Jim Allister
North Antrim · Traditional Unionist Voice · Northern Ireland
“<BR /> <BR />Last week, a 'News Letter' editorial rightly drew attention to the fact that there is a chorus of demand that it is up to the British Government to pay for that, but no pressure whatsoever on the GAA — the primary beneficiary — which still persists that its contribution will be a miserly £15 million.”
“Public money, we are constantly told, is in short supply and scarce. I am sure that it is, and will continue to be so. Yet, while many in the House pay lip service to the need to prioritise health, there seems to be a majority here who would prioritise public spending on a sporting facility, namely Casement Park.”
“That editorial stated that the DUP "should make clear" its view on the Casement Park costs. Yet, yesterday, we had the launch of the DUP manifesto and not a mention of Casement Park. We have a Minister — Minister Lyons — who has ruled out clawback for non-GAA use of that stadium.”
“Therefore, the Minister comes to the House with a proposal that, effectively, has been written in Brussels, because it tells us how much we can give to our fishing industry in Northern Ireland.”
“The Minister told us that this is a scheme under the Fisheries Act, which it is, whereby all the devolved regions and England and Wales can make their own provision.”
“Rather than removing the green lane, the introduction of the new customs border arrangements will further advance the development of the green lane, thereby helping to make the Irish Sea border and our alienation from the rest of the UK more firmly established.”
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“it. Will she commit to lobbying the Finance Minister, in the Executive, that there should be 100% relief, as is being afforded in GB?”
“I take the Minister back to the supplementary question that Ms Sugden asked her on the rates issue. The Chancellor announced a package that will effectively give many small businesses total relief in the upcoming period, and there is a Barnett consequential of some significant proportion that works through. The Minister said in reply to Ms Sugden that we need to take action that will be:”
“Can the Minister confirm and be very clear that the professional medical advice that caused the Executive collectively to decide last Thursday not to close schools has not changed? If that is correct, is there any escaping the conclusion that Sinn Féin's decision to rat on that decision is entirely political?”
“The Minister referred to the North/South Ministerial Council get-together on Saturday. Before that, the Northern Ireland Executive had settled their view on medical advice, for example, about school closures. How helpful is it, at events such as that, if the deputy First Minister then repudiates the policy set by the Executive at a time when Northern Ireland is seeking, in the interests of all its people, to have rational discussions with its neighbour?”
“It is those farmers who now, dear help them, have to look to the House to remedy that debacle. Let us hope that we do.”
“That is a reflection of the state of misgovernment that we are in. A report that pulls its punches, no doubt with some deference to the delicacy of these institutions, on all these matters cannot, of course, avoid those issues. The question going forward is this: will the House avoid them, or will it face up to them? <BR /> <BR />As already mentioned, there is one group of people we need to consider most today: the innocent victims of RHI, the farmers who put faith in Mrs Foster's letter to the banks. They dug themselves into debt believing that the proposals were grandfathered, only to have the rug pulled from under them and to be given tariffs that are lower than the tariffs anywhere else in these islands.”
“Was there another communication with another shadowy figure? Has anything changed? I listened today to the Finance Minister telling us, "Oh, we will have wonderful codes and new directions and new statements". I have read such as have been published already. I do not see a word in what has been published by the current Finance Minister that would stop another Ó Muilleoir/Howell experience. Nothing in that rules it out. Are we really moving forward to change at all? <BR /> <BR />Then we consider other Ministers who were in office. We had Simon Hamilton, the Minister for the Economy, colluding with spads to leak emails to take the heat off his party. Then we had a Minister, Mr Bell: obviously, the panel barely believed a word that he said. Likewise with the DUP chief spad, Timothy Johnston. The panel did not find him credible on key issues.”
