Jonathan Bell
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I did so because terminally ill children were being prevented from getting a hospital place in my area. While attempts were being made to prevent me from coming to the Public Accounts Committee, a terminally ill child was told, after being seen by doctors, that they could not have a hospital place and that, if they needed one, they would…”
“The permanent secretary replied "No" and said that everybody would recognise that every government worked by and on collective responsibility. <BR /> <BR />We are in a mess, and somebody has to shine a light on that mess. It fell to me, and I do not know why. I did not seek it, nor did I want it. I did not want to do it.”
“Let me conclude, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. The regulations are necessary because of the extreme mess that we have found ourselves in. The points that I made when I had to shine a light on this devastating situation were not made in December. The points were made in writing to the then First Minister in March 2016.”
“The permanent secretary replied, "Well, that is right". <BR /> <BR />There were no regulations on the table when I spoke out. There was no suggestion that we could reduce to zero or even significantly reduce the costs, and we had no legal procedure, that I was aware of, that we could have followed.”
“But I cannot speak authoritatively because, even after the Public Accounts Committee meeting, when I asked the permanent secretary last week whether I could come and see the information that, I believe, legally should be made available to me, I got no reply. Nothing.”
“The second objective that I wanted to achieve was to stop the haemorrhage of public funds. Let us not pretend that the money is still to be spent: tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money has already been spent — £85,000 a day, day by day, as we go along.”
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“<BR /> <BR />The Member talked about the international airport. I was also delighted, in my first weekend in office, to fly back on the new KLM service from Schiphol. That is hugely successful for what it can offer. I was delighted to talk to many of the representatives of KLM, who gave me an indication that orders into the future were extremely healthy. The level of connectivity is key to growing our economy; having a direct flight into, in that case, George Best Belfast City Airport is huge for business. It gives us direct access to America and the Middle East through Schiphol, as well as return. I regard the continuing development of those air routes vital for our economy, and I intend to keep it fairly top of the in tray.”
“My Department is in ongoing dialogue with our airports. We want to attract the routes to destinations that are currently served by Dublin Airport and that could be served directly from Northern Ireland. I think that all of us in the House would want to see direct access to destinations such as Germany, Scandinavia and Canada. That would provide increased choice for Northern Ireland residents, but it would also improve our linkages to important business and inbound tourism. <BR /> <BR />Support that we, as a Department, provide to Northern Ireland's airports is provided in a range of ways, including the tourism cooperative marketing assistance and organising the Northern Ireland-specific stands at the World Routes conference. We are also scoping the potential for a specific air route development fund for Northern Ireland.”
“The next World Routes conference takes place in September in Durban in South Africa. <BR /> <BR />I was delighted to announce last month that Belfast has been successful in its bid to host Routes Europe 2017. That is a huge opportunity for Northern Ireland, because that is a major conference that brings together decision makers from the airlines, airports and tourism authorities and that gives them an opportunity to negotiate and build relationships that will go on to shape the world's future air routes network. To have that in Belfast is a huge vote of confidence for Belfast. The number of people involved from all around the world will provide a significant boost for our economy. We will work with BIA to develop new routes where feasible.”
“I thank the Member for his congratulations. I visited Belfast International Airport (BIA) as part of a tenth anniversary celebration of the United Airlines route, and it was very productive. When I looked at the number of people from not just the airline industry but the travel industry who were there for that celebration, I thought that it shows just what a critical role Belfast International Airport plays. I met Graham Keddie, and I have met him on a number of occasions subsequently at different events. We will continue to do what we can to support the airport's route development endeavours. We support the international airport through the provision of tourism cooperative marketing assistance for airlines that serve BIA. We also organise Northern Ireland-specific stands at the annual World Routes conference.”
“The latest figures that I have for 2014-15 show that 85% of investors have recorded a customer satisfaction rate for the work that is ongoing. That shows that Northern Ireland is in a very healthy position, and the onus is on all of us to build on it.”
