Gregory Campbell
East Londonderry · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I begin my contribution by thanking all the staff in this Assembly and in previous Assemblies, whom I found to be extremely courteous, diligent and helpful at all times. <BR /> <BR />I spent yesterday morning in the Senate Chamber at an event for victims, and I sat beside one of our youngest councillors in Northern Ireland.”
“We took the right decisions when it would have been easier to take the wrong ones, and, for that, we make no apology. For our stance, our statements and our comments since then, we make no apology whatsoever — none. <BR /> <BR />Over the last five years, people yearned for delivery, which has begun under the guidance of the DUP.”
“The Minister referred to the £6·7 billion that would be required over 30 years. He, obviously, had an exceptionally difficult task when determining whether an increase would be due in Housing Executive rents.”
“If a large sporting arena is close to a residential development, it is paramount that the organisers of the events liaise closely with residents, if there is a formal residents' structure in the area, to make sure that access to and departure from an event are done promptly and in a manner that does not give rise to concerns among residen…”
“The 9.00 pm threshold, which has been alluded to several times, was the subject of some scrutiny by the Committee, particularly in respect of the games — quite a few games — at the Kingspan Stadium that commence around 7.00 pm or 7.30 pm and therefore run close to the 9.00 pm threshold.”
“I will start where the Chair left off and append my congratulations to Carl Frampton. It was certainly clear on Saturday night that the Ulster boys were making all the noise everywhere they went. We wish him every success for the future.”
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“I begin by apologising for the lateness of my arrival today, the reason for which can be found on the Order Paper under question 10 to the Department for Employment and Learning. It indicates a jobs fair, which I helped to announce in Limavady at 10.00 am this morning. However, I will not go down that route. <BR /> <BR />I want to concentrate the majority of my remarks on the amendment proposed by Mr Allister. It concentrates of course on the Equality Commission. Members and the general public will be aware that the Equality Commission has been remiss in carrying out its tasks for a number of years. There are a number of questions, one of which is this: why should politicians have to negotiate with, expose in the glare of publicity or meet the Equality Commission to get it to do its job properly?”
“Given, then, that the deputy First Minister is tremendously encouraged and optimistic — he mentioned the HIU — is he now in a somewhat different position from the one he was in a couple of years ago, when he said that he could not outline what he had been engaged in in the past: the murder and the attempted murder of dozens if not scores of innocent civilians and members of the security forces? He said then that to do so would destabilise the institutions. Does he now feel confident enough to do so without threatening stability?”
“I thank my honourable friend for that intervention. That is precisely the problem that the Minister now faces when he takes a decision such as he does. There is no justification for it. He cannot make a tenable argument for his proposition. Therefore, as such, he needs to reconsider it. I support our amendment.”
“Yes, I will give way if I have a few seconds.”
“However, we do know what the demand is, that is the key point, and it does not reach the threshold requirement. I note that Mr Ó hOisín tells us that it is his alma mater, but St Patrick's, Maghera, has made its position very clear. They are not anti-Irish language. They are not embarking on a campaign to oppose the Irish language in schools because of the stream that they have there, yet they have expressed grave reservations about the Minister's decision. So, if people oppose the ministerial advisory group, the educationalists and St Patrick's, what is it about the proposal that they are trying to say is acceptable, when all the evidence appears to point in the opposite direction? I support the proposal —”
“I took a precise note of what the Member said, and it was:”
“How far would you like to have the catchment area in order to try to make any school sustainable, when other schools with much smaller catchment areas are struggling to remain open? <BR /> <BR />Mr Lunn, the Alliance Member, said that we do not know what the demand will be for Irish-language schools, but we know what the demand is. That is the key factor. We know what the demand is, and it is below the threshold required.”
“That is about the one appropriate and beneficial thing that I got from that intervention. That controlled school is, of course, not the same as the other 99% of controlled schools. The issue is that there is a significant underachievement in the numbers required to establish a particular school. Mr Kinahan alluded to the ministerial advisory group's decision and advice, which the Minister appears to have ignored. It appears that educationalists, whether they are board educationalists or educationalists on the advisory group, are not convinced by the arguments. <BR /> <BR />I heard Mr Ó hOisín on the radio this morning claim that the catchment area for the school in Dungiven could even include Londonderry; he did not quite call it that but that is what he meant. That is almost 20 miles away.”
“If we had a controlled school with an intake barely in double figures, the Minister would have made a decision, and it would not have been this decision. I have had parents of children at maintained schools in the Dungiven area tell me that they fear for the future of the school that they want to send their child to.”
