Simon Hamilton
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I have emphasised to the Member and the House before, that, whilst I accept that those are not good enough — that is why we have been developing the plan — there are alternative technologies in place that can present opportunities for those who just cannot get acceptable speeds.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. There are some initiatives that I believe will help and act as a driver to improve broadband access. One such intervention is the broadband universal service obligation (USO), which is being taken forward by Her Majesty's Government.”
“I thank the Member for his question. However, he is conflating two issues. I wrote to his party leader, and indeed to all Assembly party leaders, before making the announcement that I did last week about wanting to publish the details of the businesses in receipt of the non-domestic RHI scheme. It was my intention to do that tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chancellor, in his autumn statement, made some more funding available for telecommunications, and my Department is studying that and seeking to avail itself of that to the fullest possible extent.”
“In addition, my Department is managing a contract for the delivery of the superfast rollout programme, which, by 31 December, will provide access to superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24 megabits per second to a further 38,000 premises, both business and residential, across Northern Ireland, including in the Newry and Armagh cons…”
“I signalled the intention to do this a few weeks ago. The Member and the House will know that inspections of all installations would have taken place over the 20-year lifetime of the RHI scheme.”
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“Their support and advice throughout has been greatly appreciated by my Department and the Department of Justice. <BR /> <BR />So, too, has the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, which has played such a pivotal role in getting the Bill to Final Stage. Under the stewardship of the Chairman, my friend and colleague Alastair Ross, its timely and focused scrutiny of such a large Bill within a compressed time frame means that we are now on the cusp of passing what is perhaps the most important social legislation to come before the Assembly in this mandate. Therefore, I want to take the opportunity to personally thank them, particularly the Chair and the Committee staff, for their efficient and diligent approach to the scrutiny of the Bill, as evidenced by the comprehensive report published at the end of the Committee Stage.”
“They can all take significant credit for the integrity of the Bill as introduced, which has now made it through to Final Stage with its core principles and underpinning reforms intact. It is only right, therefore, that I begin by placing on record my sincere thanks to them all. I imagine that I will not be alone in doing so today. <BR /> <BR />It is also important that I recognise the significant investment made by the Office of the Legislative Counsel in the preparation of the legislation. The complexity of the task was recognised by it from the beginning. The issues demanded innovative and flexible ways of working over an extended period. Without doubt, the robust and coherent legal framework underpinning the Bill is, in no small measure, attributable to the various counsel who worked on it.”
“I have great pleasure today in moving the Final Stage of the Bill. Born out of the Bamford review, it is fair to say that the Bill had a rather long journey to the Chamber. Turning the vision that Professor Bamford and his colleagues had into detailed policy proposals and then a workable legal framework, with no template to work from, was never going to be easy or quick. Careful analysis of often complex concepts was crucial to a successful outcome, and balanced judgements had to be made, all under the watchful eye of those involved in the Bamford review and the many stakeholders whose contribution has shaped the Bill from day one. I do not think that it is an exaggeration to say that, without their efforts and dedication, the Assembly would not have had the Bill to debate and scrutinise in this mandate.”
“<BR /> <BR />Whether friend or foe, all of us enter public service with the best interests of Northern Ireland at heart; we just have different visions on how that can be achieved. In the weeks ahead, the Democratic Unionist Party looks forward to taking our vision and our plan for a better future to the people of Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Speaker, this is your last day presiding over business in the Chamber. I had the pleasure of sitting under your chairmanship of the Finance Committee almost a decade ago, and I saw for myself your capacity to fairly yet firmly do your job. You brought that same style to the prestigious post of Speaker, and, on behalf of my party, I place on record our thanks to you for the way that you have impartially dealt with the business of the House and sensitively dealt with some difficult issues. I wish you well. <BR /> <BR />This item of business also allows us to pay tribute to those colleagues and even opponents who are not running for re-election. I offer my best wishes to everyone who is stepping down, particularly my party colleagues Stephen Moutray, Gregory Campbell and Peter Robinson.”
