Chris Hazzard
South Down · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“The order I am bringing forward extends the power for my Department to pay a grant to NI Water in lieu of domestic water charges. The current powers to pay a grant will expire on 31 March 2017, and the Water and Sewerage Services Act 2016, which was passed by the Assembly in January last year, provided the power to extend that date by an…”
“I thank those Members who have commented on the motion this evening. Some general issues and several specific points have been raised. <BR /> <BR />I will turn first to Mr Farry's question: why, for the period of time?”
“I am delighted that the Alliance argument around water charges does not chime with more of the electorate and that the particular reason does not hold sway, because this Executive certainly are not for turning on this issue. There will be no water charges for domestic customers, and we have ensured that.”
“<BR /> <BR />The second point that Mr Farry raised was around governance issues and the way forward. They are all issues that I have given thought to and that, I have no doubt, would have featured in the mandate in the time ahead, but we are not at that point today. The Assembly is about to be dissolved.”
“However, the imminent dissolution of the Assembly means I have decided to bring the draft order here today. <BR /> <BR />The grant provides NI Water with the funding to enable it to maintain drinking water supplies and deliver sewerage services.”
“I believe that this order will reinforce the Executive's commitment not to bring in water charging for households, and I thank the Members for their support.”
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“I thank the Member for his intervention. I certainly do not have a costed paper for geothermal energy in front of me. That is what we are asking for. Let us move it to a space in which we can see the hard evidence and facts, so that we are able to build that sort of opportunity that, as an Assembly, we can all —”
“This is about looking decades into the future and growing a sustainable fuel supply that we can all tap into.”
“We are a small island that is surrounded by tidal power and we need to harness that power going forward. I used the word imagination, and we need to lock into that. <BR /> <BR />We learned that Sammy Wilson listens to 'The Stephen Nolan Show'. He also said that geothermal energy is somehow being presented as a panacea. I want to dispel that. No one is suggesting that geothermal energy, or any particular source of energy, will be a silver bullet in itself: it will not. We will need a mix. That is the way forward. <BR /> <BR />Mr Agnew talked about geothermal energy being clean and reliable. He compared it especially to fossil fuels and said that it is not running out. This is about a long-term vision, and the Assembly needs to look at it. We are not talking about this month, next year or even, for the most part, the next decade.”
“<BR /> <BR />Trevor Lunn said that we are moving in the right direction and that we need to deliver on energy costs and supply. He also said that it is an issue worthy of exploration. Again, I was slightly disappointed with Mr Frew's contention that the motion may have been sectarian. I do not think that there is anything about the motion today that is sectarian and I am sure that the Member would want to take that back. He went on to talk about the need to have a varied and good energy mix. <BR /> <BR />As I outlined, Mr Attwood talked about the need for a competitive advantage and the fear of losing space in a global market. That can be seen with the strength of Marine Scotland and what it is doing with tidal wave energy in Orkney. We need to embrace that in Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />Gordon Dunne said that energy was an important issue for everybody, and that renewable energy is becoming increasingly important but that we need to have sustainable growth. Fearghal McKinney talked about an integrated approach being needed to reduce over-reliance on fossil fuels. Sandra Overend questioned the timing of the motion, which I was slightly disappointed at. As I outlined at the start, there are very few issues that are more important than the future sustainability of the earth and of fuel poverty and our energy supply. It is a timely motion at any time of the year. She went on to say that there is a need to tackle those issues and outlined the problems of fuel poverty and tackling climate change.”
“This is exactly what needs to take place. <BR /> <BR />I will outline some of the points made in the debate today. Mr Flanagan talked about the need for a more green and clean energy mix to really start to explore the opportunities that we have. He gave a far-ranging historical background to the issue of geothermal energy and talked both of the dangers and the opportunities in energy consumption, but also outlined that DETI needs to provide structure and actively demonstrate support for a renewable energy mix. I suppose that that is at the crux of what we are saying here today: enough of the noting and acknowledging that there may be potential; let us see some structure and a legislative base on which to move forward.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention and indeed for his recent interest in Dublin City Council politics. The Member was unable to update the House as to what type of system this was. I am aware that this may involve the sea like the application at Larne, although it may be geothermal energy from the sea base, which is different from what most of us are referring to today. However, I will come back to that point later on. <BR /> <BR />We hear plenty about the need to rebalance our economy, which is right, but we also need to do the same with our energy mix. We need to do that in a sustainable way. The point that Alex Attwood made was very important as well. As a Member for South Down, I see at first hand the very imaginative approach taken in what has been done at Strangford lough with tidal wave energy.”
“I think that the Member for South Belfast has made it clear that, as an island, we need to have an all-Ireland approach to this. I ask the Minister to make sure that this issue is put on the agenda of the North/South Ministerial Council and work with her colleagues in the South to ensure that the issue is taken forward. <BR /> <BR />As has been outlined by various Members, Ireland has a productive mix of geological settings from the powerful seas around us to the high winds and the granite rock formations, such as the Mournes, that may hold great potential for such geothermal systems. It is only right that we start to examine and explore to see what potential that geothermal energy could have for us.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank my party colleague Phil Flanagan for bringing this timely motion to the House. I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on what is a very important issue. <BR /> <BR />We are discussing the need for a sustainable energy supply, the effects of fuel poverty and the negative effects of the destructive exploitation of the earth. I was fortunate enough — or unfortunate enough — to see at first hand in Brazil this summer the results of extensive and thorough logging and the effect that it is having on a precious rainforest habitat. It is only when you see the effects that humans can have on the earth that a light is shone on the issue. That is certainly what it did for me. <BR /> <BR />Where do we turn today with this motion?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for her answer. Will she provide an overview of how Sport Matters targets have helped to increase participation among the elderly, women and, indeed, the disabled?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. When does the Minister envisage a new Victims' Commissioner being appointed?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Can the Minister provide an update on the European Fisheries Fund (EFF)?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for his answer to date. Given that his Scottish counterpart and, indeed, their colleagues in the SNP, have negotiated quite extensive additional flexibilities within welfare protection in Scotland — in fact, Ivan Lewis has come out publicly today to say that the people of the North of Ireland deserve a bespoke welfare system — can the Minister outline what he is doing to gain such additional flexibilities for the people of the North who are so reliant on welfare?”