“One of the most startling revelations in the report is how the Finance Minister of the time, Mr Ó Muilleoir, conducted himself. When it came to looking at a business case from the Department for the Economy about the future of RHI, he was not able to make a decision — would not make a decision — until he had not just consulted but had got the consent of a shadowy figure, Mr Ted Howell. He sent him an email: "Would you be content? Would you, Mr Howell, be content if I signed off the business plan on Wednesday?". That is how government was being conducted in this place. Is that still how it is being conducted? Does that explain the transformation from last Thursday, when Michelle O'Neill supported the First Minister, to Friday morning, when she repudiated what had been decided about schools?”
“What a telling commentary on what passed for government in the House that a report such as this, which pulls its punches in so many ways, nonetheless was driven to the basic recommendation that a Minister should always read the legislation that they bring to the House. How fundamental is that? That a Lord Justice of Appeal and two colleagues have to make such a recommendation is a damning indictment of what passed for government in the House. That they have to add to it the fact that minutes should be kept of meetings just tells us what a quagmire we were in in the governance in this place. The fact that the first recommendation arises from the actions of a Minister who is now the First Minister brings home to us just how dire things have been. <BR /> <BR />Of course, it did not all end with the DUP.”
“Is the Member concerned that, by the time the panel tasked with investigating Civil Service failures gets to grips with the issues, some of the key persons might have retired?”
“On the issue of how many Members chose to do privately what they said publicly they would do and allocate money through the Assembly scheme to a charity, does she not think that it is unfortunate for building public confidence that the Assembly Commission has refused in answer to Assembly questions not to identify but to state the number of Members who are availing themselves of the scheme? After the publicity, all and sundry said that they would do it, but the public have been left not knowing how many, in fact, did so.”
“Have the Minister's officials costed everything that is in 'New Decade, New Approach'? If so, what is that total figure? Does the extra money still stand at only £760 million?”
“The Minister said that, if and when options come before him, he will consider them in the context of the resource implications. In considering those resource implications, will he reflect on the figures that I quoted this morning in the debate, which he supplied in answer to questions? Those figures indicate that the Irish-medium sector already receives 8% more per child than the allocation in the controlled sector and 6% more than the allocation in the maintained sector. That sector already has preference in the level of funding per child.”
“Is it playing catch-up when an Irish-medium school can now be created with 12 pupils? How is that playing catch-up? That is favouritism in the system. I would like the Minister to assure the House that if there is any independent review, its terms of reference will address the diversity of the system; whether all sectors can be sustained; whether equity will address the overfunding of some sectors to the detriment of others; and whether we are not just interested in creating a system in which the sacred cows of the Irish-medium sector and the maintained sector are protected and the controlled sector is sacrificed, because it sounds very much to me as if that is the direction of travel.”
“It is the most feted financially in the system. It is the one that is incapable of integration, because it wants to teach in a different language.”
“It gets 6% more than the maintained sector. If we are going to talk about equity, let us talk about it, but let us recognise that we cannot have these sacred cows. If we are looking for efficiencies, if we are looking for equity, if we are looking for diversity and tackling it and reducing the number of sectors, surely, on any of those approaches, the most obvious candidate is the Irish-medium sector.”
“I recently asked a series of questions of the Minister. I asked about the per pupil spend across the four sectors, and here are the figures. The controlled sector gets the least money at £3,531 per pupil. Next comes the maintained sector, which gets £3,611. Next comes the integrated controlled sector, which gets £3,669, and away out ahead is the Irish-medium sector on £3,821. The Irish-medium sector already gets 8% more than the controlled sector.”
“We have had this running away from diversity in school types. Indeed, it is notable that the Sinn Féin amendment takes out a critical word. The motion ends by calling for "an inclusive single education system." The Sinn Féin amendment removes the word "inclusive", because it is quite clear that Sinn Féin — indeed, it was clear from Mr O'Dowd's contribution — is not prepared to address the diversity of types because there are sacred cows, and, for Sinn Féin, of course, the greatest sacred cow is the Irish-medium sector. We have this situation where Irish medium cannot be touched and the maintained sector cannot be touched, so who will be the victim in all this? Will it be the controlled sector? Is that where the fire and the focus are? I fear it is. <BR /> <BR />New Decade, New Approach talks about equity. Well, let us talk about equity.”