“I will give some of them out again. I am happy to reiterate them because they represent the strongest performance that we have ever had. The headline results for 2014-15 show that 13,829 jobs were secured and 9,410 jobs were created — the highest number that we have ever achieved. It is fuelled by investment, and the investment that we made in 2014-15 amounted to £1·4 billion — the highest rate of investment that we have ever achieved. <BR /> <BR />We are constantly trying to source new investors. Success often follows success, and in 2014-15, 25 new investors, more than we have ever had before, came to Northern Ireland. The important thing is to ensure that the customers and the people whom Invest Northern Ireland serves are satisfied.”
“We set the target of £1 billion, and I can say today that we have put £2·7 billion in place. That is a 167% increase on investment on where we were before. <BR /> <BR />One of the key drivers is research and development, for which we set a very competitive target of £300 million; we achieved £520 million. We have been talking to companies; I have been talking to them from early this morning, and they are particularly interested in R&D. We are looking at a 73% increase in R&D on what was meant to have been one of the most difficult targets. There have been difficulties with exports; I do not shy away from that. I will continue to push at that, but we all have to realise that, in exports, if the euro falls 15 points against sterling it will automatically create challenges for our market.”
“Invest Northern Ireland cannot be congratulated highly enough. My predecessor took so much of that work forward. The facts bear repetition because they speak for themselves. When we sat down to create the Programme for Government, we asked Invest Northern Ireland to be strategic and to look for a realistic target that it could achieve. It told us that its target at that stage was 20,000 jobs. I remember that in those discussions with the Executive, and particularly with the First Minister, we said that we wanted a target of 25,000 jobs. We pushed that because we wanted to sweat every asset that we had. <BR /> <BR />Here we are, in Northern Ireland, with 37,277 jobs — almost a 50% increase on what was meant to have been a very difficult target to achieve. We need to continue with our levels of investment in jobs, and we have done that.”
“When we sit with the prize, what will people say if we lose that prize of up to 40,000 jobs and a 10% growth in our economy, something that is in our hands if we can reduce corporation tax? There are some significant businesses that I cannot name that work on a three-year cycle and are ready to start immediately increasing investment in Northern Ireland when we get a date and a rate for corporation tax. Friends, that is very much the way forward.”
“I can give a sales pitch, but, more and more, I point investors to people who have invested in Northern Ireland and have subsequently reinvested, because that is the ultimate vote of confidence in Northern Ireland, its people and their skills. <BR /> <BR />We have no option but to come to an agreement.”
“With talks under way, I hesitate to say anything that could be considered undiplomatic. However, let me say this: I am told that business relies on security and stability. Northern Ireland has been given a unique opportunity to govern itself through these devolved institutions. We have significantly surpassed many of the targets for jobs, investment, research and development and growth loan funds, as I outlined earlier. We have surpassed all of those. We have done that because we have a highly skilled and motivated group of people. We now attract more foreign direct investment per head than any other part of the United Kingdom. One of the key factors behind that is that a significant majority of all the businesses that have invested in Northern Ireland have subsequently reinvested.”
“We are currently bringing in somewhere around £33 million from that, and we want to grow that to £50 million. With the successful Irish Open, a future Irish Open in 2017 and hopefully, if everything works out, the Open in 2019, we are on a trajectory to achieve that.”
“I talked to many of the other golfers, and I know for a fact that he could have been doing a thousand other things, many of which would have been financially more lucrative, yet he set aside all of those, not only for the Rory Foundation but to bring a top-class list of golfers here. We are indebted to him for what he did. <BR /> <BR />As to where we need to go in the future, we need to create high-value jobs. I think that that is what the Member was referring to. We have to do that by investing in our research and development and our skills base and by looking to where the key areas for growth are. The Member mentioned tourism, and we are looking towards growing that to a billion-pound industry by 2020. A theme of the question was golf, and we are specifically looking to golf tourism.”