“This is about the prospect of a school being established with a threshold of an intake that is well below that which is required for other schools. People can dress it up; I heard the Alliance Party try to dress it up. Others can dress it up any way they like, but that is the reality.”
“This issue is not simply about the Irish language. We have in the House, in the past, discussed the Irish language, and I am sure that we will in the future. I and many others will have things to say about it. Some people will like them, and some people will not. That is the way life is.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does that mean that, when the jobs announcements that I am told are in the pipeline are made in the very near future, he will issue an unequivocal welcome?”
“We need to promote the north-west, whether that be Coleraine, Limavady, Londonderry, Strabane or Omagh, on a proactive basis by lobbying Invest NI, rather than lambasting it, and trying to ensure that we bring the progress that is ultimately required to the community in an area of Northern Ireland that constitutes probably 40% of the land base and about 30% of the population.”
“The short answer is that I do not know, but I am glad that the honourable Member mentioned Ballykelly because I was coming to that. I thought that we had cross-party support for the relocation of DARD jobs to Ballykelly, but I noticed at the weekend that the Ulster Unionist Party had indicated that it wanted to put a halt to that decentralisation process. I hope that the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists will clarify that and say that they are 100% in favour of proceeding to relocate DARD headquarters. Between 500 and 800 much-needed jobs would go to an area that has seen a massive amount of private-sector disinvestment, particularly through Seagate and one or two others.”
“Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Just over two years ago, I went to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, and, as a result of my efforts and the efforts of a lot of others, a range of people from Invest NI were brought to the Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart and the City Hotel in Londonderry, where they actively targeted inward investors. I was at both events. I am sure that Mr Dallat was at one or both of them as well. We need to see more of that.”
“We should press with DRD that the airport at Londonderry and the port and harbour can be supported as tangible infrastructural elements that can help to bring progress and revive the economy in the north-west. Mr Ramsey alluded to the lack of job announcements. The indications I am getting are that, in the next few days, there will be more job announcements, just as there were in the past couple of months. We all want to work towards seeing massive job announcements.”
“There is a balanced approach: sometimes, people in the north-west have a chip on each shoulder. That means that they are very balanced. You wonder why people think that. What is presented sometimes as cogent argument actually ends up being a whinge list of what has not been done and is not being done. <BR /> <BR />The motion usefully refers to the A5 and A6. Of course, had it not been for the legal case against the A5, we would have been some significant way down the road to hundreds of millions of pounds' worth of physical infrastructural investment in the west and north-west of Northern Ireland. Of course, the A6 would be several hundred millions as well. Hopefully, they can be brought forward as quickly as possible. <BR /> <BR />Other issues have not been mentioned.”
“This is a timely motion, although some parts of the wording could be improved on. There were references to pedantry earlier, so I will not be so pedantic as to ask what the SDLP meant by "suffered decades of neglect". Let us try to look forward. The amendment from Sinn Féin appears to imply a deliberate lack of decentralisation and engagement by Invest NI, which we do not support. However, in terms of the overall issue of trying to ensure that the infrastructure in the north-west is built up and improved, we are certainly at one. <BR /> <BR />I speak as somebody who was born and bred and has lived all his life in Londonderry. It appears at times that we, collectively, always like to complain. Pat Ramsey was close to putting his finger on it when he talked about the balanced approach.”
“Clearly, the Minister will be in a position very shortly to make his announcement on forthcoming capital projects, including the Northern Regional College. If and when he gets to that point shortly, will he be able to utilise the services of disability specialist advisers on the location, roads infrastructure and accessibility of any new structure?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Given what he has said, it appears that there will still be significant challenges across a range of Departments. Specifically, in relation to Agriculture and Rural Development, will the Finance Minister confirm that the procedure for the relocation of the DARD headquarters will be able to proceed on schedule, which, up until a few weeks ago, you, Deputy Speaker, and others were fully in support of?”
“Obviously, things are pretty difficult in many sections of the agriculture community. Can she identify which sectors are most likely to be able to benefit from the scheme when it is announced?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer and for his interest in the issue. He will be aware, of course, that there is a very real prospect of the Open coming to Portrush as early as 2019. Will he outline what plans his Department has in preparation for what will undoubtedly be a momentous event?”