“It was not actually the Member I had in mind; it was the first Member from the SDLP to speak that I had in mind.”
“The target of those two sentences is that you cannot go on with the current diversity in school types, yet barely at all in the debate have we heard any addressing of the problem of the sheer diversity of school types. Indeed, we have had defence, particularly from the SDLP, of maintaining the current school types.”
“It is pretty clear to me that, although all the Executive parties said they bought into New Decade, New Approach, they have not at all bought into this issue. The first two sentences of the education section of appendix 2 state:”
“I have listened carefully to the Member, and I do not want to want to misrepresent his vision. The 'New Decade, New Approach' document talks about the "diversity of school types" being "not sustainable", so is it his vision that we simply have a controlled integrated sector, no maintained sector and no Irish-medium sector and that there be one state system that will be integrated in the sense that it will be for everyone?”
“Mr Ambrose has been out very quickly, showing positivity, and I am sure that others will be glad to take up many of the routes. At some point, perhaps, Northern Ireland, which is a small country, seeking to sustain three airports, maybe needs to look at where the future growth for our economy is its capability to do that. We know that the airport at Eglinton already costs a substantial amount of public money, and now we have Belfast City Airport in trouble. An overview is needed at some point — maybe it should have happened before now — as to the future of our airport strategy. I see a vital role for Belfast City Airport, and I wish Mr Ambrose and his colleagues well in retrieving a bad situation.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is quite clear that one of the issues that finally brought down Flybe — not the only issue, but a key one — was air passenger duty. I remind the House that air passenger duty was one of those green taxes that was introduced by those who were hysterical about issues like CO2 emissions, telling us that it had to be done if we were going to save the planet. Of course, we have seen that one of the outworkings of that hysteria around that duty is the collapse of connectivity for Northern Ireland. In future, those who jump on the green bandwagon need to think twice about the ultimate negative effect that they are imposing on the economy. <BR /> <BR />Belfast City Airport still has a future, as Robin Newton said.”
“The quite disturbing news about Flybe came off the back of other airport-related news that also has the potential to have an adverse effect on Northern Ireland. Last week's ruling that put the Heathrow extension in doubt increases the possibility of a severe loss of potential jobs to Northern Ireland. We were very hopeful, particularly in my constituency, of gaining considerable advancement through the Heathrow hub, and I trust that something there can be still be salvaged. <BR /> <BR />Off that, then, we had the loss of Flybe, which is a huge economic blow because of the connectivity that it provided, which, of course, is fundamental to any prospect that we have of economic success. The connectivity throughout the world, which starts in regional airports and advances through different hubs, is key to a place like Northern Ireland.”
“The Minister said that the National Health Service is preparing for a pandemic. Of course, all of us hope that that will not happen, but, if it does, do we have enough ventilators at our service in Northern Ireland for the most serious cases? Secondly, I do not want to at all trivialise this, but, as an Assembly, is it not important that we set an example on these public health issues? Therefore, is it a good example that, in this House, we have open trays of unwrapped mints that Members, with hands washed or unwashed, can handle as they help themselves, or should we set an example and optimise the public health standards that we live to?”
“As the Minister will be aware, we are about two months out from the key exam time in our schools for our school-leavers and our GCSE pupils. If there should be any necessary disruption to the programme of exams, whose decision is it to act on that? Is it the decision of the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA), the Education Authority or the Minister, and what thought has been given to the matter?”
“Does the Department think that our larger employers, who are paying the national apprenticeship levy, are getting a fair deal? Yes, money comes back in Barnett consequentials, but is that money even spent on apprenticeships? Are we not in a situation where major employers are paying a hefty levy but not getting anything like the return that their GB colleagues are getting?”