“If we are to keep Northern Ireland moving forward and capitalise on the progress that we have made, partnership will be required in this place. The Democratic Unionist Party firmly believes that, for all its imperfections, devolution remains in the best interests of Northern Ireland and its people. We must do the best we can to govern well in spite of those imperfections and not waste our time dreaming of an undeliverable utopia. There will always be differences, but is debate inside Stormont not infinitely better than division on our streets? <BR /> <BR />As events in east Belfast in recent days have illustrated, we know only too well that our society is still polluted with those who would drag us back to the dark days of the past. They cannot, and they will not, be allowed to succeed.”
“Difficult decisions by successive Finance Ministers have ensured that we still have the lowest household taxes in the United Kingdom. We have increased investment in health and social care by over £0·5 billion, and we have employed 1,200 more nurses and nearly 300 more consultants. We have created more jobs than at any time in Northern Ireland's history, with 40,000 new jobs promoted through foreign direct investment, business start-ups and local support. We have built new roads, new schools and new hospitals, and we have rebuilt town and city centres. Our schools still produce the best examination results in the United Kingdom. <BR /> <BR />I would not, for a single second, dream of standing here and suggesting that things are perfect, because they are not. We have done a lot, but there is much more to do.”
“In spite of our difficulties and in defiance of the doom merchants who wished to collapse Stormont, we came through our problems, and we are the stronger for it. <BR /> <BR />The Fresh Start Agreement reached in November was just that: an opportunity to begin again, to get our public finances back on an even keel and to resolve the issue of welfare reform. Welfare reform may have been the issue that threatened devolution most, but its resolution is a clear illustration of the benefits of devolution to Northern Ireland. A solution tailored to Northern Ireland's needs is always better than what direct rule would have produced. <BR /> <BR />There will be some who, for their own petty, party political reasons, will want to talk down devolution, but the evidence is clear: devolution has delivered for the people of Northern Ireland.”
“It is my pleasure to be able to stand in for my party leader, the First Minister, who is, of course, in the United States of America with the deputy First Minister this week doing what she does so well: working to attract jobs and investment to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I welcome this opportunity to briefly reflect on the Assembly term, which draws to an end this week. It is fair to say that the Assembly and the Executive have faced a range of challenges over the past five years. We began the term feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in living memory and the subsequent impact of austerity. We experienced difficulties in passing welfare reform legislation to such an extent that the very existence of the devolved institutions was in serious jeopardy.”
“I again thank the Chair of the Committee. As I mentioned previously, the Department of Finance and Personnel has instructed that the relevant primary legislation be amended to give effect to the required change via a statutory rule taken forward by each of the responsible authorities for the main pension schemes in Northern Ireland. As the responsible authority for the firefighters' pension scheme, I am complying with that instruction. The consequential amendments will provide protection to members of the firefighters' pension scheme after the abolition of contracting-out on 6 April. I ask Members to support the motion.”
“<BR /> <BR />The regulations have been subject to an equality screening exercise, and no equality issues were identified. The Health Committee agreed on 10 February that it was content with the draft regulations, and it is with its support that I bring these regulations before the House. If passed today, they will become effective from 6 April. I commend the draft regulations to the House.”
“Schedule 13 to the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, which was introduced in June 2015, now makes provision for the abolition of contracting out from 6 April this year by way of amendment to the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993. <BR /> <BR />The changes in the draft statutory rule are technical and ensure the continued protection of increases in guaranteed minimum pension benefits for members who were contracted out of the second state earnings related pension scheme. The draft regulations have been the subject of a targeted consultation that ran from 30 November to 18 December. There were no objections to the changes, as they are beneficial to members and the impact is similar to all other pension schemes that have contracted out, for example the Civil Service pension scheme and the teachers' pension scheme.”
“The regulations were introduced in April 2015 following instruction by the Department of Finance and Personnel, further to that by Her Majesty's Treasury, to amend the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993. Those regulations were affirmed without any issue. <BR /> <BR />However, during the drafting of that legislation, the Department of Finance and Personnel issued an instruction for the removal of a clause relating to the protection of increases in guaranteed minimum pensions after the abolition of contracting out, which, as I mentioned, had not yet been provided for in Northern Ireland legislation.”
