Rosemary Barton
Fermanagh and South Tyrone · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Unfortunately, I see nothing about women in agriculture in your statement. You talked about succession, for example. Will there be extra support to allow women to succeed to the family farm? Many women have caring responsibilities.”
“My question leads on from Mr McGlone's. You talked about responsibility for the environment, but everybody has to take responsibility for their local environment, and that is the aspect at which I want to look. What conversations have you had with councils about how they will be able to help you meet the strategy's challenges?”
“Thank you, Minister, for that comprehensive answer. Those investments are all very fine and are very welcome in Fermanagh and South Tyrone. We still have a communication problem owing to the mobile network coverage, however. Can you think of any way in which to put further investment into Fermanagh to try to alleviate that problem?”
“When there is an issue involving devolved matters, it is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Assembly to legislate on those matters. The UK Parliament retains the power to legislate on them, however.”
“<BR /> <BR />A number of strengthening arrangements therefore needed to be considered. There must be an assurance that the Assembly is made aware in a timely manner of those Westminster Bills that require an LCM. There needs to be improved communication from Ministers to the Assembly if normal timescales cannot be met.”
“The amendment that we are debating is to Standing Order 3, and it covers what happens in the event that a Member cannot attend, whether through illness or for another reason, the first meeting of the Assembly following a dissolution. That Member, therefore, would not be able to declare his or her political designation.”
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“Minister, can you inform the House how you intend to market the beauty of the lakes in Fermanagh, especially to get trade that is coming into Belfast to move west into Fermanagh and, further along, to Donegal?”
“Minister, thank you for your statement and some of your answers. I heard your party colleague refer to tourism in a number of places in Northern Ireland. However, he forgot to mention his home county.”
“I thank the First Minister for her answer. First Minister, will you also update us on the Northern Ireland protocol?”
“Previously, if the Department decreed that a permit was not needed, there would be no offence. As the Assembly is fully aware, the current smooth and seamless links to the Scottish aquaculture sector are vital for our sector. The impact of that on our fish farms and other areas of aquaculture would be highly detrimental to our industry. Therefore, we will not support the legislation.”
“to reflect the fact that the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the EU. The problem is that the legislation separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. In the regulations and their outworkings, Northern Ireland will remain aligned with the European Union, so paperwork and permits will have to be completed for movement within the UK. <BR /> <BR />The UUP will look closely at all legislation that is being brought before the Assembly to determine whether it will have a negative or detrimental impact on the businesses, economy and environment of Northern Ireland. With the new regulations that amend the Alien and Locally Absent Species in Aquaculture Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012, provision is being made that it will be an offence to import from Scotland or elsewhere in the United Kingdom.”
“At first glance, the legislation appears innocuous. However, from an Ulster Unionist perspective, it gives us some concerns. The statutory rule removes references to the United Kingdom and states:”
“Thank you very much for your answers so far, Minister. With regard to the use of academic selection for this cohort of pupils, can you outline any contingency planning discussions that you or your Department have had with grammar schools in response to the recent successful Committee for Education motion on the same issue?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your answer. Minister, can you advise on the country of origin of goods that have been produced using products from several countries, for example cheese or Baileys drink?”
“The purpose of the statutory rule is to amend primary legislation relating to plant health and animal health and welfare and to ensure that domestic legislation could operate in the event of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement. The rule allows for investigations into alleged breaches of animal health and welfare obligations arising under retained EU law. It allows the Department to continue to make legislation in Northern Ireland in order to prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests and animal diseases. The high welfare standards that we have here in Northern Ireland need to be protected as we move forward into the world market. The UUP supports the SR.”
“The SR is required in Northern Ireland to transpose EU law into domestic legislation and ensure that the UK fulfils its obligations. It deals with regulations for the marketing of ornamental plants and propagating material and the marketing of vegetable-propagating and plant material other than seed. The SR does not introduce new policy. Therefore, the Ulster Unionist Party supports it.”
