Joe Byrne
West Tyrone · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for giving way. When we talk about priorities, will she accept that, given the importance that the two Governments put on the A5 western transport corridor at St Andrews, and given that the Irish Government have put €50 million on account for two years, that is, 2014-15 and 2015-16, evidence now has to be demonstrated…”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Will the Member accept that we are talking about the north-west of Ireland, which is Donegal, Derry and Tyrone, and that, given that the two Governments made this a priority in the St Andrews Agreement, the time has come for real delivery?”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Does the Minister recognise that it is very important for the farming community in the counties of Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh that we have post-mortems carried out on animals, be they cattle, sheep, pigs or hens?”
“I thank the Minister for tackling the issue. What can the UK Government or this regional Government do to protect the interests of consumers and those who have purchased such vehicles and are concerned about the environment and about the miles per gallon performance of the vehicles?”
“I welcome what the Minister has done in lobbying Brussels directly, but, given that the French have managed to provide extra co-opted funding along with their aid package from Brussels, can the Minister indicate whether her Department, through DEFRA, can give any extra assistance to farmers who have availed themselves of what is, so far,…”
“I rise to support Mr McElduff in bringing forward the Adjournment debate on Carrickmore. Carrickmore, of course, means "the big rock", and it is a place of strong community spirit and strong individuals who have overcome many an adversity in the past.”
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“I thank the Minister for her answer. Given that rugby is a fantastic field sport played on an all-Ireland basis and that Kingspan/Ravenhill in Ulster, Thomond Park in Limerick, the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and the Sportsground in Galway are all dedicated to rugby, does the Minister accept that Ireland now has the infrastructure to make a real bid for the World Cup? What can she do with her counterpart in the Republic to try to advance that case with the rugby authorities?”
“I would like more time to go through all the issues that different Members have raised, but there were a number of common themes. There is a genuine concern among all Members about roads maintenance going forward. We will have to examine how it can be addressed in a better way to make sure that our road users, who are paying a lot of taxes, are not ripped off any more.”
“I accept the sentiments of what you were saying, Minister, but the reality is that you said that there were some things that you could cut because of the long-term financial implications involved. You said that DFP landed you with this difficulty in June and that there was no time to properly examine or scrutinise the situation. That was the same for all Departments. I recognise that and sympathise with the Minister in that regard but it goes back to the budgetary process. <BR /> <BR />Many Members took part in the debate, and there were some common themes, including the welfare issue being kicked around once again. There is genuine concern among all Members about street lighting, footpaths, grass cutting, the repair of roads and smaller capital schemes that are crucial for the overall state and condition of our infrastructure.”
“The Minister said, or at least I understood him to say, that the process he was —”
“<BR /> <BR />It is a fact that road safety issues and road fatalities are intertwined with the economic competitiveness and efficiency of this region. If we go back to a situation where we add to an £800 million roads maintenance backlog, it will be a disaster for the future. I accept that Mr Kennedy has said that he has analysed critically his Department's spending. He says that the cuts that he had signalled in July were inevitable and that they were the soft-touch cuts that were more amenable to immediate decision-making.”
“I thank Mr Clarke for his comments, but all I can say to him is that we are propping up nobody. We are standing up for the public at large. I do not want the welfare issue to be flogged to death. For the past three or four weeks, it has been flogged to death, and it is not the real issue. The real issue is the overall budgetary process, the budgetary allocations and the budget going forward, which begs the question about this regional economy: do we want to have an economically viable, sustainable economy into the future? Those are the real issues that we will have to start examining going forward. The reality is that there will be cuts in the Budget from the Treasury. We have heard that. Until we make this region more economically sustainable, these are the sorts of problems we are going to face.”
“Mr McCarthy referred to the fact that there was a road death involving a Bangor man over the weekend, and Mr Ó hOisín referred to an M2 accident yesterday. Let us be clear: before the last general election, I had more representation from people about potholes and damage to cars and wheels than on any other issue. Thankfully, the potholes have largely been solved over the past three or four years with the monitoring round moneys, and I commend the Minister for prioritising that road maintenance work that has been done.”
“The point, Mr Beggs, is this: it is reinforcing the budgetary process and the allocation of moneys. As a public representative in a rural area of West Tyrone, where people greatly rely on road transport because we do not have one mile of railway, I know that people feel very angry that they are paying all that duty and taxation relating to their car, lorry or van, but they are getting very little in return. <BR /> <BR />We also feel that there is such a lack of balance in the Department for Regional Development's expenditure on roads. We feel very annoyed about that. We feel that the A5 road has been sacrificed. However, the A8 was a priority, and there was no problem about EU directives. These are the real issues that affect people. <BR /> <BR />Road deaths are an apparent and real issue for many people.”
“So, the question is this: why is the road user who is paying tax being so handicapped in relation to the quality and condition of the roads?”
“I thank the Member for his statement. It reinforces what I said earlier about the confusion that I also have about the Minister and his party's position on this issue. However, as I said, maybe not everything is fully apparent to us. It is obvious, however, that the budgetary process is at the heart of the problem. Look, the reality is this: people drive cars. When they buy a car, they pay car tax, VAT and excise duties. Our motorists paid £927 million in fuel duty between 2011 and 2012, providing 18% — that is, £76 — more revenue per person annually than the UK average. That is what we have for a very rural environment. Motorists have, quite simply, been ripped off. The average car tax is £250 per annum. The average road tax for a 40-foot lorry is £1,200 per annum.”
“That is the reason why this party has, for so long, advocated a year-by-year Budget assessment re-evaluation, to make sure that there is more effective public expenditure on the issues that matter to people.”