“Are the children who attend those classes getting the best they can from those classrooms? <BR /> <BR />I want to finish by addressing the notion that we would be losing the Collegiate; that, somehow, the Collegiate will disappear into the ether. This is absolutely not the case because the Collegiate would gain. The bright young minds at the Collegiate now would be challenged by more bright young minds, which can only be good for the educational interests of all the people in Fermanagh. <BR /> <BR />I ask all the parties to support the amendment.”
“No, I have heard enough from the other side. <BR /> <BR />Here is a chance to stand up for all the children in Fermanagh and put down plans that are in their best interests for years to come, and not to get behind what appears to be one particular Member's hobby horse and stand up for one particular school. <BR /> <BR />I want to turn now to the correspondence received from the principal, which was mentioned by Mrs Foster. I am sure that other Members want to speak about it, but I want to speak about the issue of duplication and replication of resources. In 2012, 20 subjects were accessed by just eight pupils at AS level and 22 subjects were accessed by eight pupils at A2 level. We need to ask ourselves whether that is the best use of educational resources.”
“The DUP needs to decide whether it is going to stand up and show real leadership on an issue.”
“No. We have heard enough from the other side. <BR /> <BR />The DUP's vision — this is an important point — will do nothing for tackling educational inequality and, indeed, underachievement in the Enniskillen and Fermanagh area. Recently, the Education Committee heard about the differentials in achievement between Protestant boys and Protestant girls, and everything else. What the DUP wants to do today is run away from problems like that. It is not prepared to tackle the causes. The DUP wants to talk about educational underachievement among boys. I am glad that the Member for North Belfast is here, because the Shankill is one of the areas where this is most pertinent. The DUP runs away from reform of the common funding formula, but that is the very same formula that has pumped millions into the Shankill, which we see the DUP welcome.”
“It thinks that it confuses the matter to raise it and to talk about other children in the education and library board area. Do the pupils at Devenish College not matter to the DUP?”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. I agree 100%. This is what area planing is all about. We need to get it into our heads that, when a decision is taken in one particular school, it has an impact on all the schools in the area. Time and time again, the DUP fails to bring that point to the forefront of its mind, so I thank the Member for raising it. <BR /> <BR />As a Member for South Down, I am not going to stand here and dictate to the people of Fermanagh what is the best way forward for their young people, but one thing is for sure, and that is that, whatever decision is made, it must be made in the interests of all the children. We must cherish all our children, and not simply a few. <BR /> <BR />So where is the mention of Devenish College in all this? The DUP runs away from it.”
“If you are looking for broad consensus and community support, you would think that you would go and talk to the very people who will be affected by a resolution. The DUP has failed to do that, but we should not be surprised that it has failed to do so. <BR /> <BR />It goes on to say:”
“Yet from what we have heard today and, indeed, from the correspondence that we have received, it is the DUP that appears to be running away from this notion of broad community consensus. <BR /> <BR />I just want to read from a piece of correspondence that Mrs Foster referred to. It is another piece of correspondence that we received on behalf of the boards of governors of Portora and Devenish College. It reads:”
“I have taken note of the point that has been raised. <BR /> <BR />Around consensus — this is what the DUP needs to take on board — when you talk about broad community support, it is about engaging with the broad community, not one particular school or one particular board of governors, and that is exactly where it has gone wrong on this. <BR /> <BR />I will come back to other correspondence, because no doubt the Member has obviously received the correspondence as well. The motion calls on the Minister to:”
“I thank the Minister for her intervention. What I would say is —”
“The DUP needs to answer a few questions here today, starting off with — no less important — this: who did the DUP consult in bringing this motion forward today? Is this simply a hobby horse for Mrs Foster? We keep being reminded when we look at the media that the Collegiate is her old school, as if, for some reason, that nugget of information helps the educational interests of the young people in Fermanagh going forward in the years ahead. It simply does not. That is what the DUP should be doing: examining and championing what is in the educational interests of all the young people in Fermanagh in the years ahead, not the narrow, institutional interests of a particular school or a particular board of governors.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I start by thanking the Business Office for accepting the amendment. Unlike the original motion, our amendment is inclusive of all the educational needs of the young people in Fermanagh, not merely a few. Indeed, it reflects the feelings of local people on the ground in Fermanagh who are somewhat disturbed that the interests of the few may marginalise those of the silent majority. That is exactly where the DUP is going wrong.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Can I ask the Minister to outline how Westminster cuts to the block grant have affected his ability to oversee a fit-for-purpose education budget and the educational opportunities of our young people?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for her reply. Can I take it from her response that she is willing to meet in the weeks ahead to discuss the needs of the master plan and, indeed, what advantages this may bring to the area?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for his answer. Given that at least 15 major reports since the 1957 Isles and Cuthbert report indicated that economic recovery will always be patchy in this state given our lack of control of our own economic destiny, will the Minister offer his support for the devolution of the necessary tools to allow us to carve out a sustainable and equitable economic recovery?”