“Minister, if you could also pass on my good wishes to Mr Poots and wish him a speedy recovery. <BR /> <BR />Might an oversight body similar to the Groceries Code Adjudicator, in place throughout the United Kingdom but tailored for Northern Ireland's needs, improve farm-gate prices in future?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your statement. It is quite a large project. What conversations have there been with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board to promote the project in Northern Ireland?”
“Minister, following the recent peatbog slide at Meenbog, where a large quantity of peatbog land was displaced into the Mourne Beg river, do you accept that such bog slippage has endangered a pristine salmon river, releases captured carbon, reduces ponding and further increases the risk of flooding downstream? How will your Department limit the chance of that occurring in Northern Ireland?”
“I welcome that information. Minister, will you agree that having the extra facilities in the SWAH will make it even more attractive for new staff to work in it?”
“Deputy First Minister, you will know that the Ulster Unionist Party is against this aspect of the New Decade, New Approach deal given that language and culture were already catered for as part of the Belfast Agreement. Minister, will you outline the overall cost of implementing this section of the agreement?”
“Sorry, but I wanted to know about the other one — Foras na Gaeilge; those are the groups that I asked about.”
“How much are you are putting towards that? You talk about the £4 million that went towards the Ulster-Scots culture. How much did the support to the 400 organisations annually through 23 separate schemes etc cost?”
“I thank the Minister for her answers so far. Minister, in your statement regarding the language body progress reports, you talk about the distribution of £4 million in grant aid to support Ulster-Scots cultural activities across Ulster. You go on to talk about the support provided by Foras na Gaeilge to 400 organisations in 23 separate schemes, but I see nothing in relation to the finance there. Can you give me some idea of how much that has cost?”
“Minister, what was the outcome of the talks with Department for the Economy's officials over the weekend on the matter? Why has it taken nearly eight months to come up with the appropriate package?”
“Minister, now that you are on the issue of libraries in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, can I ask for an update on Fivemiletown library?”
“Has the Minister had any communications with University College Dublin (UCD) about increasing its intake of students over the next year or two while you, hopefully, get your veterinary school up and running in Northern Ireland and keep those people here?”
“Minister, you said that a major part of the new agricultural framework will, of course, be an agri-environment programme. Do you foresee that the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) and the Shared Environmental Services (SES) will work with the agricultural community in a more supportive role to enable modern and progressive farming in parallel with the protection of environmental assets?”
“Thank you for your statement, Minister. You referred to fostering cooperation, promoting shared learning and measuring progress to minimise climate risks. Have you given any thought to the various rules and regulations in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland? For example, the two jurisdictions have different planning rules and regulations for ammonia.”
“How big a problem for the Loughs Agency is illegal fishing such as poaching, particularly in the Foyle area? How many people have been prosecuted for illegal fishing in that area?”
“Minister, thank you very much for your statement. What cooperation is there on cross-border fly-tipping, particularly from homes in border areas? Much waste from homes is dumped in Northern Ireland because there is an expense involved in having that waste collected from homes in the Republic.”
“Thank you, Minister, for your answer. You will be aware that there are also long waiting lists for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assessments. I understand that those are to be completed by the medical profession, but that has a knock-on effect when children are being assessed in school by the school psychologist. Will you commit to working with the Health Minister to reduce that assessment time, for the educational benefit of our young people?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your answers so far. <BR /> <BR />I want to probe a little more into teaching qualifications. As you know, in Northern Ireland, teachers go through Stranmillis or St Mary's, and we also have teachers with postgraduate qualifications. First, what work is being done to look at those qualifications on both sides of the border? Secondly, what talks have been going on with the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) and its equivalent in the Republic of Ireland to make sure that qualifications are recognised on either side of the border?”
“While it may not appear to be a vital piece of legislation at present given that a sizeable proportion of those participants will remain in the EU scheme, maybe it will lead to Northern Ireland's developing its own targets, but as part of the United Kingdom framework. My party supports the motion.”