“I thank the Member for his congratulations. They are much appreciated. He did a tremendous job scrutinising me in my previous role, and I look forward to working with him in future, particularly for East Belfast, which is an area that I love. The one thing that Chris and I share with Rory McIlroy is that we are old school friends. I think that I am the oldest among the three of us, sad to say. <BR /> <BR />I will address your other point, but I want to address your point about Rory McIlroy first so that it does not get lost. The importance of Rory McIlroy cannot be overestimated. He came in as the world's number one golfer and used all his influence.”
“I would love to tell you just who those people were because you would get an indication of the depth of their ability to promote jobs and boost the economy, but, due to commercial sensitivity, I cannot. Without exception, every person who visited south Down came away overwhelmed by the generosity of its people, its beauty and the fact that not only could you put on a world-class event but you could do so to a world-class standard. Anything that I can do to build on the legacy that the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open has left us — with 107,000 spectators, it must surely rank as the best ever, as far as I am aware — and develop the tourism offering, consider it done.”
“I am more than happy to speak to anybody. The door will be open, and we will make time available. South Down is definitely riding high. Not only do you have one of the world's best golf courses, you have a population and volunteers willing to serve and develop the tourism industry there. I want to build on that. I want to encourage that. That is what this is all about. <BR /> <BR />I also put on record my congratulations to Minister Ford and Minister Kennedy. In all my life, I do not think that I have ever travelled as easily into Newcastle as I did on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The transport arrangements were fantastic. The security was low-key but brilliant. <BR /> <BR />A number of us were with South Down MLAs in Montalto House, and we spoke privately to key investors.”
“That, I think, that will add to the pressure to increase the number of hotels elsewhere.”
“Over the past weekend, south Down in particular showed the very best of what Northern Ireland could be. Not only was it stunningly beautiful but it brought in some of the world's best golfers. Not only did the sell-out crowd of 107,000 behave marvellously but 1,100 volunteers, many from the south Down area and many others from golf clubs across Northern Ireland and further afield, gave of themselves to make that such a success. <BR /> <BR />On Saturday night, I had a difficult conversation about hotel accommodation with Gerry, Alison and their team, who did a marvellous job with Visit Belfast. We were at the Pro 12 rugby final, and, on the back of that and the hugely successful Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, you simply could not get a hotel space in the Belfast area.”
“The Member makes two very good points. First, I thank you for your congratulations to me and my predecessor, Arlene Foster, who did an amazing job. Her record speaks for itself. More jobs were created in that four-year period than in any previous four-year period. We have more foreign direct investment per head of the population than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. The targets that I outlined earlier were passed significantly, which shows the level of competence and professionalism that Mrs Foster gave to the job. <BR /> <BR />If the Member has a promoter or developer who wants to see me about a hotel, I will certainly work alongside them. We have to keep to the rules that I laid out. It is the same for everybody right across the place.”
“New hotel developments may benefit from capital support from Invest Northern Ireland if the promoter can demonstrate that the project is market-driven with the capability of attracting visitors from outside Northern Ireland and not displacing business from similar projects. New hotel projects offering at least 30 rooms may be considered for support. Invest Northern Ireland is happy to engage with any promoter who may meet the criteria for support.”
“As I said earlier to Mr Middleton, when you take a breakdown of the 907 jobs that were promoted during those five years, you see that, staggeringly, locally owned companies had 904 of those and externally owned companies only had three. <BR /> <BR />Over the past five years, the regional start initiative has offered support to 826 people in the East Londonderry constituency area to help them develop their plan to develop their new business. In addition to the RSI, Invest Northern Ireland has offered £0·8 million of assistance to start-up businesses in East Londonderry over the last five years. So, the door is open. Let us encourage to build upon what we know are very highly skilled and highly motivated people working in that constituency area.”
“I thank the Member for his congratulations. Certainly, if there is anything that we can do for the constituency, my door is open to do that. I will certainly try to encourage and push. Many Members in the House have sat with key investors from right across the world over the past week. They were over for the golf, and we used the time to talk to those investors. Karen McKevitt is shaking her head, and there are many others. We have to let business go where business goes, to a certain extent, but we will certainly try to look towards what we can do to support jobs and job creation. <BR /> <BR />It is important, because, in East Londonderry, the number of jobs promoted increased by 68% over the past five years. That went from 151 in 2009-2010 to 254 last year.”
