Raymond McCartney
Foyle · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Comhghairdeas leis an Aire. I congratulate the Minister on what is, obviously, a very challenging portfolio. I welcome the statement. I welcome the speed with which you have met the unions and, hopefully, share your optimism that you have put on the table an offer that will see an end to the industrial action.”
“This is a classic case of, sometimes, a decision being made that, people think, is the right thing to do at one time that only pushes another challenge down the road. We need a commitment from the Minister to ensure that we have a mechanism in place to safeguard us against that.”
“The Minister has alluded to the fact that the Assembly is about to dissolve, and we will all go to the doors in the coming weeks. I commend the Minister. Certainly, when we go to the doors, many issues will be raised, and it will be good for us, as Assembly Members, to be able to say to people, "No water tax".”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as na freagraí sin. I thank the Minister for his answers. We talked about the cost of division, but I ask him to talk about the reputational damage to the Assembly that has come about as a result of some disgraceful decisions that were blatantly discriminatory, sectarian in the truest sense of the word and pa…”
“That aside, it is fair to say that, over a long number of years, the expansion of the campus at Magee has been very much part of the politics of the north-west; indeed, Stephen Farry, in fairness, talked about it.”
“The university, in presenting that, gave all the pluses around that and said clearly that one of the things, particularly at postgraduate entry in medical schools and in other courses, from experiences elsewhere, is the idea of what they call the 20:20 rule — people stay within 20 miles of where they were educated for 20 years.”
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“When we initially asked the question, the Bill was perhaps not as clear as we wanted it to be, in that it looked like this would be an internal competition only. However, I think that the officials, to their credit, said that there have been instances — and this would be one of them — in which there would be a wider, and what you might call an open, competition. <BR /> <BR />Obviously, I will listen to what the Minister says, but, at present, and if we get the assurances from the Minister —”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I will take the amendments in the two groups as they were presented by Tom Elliott. I think that all of us in the Committee raised the issue of the appointment of the director, and some of the points that Tom Elliott raised and which the Chair touched on were reflected across the Committee discussion.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an ráiteas sin. I thank the Minister for the statement, which I welcome. In particular, I welcome the ongoing work on cooperation and harmonisation. However, does the Minister intend to look some time in the future at legal highs? The recent legislation that was passed in the Oireachtas allows for legal highs to be dealt with more speedily and to be identified and prohibited as quickly as possible.”