“However, five of those installations will remain in the EU ETS, with those five generators being responsible for 82% of emissions. Therefore, it has a real-time relevance only to the 16 installations that produce 18% of emissions. One should wonder whether its overall relevance is significant to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I understand that an emissions trading scheme is a devolved matter. Therefore, Northern Ireland could adopt different targets and mechanisms to meet those targets. That is why a framework agreement is being developed with a standardised process for how the UK ETS will be governed, including how to manage and resolve disputes.”
“This legislation regarding withdrawal from the EU has been foisted upon us without any real opportunity to gather evidence or information or for the Committee to carry out the scrutiny that it is expected to do. While an impact assessment has been carried out across the UK, it did not drill down into Northern Ireland. The Committee was informed that a local assessment was being undertaken. Officials indicated that the local assessment would be provided to the Committee before the debate, subject to the Minister's agreement. It was not, however, made available to us before that was laid. <BR /> <BR />The legislation has relevance for 21 installations that are currently in the European Union emissions trading scheme.”
“Like many other aspects of the United Kingdom withdrawal from the EU, this lengthy Westminster secondary legislation seems to complicate what should be a relatively simple process.”
“<BR /> <BR />Both examination providers financially charge pupils or an education body for supervising the young people who are sitting the exam. Perhaps that finance could go towards the extra supervision that will be necessary for the smaller sittings of the examinations in the pupils' primary school surroundings, ensuring that there is safety. <BR /> <BR />The UUP supports the motion.”
“<BR /> <BR />The experience in the past of hundreds of children gathering in a school gym, dining hall or corridor of classrooms next to each other to sit an examination is neither a good example to set nor a very satisfactory arrangement for the protection of those pupils. Will the pupils be distanced 2 metres apart? Who will sanitise the desks, chairs etc before and after the exam? Will the pupils attending remain in their primary-school bubbles, or will they mix with others from areas that could be 50 miles apart? I call on you, Minister, to work with the two private transfer examination providers and permit pupils to take the transfer examination in their own school, where they will be familiar with the tried-and-tested COVID-proof regulations.”
“Those stats prove that it is really important, in the event of unforeseen circumstances in January, that you, Minister, take all reasonable steps to ensure that the transfer procedure is not cancelled and that emergency contingency planning is in place to allow those young people to sit their post-primary transfer test. That contingency planning must give consideration to the location of the examination in combination with ensuring that the pupils have a COVID-reduced safe experience while sitting the exam. Consideration of the safety and welfare of children must be the number-one priority.”
“However, after half-term, many would say that that disappointment had disappeared. They enjoyed life at their new school, and they began to view the experience in a positive light by turning it into a building block to increasing their resilience. <BR /> <BR />The keenness that many young people have for sitting examinations is borne out and reinforced by the young people's questionnaire, which indicated that a similar percentage of pupils — 91% — wanted to sit the transfer procedure prior to COVID, while only 3% fewer wanted to sit the transfer after it.”
“I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. As a former teacher in a non-selective school, I watched, year after year, as year 8 pupils arrived in their pristine new uniforms on their first day at the big school. There were those who had not sat the post-primary transfer test who considered examinations to be a real inconvenience in their lives. At the opposite end of the scale, there were those who had sat the post-primary transfer test and were so disappointed at not succeeding. Finally, there were those, perhaps encouraged by parents and teachers to have a try, who were really not concerned about the final outcome. It was obvious that some of that year 8 group were suffering disappointment following their encounter with the transfer procedure.”
“Minister, you spoke earlier about money that you had held back in case it was needed. Do you, along with the Minister for the Economy, have any plans to support those businesses that are still being excluded?”
“Will the Minister give the House a guarantee that the method of automatic payments that was used previously will not be used again when giving out grants?”
“While it is an independent body funded by the Department of Finance, will the Minister make a statement to the House every year on the community background statistics of employees in that service?”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for her answer. Has anybody declined an approach to be temporary head of the Civil Service?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. Minister, you talked about the Irish Government's reaffirmation of their £75 million commitment to the A5 western transport corridor project: surely, that was meant to be £400 million at one stage.”
“Will the Minister please advise why, when the operating accruing resources for forestry were approximately £10·5 million in 2018, in 2020-21, it is down as far as £14,000? <BR /> <BR />I support the motion.”