“The underfunding of structural maintenance will have severe consequences for the sustainability and safety of our roads, with knock-on effects on our economic competitiveness. It is an essential area that simply cannot afford to be insufficiently funded in the way that it has been. <BR /> <BR />Many Members who spoke referred to the fact that roads maintenance has largely been funded from monitoring rounds for the last three or four years. It is welcome that some attempt has been made to tackle the backlog in road maintenance, but, unfortunately, that has been done via the monitoring round process. That raises this question: why do we continue with the monitoring round process and the funding of budgets like the DRD budget for roads in such a way? There has to be a fundamental review of that.”
“I thank all 10 Members who have partaken in the debate, and I thank the Minister for being here. I ask this question: why is the Minister opposed to the motion, given that we are trying to be helpful to him and the Department? Maybe there are certain intricacies in there that are more difficult to understand than is apparent. <BR /> <BR />We brought the motion to the House because, with the onset of the winter that may lie ahead, there is serious concern among the public about what might happen to the condition of roads. People are concerned about whether there will be gritting or lack of maintenance of the roads and, as a result, increased road deaths. As the winter months approach, we face the life-threatening neglect of our road infrastructure.”
“Does the Minister accept that the Líofa project has been very successful for people involved in promoting the Irish language, and are there plans to extend it, given that there is a growing participation among groups?”
“Will the deputy First Minister accept that, after 14 years of discussions, the DRD gave the green light to the Minister of the Environment to proceed? Surely, we are in a process in which the Assembly and the Executive have to demonstrate collective political responsibility.”
“I thank Mr Poots for giving way. Would he accept that it is virtually impossible to run a family-owned private business in parts of Belfast in the pub trade, the fuel business or in amusement arcades? We have the abuse of an official mechanism known as the national charities registry. Fronts for paramilitaries on both sides have become legitimised and a blind eye is being turned to that. We want the NCA to be effective in that regard as well as on the other issues and to have real accountability.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Will she state whether there is a unit in the Department that is actively dealing with that issue to make sure that we do not incur any further fines, given the tight budgetary situation?”
“I thank the Minister for her answers thus far and her commitment to rural proofing. Will she state what concrete proposals her Department has made in the last year to embed rural proofing and what is being done across other Departments to make sure that rural proofing becomes a reality?”
“I welcome the fact that the Minister has progressed the enhanced hospital in Omagh. Will serious consideration be given to the capacity and expertise on mental health that has been built up in the past in the Omagh area? Will that form part of the consideration process before a final decision is made?”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Does he accept that the monitoring round process is pertinent only to Northern Ireland? It does not happen anywhere else in the UK. Is it good to fund mainstream projects, such as roads maintenance, through a monitoring round process?”
“I thank the First Minister for his answer. Will he outline whether there is a lack of functionality in the structures, or is there a lack of a professional relationship between the two office holders in OFMDFM? Is there a problem in relation to those relationships in how decisions are made at the highest level of the Executive?”
“There needs to be more discussion in Enniskillen on the matter in order to gain broader community support for the final proposals, whatever they will be.”
“<BR /> <BR />The governors and parents of the Collegiate School feel that the issue of a new Devenish College is being used by the Department as a weapon in this debate. It is obvious that there is a lack of broad community consensus and support between all the existing school communities in the Enniskillen controlled sector on this matter. That is regrettable. I recognise Mr Elliott's pointing out that this debate has gone on for 10 years, but it might take another few years to get the outcome right. <BR /> <BR />The motion is a blunt instrument at this time, but the principal of the Collegiate is very sincere and dedicated to her school's community. The proposed amendment is regarded as complicating the issue because it invokes the question of the Devenish College.”
“<BR /> <BR />Last April, I met the principal of the Collegiate school, some governors and some parent representatives, and they certainly felt aggrieved about that. The Collegiate community certainly feels aggrieved that it is being shoehorned into a new co-educational college incorporating the Collegiate and Portora schools. Both of those schools have a very proud education history and legacy going back 100-plus years. The proposed co-educational voluntary grammar school on a split site has generated tensions between the respective school communities in Enniskillen. Area-based planning on education is a difficult exercise at any time in any community; it is certainly so here.”
“Like Mr Storey, I want to mention the bus accident outside Drumquin this morning and, hopefully, all the children will make a full recovery. <BR /> <BR />As a Tyrone man, I am hesitant about getting involved in a debate regarding schools in Fermanagh, but I feel that I have an obligation, as a former teacher, to address the issue. This is a hot education issue in Enniskillen, and there are competing views about the Western Board's development proposals for the reorganisation of secondary schools in the controlled voluntary grammar sector in Fermanagh. There would appear to be different views around the nature and the quality of the local area consultation that we conducted prior to the development proposals being finalised.”
“I thank the Minister for the statement. Can the Minister state what implications there are for the budget of the agency going forward in relation to its activities? Secondly, can the Minister enlighten us on whether it is her intention to broaden the spectrum of opinion on the board so that more of the fishermen who fish with rods or anglers are represented on it?”
“Does the Minister agree that DARD needs to drive this centrally on behalf of the farming community? Does she also agree that, in the current situation, many beef farmers are caught in limbo and need relief now to address the issue?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Will he state whether there will be any resource implications for the Department in implementing the plan?”
“I thank the Minister for his answers thus far. Given that the Minister has talked about the road maintenance cuts given the budgetary position, can he give an assurance that the two counties that have no railways — Tyrone and Fermanagh — will not be more adversely affected by the cutbacks in the current road maintenance budget?”