Daithí McKay
North Antrim · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Will the First Minister give us a more detailed update on the civic advisory panel? Would she also agree that, as we face what is, undoubtedly, a political and economic abyss, it is more important than ever that we hear from civic voices in society as well as political leadership?”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. I recognise much of the work that is ongoing. Given the recent reported and alleged race crime in the Minister's constituency involving several members of the police, will she give us an assurance that a proper and fully independent investigation will be carried out?”
“<BR /> <BR />In recent years, it has become harder and harder to secure your vote. In that context, it does not make sense that support to secure the vote is withdrawn from those on the ground when they need it more than ever. I am sure that most people picked up anecdotes when canvassing in the recent election.”
“We should move forward with confidence and take on more powers to ensure that we protect local services and workers. <BR /> <BR />Look at the list of offices to be impacted: Ballymena, Banbridge, Omagh, Derry, Newtownabbey and Newtownards. If all those were to close, it would leave a huge gap in rural constituencies.”
“I thank the proposers of the motion for bringing it to the House. I am moving the amendment on behalf of Sinn Féin. <BR /> <BR />I think that all 108 Members received a letter from NIPSA concerning the action that has been taken. The letter also highlights the lack of accountability regarding local politicians.”
“I did so along with other MLAs from all the parties locally, so we are unanimously opposed to the decision there. But, we are all 108 locally elected politicians who are powerless to do anything about this. That is why we should see these small — I have to say they are small — but significant functions being transferred to Belfast.”
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“We need to find the most effective way of doing so. There has been much discussion today of environmental zones as opposed to limits. Ideally, we want 20 mph zones to ensure that you do not have people speeding through the area regardless of the speed limit, as the Member for East Antrim argued earlier. But the fact of the matter is that the limit itself does deter people from going over it; it is as simple as that. There will always be people who break the limits regardless of what it is, but setting the limit in law will affect people's behaviour, particularly drivers' behaviour. <BR /> <BR />The Minister talked of bringing about a cycling revolution. The revolution is not here yet, but this will certainly help it on its way. Making our roads significantly safer will make it safer for people, especially children, to cycle.”
“<BR /> <BR />According to the latest figures, 162 pedestrians and 42 cyclists were seriously injured on our roads in 2013. Seven pedestrians and four cyclists lost their lives. That is not good enough. A number of countries in Europe are looking at a zero tolerance approach. As much as humanly possible needs to be done to ensure that nobody loses their life on the roads. We are not there yet — far from it.”
“A young man was then involved in a car accident in which he lost his life. The threshold was then met. The works were carried out, and there have been no serious accidents there since. <BR /> <BR />I applaud the fantastic work of Roads Service officials in significantly reducing the numbers of people who have lost their life on our roads over the years. They do over and above what is necessary to reduce the risk on our roads. However, I have absolutely no sympathy for the argument that the speed limit in residential areas should not be reduced from 30 to 20 mph because there are no accident statistics. Fathers, mothers, grandparents — all those living in these areas — see the risk, and the risk is always there because the potential for human error is always there.”
“They also found that, after two years, the majority of people who were against the proposal had changed their views, and support for the scheme is now widespread in the city. The result of that is that the number and severity of road accidents have been reduced by some 25%. The evidence is overwhelming. <BR /> <BR />As has been mentioned, what has greatly frustrated me, as a public representative, about my work on road safety over the years is the thresholds that have to be met in order for works to be done. I remember when we were lobbying for safety barriers on a fast road outside a village in my constituency and beside the road were a number of trees. It was a heavily wooded area and, given the speeds of vehicles and the shape of the road, the risk was very clear. However, it did not meet the threshold in place.”
“The Grundy study, which was published in the British Medical Journal, found that a reduction to a 20 mph limit led to a 40% fall in casualties from collisions over a 20-year period until 2006. <BR /> <BR />Graz in Austria became the first European city to introduce a 30 kph limit in 1992, which was 23 years ago, and those limits cover approximately 80% of the city's road network. The main aims of the scheme were to improve road safety, reduce pollution and cut noise. The limit is in place on all residential roads, school zones and areas around hospitals, which equates to over 75% of the city's roads. Speed limits of 50 kph, which is 31 mph, remain on the through-roads through the city.”