“The Minister will be well aware, as are the rest of us, that the Welfare Reform Bill is now proceeding with no additional resources being brought to bear from Westminster, which Sinn Féin said it would never do. However, now that it is being done, will the Minister give us an outline, even in approximate terms, about the cost to his Department and to taxpayers for the non-implementation of welfare reform to date?”
“For example, just over a year ago when the Education Minister in this Chamber inaccurately quoted me about implementing power sharing, I accurately rectified the matter, and I am happy to do so again today. When Gerry Adams, on his departure from this Chamber, he, again, inaccurately referred to some comments that I allegedly had made, and I had to rectify the position there again. <BR /> <BR />This party stands for progress; we stand to try to ensure that we will make progress now and in the future. If Sinn Féin or the incoming Speaker, if he is elected, were to step out of line, we would condemn them. Of course, we now wait to see if all the necessary tests between now and the next Assembly election are passed.”
“But then, when they reneged on that, with things such as the murder parade in Castlederg, we told them that they were wrong, condemned them and said that there would be repercussions. Again, on welfare reform, when we told them that we had an agreement in private that they would implement welfare reform and they reneged on it, we said that there would be repercussions. Thankfully, they have now moved from that position: from saying that they would not implement welfare reform, they are now implementing it. So, again, we acknowledge when they do the right thing, and we condemn them when they do the wrong thing. Today, we acknowledge in word and in deed when they have done the right thing. <BR /> <BR />It is important that people be quoted accurately in this Chamber today and in the future.”
“The position of Speaker is a very important one, and I think that some factual accuracy should be put on the record. If every unionist MLA in the Chamber today were to vote for the only unionist candidate in the field, he would still not be elected. <BR /> <BR />In the past, when Sinn Féin have made wrong decisions and carried out wrong actions as part of the republican movement, we in this party have attacked and condemned them, and rightly so. That was, is and remains our stance. We did it consistently when others walked away, and we will do it today and in the future. When they did the right thing, we acknowledged that they had done the right thing. <BR /> <BR />For example, in support for the police and the rule of law, we acknowledged that, after many years of denying and usurping that, at long last they had done the right thing.”
“The deputy First Minister mentioned that child protection was discussed in Armagh. Can he indicate whether there was any discussion regarding sexual abuse of children in the past and the relocation of those who were responsible for that abuse from Northern Ireland to the Republic courtesy of the paramilitary organisation that he used to belong to?”
“The Minister mentioned fuel laundering and fuel smuggling. He will be aware, as my honourable friend mentioned, of the lack of arrests in relation to these issues. At the next NSMC meeting, will he ensure that the police here in Northern Ireland and the guards in the Irish Republic are aware of the public concern about plants being uncovered but nobody behind them ever being brought before the courts?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I know that it was just in passing, but he said that Ministers say that they cannot direct investment, and then he said that he did not necessarily agree with that. Is he suggesting that Ministers should take the power to direct inward investors as to where they should go?”
“Hopefully, the Minister is right and there will be a positive response tomorrow. Assuming that there is, and, within 24 hours, we know the position, will the Minister's officials, post-legislation at Westminster, begin the very diligent process with the Treasury of rolling out the positive response?”
“Will the Minister, in his capacity as Minister of Personnel, outline the protection offered to temporary civil servants when they come before a Committee for an inquiry, which Mr Brimstone has done not once, not twice, not three times but four times — and is due to come for a fifth time to answer questions, when others have declined to come — from constant badgering from people who cannot face up to the truth?”
“The Minister would not outline the bodies that he will specify in the Bill, but will he undertake to look at the number of terms that councillors can serve consecutively on outside bodies, which I know has been a matter of some concern over a number of years?”
“There has to be complete unanimity and, hopefully, there will be. We need to try to work over the next few years to provide the Minister with the resources to do the job not just for the north-west but for the entirety of Northern Ireland.”
“That is good to know. I will try to utilise that. If I interject with the odd bit of humour, hopefully it will be recognised as such and people will not take exception and write letters of complaint. More about that anon. <BR /> <BR />We have to get down to how we will provide the Minister with the resources. We can all get up and complain; we can all say that we need this and that we have been disadvantaged in the past; but the bottom line is that the Regional Development Minister needs the resources to provide this. <BR /> <BR />People mentioned the A5. The A5, had it not been for a legal case, would have meant hundreds of millions of pounds being spent on infrastructure in the west and north-west of Northern Ireland. That was not the fault of the Minister or the Executive; that was an entirely different issue.”