“Since its foundation six years ago, turnover has increased steadily year by year. The company, currently based in Plumbridge, County Tyrone, has secured a number of awards and accolades in recognition of the innovative nature of the product, with virtually all sales being exported outside Northern Ireland. Two grants for research and development offers have been issued to support the development of equipment to separate light waste and stones from a biodegradable product. <BR /> <BR />The second one that I will briefly touch on is Seagate Technology Ireland. A major research and development project in the area was announced in October 2014. It provides the read/write heads for Seagate's final hard disk drive products. All output from the Springtown plant is supplied to other parts of the Seagate group, mainly in Asia-Pacific areas.”
“I gave some of the figures for the new jobs that have been promoted. I also gave some of the figures for the start-ups and the investment that has gone in. We will continue with that, right across the board, in Foyle and in East Londonderry, where 904 jobs were promoted in locally owned companies and three in externally owned, while support was provided to 826 people in the East Londonderry constituency as well. <BR /> <BR />There is a good news story to tell about Londonderry and Strabane specifically. Unfortunately, I do not have a long time to tell it in; I get two minutes. Let us look at two particular areas in the Strabane and Londonderry area. Let us look at Waste Systems Ltd. It designs and manufactures equipment primarily for use in the waste and quarry industries.”
“In addition to the RSI, Invest Northern Ireland has offered £1·4 million of assistance to start-up businesses in Foyle over the last five years. Invest Northern Ireland support for business development and investment in the region has been targeted not only at job creation but at other business development activities, such as research and development and skills development. Really, it is all about targeting and underpinning business competitiveness to sustain jobs and eventually lead to what we hope will be growth and more employment opportunities in your area.”
“It would be good to take a wee look at where we are for the Member's constituency; I did that in the research to answer his question. The number of new jobs brought to Foyle by Invest Northern Ireland has increased by 156% in five years, from 340 in 2009-2010 to 871 in 2013-14. I congratulate all those in the Foyle constituency who worked so hard to make that a success. Of the 2,496 jobs that were promoted in Foyle during the five years, 1,269 were in locally owned companies and 1,227 in externally owned companies. We have a good balance between locally and externally owned. <BR /> <BR />The Member raised the point of start-ups. Over the past five years, the regional start initiative (RSI) has offered support to 892 people in the Foyle constituency area, helping them to develop their business plan for a new business.”
“Under local government reform, local councils now have the responsibility for some local economic development functions. Invest Northern Ireland is a statutory partner in the community planning process and will actively work with a range of stakeholders to address the social and economic issues in the local area. Invest Northern Ireland is also co-funding the development of an integrated economic strategy for the council area.”
“Northern Ireland is very much open for business. Many of us saw, over the last couple of days, significant investors here for the sporting events taking time to look at what Northern Ireland has to offer. I tell you this: they went away very impressed.”
“In 2014-15, 13,829 jobs were secured. That was the highest ever. We created 9,410 jobs; again, that was the highest ever. We put in £1·4 billion of investment; the highest that we have ever done. We brought 25 new investors for Northern Ireland; again, the highest figure ever. We also got a customer satisfaction rate of 85%; the highest ever recorded.”
“Unemployment today is at 6·2% and, over the previous four years of this Assembly period, we have, for the vast majority of that time, had lower unemployment per capita in Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK. We have had significantly lower unemployment than the Republic of Ireland. If you take that 6·2% and add to it some of the things that we are trying to do, particularly around growing the tourism industry to a £1 billion industry by 2020 and improving on our golf tourism, think of all of the jobs that will flow from that. <BR /> <BR />Sometimes, it is important to look at what we have done and where we need to go. Look at the results of just the last year, and I congratulate my predecessor, Invest NI, the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee and all the people who worked so hard to deliver all this.”