“The number of car-related accidents on Newcastle's residential streets in England dropped by more than half in some areas of the city following the council's introduction of 20 mph speed limits. This is happening all over Europe and all over these islands, and we need to make sure that we are not left behind. <BR /> <BR />British Government research shows that the most effective way of saving lives is to slow traffic, and, in trial areas where speed has been cut to 20 mph, the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured fell by 50% and by 60% among child cyclists. A Norwegian study found that a 10% decrease in the average speed would result in a 37·8% reduction in people losing their lives.”
“In 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging local authorities across the European Union to introduce a 20 mph standard speed limit in residential areas. In Portsmouth, the 20 mph scheme has been well supported by local residents and appears to be achieving its primary objectives of reducing vehicle speeds and associated road casualties. Levels of pedestrian, cyclist and public transport usage have all increased there as a result. In London, as I said earlier, there are 400 20 mph zones, and those have reduced fatal and serious casualties by 46%. The number of people who lose their life and are injured reduced by 46%. Manchester City Council announced in 2012 that it will also introduce 20 mph limits. Liverpool also plans to impose 20 mph zones on 70% of its residential roads by 2016.”
“That was put down to enforcement, the ban on five-axle HGV trucks in the city centre and a huge increase in the volume of cyclists, which was down to the Dublin bike system. If the gardaí chief in Dublin says that it is enforceable in Dublin, I think that the PSNI should be equally capable of enforcing such a proposal in Belfast. Look elsewhere in the island and you will see that Cork county, Cork city, Clare and many other areas are introducing 30 kph zones.”
“This was introduced in the interests of road safety and to make the city centre more attractive to pedestrians and cyclists. The council now plans to extend this scheme beyond the city centre by introducing a default 20 mph or 30 kph speed limit to all residential areas in the city. <BR /> <BR />There were eight pedestrian fatalities in the Dublin city area between 2003 and 2007, and 224 pedestrians and 77 cyclists were injured. In September 2011, however, Dublin was reported to have the safest roads of any capital city in Europe. The gardaí chief superintendent Aidan Reid, head of the Dublin metropolitan area traffic corps, said that the 30 kph enforcement zone was a success.”
“I do not accept that we should not strive to prevent people from getting killed on roads because the police do not have enough resources. That is not a good enough reason to kill this Bill. If there is an issue of resources, we, as elected representatives, should strive to address that. <BR /> <BR />Injuries are mainly fatal if a pedestrian is hit by a vehicle that is travelling between 30 mph and 40 mph. Pedestrians who are hit at speeds below 30 mph receive mainly survivable injuries. At a traffic speed of 20 mph, the pedestrian survival rate is increased to 97%, and 20mph limits are fast becoming the norm in many parts of Europe. Dublin City Council was the first local authority in Ireland to introduce a 20 mph or 30 kph speed limit, which has been enforced since 2006.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Department for Transport's current guidance in England says that where average speeds are already around 24 mph on roads, introducing a 20 mph speed limit through signing alone is likely to lead to general compliance with the new speed limit. There will be enforcement. I will allow the Committee to delve into the issue of enforcement in greater detail. I mentioned this to a couple of Members yesterday when we were discussing the Bill: if the police are currently responsible for enforcing the speed limit, which is 30 mph today, on, say, five miles of road in a town, and the speed limit changes to 20 mph on that five miles of road tonight, the police would still have five miles of road on which to enforce the speed limit. The only difference is that they will have to adjust the numbers on their speed cameras.”
“Because they are so large, there is more opportunity for vehicles to speed up and do 30 mph and beyond in those estates. It would take many, many years for Transport NI to introduce all the deterrents that we would like to see in different parts of our constituencies: ramps, mini-roundabouts, etc. A 20 mph limit, in my view, is a deterrent in itself. Yes, there are questions about enforcement and other physical measures to deter, but who here in this House, if they saw a 20 mph limit, would think that they would have to break that limit? No one, I would hope. Even if there were zero enforcement measures, introducing a limit that says that 20 mph is the law will ensure that the average speed of drivers will fall.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. I did not mention Dunloy specifically; I was thinking of other examples. Certainly, we have all been at site meetings and haggled with Roads Service officials as to what the best solution is. There is a need for greater traffic calming, especially in the estates around places like Dunloy, Broughshane, Glenravel, Ballymena town and so on. <BR /> <BR />Like I say, the Bill that is before us today needs scrutiny. It needs to go to the Committee and be amended. I think that its proposer recognises that as well. We have to get this right. That is especially true in some of the super-sized residential estates that we now have, where there are hundreds of houses in a single estate, with many branches of avenues, closes and parks.”