“I thought that I could not possibly go wrong if I followed such an example. The point is made, and I make it again. It is a serious point that goes to the very heart of public confidence in those who hold office in these institutions.”
“Principal Deputy Speaker, I was following the august example of the vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee.”
“The Minister has yet — maybe he will do so today or maybe he will write to me or the Finance Committee — to give us a fulsome explanation of that matter. I look forward to obtaining that. <BR /> <BR />Finally, I endorse entirely the comments of the vice-Chairman of the Committee that the Minister's credibility is on the line so long as he fails to do the right thing by his constituents, the Quinn family. We now have an indication from the gardaí that they are anxious to speak to the Minister, although the Minister hitherto, I believe, had told us that he had answered all the gardaí's questions. Clearly not. I hope that the Minister —”
“What unallocated provisions have we in Northern Ireland? What budgets have we retained at the centre for contingencies? Will the Minister cast some light on that? Is he reviewing the scale and extent of such contingency funding in the light of the emerging crisis from the coronavirus? It is clear from that document that it is not just a matter of waiting for the next handout from Westminster. There is an obligation on the devolved institutions to think ahead, to retain budgets at the centre as contingencies and to ensure that, insofar as they can, they make appropriate provision. Will the Minister indicate what provision is being made and what steps have been taken? <BR /> <BR />I refer briefly to the infamous black boxes.”
“Like other contributions to the debate, mine will be mercifully short. There are, however, a couple of issues to which I will direct the Minister's attention. <BR /> <BR />There has been reference made to the unfolding coronavirus crisis, which, of course, is having an impact across the world, and our economy and the demands on our finances will not be immune from it. It is in that context that I want to hear from the Minister about the budgetary provisions that we make for contingencies to deal with unforeseen emergencies. <BR /> <BR />In the document that the Treasury published in November 2015 titled, 'Statement of funding policy: funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly', paragraph 6.2 states:”
“but I point out that my criticisms were that the ANC was brought in, in part, because of EU regulations that restricted the farming methods and choices of hill farmers and dictated how much stock they could have on the hills, what type of stock and the dates that they could have their stock on the hills and matters such as that. The ANC was supposed to be an antidote to EU smothering of the choice of local farmers. I said that we should get rid of the smothering and liberate the farmers and let them make their own decisions.”
“I am sure that it was entirely unintentional that the Member would distort what I said”
“If the Minister is taking questions on the second review, I will ask her this. I urge her not to rush to blind acceptance of everything that is in that report, because, I suggest to her, there is one aspect in particular — maybe more than one — that sits antithetically with a fair process in a trial. I refer to the suggestion that we should move to a point where the cross-examination of an accused is subject to all questions being approved by the judge. Cross-examination is critical in separating the wheat from the chaff in a case. It cannot be scripted. It is answer-led and, therefore, should not be judge-led. Will she carefully consider the adverse impact on a fair judicial process if we get to the point where cross-examination is fettered in the way suggested?”
“— he can take monetary action to deal with that. That is the right way to go. Take the shackles off our farmers and have the safety net of the Department able to intervene when it is needed.”
“and there is a threat to protections etc —”
“I see reference in the motion to a schedule to the Bill. Paragraph 7 in Part 2 of schedule 6 gives the Minister very wide powers. Where he considers:”
“I do not think that Mr McAleer has been listening. I have identified burdens that could be taken off hill farmers. Allow them to farm as they need to farm. Take away the mollycoddling restrictions and open up their opportunities. He has not addressed, thought or spoken about that at all. Are we here to help farmers, or are we here to hinder them? The ANC restrictions on farming hinder hill farmers. I say that we should liberate them and let them farm as they ought. If things are as grim as is said — things are not good in farming — this is the moment to look forward. Brexit provides the opportunity to do things differently. That is what the Minister needs to address: how can we do things not just differently but better? Simply repeating what we have rarely amounts to doing things better. Of course, there are powers.”
