot support this one. That Budget was characterised by being cobbled together by two parties intent on staying in power, and this one is simply about treading water while they work out how little detail they can get away with in their Programme for Government. <BR /> <BR />For its part, the Budget has little in the way of investment in people. For example, we had experience of the prior Executive's dabbling in childcare, a project that failed because of its structure, not its aim. Helping parents with young families to rejoin the workforce and improve their prospects through education and training is paramount.”
“Ba mhaith liom a fhiafraí den Aire cá mhéad den chaiteachas sna hearnálacha éagsúla, thar na tréimhsí áirithe, a thagann ón Aontas Eorpach. How much of the total amounts in all key spending areas is sourced from the EU?”
“— in R&D in 2014 and the manufacturing sector attracted £900 million in foreign direct investment between 2010 and 2014. There is clearly room for improvement. I support the motion as it stands.”
“<BR /> <BR />What is clear from the Oxford Economics report is that, despite the difficulties that I mentioned, the manufacturing sector outperforms every other part of the economy. It delivers 214,000 direct and supported jobs. That is a very positive message; it means one in four of all jobs in the economy. Eighty-five thousand people are directly employed in manufacturing. It is the largest single employment sector in my constituency of Mid Ulster. Manufacturing delivers a £9·9 billion total gross value added contribution to GDP, which is around 30% of the economy. Productivity, at 55,700, is 38% higher than Northern Ireland's average, with advanced manufacturing's contribution being 25% higher still than that. Manufacturing accounts for almost two thirds of all export sales, some £6 billion. Manufacturers invested £254 million —”
“In April this year, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Patricia King, called on the incoming Executive to put forward a comprehensive manufacturing strategy to tackle issues such as energy costs, skills development and support for investment, which have been referred to. In March this year, Manufacturing NI published a report by Oxford Economics on the economic contribution of manufacturing here and called on the Executive to raise ambitions and drive reindustrialisation of the economy. Just this week, Manufacturing NI and the Unite union once again joined together in support of the motion that we are debating today. I hope that serious support and deliberation will be given to it.”
“Workers' representatives and employers in the manufacturing sector have consistently called for a specific manufacturing strategy to be put in place by the Executive. They may differ on some of the details but they are united in seeking the development of a comprehensive Executive strategy to support and grow the manufacturing sector. <BR /> <BR />Unite has previously joined with the manufacturing employers' group, Manufacturing NI — I am sure that many of us have already dealt with both groups and worked with them closely in the past — to call on the Northern Ireland Executive to commit to a manufacturing strategy. In November last year, they called for urgent action to protect the manufacturing base and help create the conditions to allow manufacturers to grow.”
“Earlier, Mr Storey referred to his colleague on 'The Nolan Show' this morning who referred to the likes of Sweden, Norway, France and Switzerland in the context of the preferred option for relationships within these islands and indeed with the EU. It might be helpful if he could place those things in the proper context and factual record and bring the cogency of that argument up to date, rather than talking about how he wished things could be and not how they are. <BR /> <BR />However, getting back to the key element of the manufacturing strategy, the recently announced job losses at Seagate in Derry, Sirocco Engineering and Michelin, the closure of the JTI plant in Ballymena and the Bombardier statement of intent to reduce its workforce demonstrate the difficulties that the manufacturing sector is facing.”
“<BR /> <BR />The introduction of the current Executive's draft Programme for Government framework talks about finalising and agreeing the Programme for Government, the Budget, a refreshed economic strategy, a new investment strategy and a social strategy by the end of 2016. It does not talk about a manufacturing strategy. In fact, manufacturing is noticeable by its absence in the Executive's framework document whilst other sectors, such as tourism, get numerous mentions. This is a mistake. We have had reference to corporation tax, but key to its success or otherwise is of course stability. That stability includes our position within the EU.”
“The SDLP supports the motion and its objective. The Minister for the Economy should take the lead in developing a manufacturing strategy, in collaboration with his Executive colleagues. The relevance and importance of that is that it needs to be joined up in a multifaceted way. Economic development is indeed heavily reliant not only on the skills base but on the infrastructural base, which includes roads, water and, as already referred to, the network grid and, crucially, broadband and all that goes with the attendant communications network that is so frequently used now by businesses to help develop and promote their companies.”