“Again, I thank the Chair of the Committee and, indeed, the Committee as a whole for its scrutiny of the legislation. <BR /> <BR />Preventing young people from taking up tobacco is the single most effective way we can reduce smoking prevalence in the long term. The results of the young persons behaviour and attitudes survey 2013 show that we are making some progress on that, with smoking amongst 11- to 16-year-olds down to 5% from 8% in 2010. It is important that we continue to build on that success, and I believe that the implementation of measures in the Tobacco Retailers Act, including the introduction of fixed penalty notices, will assist in achieving that. I therefore commend the draft regulations to the Assembly.”
“Subject to affirmative resolution, the regulations will come into effect on 1 July. I therefore commend the draft regulations to the House.”
“<BR /> <BR />Singles are generally sold to those who cannot afford to buy a full packet of cigarettes, and those people are normally children. Therefore, retailers taking the decision to sell cigarettes in that way would be doing so knowing that the vast majority of those customers would not be of the legal age to purchase tobacco. A higher fixed penalty is being applied in the order to deter that practice. <BR /> <BR />A consultation was carried out on the draft regulations between July and September last year, and the majority of respondents agreed with the amounts proposed. Furthermore, at its meeting on 27 January, the Health Committee agreed that it was content for my Department to make the proposed regulations, and it is with its support that I am bringing these draft regulations before us today.”
“That is to take into account cases where tobacco has been sold to a child by a sales assistant, despite the owner or manager of the business having taken all reasonable steps to prevent such an occurrence. <BR /> <BR />A fine of £250 is a significant sum for an employee to pay. Where enforcement officers feel that a stronger penalty is suitable, they will retain the option of prosecuting the offender, who would then be liable for a fine of up to £5,000. Similarly, the maximum fine for proxy purchasing is £5,000, but we are proposing a fixed penalty of £250 for this offence. For the offence of selling cigarettes other than in their original pre-packaged state, and by that I mean retailers selling singles, we have taken the decision to apply a fixed penalty notice of £250, despite the maximum fine being only £1,000.”
“Secondly, they reduce the burden on the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service by reducing the number of prosecutions. It therefore follows that the amount of the fixed penalty notices applied must be at a level sufficient to deter people from committing the offence but not so high as to encourage offenders to aim for a more favourable outcome from a court hearing. <BR /> <BR />With a few exceptions, fixed penalty notices have been set at one tenth of the maximum fine that could be applied for the offence on summary conviction. The first exception relates to underage sales of tobacco from retail outlets. From 6 April the maximum fine for that offence will be £5,000. The fixed penalty notice, however, has been set at £250.”
“<BR /> <BR />Previously, the only tobacco-related offences that could be discharged by paying a fixed penalty notice were those relating to smoke-free legislation. The Tobacco Retailers Act allows for an authorised officer of a district council to issue a fixed penalty notice for a number of additional tobacco-related offences. The offences do not include those created in this Act but extend to those established in earlier legislation, such as selling tobacco to under-18s, either by retail or by vending machine. <BR /> <BR />The regulations for which I seek Members' endorsement outline the amounts of those fixed penalties. The advantages of introducing fixed penalty notices are twofold. In the first instance, they provide authorised officers with an additional enforcement tool.”
“<BR /> <BR />In summary, the Act requires all retailers of tobacco products to register; provides that retailers can be banned from selling tobacco for up to three years if they have committed three relevant offences in a five-year period; allows for an offence of proxy purchasing to be introduced; increases the maximum fine on summary conviction for underage sales to £5,000; and provides for the introduction of fixed penalty notices for a number of tobacco-related offences. <BR /> <BR />Three sets of regulations are required to enable the effective implementation of the Tobacco Retailers Act. The Tobacco Retailer (Fixed Penalty) (Amount) Regulations, which we are debating today, are the only set that requires the endorsement of the Assembly before they can be made.”