“What a slur, I have to say, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker”
“Yes, sustainable farming includes making sure that the areas that are productive and making the big contribution to our farming output are not neglected. Yes, there has to be a spread and all things have to be considered, but this tunnel vision — that we need to channel more and more money away from the productive sections into the non-productive sections — is the height of nonsense.”
“Why are we not giving our farmers the freedom to farm? They control their own farms. They know what is best for their business. Take heather burning, which we banned. The ability to burn heather at the right time of the year, under the right burning conditions, would help hill farmers. It is, in part, because we took away all those rights that ANCs were imposed. By removing those EU-inspired, nonsensical, inhibiting provisions, we could, in fact, liberate our hill farmers. That would be a most useful step to take, but we did not hear a word of that today. All that we heard was the usual whining, "Give us the money. Give us the money". It is not a sustainable situation. I hear talk about sustainable farming.”
“There is a need to balance where we are best helping production. <BR /> <BR />I am surprised — well, maybe I am not — that, in the debate, there has been no reference to one of the reasons why ANC was introduced in the first place. It was introduced in part to offset the curtailment that had been placed on hill farming by the EU. It is by addressing and removing some of those curtailments, such as stocking rates, that we could help hill farmers. Why should farmers not be able to set their own stocking rate on their own land? Why should they not be able to out-winter cattle on their own upland areas? Why must we have these prescriptive rates, dates and times of stocking? If we remove them, we help to restore autonomy and the possibility of success to those areas. Why do we have restrictions on the type of livestock in hill areas?”
“No one in the House will get argument from me that our hill farmers do not make a valuable contribution to our agricultural production. However, it is imperative that we take an overview of all our agriculture because, at the end of the day, we are a food-producing region. We need to optimise that and do it in a way that respects that there is a limited pot of government money to aid that process. Therefore, it is appropriate that, from time to time, we stand back and examine whether the distribution and spend are balanced correctly or whether they need adjustment. Therefore, it was right to review the ANC payments. It is quite a preposterous proposition for the mover of the motion to say that he wants to see not only a flat rate but the advantage of an ANC for hill farmers. There is not an endless money tree.”
“Does the Member ever think that those organisations might continue to exist in part because of the encouragement that they draw from the House? Where else in the world would you have a security assessment that the structures of the IRA remain in existence, the Provisional army council is still there, the IRA continues to have access to weapons and that the IRA army council oversees the IRA and Sinn Féin? How on earth do we ever defeat paramilitaries by allowing the example to be set, through the institutions of this House, that a paramilitary organisation controls a party of Government?”
“— maybe millions, on interpretation and translation that no one needs.”
“It was due to be answered 10 days ago, but it has still not been answered. I ask the First Minister this today: will there be a public consultation on this trilogy or trinity of legislation, or are the public just being taken for granted? Do their views not matter? Will this be steamrollered through because it was the price of getting back into the House and of getting back into the First Minister's limo? Is that the truth of it? That seems to be it. <BR /> <BR />Of course, I have already raised the question today of the cost and the squander. It is squander. There is not a person in the House who does not adequately speak English, yet, in another mechanism, we will spend hundreds of thousands probably —”
“No enhancement; no adding to; just taking the static of what is there and increasing awareness of it. Whereas, the enforcer in the Irish language has all those additional powers. It is clear that it has been packaged in that way to try to deceive some of the gullible that it is not really what it is, but, of course, as we come to debate it, we will have the opportunity, I hope, to further explore and expose those very issues. <BR /> <BR />I have one outstanding question for the First Minister. I have been tabling questions about this since the Assembly came back, and there seems to be a great diffidence about answering them. I asked this simple question: will there be a public consultation on this trilogy of legislation? I did not get an answer, so I tabled it again, more precisely. I tabled it as a priority question for written answer.”
“in the provision of their services. The poor old Ulster — well, he is not even called the Ulster-Scots commissioner; the "further ... Commissioner" is the grandest title that he gets. The poor old further Commissioner can "produce and distribute publicity material". Wow. He can:”