“Mo bhuíochas leis an Aire chomh maith. Regarding treatments in what is referred to as the independent sector or, as we know it, the private sector, has the Minister had any evaluation done of the number of cases where, upon arrival for treatment in that sector, persons have been told that their procedure cannot go ahead due to inappropriate or inadequate screening of the patient having been done on what is loosely described as the NHS side? That appears to be a recurring issue now too.”
“Glacaim leis. Go raibh maith agat. Thank you very much. I accept.”
“It certainly does not provide that to small-scale developers. For that reason, we, in the SDLP, cannot support this SR legislation.”
“Large scale, as we see now, is being dealt with separately in a "lastminute.com" approach. Small scale is being dealt with separately, we hope, following the consultation — we hope. However, there is no certainty whatsoever for small scale about what the outcomes might be, given also, to be fair, the shabby way that DECC has dealt with it. It has been kicked down the alleyway. <BR /> <BR />There is no security or certainty for small scale. For that reason, I and the SDLP cannot support this. We recognise the first part that deals with large scale. It does bring certainty to them. It is probably not the sort of certainty that they would want. However, for the investment potential and projections of their business, it gives them the closure that they require for their financiers and investors.”
“It is a consultation of sorts. I am not sure what the aim of it is other than to consult and kick the tin down the alleyway; nor am I sure that it delivers any form of certainty. The mandate is ending, and the Minister cannot give assurances to the industry as to what way a Minister, whether him or someone else, can deliver on this or how DECC — it is not entirely without culpability in this — might change its position in the intervening period. We just do not know. <BR /> <BR />We have been presented with alleged legal advice that altered on a whim and moved with the wind. On the issue of decoupling, you often wonder whether you should seek alternative legal advice elsewhere that has substance and meaning and is legal and reliable for us, as MLAs, to depend on.”
“It was by close scrutiny by all members of the Committee, acting as a Committee should act here, that we sought to bring some closure to the issue. We were told on 30 June that legislation had to be rushed. Here we are, after a nine-month kind of gestation period, bringing some of it lastminute.com to the Assembly.”
“The Minister informed the Committee that the intention was to consult further on closure arrangements for new small-scale onshore wind. The SL1 was approved following a Division in the Committee. The statutory rule was considered by the Committee only this afternoon, just one week after the policy proposal came to the Committee as an SL1. By way of a Division, the Committee agreed to recommend that the Renewables Obligation Closure Order (NI) 2016 be approved by the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />I will now speak briefly in my capacity as an MLA. I have been about the Assembly since 2003, and I genuinely have never seen such poor, badly informed, badly presented and unreliable evidence as we received on this one. It moved with the wind and with whatever interpretation anyone sought to bring to bear on it.”
“<BR /> <BR />Had the Committee not intervened on 30 June, the Department would have been content to put in place legislation at a total estimated cost of up to £35 million per annum for the next 20 years for all electricity consumers. To put that in context, £35 million represents approximately five times the estimated savings per year to consumers here of having the North/South interconnector in place. <BR /> <BR />At its meeting last week on 8 March, the Committee heard oral evidence from departmental officials on the current policy proposals in the SL1 for the closure of renewables obligations to new large-scale onshore wind generation and additional large-scale generating facilities adding additional capacity from 1 April 2016.”
“which would mean that projects already in the system would be permitted to connect until March 2018. Under close Committee questioning, the Department had to concede that there was no basis for that statement as no evidence existed in any papers from DECC that that was the case. Eventually, on 8 September, the Department brought proposals to the Committee for the closure of the NIRO to all non-wind projects, thus allowing the certainty needed for those who required it urgently and allowing time for adequate consideration to be given to proposals for the closure of the NIRO to wind projects. That course of action had first been proposed by the Committee in June.”
“It later transpired that the legal advice was in the form of what was referred to as an informal request for information. I do not know whether that was a packet of cigarettes, a packet of matches or what it was, but it was what we were supposed to rely on. <BR /> <BR />The Department also informed the Committee on 9 July that there had been a fundamental change on the issue of costs as:”
“However, the Department stated that the legislation was about closing the NIRO to everyone rather than a piecemeal approach. For the record, we have three types of approach now — two anyway; potentially three. The following week, on 2 July, Committee members and I met the Minister and asked that he explore the possibility of separating the legislation to give certainty to those who needed it urgently and to give time to consider the costs and benefits of other options for consumers and developers in respect of onshore wind. We were told emphatically that that would not be possible. <BR /> <BR />On 9 July, the Department came to the Committee again. At that stage, officials informed the Committee that the Department had taken legal advice that outlined the reasons why decoupling the legislation would not — in fact, could not — be feasible.”
