Declan McAleer
West Tyrone · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“The regulations are designed to strengthen and complement the existing framework governing the welfare of animals at the time of killing. They build upon EU regulation 1099/2009 and the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2014, ensuring that the North maintains high standards of animal welfare.”
“Inspectors are granted clear powers to enforce the regulations, including the ability to enter premises, carry out inspections and, where necessary, seize evidence to ensure compliance. Enforcement notices may also be issued where breaches are identified, with appropriate mechanisms in place for appeal.”
“<BR /> <BR />From a resource point of view, which is another key debate, and looking at the practicalities of the Bill, we must not create a situation in which councils will be expected to take on significant new responsibilities, incur substantial costs and manage increased workloads without the necessary resources.”
“I will follow on from the key points made by my colleague Aoife Finnegan MLA. First, I record our appreciation of the Committee staff, including Janice and Glenda, for the work that they did. I also thank the Bill Office for its assistance during our scrutiny of the Bill.”
“We support the ambition of the Bill — we made that clear at First Stage and at Committee Stage, and we have made it clear today — to give councils stronger powers to intervene. However, the stronger powers must be accompanied by a framework that is properly resourced, legally robust and workable.”
“There are three council areas in our West Tyrone constituency, for instance. <BR /> <BR />We heard a lot from NILGA and received correspondence from SOLACE about the costs and the fear that costs could not be recovered. If legal challenges were brought to councils about notices that were made, it would be costly to the ratepayer.”
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Every one of 1,560 lines we hold for Declan McAleer, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 30 of 32.
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I regret not being in the Chamber earlier to hear the maiden speech of Andrew Allen.”
“Go raibh maith agat; I thank the Acting First Minister for her answer. Does the situation highlight the need for a racial equality strategy to be put in place?”
“Will the Minister elaborate on the DARD headquarters and NI Water developments? Go raibh maith agat.”
“I thank Members for coming here today for this important motion and I look forward to hearing their contributions.”
“<BR /> <BR />In conclusion, there is a great deal of consensus among rural interest groups that the current system does not accurately measure poverty and deprivation in rural areas. At the very least, unlike in urban areas, rural deprivation — I spoke about a couple of these key issues during my opening speech — is not concentrated in any particular area; it is very widely dispersed. The proximity to services domain has a very low weighting, and that affects the overall MDM score.”
“As for some of the other stakeholder organisations that we routinely meet at the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development, and as MLAs, the Rural Community Network and the Rural Development Council strongly feel that urban areas are socially segregated, whereas, in rural areas, deprivation exists amongst relative affluence, and there must be a change in the current measures to ensure that they capture the extent of rural deprivation. Their fear is that that distortion can impact on Government policies and spending in rural areas. Indeed, when Mr Trutz Haase came to a seminar recently, he referred to what he termed the prevalence of opportunity deprivation in rural areas being caused by lack of access to centres of decision, key services and career opportunities.”
“The Ulster Farmers' Union made that point very clear when it addressed the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development during the inquiry. It said that it would like to see a method that will pinpoint deprivation in rural areas and that, unlike urban areas, which are more socially segregated, people of all socio-economic backgrounds live side by side in rural areas. <BR /> <BR />To use its own words, it said that:”
“Obviously, that will have implications for anti-poverty initiatives. Rural organisations are very concerned that policy-makers and funders may focus on the top 10% to 20%, even though there is rural guidance on how best to use those measures. I think that it is alarming that there is not one rural area in the top 10% of the 890 in the North. Indeed, the closest we have is Castlederg in the West Tyrone constituency, which ranks ninety-seventh. That is all in the context of the DSD family resources survey, which indicates that 24% of people in rural areas live in poverty. <BR /> <BR />Given that the current measure is a spatial index of deprivation, it is very important that we focus on how to capture deprivation when it is widely dispersed.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. It is important to look across all the domains to see whether it is possible to take a little bit off some domains to increase access to basic services. We look forward to NISRA coming back to us with its recommendations and to seeing what it suggests. The evidence that we heard from NISRA indicates that there is guidance for rural areas, but it is not 100% content that they are being focused on; there is more focus on the overall score. Obviously, we look forward to NISRA coming back with some recommendations. <BR /> <BR />Studies found that the lower weighting given to proximity to services has a huge impact on underestimating deprivation in rural areas. We found it astounding that not a single rural super output area features in the top 10% most deprived areas across the North.”
“They found that there was huge deprivation in access to services in rural areas, and that can have a negative impact on people's lives in terms of employment, medical care, participation in social activities and, indeed, travel times, which are up to 10 times greater in isolated rural areas.”
