Phil Flanagan
Fermanagh and South Tyrone · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his answer. There is an old guise that you should never ask a question that you do not know the answer to. The question that I submitted asked the Minister how many social houses had been started in the 2015-16 financial year, but somehow it was changed.”
“I thank the Minister for his attempt to answer the question. I put him on notice that it was not he who initiated the process, but I am looking for him to intervene and stop it as a locally elected representative. <BR /> <BR />There are roughly 1,000 people on the housing waiting list in Fermanagh, and nearly 300 of those are in stress.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. I thank the Minister for his answer. The licence has not been extended, but does the Minister accept that the decision to extend InfraStrata's time frame for a work programme sets a dangerous precedent on fracking, particularly given that InfraStrat…”
“How does the Minister square that with the ministerial involvement of his predecessor, Nelson McCausland, interfering in where social houses are built for political, parading or electoral reasons.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way, and I have no difficulty in supporting this request for information sharing, but I have two short questions. First, he said that this is a tax on employment. Does he have any sort of a headline figure as to what the scale of the financial implications of this will be for local employers?”
“<BR /> <BR />Requirements are now being placed on the Department with regard to careers. That is a very positive development that the Minister brought forward after the Committee initiated a review of careers advice, which was then followed up by a piece of work that the Minister commissioned from an expert group on careers.”
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“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I beg to move”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Perhaps the Minister will note that the question asked about a briefing on the pre-referendum proposals, but anyway. <BR /> <BR />Does he accept that it would be helpful to publish an independent comparison of the measures on welfare reform for Scotland with those that are proposed for this region?”
“If they are serious about removing the cap, what does that mean for the other controlled schools in Fermanagh? If we are not talking about elitism here, how come there has been such a kick-up about Portora and the Collegiate? Where was the motion about saving Lisnaskea High School?”
“I know that he will make decisions based on the evidence given to him on the needs of young people, not on protecting institutions. I have met representatives of the Collegiate campaign group. I think that they have put forward a very coherent argument, but it is up to the Minister to make the decision. As one Member said, this is a hot topic, but it has to be about more than just the Collegiate and Portora. At the moment, both schools get 70 pupils each in first year, but the Members opposite and Minister Allister — sorry, Mr Allister; thank God he is not a Minister — have spoken about removing that cap to allow more pupils in.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister set in train a process through which he wanted the managing authorities to work together and bring forward a joint area planning process. They have failed to do it. Look at the proposals in place, and what have you got? You have proposals to deal with the controlled sector in Fermanagh, and, separately, the CCMS has proposals to deal with the Catholic sector. They have never spoken to each other about how these things can all be brought together to meet the needs of the young people of the county, which is what our priority should be. It should not be about protecting elite mentalities or institutions. <BR /> <BR />I put it on record that I have full faith in John O'Dowd's ability to make decisions based on the best interests of the children and young people of my county.”
“I am happy to give way to the Member. <BR /> <BR />The current situation demonstrates the need for proper area planning. We have heard an awful lot of criticism of John O'Dowd for promises that he apparently made and has not lived up to, but the promises that they are talking about date back to 2004, and it was not this Assembly or this Executive that made those promises. There has not been one bit of criticism from the Benches opposite of the Western Education and Library Board. All the criticism seems to be levelled at the Minister of Education, who, as the Members opposite rightly know, is not driving this forward. Your criticism should be levelled at the Western Education and Library Board. If you have a criticism of the process, bring it there.”
“However, the fact remains that the DUP now appears to be opposed to the redevelopment and the new build at Devenish College, which is madness.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Members opposite talk about world-class schools, and there is no doubt that the education provided at Collegiate and Portora is excellent and that the people who go there really benefit from it. However, there remains this elitist approach that the people who go to those schools are better than the others, and that is not the case. All our children should be treated equally, regardless of which school they go to, and that is a policy that Sinn Féin will continue to hold as long as we have responsibility for the Ministry of Education. The Members opposite only want to talk about those who have been given preferential status and forget about those who went to Devenish College. When I say the Members opposite, I do not include Tom Elliott, who has spoken about Devenish College.”
“It is fine that we hold institutions very dear, but, as political representatives, we have to look beyond that. We have to look at the needs of the young people; that has to be at the forefront of our thought. We have to think about the people who use these institutions, but what about the people who were not given the chance to get to these institutions? They were turned down from getting into them at the age of 11 and were deemed failures. There is no reference in the substantive motion to the institutions that do a very good job serving those people. For that reason, we have tabled an amendment. The Minister has set out some of the changes, but it includes a reference to a new build for Devenish College. That is one of the most important things required in the controlled sector in County Fermanagh.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a ráitis. I thank the Minister for his response to the debate. This has been a useful debate, but, like every other debate that has taken place on the future of these schools, unfortunately it appears that we have not reached consensus. The debate on the future of these two schools has, unfortunately, dominated and divided discussion on the future of post-primary education in County Fermanagh, particularly in the controlled sector. Initially, I want to state that I will not support the motion; in my opinion, it is really flawed. It is ill thought-out, and it is certainly elitist, but that is no real surprise from the party of big house unionism. <BR /> <BR />This debate must include more than the protection of institutions that some people hold very dear.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. Mar atá ráite agam cheana féin, cuirim fáilte roimh an chinneadh a rinne sé i rith an tsamhraidh. <BR /> <BR />As I have said before, I welcome the decision that the Minister made during the summer. What action does his Department intend to take to explore and deal with previous unauthorised development at the site? That is causing concern in the area.”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. For Mervyn's information — he said that he was not here, so maybe he will read Hansard — I never mentioned resources. I mentioned intake, but I never mentioned resources. But I can listen.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I will not speak for John O'Dowd, because he is more than capable of speaking for himself. The Member mentioned the number of pupils that will be looked at for a future build for Devenish College. Does he accept, as in the Minister's statement, that, if 70 first-years go into both schools, there will be a reduced catchment for Devenish, which means that the numbers will go down? Does the Member accept the fact that demographics in Fermanagh are changing and that, if we continue to allow the two grammar schools to cream off 140 pupils, it will result in a reduced intake to Devenish College?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I am a bit startled that the Minister thinks that the devolved institution should have no role in this, given that TTIP could devastate our agriculture industry by allowing foods of a reduced standard and GM foods into our economy, as well as opening up the possibility of privatising the NHS. Does the Minister not think that such issues should be a matter for devolved Ministers? Certainly, if Ministers here are concerned about the NHS being privatised — and maybe your Health Minister is not — they should be raising that with members of the British Government and the MEPs.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for his answer. I will take him back to the last point that he made about the shared services site. Does he accept in principle that it makes sense to locate a college that has plans to become a rural university on the same site as a public library and a jobs and benefits office? If so, will he try to work with other Departments to make the proposal a reality?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. It is good to get good news here the odd time. <BR /> <BR />There is considerable interest amongst people employed in the public sector in Fermanagh. An awful lot of them have to travel to Belfast and places like it to get employment. Will the Minister outline how many jobs in total will be made available in Fermanagh?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. It is pretty shocking that one third of people are expected to pay more than one quarter of their income to heat their home adequately. We deserve better from the Minister than listing the three causes of fuel poverty. <BR /> <BR />The Minister says that we can talk about increasing household income, but really he is talking about cutting household income. He wants to cut the basic rate of welfare for people and to impose heinous sanctions. How does he tie the two together? You are talking about increasing household income to tackle fuel poverty, but at the same time you want to take hundreds of millions of pounds out of the most vulnerable households in our society.”