“For example, there are road humps all the way through the likes of Ballinascreen and Draperstown, but when it comes to villages and towns in the area that I represent, there is fierce resistance to getting road humps down where they are needed.”
“One of the inconsistencies that angers me is the fact that it has always been easier to get traffic calming towards the west than it has been in the northern area.”
“Absolutely. The Committee has a great opportunity to delve into those issues in detail because the definition has to be got right. There has to be clarity, and there should not be any opportunity for this to be defined in such a way that the Main Street in Dungiven, for example, would come under a 20 mph zone. There will be, and should be, exceptions for main thoroughfares through towns and settlements. <BR /> <BR />When we talk of our cul-de-sacs and estates, I think of Bamford Park in my home village of Rasharkin where there has been a campaign to reduce the speed limit to 20 mph. I know the area well, and if you were driving at 30 mph and a child were to slip out between the parked cars, they would not stand a chance. That is not tenable; it needs to change. <BR /> <BR />We were talking about traffic calming earlier and Transport NI.”
“You can shout at the weans, as we say, all you like about not playing in the street, but they will do it anyway. When your back is turned, they will be out on the road kicking a ball about. Many people who have gardens have not had them fenced off to the road at all. So, it is not right that in cul-de-sacs and estates vehicles can legally drive at 30 mph. It is too great a speed limit and increases the risk of a child losing their life.”
“There are police costs, costs for healthcare, drugs, counselling, the Fire Service, insurance, the physical damage and the years of medical care that result from serious injuries. So, when you look at it like that, it is clear that the human cost and the financial cost are greater by not supporting the introduction of measures to reduce speed and to change how people behave on our roads. <BR /> <BR />The estimated benefit to London from casualty reductions in current 20 mph zones has a value of at least £20 million per year, according to the Assembly there. In our villages and towns, we have many young families of all shapes and sizes. As we know, many families live in homes with no gardens, and there is nowhere for children to play.”
“As public representatives, we all know of cases where people have died on our roads; we have all been to the wakes and the funerals again and again. In my view, there is an opportunity to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads. It will not deal with the huge problem of people losing their lives on our rural roads, but it will help to reduce the number of adults and children who are hit by cars, vans, buses and lorries in our villages, towns and cities. <BR /> <BR />The financial , as well as the personal, cost of road deaths is huge. There is a financial cost to the Bill, and the Member has already referred to that. Each death on our roads, in addition to the huge tragedy that it visits upon a family and a community, costs the economy some £1·7 million. That does not include the cost of the seriously injured.”
“It is a very good argument because it is proven. The proof has already been put on the Floor that, when speed limits are reduced, even without the environmental measures, the speed ramps and so on, average speeds come down. Therefore, the risks come down as well. We can argue about how much the risk reduces, but it does reduce, and it makes it less likely, to one degree or another, that a child will be hit in a residential area in Ballycastle, Antrim, Carrickfergus or elsewhere in our communities. <BR /> <BR />When I refer to the natural reaction of commuters and drivers, there is no immediate thought given to the safety of children in residential areas of reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on our roads.”
“The first thought that will come into the head of the majority of people and, dare I say, Members when it comes to 20 mph limits is that that is so slow or, "I could not drive that slow or my car will conk out". That is the kind of reaction that you are going to get. People think that 20 mph is such an inconvenience to their daily commute.”
“As Members said, there was resistance to the smoking ban, to seat belts being made mandatory and even to drink-driving legislation. Of course, all those things were introduced, and, within a couple of years, they became normal practice and acceptable in society. <BR /> <BR />This particular issue was raised with me two years ago by a constituent in Ballycastle concerning the speed of vehicles in Leyland Farm and Leyland Meadows in the town, and the Minister will be aware of this case. Philip Robinson's daughter Maebh was almost hit by a Volvo estate that was travelling at an excessive speed in this residential area of some 100 homes. He has written at length about the need for a 20 mph limit in built-up areas and he refers to the fact that we live in a driving culture where 30 mph is considered a minimum speed. He is absolutely right.”
“I certainly welcome the approach by the proposer of the Bill that he is open to compromise, and I hope that other parties are open to compromise on this particular issue because it is vital to our communities. It always comes up on the doors of constituents, whether in estates or in rural areas. This Bill is focused on 20 mph zones. It is about urban areas, villages, towns and cities, and I wonder whether there is capacity in this Bill to look at the issue of rural areas. Maybe that is something that we need to look at separately, but there is a problem of people losing their life in rural areas, and those lives are just as important as those of people in our towns and cities. Of course, this kind of proposal will meet resistance from many quarters.”