“Subject to Assembly approval, these regulations will outline the amount of fixed penalties to be applied for a number of tobacco-related offences, as set out in section 12 of the Tobacco Retailers Act (Northern Ireland) 2014. The aim of the Tobacco Retailers Act is to reduce smoking uptake by children and young people by making it more difficult for them to access tobacco products. The Act had a positive response from, and a smooth passage through, the Assembly, receiving Royal Assent on 25 March 2014.”
“I thank the Chair and, indeed, the Committee for their constructive and positive comments and for the scrutiny that they gave the regulations. <BR /> <BR />The Department of Finance and Personnel has instructed that the relevant primary legislation be amended to give effect to the required change via statutory rules, to be taken forward by each of the responsible authorities for the main pension schemes in Northern Ireland. As responsible authority for the HSC pension scheme, I am complying with that instruction. These consequential amendments will provide protection to members of the HSC pension scheme after the abolition of contracting-out on 6 April. I ask Members to support the motion.”
“<BR /> <BR />On 10 February 2016, the Health Committee agreed that it was content with the draft regulations, and it is with its support that I bring these draft regulations. Subject to affirmative resolution, the regulations will become effective from 6 April. I commend the draft regulations to the House.”
“<BR /> <BR />Schedule 13 to the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, introduced in June 2015, makes provision for the abolition of contracting out from 6 April 2016 by way of amendment to the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993. <BR /> <BR />The changes in the draft statutory rule are technical and ensure the continued protection of increases in guaranteed minimum pension benefits for members who were contracted out of the second state earnings-related pension scheme between 6 April 1978 and 5 April 1997. <BR /> <BR />The draft regulations before us have been the subject of a targeted consultation. The consultation ran from 26 October last year to 23 November, and no comments were received. The regulations have been subject to an equality screening exercise, and no equality issues were identified.”
“The Health Service Workers (Consequential Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 were introduced in March 2015 following instruction by the Department of Finance and Personnel and Her Majesty's Treasury to amend the Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993. Those regulations were affirmed without issue. <BR /> <BR />During the drafting of that legislation, the Department of Finance and Personnel instructed the removal of a clause relating to the protection of increases in guaranteed minimum pensions to happen after the abolition of contracting out, which had yet to be provided for in Northern Ireland legislation.”
“I think that there are very good and interesting models from around the globe of where social enterprises, third sector and, indeed, others have been able to step in and, on a sustainable basis, deal with some of the issues and problems that we are facing with domiciliary care in Northern Ireland.”
“There are some community and voluntary sector — third sector — organisations or social enterprises that are operating in that space of domiciliary care. The Member is right that, sometimes, those are in areas of Northern Ireland that are perhaps not as attractive to others to work and operate in. As the Member will recall, we have invested an additional £1·6 million in the domiciliary and residential nursing care sector, in what remains of this financial year. That will not solve all the problems that that sector faces, but we are, at least, putting in a boost and a help to deal with some of the problems that have appeared in different parts of our country. <BR /> <BR />I am happy to work with the third sector and others on innovative ideas.”
“<BR /> <BR />I visited Peninsula Healthy Living in Kircubbin the other day to launch a new innovation scheme for the third sector in Northern Ireland. That is out to consultation at the minute. Hopefully, it will be out for bids later in this financial year. That will allow community and voluntary sector organisations to bid for innovative schemes that will produce better health outcomes in their particular local community or right across the whole of Northern Ireland. It will be particularly focused on collaboration, early intervention, prevention and innovation more generally. That is a practical way in which we are trying to help that sector to do more and to do what it does very well, which is to deal with particular problems in local communities in a way that the system sometimes struggles to.”
“It is not often that a Member gets a second supplementary question. <BR /> <BR />In this job and in previous ones — even as Chair of a Committee — I have been a strong advocate for our third sector and for an increased role for it in assisting the public sector to do its job. I am sure that the Member and the whole House recognises that, even though we have a vast welfare state and a £5 billion NHS in Northern Ireland employing around 70,000 people, there are still areas that we struggle to reach and make an impact in. The community and voluntary sector can help us to do that. I am a big advocate and supporter of the ability of that sector to take away some of the pressure, although obviously it cannot do appointments or the treatments and so forth that GPs do.”