“We need to ensure today that there is unanimity across the House, that we all speak with one voice —”
“The answer that I normally give him is "Yes, you can, Minister". There is a difficulty in getting the resources. <BR /> <BR />I was born and bred in Londonderry, and I have represented the north-west all of my adult life, so I am an absolutely passionate believer in and supporter of building the links not just to the north-west but from it. We need to get people to come and go and to build the necessary infrastructure. This will be an essential part of that. But, the Minister has a major difficulty. He was criticised when we were talking about the rail network. I joined in the criticism, but, hopefully, it was constructive criticism. We got over that hump, and we got the development of the railway. We are now at another difficulty that needs to be overcome, and the Minister will have our support in doing that.”
“The glens of Antrim. That is maybe pushing the north-west a wee bit. <BR /> <BR />There is a huge volume of traffic. Hundreds of thousands of visitors go to each of those tourist attractions. We are at one in saying that this road, particularly the Moneynick and the Dungiven to Londonderry sections, needs to be dualled. I may be the first, but I am sure I will not be the last to speak up for the Minister in this context, in that he has an exceptionally difficult task. We ask him to make bricks, and, of course, he says, "That is a great idea, but, please, can I have the straw?". I am sure he will say to me and others, as he frequently does, "Can I depend on your support with the Minister of Finance?". He normally does that, and I will be disappointed if he does not do so on this occasion.”
“I did not quite get that, but I take it he was including another one.”
“That is in the whole of Northern Ireland, which includes the Titanic centre and all the other fantastic attractions that we have across the Province.”
“Thank you, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. More often than the press gives us credit for, we rise to be, I hope, unanimous about what we want to see. While the mover of the motion had difficulty in spelling Londonderry, I will have no such difficulty. <BR /> <BR />This is about more than just Londonderry or the north-west. It is a connectivity issue, to use an in word. I put a question to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment a couple of weeks ago, and I got a reply yesterday. It was about the most frequented visitor attractions in Northern Ireland. Four were in the north-west: one was the city walls; another was the Giant's Causeway, which is just about in the north-west, depending on how you define it — we will certainly claim it; and the others were the Roe Valley Country Park and the Peace Bridge.”
“It is good to hear that all the Ministers got on so well and were able to speak in a language that everybody could understand. <BR /> <BR />The Minister mentioned the e-summit and the youth employment statistics. Was any comparison made between how we in Northern Ireland compare with the other BIC Administrations when it comes to young people applying for employment in Departments?”
“In supporting the concept of the creation of a body in the style of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), does the Commission member agree that those issues that have not been dealt with yet and were mentioned in the programme need to be rooted out for the future, but that it would strengthen everyone's hand if a publicly funded body like the BBC were equally open and transparent about the wages, salaries, overheads and expenses that it incurs as the rest of us are?”
“I thank the Minister for that useful and helpful information. Will she outline just once again for the House and the wider community the tangible benefits that will flow from companies that may want to take advantage of locating in the enterprise zone?”
“The Minister just mentioned Horizon 2020. Can she outline how firms and individuals who believe they may qualify could qualify for it and how they could take advantage of such a significant possible investment?”
“The Minister will be aware that the premises in which the staff in the Coleraine campus operate are not good. I was in them recently. Will he endeavour to come to that conclusion in order that the staff there can deliver a state-of-the-art service for the entire community on the Causeway Coast?”
“When deploying the resources from the ESF, will the Minister ensure that young people, not only those not in education or training, who live in hard-to-reach areas are particularly targeted? They appear, by and large, to have been missed by many of the schemes in the past.”
“On a point of order, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. Can you inform the House whether, to your knowledge, the deputy First Minister and leader of Sinn Féin in this place has given any indication to your office that he will come before the Assembly to explain, clarify or apologise — or all three — for the remarks made by the overall leader of Sinn Féin and former Member of this House, Gerry Adams, last night in Enniskillen, when he talked about breaking people in my community?”
“On the contribution that has had to be made from the public purse to the development of the Ballykelly site, will she now ensure, along with OFMDFM, that swift progress is made to try to utilise best the rest of the site?”
“I know that the Minister was initially somewhat lukewarm about the move to the site, but it is always a welcome development when a politician does the right thing. In doing the right thing, you should always keep doing the right thing, whether there are threats, online abuse or anything else. Keep doing the right thing. That is what I intend to do.”
“Can the Minister confirm that the administrative arrangements with each of the health trusts, under which hospitals that occasionally receive prisoners operate, are identical in every respect?”