“The point about that is that the Bill that I brought to Second Stage was completely different from the Bill that came out the other end at Final Stage, but, at the end of the day, the policy objectives were still met.”
“I support the legislation before us, and I certainly support ensuring that it goes to Committee Stage. As someone who has brought a private Member's Bill to the House previously and is planning to do so again, I appreciate that a lot of the work goes into it. To the former Member and to Mr Ramsey, I say that it takes a lot of time, work and effort. Thanks also to the staff who are involved in trying to bring this legislation forward. A lot goes on behind the scenes that many in the public do not realise. A number of years ago, I tabled legislation on the carrier bag levy, and the Member for East Antrim opposed that as well. I am sure that he is delighted by its success.”
“The Minister mentioned the deficit. It has been quite clear from the Finance Committee's work that a number of witnesses from universities and other institutions are saying that we do not have enough financial information to know that these figures are accurate. You talk about the deficit being £9·6 billion, and different figures are bandied about. We cannot be assured that the figures are accurate, because we do not have the information in front of us. Other countries do things differently and have accurate information. There is no doubt that there is a deficit, but, unless you have the economic levers to generate more wealth for the society that we live in and set policy in our primary interest, you will not overturn that deficit. You are in a vicious cycle of a deficit that will not be overturned.”
“Will the Minister elaborate on what he means by "very, very soon"?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I welcome the work by the First Minister and deputy First Minister to attract investment, create employment and tap into the correct markets internationally. Will the First Minister provide us with an update on the work of the international relations working group?”
“We need to be able to challenge the Treasury better because the experience of recent negotiations, whether on corporation tax or what not, shows that the Treasury is just throwing figures at us to scare us. Until we have full transparency over that information, the Treasury will continually try to wipe our eye, so there is a challenge for the Assembly and Executive to be ambitious on economic powers and fiscal tools and to be more challenging in dealing with the Westminster Government and taking on the Treasury.”
“That information needs to be more transparent, the systems need to change and, until we do that and form a collective political front to call for that information to be made transparent, the Treasury will continually try to wipe our eye. That is not going to operate to our advantage and it is certainly not going to operate to the advantage of the people we represent. <BR /> <BR />We need to have a mature political conversation about that, because if we are going to represent the people who elected us, we need to have the information relating to their taxes and their fiscal and economic well-being.”
“The discussions and debates that we have had in the Finance and Personnel Committee have revealed that a lot of the information is not transparent. The reason for that is that the Treasury wants to have control. It will have control in any future negotiations about budgetary matters and it will always have the upper hand and advantage unless we call for further transparency in these matters. <BR /> <BR />In other countries across Europe, where there is a more federal set-up, all the information is transparent and everything is accountable. There is absolutely no reason why the people we represent should not be entitled to full fiscal information about where corporation tax receipts go and where income taxes go.”
“We need to see a change and, if it is continually going to be the case that we will have austerity thrust upon us by the Tories at Westminster, we need to take those powers and controls for ourselves. We need to be ambitious about adding to our own fiscal toolkit. <BR /> <BR />None of us want to be spongers here. A lot of MLAs like to celebrate being political spongers and the value of the Union and so forth, and then they complain when the Westminster Government make decisions against them that negatively impact on their constituents. We are the best people to represent the people in North Antrim, Fermanagh and South Tyrone, East Derry and North Belfast. We need to be more ambitious about having control over our Budget and having the information about where our taxes go to and come from.”
“It has too often been that case that, when Departments face pressures, it is rural services that are looked at first. Rural communities are seen as a soft touch and an easy place to make cuts. What happened in Ballycastle will ensure that the Health Minister will think twice before looking there again, but he has not given an assurance that the Dalriada Hospital is not still in the cross hairs of the Northern Trust or the Department for the 2015-16 financial year. He needs to give that assurance to the community in Ballycastle and on the north coast, and the same applies for the Causeway Hospital. <BR /> <BR />The Budget is the result of Westminster decisions and Tory policies that have been in place for a number of years now. The politics of austerity has not worked here, across the water or across most of Europe.”