“The additional money that we have been getting over this Assembly term has been going into the front line. Importantly, it has been employing more doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.”
“I know that there are pressures on our staff; the statement that I made earlier in respect of the pay award is an acknowledgement of the pressures that they are facing. I am sure that it will be warmly welcomed by them. Over the last five years, Ministers in my Department, including me, have been investing the additional money that we have received in the front line to increase the number of staff in our system. It may surprise many to learn that the number of nurses, midwives, professional and technical staff, social services staff, medical and dental staff and ambulance staff has gone up by over 2,100 whole-time equivalents since the start of this Assembly term. Specifically, there are 1,191 more nurses, which is up 9%; 523 more allied health professionals, which is up 18%; and 275 more consultants, which is an increase of 21%.”
“If you were to listen to some in the media, you would be forgiven for believing that a lot of the additional investment that we are making is being frittered away on waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency. We have a proud record of increasing investment in day-to-day expenditure on the health service in Northern Ireland from around £4·3 billion at the start of this Assembly term to £4·8 billion at the end of it. That will increase by a further £130 million at the start of the next Assembly term. The bulk of that money has not gone on administration or bureaucracy; it has gone directly into the front line. <BR /> <BR />The Member asked specifically about what we have been doing to increase staffing.”
“I was at an event first thing this morning with Diabetes UK Northern Ireland. At that event, I announced two things: the publication for consultation of a new draft diabetes strategic framework, and a £1·7 million investment, £1 million of which comes from the new transformation fund that I announced last week, to help to kick-start some innovative work that will flow from that draft diabetes strategic framework. That will include investment to help pregnant women who have diabetes to address issues around foot care. It will also fund some structured diabetes education and the purchase of more insulin pumps.”
“I thank the Member for her question; it is an area that she has a keen interest in. We are all very used to saying that we have a particular problem with type 2 diabetes. When I talk about the health and social care system needing to become world-class to deal with the challenges that we face, many of those challenges are to do with a growing number of people in Northern Ireland who have to live with long-term conditions. It is frightening, in some respects, to learn that there are 3,000 new type 2 diabetes cases each and every year in Northern Ireland. That works out at about 10 people a day who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes all across our country. <BR /> <BR />We are investing about £1 million a day in tackling diabetes, but I am pleased that I have been able to make an announcement today.”
“We will spend the remainder of that money right up to the end of this financial year, and we will continue that momentum with the new £30 million that we are investing, which will see those numbers go down. Slowly but surely, we are getting to grips with waiting lists.”
“<BR /> <BR />That £70 million that we are investing will benefit 150,000 people, including many from the Member's constituency. I have had the pleasure of visiting the South West Acute Hospital, which is doing a tremendous job in difficult circumstances to eat into waiting lists, and we are starting to see the benefit of that investment. We publish the figures quarter by quarter, and the provisional February 2016 figures show an improvement that will be reflected in the Member's constituency too, where the number of outpatients waiting more than 18 weeks is down by 6%, the number of inpatients waiting more than 13 weeks is down by 3·5%, and the number of inpatients waiting more than 26 weeks for an appointment is down by 13%. That is the impact that part of the £40 million has made over a very short period.”
“Without wishing to rehearse the arguments that I made to Members on the opposite Benches about why we are in the position that we are in, we are in that position because of budgetary pressures and also the 14% increase in referrals where we have unacceptably long waiting lists. Were I to stand here before the Member and the House, saying that that is just the way it is and that we are not doing anything about it, he and others would be right and justified in criticising me. Once we resolved welfare reform, we got our Budget back on a stable footing. We have been addressing the problem, and I have made it a key priority in the big allocations that I have been making out of the monitoring rounds and the uplift that I received for next year's budget to tackle waiting times.”
“The Member will not believe that I was going to say £80 million.”