“We set ourselves a target of £300 million in research and development, and we have delivered £520 million; a 73% increase. We looked for £28 million in the growth loan fund, and we have delivered £30·8 million. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland is very much open for business. We saw the most tremendous Dubai Duty Free Irish Open and the PRO12 rugby final. I spoke to hoteliers in Belfast who had completely sold out back-to-back and were struggling to get people accommodation. We have a great country with great sporting events and an economy that has the potential to grow by almost 10% and deliver some 40,000 new jobs. Friends, that is a prize that none of us can afford to lose.”
“The more stability we have, the more we can drive forward the promotion and creation of jobs and build a wonderful future. I know that talks are under way, so I want to be diplomatic in what I say because I want to see those talks reach a successful conclusion and I do not want to see anything that would jeopardise them. <BR /> <BR />We should all remember where we were in 2011. We set a target to create 25,000 jobs. I was there when that target was lifted from 20,000 to 25,000, because I remember that the First Minister really wanted to drive job creation at that time. We are sitting today with 37,277 jobs; a 49% increase on the target that we set ourselves. We set ourselves a target to have £1 billion of investment, and we have got £2·7 billion of jobs investment; a staggering 167% increase on where we were.”
“That is equivalent to almost one half of all young claimants. We have to continue to provide job opportunities, particularly for those young people. Generally, the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in West Belfast since early 2013 has fallen by almost 2,000, which is equivalent to approximately one third.”
“<BR /> <BR />In particular, for the West Belfast constituency, I note also that there have been some improvements recently. On an issue that has been a theme in the House, the number of young people aged 18 to 24 who were claiming unemployment benefit in West Belfast has fallen by 900 since the peak.”
“I thank the Member for his congratulations. One of the key levers for growth — this is not only what I believe but what the Ulster University economic panel has told us — is to see us develop our corporation tax rate. We simply need a date for when we are going to develop a reduction, and we need the rate to give to businesses. The research is clear: there is a strong economic case for lowering corporation tax. Many Ministers, including the First Minister and deputy First Minister, worked hard to achieve that. If we are to follow the research and reduce the rate to 12·5% in 2017, let us for a moment consider the prize for local economic growth of where we could be: we could create almost 40,000 additional net jobs, and we could see our economy grow by 10%.”
“First, I believe that the composite economic index provides us with a good short-term measure of how the local economy is performing, in the absence of GDP figures. However, to clarify, this measure does not drive growth; it measures growth. The latest results showed that local economic activity expanded by a relatively modest 1·1% on an annual basis. However, it is pleasing that the growth was driven by the private sector, which posted 2% growth over the year. The index shows that our production sector has been performing particularly well, with services also posting solid growth. While the construction sector is still facing difficulties, I welcome some emerging signs of growth in that sector.”
“They have fallen by more than 600 since the recent peak, and there have been improvements in the number of long-term unemployed — those who have been claiming benefit for 12 months or more. Those numbers have fallen by more than 300 since the recent peak. It is important that the Member raises his constituency, but, when we look at job opportunities and at addressing unemployment in South Belfast, we should not become overly localised. New jobs in any part of the city will create opportunities for people right across the city of Belfast and beyond. I look forward to further progress in those areas.”
“The Member makes his point well, and I thank him for his congratulations. I suppose that South Belfast, like all our constituencies elsewhere in Northern Ireland, was impacted by the downturn. However, I am pleased to say that I believe that things are now moving in the right direction. For example, the latest figures show that there has been a sustained fall in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in South Belfast since early 2013. That is a fall of almost 1,200, equivalent to a fall of approximately one third. <BR /> <BR />In light of both the Member's question and what Mr McGimpsey raised about the concerns for young people, it is particularly welcome that we see significant falls in the number of claimants amongst young people aged 18 to 24.”
“Secondly, we are establishing and facilitating a strategic forum to oversee the delivery issues, improve coordination and increase public awareness of those who are economically inactive.”