“However, the MDM does not take account of the fact that a lot of people emigrate from rural areas to work in urban areas, or, in the case of my constituency of West Tyrone, go across the water or down South to work. <BR /> <BR />In the overall MDM score for super output areas across the North, of which there are 890, proximity to services is weighted at 10% of the overall score. <BR />There is concern among an awful lot of rural stakeholder organisations, particularly the RCN and the RDC, that there is not enough weighting afforded to proximity to services. <BR /> <BR />A lot of work has been carried out on this across the water in Scotland. The Church of Scotland commissioned a study to compare the experiences of its rural and urban congregations, and that was carried out by Geddes and Houston in 2011.”
“The income level domain is quite rightly focused on, but, from a rural perspective, it does not look at expenditure. There is a great deal of evidence from organisations such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation that it costs more to live in a rural area, where the cost of living is higher. They estimate that it could cost up to 20% more to live in a rural area. If you live in a rural area, you have to own, for example, at least one car if not two, and more travel time is needed to get to shops and childcare services. That is compounded by a less than adequate public transport system compared with urban areas. <BR /> <BR />The other domain that is looked at is employment, which accounts for 25% of the overall score.”
“<BR /> <BR />A recurring theme during any deliberation on the issue or with any lobbying is the view that the model that is used in the North is a spatial model. It focuses mostly on small areas of concentrations of deprivation, and they are more easily identified in urban areas than in rural areas. When you use a spatial model, it is more difficult to target individuals, and that makes it extremely difficult. Indeed, the completion of the Committee's report and the current scrutiny of the Rural Proofing Bill makes now a good time for this motion. <BR /> <BR />We looked at some of the inadequacies in the current measures. Income and expenditure are two of the key domains that are looked at. They count for 50% of the overall MDM score and account for 25% each in how it is weighted.”
“In the course of our deliberations and meetings with various rural stakeholders, we found that there is a very strong view among those stakeholders that the current method used by government to assess deprivation in rural areas underestimates its full extent. That theme was expressed during the Agriculture Committee's recent review, and it was discussed at a seminar that was held last year — 'Poverty Amongst Plenty?' — which I co-hosted with MLAs from other parties. The seminar was addressed by NISRA and other representatives. We heard some very compelling evidence from organisations such as the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU), the Rural Development Council (RDC) and the Rural Community Network (RCN).”
“The overriding reason why we decided to table the motion calling for a review of multiple deprivation measures (MDM) is the impact that they have on rural communities, particularly government policies for rural areas and associated funding streams. <BR /> <BR />In the aftermath of the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development's review of rural poverty, which included an analysis of the deprivation measures and during which we took evidence from expert witnesses from NISRA and others, we felt that now was an appropriate time to bring such a motion to the Chamber to open it out to wider discussion.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Can the Minister tell us what focus she has placed on developing new markets?”
“Go raibh maith agat. Does the Minister accept that the move could have a particularly detrimental impact on local community and voluntary groups, particularly in light of the changes to ESF?”
“Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister for her answer. Will she outline what impact country of origin labelling has had on any other sectors?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Does the Minister share my view and, indeed, the view of many that the Loughs Agency can and does play an important role in maximising the value of natural assets for angling development, education and wider community benefit?”
“Does the Minister share the view that fake accounts, which are believed to be operated by international criminal gangs, need to be tackled?”
“<BR /> <BR />Whilst we are looking at a reduced budget, the cuts that are being made are affecting the most vulnerable people and causing a great sense of alarm out there. There is a huge role here for DRD to look carefully at how the budget is managed and spent.”
“It is important for the Member to acknowledge that this is one of the Departments that is pretty well protected, with a very grand budget of £770 million. The management of that budget is extremely important and that is what we are looking at here today. <BR /> <BR />If we look at the vulnerable people whom we represent in our areas, we see that the issues of road safety, potholes, gully emptying and grass cutting for things like sight lines on roads are extremely important. We have also been looking in recent times at proposed cutbacks in the region of over 30% to the rural transport budget. Coming from an area that has a very dispersed population, I know that that will have a huge impact on the most vulnerable people in our communities who rely on rural transport to get to local services, to get out and about and to reduce isolation.”