“I cannot remember precisely what the additional allocations were in the previous year, but I will be happy to get back to the Member. He will recall that, this year, our ability to get additional finance was hampered by the fact that there were issues with welfare reform. That meant that there was no June monitoring round and that the October monitoring round was postponed until November. My Department got close to £50 million in the November monitoring round, most, but not all, of which went to waiting lists. The £30 million that I announced this week is an allocation from the 2016-17 budget, which received a significant uplift of about £130 million, the biggest and best settlement of any Department in the entire Executive.”
“We need to learn, and we have learned, some of the lessons from previous consultations where, perhaps, such standards were not adhered to. I hope and trust that, in dealing with this issue, the Western Trust and the other trusts bear in mind the need to act sensitively when dealing with vulnerable adults.”
“I think that the trusts and others need to be very careful about how they engage when they are dealing with vulnerable adults or young people on whom some of the decisions will have ramifications, even if those ramifications are, on balance, positive.”
“I will come back to the Member on the specifics. I am sure that it has been taken into account that this issue relates to a rural population. I know that one of the measures that the trust was proposing, if it were to go through with these closures or reconfiguration, was to pay for the cost of transporting people to their nearest open centre. <BR /> <BR />The Member is absolutely right to say that the patient has to be at the centre of everything that we do and consider. We are trying to reform our health and social care system in Northern Ireland, not so that we can save money — although we have to make our system financially sustainable — but on the basis of trying to create better outcomes for patients and people right across our country.”
“No decisions have been taken, but I can assure the Member and, more importantly, the users of those services that no decision will be taken without the fullest consideration of the evidence placed before me.”
“Like some of the issues that we discussed earlier in respect of contingency measures for previous financial years, these are issues that the Western Trust has been examining. Sometimes there is an instinctive and understandable reaction to decisions to close or downgrade particular services. As I mentioned in response to Mr Kennedy earlier, it can sometimes cause distress when that is done without making the alternative clear or obvious. However, I do not think it is wrong to review the provision of any service to see whether it can be provided in a better way and with better outcomes for people. <BR /> <BR />The Western Trust submitted a proposal for reform to the Health and Social Care Board, and that has been forwarded to my Department in respect of the centres that the Member named.”
“So it is something that I am focused on, and there is a review, as I indicated, and I think there is a demand for a small specialist unit in Northern Ireland, which will deal with those problems, so that the issues that the Member raises do not happen again. I think the ongoing development of the new regional mother, baby and children's hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital presents the perfect opportunity to make that a reality.”
“I do. This is an area where our understanding of the extent of the issue is not as clear as it might be in lots of other areas. As the Member will know from his brief time on the Committee, this Department touches upon a huge number of areas. Historically, just as it is with the whole issue of mental health, there is not as much understanding as there might have been around, say, our physical health. This is one particular area of perinatal mental health where our understanding is getting better, but I accept that we have fallen behind others. I welcome and appreciate the work done by people like Lindsay Robinson to highlight this issue and the effect it has on real people in Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />RQIA will carry out a review of perinatal mental health services in 2016-17, and the recommendations from that review will inform the future development of this service.”
“The Health and Social Care Board has developed outline proposals for the future development of specialist perinatal mental health services in line with NICE guidance CG192, which was endorsed in Northern Ireland in 2015. These proposals include specialist community-based services and a regional mother-and-baby unit. The estimated cost of developing these specialist services is £1·9 million. My Department's detailed financial planning process for 2016-17 is ongoing and will include consideration of a wide range of developments. The funding requirements for the development of specialist perinatal mental health services will be considered alongside a wide range of competing priorities.”
“An integrated perinatal mental healthcare pathway was published by the Public Health Agency in 2012 and is being updated at present. It provides regional guidance for all healthcare professions who come into contact with pregnant women to ensure that any mental health problems are identified earlier and that women are directed to the appropriate mental health services. For example, midwives can decide on the appropriate care for women who disclose previous mental health problems.”
“We are trying to reform our system, but we are trying to deal with issues on the front line by investing that additional £70 million. I want to see that investment continuing, and I want the momentum that we have started continuing into the next year.”