“<BR /> <BR />The original proposals, which deviated from GB proposals and allowed for the continuation of the NIRO for all onshore wind projects up to 2017, would, by the Department’s admission, have added up to £16 a year to bills for domestic consumers and up to an average of £30,000 a year to bills for average large-scale electricity consumers. The Department was unable to provide the Committee with any figures for savings or benefits to consumers that could accrue from having the legislation in place or for the cost associated with the administration of the scheme. The Department had conducted no consultation on the impact of the proposals for onshore wind on businesses or domestic consumers here. <BR /> <BR />The Committee suggested dealing with the two separate issues by way of separate legislation.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I thank the Minister. <BR /> <BR />When the Renewables Obligation Closure Order first came to the Committee on 30 June last year, it was a closure order for all technologies covered under the NIRO. The Committee was informed that the legislation had to be rushed through to provide certainty to investors in one particular energy-from-waste project. It was clear at that time that the Department had not fully considered the wider consequences of the proposed legislation and, in particular, the impact on consumers.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. In light of recent announcements emanating from GB, particularly on cuts to ESA and the personal independence payment, has any assessment or evaluation been carried out, or even any connection made with the Departments in GB, to establish the consequential budgetary and policy implications for welfare reform here in Northern Ireland?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. The key issue is that I have received numerous complaints about potholes and the increased damage done. I had a complaint fairly recently from a guy who sent me a photograph of the rim of his car, which had been very severely buckled. I do not have to have the information today, but could the Minister provide me with details in writing, at some stage, on whether there has been an increase in the number of claims for damage, as a consequence of potholes, in that particular area in mid-Ulster?”
“I offer my apologies for not being present for a question yesterday. It appears that the agenda moved much more rapidly than I had anticipated.”
“— where the shires would benefit much more than Northern Ireland.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Mo bhuíochas leis an Aire. I thank the Minister for his answer. I am not sure about his possibly ill-founded faith in the Tories to deliver enhancements to Northern Ireland. The only precedent we have is welfare reform, and that did not work out particularly well. Has his Department carried out any audit of the potential implications of Brexit, negative or otherwise, specifically for Northern Ireland? I think that faith in the Tories to deliver post Brexit to Northern Ireland is pretty much ill-founded, as I said, and grounded in a situation —”
“The Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment supports the Renewables Obligation (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 and recommends that it be affirmed by the Assembly.”
“These amendments make compliance with the sustainability criteria mandatory for generating stations of one megawatt or above using solid biomass and biogas; they tighten the greenhouse gas emissions targets for 2020 and 2025 and average greenhouse gas emissions across the year; and they make technical adjustments to the reporting requirements and sustainability criteria for solid biomass. <BR /> <BR />There are no additional costs to the consumer arising from these amendments. The requirement to provide information on the biomass used and a sustainability audit report will impose some administrative costs on generators using biomass. Biomass generators below 1 MW are not obliged to provide a sustainability report.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Committee considered the SL1 at its meeting on 12 January 2016 and was content with the policy proposals. There were no changes to policy when the statutory rule was submitted to the Committee on 26 January 2016. <BR /> <BR />The amendment order is being introduced in parallel with similar legislation for the two renewables obligations in the UK. The proposed rule will introduce amendments to the Northern Ireland renewables obligation in relation to the reporting requirements and sustainability criteria for stations using solid biomass and biogas feedstocks to generate electricity.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee was informed that all Departments with legislation that would be amended by the proposed order were informally consulted, as were the Northern Ireland Assembly and the NIO. All Departments have agreed to the proposed amendments to the legislation for which they are responsible. On that basis, the Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment recommends that the draft Debt Relief Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 (Consequential Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 be affirmed by the Assembly.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I thank the Minister. <BR /> <BR />The Committee considered the SL1 at its meeting on 30 June 2015 and was content with the policy proposals. There were no changes to those proposals when the statutory rule was submitted to the Committee on 2 February 2016. In the Committee's consideration of the policy proposals, it noted that the order will amend disqualification provisions in various primary and subordinate legislation that already provide for the disqualification of persons from office in the event of insolvency so as to extend those disqualifications to persons subject to debt relief orders and debt relief restrictions orders.”