“In Committee last week, we made the point that, even though this is a cutback in the budget, it could ultimately have a great impact on the safety of road users. I represent a rural constituency, and one of the biggest gripes of many of our constituents is potholes. Indeed, those will become more obvious and evident as we see a cut —”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I take this opportunity to speak on today's motion on the management of the DRD budget. We have heard contributions from officials about the budget over the past number of weeks in Committee, and it is important to point out, at the outset, that the baseline for DRD is £770 million for the 2015-16 financial year. Compared with last year, that represents a £70 million reduction in capital and £3 million in resource, but there is a very substantial budget of £770 million to begin with. <BR /> <BR />The cutbacks that we are looking at are having a great impact, particularly on the most vulnerable people in our community. We are looking at cutbacks in street lights, the emptying of gullies and grass cutting, and no external contractors will be able to be taken on.”
“Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister for his response. He said that the roads would be inspected as normal. Will he elaborate on that, please?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Given the budgetary constraints, is the Minister confident that the project will be completed on time?”
“Go raibh maith agat. Does the Minister believe that welfare reform will have an impact on the EMA eligibility criteria?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for his statement, and I very much welcome the confirmation that both Governments on the island remain committed to the A5 project. In earlier correspondence, the Minister indicated that, as part of the consultation process, four events would be organised, in Ballygawley, Omagh, Derry and Strabane. Have any dates or venues been agreed for those? <BR /> <BR />I also welcome the reference to cross-border greenways. Does he agree that a project for the Great Northern Railway beds, which straddle the nine counties of Ulster, could be looked at for funding through INTERREG?”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Can she confirm that the project remains an Executive priority?”
“It provides for the Department to make regulations regarding the frequency of visits to high- and medium-risk reservoirs. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, I thank the Committee and, indeed, Stella and all her team, who worked very hard on this, and I commend the Minister and the Department for listening to the Committee, taking on board the concerns and reflecting those in a swathe of amendments. From our party's perspective, I thank my colleague Ian Milne, who led on this in the party and guided us through this difficult and, at times, complex task. This was a good example of the parties and Department working together to draft and create good legislation that will positively affect people's lives and livelihoods. I commend the Bill.”
“<BR /> <BR />I share William's view that the Committee was content with the operating regime proposals in place for low-risk reservoirs. However, it was concerned about what was proposed originally for high-risk reservoirs. The phrase "gold-plated" was used. The Committee was not content with the operating requirements relating to the number of visits and inspections that were originally proposed, as set out in clauses 25 and 33. To that end, and being always conscious of the costs to reservoir managers and the value or necessity of the visits, we require additional information before that can be decided upon. The Committee also sought to amend the Bill by regulation to regulate the number of visits by a supervising engineer. So, we welcome the introduction of clause 25A, which was brought before the Committee on 10 February this year.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I wanted to take the opportunity to speak on this group of amendments, relating to the operating regime in the Reservoirs Bill. <BR /> <BR />From the outset, the Committee shared the Bill's overall objective to protect people, the environment and society from flooding. Thankfully, incidences of dam failure in the North of Ireland are very rare, but, no doubt, many thousands live in potential inundation areas. So, we share the view that protection is better than cure, and we welcome this legislation, which reduces the possibility of loss of life and damage to property. We also welcome the fact — this was shared as well — that the Bill takes a proportionate, risk-based approach in looking at the potential consequences of reservoir failure to the wider area.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Will the Minister elaborate on some of the key issues that were raised in the observation letter?”
“I thank the Minister for that response and for the clarification. In a second incident, again highlighted in the local press last week, the carcass of a calf was dumped in the Rylagh burn outside Omagh a number of weeks ago. Does he agree that this is reprehensible behaviour by the people who dumped it there? Given the public health concerns, does he also agree that it is entirely unreasonable to expect the local landowner or indeed any member of the public to attempt to remove the carcass themselves?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. From his engagement with business, industry and various companies, does the Minister believe that the Assured Skills programme is essential for attracting inward investment?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. In her statement, the Minister referred to the potential of new export markets in Australia and China. Can she elaborate on those possible new opportunities?”
“I commend Paul Carlisle and all the team on the DRD Committee for pulling this together and for organising the fact-finding visits and witnesses. I support the recommendations laid before us.”
“<BR /> <BR />In conclusion, I support the recommendations.”
“Obviously, there will be issues with securing the agreement of local landowners, but it should be a relatively cost-effective means of establishing a comprehensive cycling network through the North and on a cross-border basis. <BR /> <BR />In planning the development of the greenways, we propose that the DRD works in conjunction with its counterparts across the border — the National Roads Authority, the county councils and the tourist board — to ensure that the network here is connected across the island and across Europe. We believe that the Minister and the Department should look at INTERREG as a potential basis for securing funding for such greenways. We support the recommendation for pilot greenways in those areas and believe that they should be spread geographically throughout the Six Counties and on a cross-border basis.”