“The Dalriada Hospital is a perfect example of what Transforming Your Care is all about. It is about care in the community and keeping patients and their families out of acute services. The Causeway Hospital is not without its problems either, given the number of serious adverse incidents (SAIs) that I have dealt with in recent times, but it is working well and its services are needed in that area. The Health Minister needs to give assurances, now that he has received such a significant uplift from the Executive, that those services along the north coast will be protected. He needs to ensure that any decisions coming from the Health Department are rural proofed. <BR /> <BR />I look forward to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development bringing forward her proposals for rural proofing.”
“Locally, we have been through the experience of the Save the Dal campaign against the proposed closure of Dalriada Hospital. That is what it was; it was certainly not a temporary closure by any means.”
“There, the profit margin is low, yet the rates valuation does not match that profit margin. The Department needs to find creative solutions to such anomalies. It is not an easy job by any means, but, in the time ahead, the Minister should outline how, particularly for small businesses, medium-sized businesses and those that have small profit margins, we can find a more equitable way forward to protect businesses and jobs. <BR /> <BR />The Department of Health has received a £200 million uplift as a result of the budgetary discussions. That money needs to go to the front line. The big challenge for the Health Minister is to ensure that he gets to grips with the waste in his Department and puts more money into front-line services.”
“What are his thoughts on how we address it? <BR /> <BR />The system is not perfect by any means. The Committee discussed how we might review non-domestic rates and the rates system to prevent anomalies being introduced, such as where businesses with small profit margins are seeing huge rates hikes that are putting their lights out. We need to do our best to ensure that that does not happen. More could be done to explore a more equitable way forward. If businesses are not viable, they are not viable, but there is a sense from the grass roots, from towns and from parts of our cities that there is an unfairness involved. Some examples, such as that of the petrol station forecourts, have been flagged up. There is also an issue with indoor go-karting facilities, which we raised a few months ago.”
“<BR /> <BR />A rates revaluation process was undertaken, which the Committee looked at and scrutinised. The revaluation is in the process of being rolled out. There is a lot of concern amongst different businesses about major adverse impacts in certain areas. My party colleague Phil Flanagan held a meeting on that in Enniskillen recently. He flagged up the example of some petrol station forecourts having seen a 70% increase in their rates overnight. Of course, in an ideal world, you would have revaluations all the time. That is not the case at the moment; the last revaluation was done over 10 years ago. That is why there are now radical differences in the valuations attached to non-domestic properties. Will the Minister, in his winding-up speech, bring us up to speed with the economic impact of the revaluation.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Crown Estate portfolio in Scotland will now go to Edinburgh. That is something that my party colleague Oliver McMullan has raised before, and he is bringing the matter to the House again. The Crown Estate here needs to be brought under the control of the Executive. The options are whether the Executive have a direct say over the revenues raised or whether those go to local councils. If it is a no-brainer in Edinburgh, I fail to see why we should not have control over the issue here, particularly for areas such as the glens. Those who live in coastal areas need to see a greater advantage coming from the Crown Estate. The best way in which to ensure that its value is put back into communities is to ensure that local representatives make the decisions about it.”
“I argue that this institution needs it more, because we are on an island, and the South has now abolished any tax associated with people coming to the island. We need, therefore, to address that disadvantage, and it is a matter of concern that the Executive do not yet have a collective approach. <BR /> <BR />We in Sinn Féin want to see air passenger duty devolved, and we want to see it abolished. Obviously, we do not want to pay for the cost, but we need to have that option. At the end of the day, if Westminster were to abolish APD tomorrow, that would be happy days, but the fact is that there is no indication that it will be abolished. In the meantime, if we are serious about our tourist industry and economic growth in that sector, we need to push for the transfer of the power in the shorter term.”
“There is a danger that this institution will be left standing still. <BR /> <BR />I was looking at last June's debate about APD and the air connectivity report that we were waiting for at the time from the Finance and Enterprise Ministers. I do not think that we have moved any further on APD, which remains, for me, a no-brainer. The current APD is damaging to tourism. If we maintain the position of waiting until Westminster addresses it, we could be waiting five or 10 years and missing out on economic opportunities, guaranteeing only that more tourists arrive in Dublin and fewer in Belfast and Derry. We want a level playing field across the island. We want more opportunities for our tourism sector, including bed and breakfasts, and for developing hotels in urban and rural parts of the North. Of course, Scotland is now to get APD.”