“The strategy will look at how we can reduce the persistently high levels of economic inactivity in Northern Ireland by helping economically inactive groups to make the transition towards and into the labour market. Key within those target groups are the long-term sick, the disabled and those with family commitments. In particular, I have in mind lone parents and carers. <BR /> <BR />The draft strategy was agreed at the Executive on 16 April and was published by the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and the Minister for Employment and Learning on 20 April. Implementation has begun on key points, but I will just give two because I am conscious of the time. We have worked on a competitive pilot testing process to test innovative ways to reduce inactivity, and work has begun to develop the proposed way forward for that process.”
“The Member makes a strong point about our young people that concerns all of us greatly. In terms of economic inactivity, if you look at the European standard measurement, you see that we are slightly below that, and we are slightly below the figure in the Republic of Ireland. I fully accept the concerns that he has expressed. <BR /> <BR />It will be a joint approach by Minister Farry and me, in conjunction with DSD, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and Invest Northern Ireland. We have a strategy called "Enabling Success". That is what we want to do: enable success. To do that, we have to tackle what the Member rightly points out as the high level of economic inactivity here.”
“That same positive trend is also reflected job growth with nearly 30,000 net new jobs added to the local economy since the start of 2012. However, I do not want anybody to feel that I am complacent, despite those positive figures. All of us will recognise that we still have a number of labour market challenges to address.”
“First, I thank you, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker, and Mr McGimpsey for the congratulations. <BR /> <BR />I am pleased that the latest figures demonstrate that the economic recovery is progressing. That is evident across both short-term and long-term indicators. The claimant count measure, which is best used as a short-term indicator, shows that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits has fallen for the twenty-eighth consecutive month, reducing by 20,500 over that period. The labour force survey, which is best used for examining medium- to long-term trends and making cross-country comparisons, is showing similar improvement, with the current unemployment rate at 6·2%, which is down considerably on its previous high.”
“This issue has been raised on a number of occasions. It is not for me to determine what a person's sexual orientation is or how they arrived at it. It is for me, as an MLA and Minister, to recognise the innate dignity and human worth of all people. Regardless of a person's colour, religious belief, political opinion or sexual orientation, I will always advocate and stand for the human rights of that individual. In public policy, that is the stance that we will always take.”
“There is a lot of research on child development. What we know is that children thrive best where there is stability, security and love. In fact, the greatest gift that we can give all our children is the gift of time to make sure that they grow up nurtured in a secure environment where they can develop and fulfil their potential. We should always look towards best practice in child development.”
“Anyone who says that it is because they want to use it for some form of electioneering or whatever can take that wherever they want to go, but it is not helpful to people who are looking towards the strategy, particularly given the levels of mental ill health that the sector has come and spoken to me about. Young people are experiencing not only mental health issues but suicidal ideation. Those are issues that the trans community has spoken to me about in particular. The strategy will be there to try to give best practice to all our people. Let me make it clear that we value the innate human dignity and worth of every one of our people, regardless of their background, the colour of their skin or their sexual orientation.”
“I will answer the questions in reverse order. Jim Wells has made it clear that his comments on child abuse were inaccurate and wrong. It is not a DUP view or policy. We immediately publicly indicated that it was not the DUP view now, nor will it be.”
“Once the draft strategy is finalised, it will be referred to the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister for consideration, before seeking Executive agreement. A further 12-week period of consultation will then take place, and I anticipate that the sexual orientation strategy will be published after that final phase of consultation.”
“We have regularly stated our commitment to producing a sexual orientation strategy in the Assembly and in the text of the good relations strategy, 'Together: Building a United Community'. To achieve that commitment, we asked officials to commence a public consultation process. The first phase of that process ended in June last year. The analysis of responses to that 12-week consultation has been completed, and the results are being used to inform the content of a draft sexual orientation strategy. It is our intention to develop the strategy using the outcomes-based approach. That view was shared at the most recent meeting of the sexual orientation project team on 15 April 2015. <BR /> <BR />Work will continue over the coming weeks to develop outcomes and subsequent indicators with the project team.”
“— for a further period. We took the decision that, on balance, it was appropriate to open it to all the organisations.”