“<BR /> <BR />Along with other colleagues on the Committee, I visited Westport in County Mayo to learn about the social and economic impact of the greenway there, which is based on the Great Western Railway line. It is a huge benefit to the area, with over 200,000 cyclists using it last year. Indeed, the Committee went there in May, and I went back on a family holiday with the children in August, and we cycled from Achill right back to Westport. We saw the huge impact that that has on the vibrancy of Mulranny and Newport and the number of businesses that have been established. Indeed, it has consolidated Westport as a destination for activity tourism. <BR /> <BR />We believe that, from an engineering perspective, and as the foundations are already there, the greenways should be relatively easy to construct.”
“Combine that with the decision not to rural proof the draft strategy, and we are very anxious that rural and urban areas get equal treatment in the delivery of any strategy. <BR /> <BR />Recommendation 30 refers to the development of greenways. We believe that there is great potential for the development of greenways in rural and urban areas throughout the North. We strongly feel that disused railway beds that straddle the North should be scoped out at as potential greenways; indeed, that motion was passed at our ard fheis two weeks ago. In particular, we propose that the DRD should look at the Great Northern Railway with a view to bringing all or parts of it back into use as a greenway. The Minister made many references to the cycling revolution, and we think that this would be a major step forward in creating that cycling revolution.”
“Indeed, Andrew Grieve, the head of the cycling unit, and colleagues, came to Omagh to inspect the network there, and whilst we are very glad of the network that is currently there, we noticed a number of missing links. We hope that the strategy will help to fill in those missing links. I have no doubt that the situation is the same in other towns across the country. <BR /> <BR />In terms of the master plan approach referred to in the strategy, it must involve other stakeholders, such as councils and Sustrans both at reception and delivery stages. <BR /> <BR />Recommendation 26 refers to the importance of rural areas. We felt that the draft strategy was a little bit vague on rural areas. We note that the document said, "where opportunities arise", and where there is "cycling demand" in reference to rural areas.”
“<BR /> <BR />In terms of current provision, we feel that there is a relatively limited cycling network across the North at present. At the minute, there are about 25,000 miles for vehicular traffic, compared to 800 miles designated as a national cycling network, and 700 of those miles are shared by vehicles. So, only 106 miles are dedicated as traffic-free cycle paths. We share the view of many cyclists that the current provision is relatively fragmented. This is compounded by the fact that there is no single agency or Department responsible for the current network, which has resulted in missing links and a variation in quality.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. On behalf of my fellow colleagues on the Committee, I support the motion and call for the recommendations made in it to be implemented by the Department. <BR /> <BR />We welcome the fact that the Department created a cycling unit and developed a draft strategy, which, I understand, will be finalised this summer and with the delivery plan commencing thereafter. The strategy has a vision of establishing a cycling culture to give people the freedom and confidence to travel by bicycle and where all road users can safely share a space with mutual respect. We noted that the draft strategy had not been rural proofed. However, we have been assured that the delivery plan will be subject to rural proofing, and we feel that this is extremely important.”
“Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister for his answer. Has he had any discussions on the matter with his Southern colleagues under the aegis of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC)?”
“Go raibh maith agat. The survey also highlighted the negative implications of the exchange rate for local businesses. If that is taken into account, will the Minister commit to addressing the challenges faced by businesses, particularly those in border areas?”
“In conclusion, there is widespread consensus among rural interest groups that the current system is not accurate. I welcome the recommendation in the review that DARD and DFP should work together to find a more effective method of measuring deprivation in rural areas.”
“The RDC and the RCN made the same points.”
“That was supported by a study by McKendrick et al in 2011, which noted that the effect of the lower weighting, in which the domain of access to services is weighted at 10%, is that there is a negative impact. No rural areas are ranked in the top 10% of super output areas for deprivation across the North. The closest rural area that I am aware of is in Castlederg in my constituency, which ranks ninety-seventh, out of the 890. <BR /> <BR />The UFU representatives made a very good point in their contribution. They said that a method must be found to pinpoint deprivation in rural areas, unlike urban areas, which are more socially segregated. They said:”
“Many of the themes that were raised in the review will be relevant to the Rural Proofing Bill, which has been designed to protect and develop rural areas. <BR /> <BR />A number of concerns were raised about the measures, including the fact that the MDM focuses on income and not expenditure. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's minimum income standard project concluded that it costs 20% more to live in rural areas. Proximity to services is also a big issue. The weighting that was attributed to the overall score is only 10%; a study commissioned by the Church of Scotland and carried out by Geddes and Houston in 2012 concluded that deprivation of access is overwhelming in rural areas, which can have a significant negative impact on people's lives through employment, medical care and participation in cultural and social activities.”