“On behalf of the Committee, I support the motion. <BR /> <BR />I will just add a few comments from a party perspective. It is clearly the case that devolution is evolving elsewhere. We look at the Smith commission and how different revenue streams will be added to the Scottish Budget. In Scotland, there is a proposal for more power over income tax and bands, air passenger duty (APD) and the Crown Estate. As the First Minister in Scotland said, they are going in the direction of Scottish home rule. There is a risk of this institution being left behind. Edinburgh and Cardiff are ambitious: they want to move forward; they want more powers; they want to demonstrate that they can do their job, deliver on economic well-being and job creation and better the lives of those they represent.”
“<BR /> <BR />Given the need for greater oversight and closer scrutiny of public expenditure, coupled with the recurrence of difficulties experienced by Committees — insufficient time and a lack of information prevent meaningful scrutiny — the Committee recommends that the proposed MOU on the Budget process be agreed between the Assembly and the Executive as a matter of urgency. In so doing, the Committee concurs with the Finance Minister that the draft MOU needs to reflect the lessons learned from the 2015-16 process. It would be helpful if the Minister could in his winding-up speech give an undertaking to the House that work will resume to finalise the MOU, thereby enabling us to reform the budgetary process with a view to maximising the value of our time spent in the Chamber and in Committees.”
“As the Finance and Personnel Committee stated, if genuine commitment is demonstrated and the MOU is operating effectively, there will be scope for further streamlining the end stages of the Budget process. The Minister, while confirming his support for the principles in the draft memorandum of understanding, considered that it would be appropriate to await the outcome of the 2015-16 Budget process to ensure that any lessons learned can also be reflected in the document.”
“In addition, the MOU will support the Executive in their role of managing public expenditure and help to maintain good working relationships between Departments and their Committees, as well as between Departments and Members. Indeed, a draft MOU prepared jointly by Committee staff and DFP officials was agreed by the Committee earlier this year and is still under consideration by the Minister before being brought to the Executive for approval. <BR /> <BR />If implemented, this MOU would help to address the fundamental weakness in our financial and budgetary process that I mentioned. In particular, it would help to front-end the Assembly's input to draft Budgets and afford scope to influence key issues in advance of future Budgets being agreed by the Executive.”
“That would establish a framework for improved cooperation between the Executive and the Assembly for budgetary matters and would facilitate Members and Committees in fulfilling their scrutiny and advice functions, which in turn will assist in overseeing the effective and efficient delivery of the Executive's strategic priorities.”
“Surely there would be more potential for added value from the Assembly and for Members and Committees to inform Ministers and exercise influence if the opportunity for scrutiny and debate was front-ended at a point in the budgetary process when Executive decisions have not yet been taken. We are all acutely aware of the changes proposed to the public sector, so surely the Assembly and the Executive should also be prepared to reform and improve their processes. <BR /> <BR />As the Finance and Personnel Committee has pointed out, a solution to many of the difficulties and flaws in the budgetary process can be found by the Assembly and the Executive agreeing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the Budget process.”
“Within the last five weeks, since the Committee's take-note debate on 12 January, we have had no fewer than four plenary debates on budgetary matters, each of which has some relationship to the 2015-16 Budget. Moreover, in the case of each of those debates, given the late stage of the process, statutory limitations and other factors, there is little scope for the Assembly to influence changes. <BR /> <BR />I believe that that raises a serious question as to whether the current process makes for effective and efficient use of our time in the Chamber. Is it a cost-effective approach to achieving input from the democratically elected institution?”
“In that regard, I encourage the other Statutory Committees to continue to monitor closely the financial forecasting and expenditure of their respective Departments for the remainder of this year and during the next financial year to ensure that underspend is minimised and that Departments maximise the impact from available resources. <BR /> <BR />I shall not rehearse or rehash the issues that were covered in the recent plenary debates on budgetary matters, including the provisions of the Bill. Instead, I wish to highlight a fundamental weakness in our financial and budgetary process that has become even more apparent in recent weeks and is relevant for the process for this and future Budget Bills.”
“<BR /> <BR />As I pointed out during last week's Supply resolution debate, the scale of the cumulative changes resulting from the normal reallocations through the monitoring rounds, combined with the in-year technical changes, will, in some cases, have resulted in significant differences between the opening and closing resource and capital allocations of Departments. The Committee welcomes the engagement with the Department on those issues during the quarterly monitoring rounds, and members will continue to prioritise that aspect of their work.”