“There are, however, some uncertain times ahead for the agri-food sector, with the uncertainties of Brexit and the movement of goods, particularly west-east and east-west. There are so many unanswered questions. Will all legal impediments to the trade at the end of the transition period be resolved? What is the definition of "qualifying goods"? Those are just two of the questions. I welcome, however, the prompt payment of the basic farm payments, due out in November. Hopefully, these will continue for the agricultural community for the foreseeable future. <BR /> <BR />Looking at the Main Estimates, I assume that the significant reduction in the common agricultural policy is due to Brexit and payments not coming from the EU. There is one other issue I wish to ask about.”
“The substantial financial support that was made available to councils has been of wonderful benefit to them in dealing with waste management and other issues that arose due to the period of COVID-19 lockdown. All of that was very welcome, and it is to our Government in London that we are very grateful. However, I am aware that there are still sectors of the agriculture industry that have received no support. Here I must pay tribute to our agri-food industry, which ensured that we had no food shortages during the present crisis. Our population was well fed and, through innovative methods, the industry ensured that the movement of livestock continued through these difficult times and that the farming economy continued.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate. Financial support is essential to the running of the different Departments. In January, when we returned to Stormont, one could never have imagined how different, within weeks, Northern Ireland would be because of the COVID-19 pandemic or the effect that it would have on the Budget that we are looking at today. <BR /> <BR />Today, however, I direct my comments mainly towards the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Estimates. I welcome the various financial aid packages that were put in place to support our agricultural, horticultural, including ornamental horticulture, and fishing communities.”
“What reassurance and guidance can the Minister give to parents about children wearing masks on school buses? I am getting a lot of complaints about that.”
“Thankfully, the Minister has identified mental health as one of his key priorities. I especially welcome the appointment. It will take many years, however, to resolve the imbalance in, and the historical underfunding of, mental health services. We already had appalling rates of poor mental health, and the pandemic, unfortunately, will not have served to improve those. <BR /> <BR />Moving forward, I would, indeed, welcome the provision of modern facilities for staff and patients. I believe that it is the very least that people with poor mental health in the west of the Province deserve.”
“Unfortunately, in the meantime, years of budget cuts and the fact that it was perhaps a limited priority for some Ministers have regrettably left the project lagging behind. That is hugely regrettable. There is consensus among all the parties that a new mental health unit in Fermanagh and Tyrone is long overdue. However, in order to build the unit and deliver the project, which I am sure the current Health Minister hopes to do, funding will have to be made available. I hope that the consensus in the Assembly this evening will equate to consensus around the Executive table when the Minister looks for that funding. <BR /> <BR />Mental health is, I believe, at long last beginning to receive recognition, given the appointment of a mental health champion and the provision of the resources that she needs.”
“I welcome the opportunity to participate in this Adjournment debate. We refer to this as a West Tyrone constituency issue, but I represent Fermanagh people who will use the facility, too. We have no such facility in Fermanagh. <BR /> <BR />For too long, Northern Ireland has had inadequate mental health inpatient facilities. Over a decade ago, in 2010, Michael McGimpsey, the then Minister of Health, decided on a major development of new facilities. Given the size of the Western Trust, which stretches from Londonderry in the north to Newtownbutler in the south, it was rightly decided that the trust required two acute mental health units. One was built, but the other, the second phase of the Omagh Hospital and Primary Care Complex, which we are discussing today, still awaits construction.”
“All of those combine to retain our natural countryside in the county and collectively contribute to the county's economy. The damage to health that extraction can cause has been well documented over the years, from different lung problems because of the unclean air to a number of medical problems associated with drinking contaminated water. At the moment, we all know the importance of good health and sacrifices that we make to stay healthy and protect ourselves. <BR /> <BR />I ask that further consideration and thought be given to the consequences of granting permission for petroleum licences. The health of those living near to prospective drilling sites for petroleum exploration and production cannot and must not be sacrificed for the sake of our economy. We support the motion.”