Conor Murphy
Newry and Armagh · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“More detailed consultations with individual childcare providers and parents are taking place this month and into February. The group agreed that the research would conclude in March 2025. The work is on schedule; there has been no delay. Childcare is an excellent example of various Departments coming together to deliver for our people.”
“The Bill looks at the issue of flexible working, but at every meeting that we have had with employers, we have made a point of talking to them about the need for them to be flexible, particularly in relation to women who are returning to the workforce, and to offer people arrangements that entice them back to the workforce and give them t…”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion. <BR /> <BR />Although the Department of Education leads on childcare, it is a priority for the Executive as a whole. When setting the Budget for this financial year, the Executive earmarked an additional £25 million for childcare.”
“As a matter of fact, I publicly launched the scheme and the courses in the Met last summer. My officials are also working with our six further education colleges to develop childcare microcourses for future delivery. <BR /> <BR />I also offered to assist Minister Givan's Department as required.”
“The group identified the need to better understand the business models for childcare, what type of support is needed to ensure the sector's financial viability and how support should be targeted. Given my Department's business expertise, we volunteered to take that work forward.”
“No tensions or obstacles have been placed in the way of any of that work, and I hope that that continues to be the case, because the issues are much more important than party political exchanges across the Chamber. We will continue to work in that manner.”
The complete record
Every one of 4,975 lines we hold for Conor Murphy, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 30 of 100.
“We are working on the others that may come in under another category, and we are engaging with the Housing Executive on the potential for its taking responsibility for dealing with that issue.”
“The Department of Finance agreed to undertake this on behalf of the Executive. No single Department has responsibility. We have already put out a call for evidence on a scheme for buildings above 18 metres that have aluminium combustible materials (ACM) in their cladding. In doing that, we did a search for other buildings of similar height with other cladding material that might not be considered to be suitable. Off the top of my head, that identified, perhaps, another 18 buildings. We will identify the cost of that, and we have been working on it with the Department for Communities and the Housing Executive. We have already agreed on the funding available for ACM, and we are working through the details of that with the one building that it applies to in the North.”
“That is the intention. We gave a significant additional amount of cash to Health over the course of the pandemic to cope with the pressures that it was undoubtedly facing and to support healthcare staff over that period. We will continue to support them into the future, but we want transformation. That is why we need Health to advise us on how the money is being spent, what the outcome is intended to be and how an incoming Executive can measure that over the next three years in order to ensure that the additional money that I hope we agree to put into Health achieves the outcome that the Executive want.”
“It is important that we finally have a multi-year Budget to put in that resource to effect the change that is needed to support the health of our population and to ensure that health spend from public finances can be brought under some measure of control.”
“I said in answer to previous questions that have arisen in the context of the Budget that we have agreed on the prioritisation of the Department of Health. We now have an opportunity to match that with sufficient resource to allow it to get on with tackling some of the big issues in Health and also in that transformation piece. The charge that Health puts on public finances has increased year on year, and if we are ever to get that under control, we need to take the strategic, three-year approach to reduce it. Otherwise, an incoming Executive, or whoever sets the Budget in three years, will have a much bigger challenge than I do.”
“We work with construction through the Procurement Board, but there is also a construction forum for addressing issues, because we have a range of responsibilities for building regulation matters as well. It is an interest that transcends the Department of Finance. In particular, the Department for the Economy and the Department for Infrastructure have an interest, given the huge contribution that construction makes to the overall economic performance here. It is vital that we work closely with them in the time ahead and that we make it cross-departmental. Where resources can be put in, they contribute not only to employment but, if you are improving the housing stock, to a reduction in heating costs and also to health and well-being.”
“If there is unspent money and we are likely to exceed our limits for carrying over resource and capital into the next year, that money will be very much needed to try to supplement the budgets of a number of Departments, including the Department of Justice, which I mentioned in answer to the previous question. <BR /> <BR />The Minister for Communities has already indicated that, if there is unspent resource, the Housing Executive, through refurbishment work, can absorb some of it and carry it through into the next financial year to make sure that it is spent then. If it is the case that we may exceed our carry-over limits, that will be one of the options at which we will look at the end of the financial year.”
“"Health" is defined across a range of other Departments, and we look to them to come forward with propositions and policies on working collaboratively and on promoting the general health and well-being of the community.”
“You are quite right: there is much more to health than the Health Department itself, although it has primary responsibility for it. The big issues of our time are those such as tackling waiting lists, cancer treatment services and mental health issues, as well as reform of the health service itself, which has become a kind of machine that continues to consume public finances. If we do not do something to alter that, that consumption will continue to grow, and, in three years' time, whoever is in the position of trying to set a Budget will have a much more challenging outcome than we currently have, and our outcome at the moment is already challenging.”
“<BR /> <BR />We want to continue to support Departments as best we can, and we say to Ministers that, when they are prioritising their budgets — they have a significant degree of latitude in doing so — they should be looking at commitments that we made collectively, such as NDNA commitments when we came back into the Executive. I therefore look to the Department of Justice to meet its commitments in the time ahead. Although budgets are much tighter than we want them to be, there is the ability to meet such commitments.”
“The central issues are whether we agree that health is the priority and whether we agree to try to give that Department the transformational funds to work on all the issues that I am sure are dear to the Member's heart and that of many others, such as waiting lists, cancer treatment and mental health issues. There is absolutely no doubt that Health funding puts a squeeze on other Departments, but every Department has an increase in its budget, and there is, I think, ring-fenced money for policing, which probably was not identified in the Fiscal Council's report.”
“As I said in answer to a previous question, we are not making as full use of financial transactions capital as we could. It applies to projects that have a 25-year lifespan, and I am sure that some of the schools estates projects will have that. I therefore encourage the Education Minister to look at where her Department can avail itself of financial transactions capital, because there are sums available under that for us to utilise. There is no doubt that our capital budgets are challenged, particularly when we come to year 3, so anything that can supplement them is of value. It is, however, really for individual Departments to look at a specific project and say that they think that it fits the financial transactions capital model. We will then certainly support it.”
“I am happy to look at that case. As the Member knows, we have revamped the Procurement Board. We have looked at the procurement policy guidance notes. We are bringing those through the Executive to ensure that they have the full authority of the Executive attached to them. Part of that is a tidying-up exercise that is looking at some of the previous policy notes and what they produced. If there is a specific case in relation to those contracts, I will be happy to look at it and come back to the Member.”
“I share the Member's desire to make sure that we support and sustain town and village centres as best we can. That is a question for rates policy, and we will be looking at rates policy. We are looking at revaluation, but we are also looking at business rates generally. We have taken significant steps. A lot of people will not have experienced it, due to the two-year holiday, but we effectively reduced business rates by 18% over the period. We will continue to look at that to see where the more targeted support of rates can apply and have the sort of effect that he has mentioned.”
“Bear in mind that an awful lot of businesses have had a rates holiday for two full years. That has been a substantial but necessary support to them over the pandemic. In recent times, I have had the opportunity to be out engaging with businesses, and I have heard at first hand how much they valued that holiday and the business support that was given to them. There is a proposition to look at all businesses for the first month of the new financial year, as a consequence of the COVID rates order that is going through, and then to look at a three-month extension for a range of businesses. That is part of the Budget consultation process. Once that is agreed, we will be able to give certainty to businesses, but we intend to extend it for one month for all businesses and three months for targeted businesses.”
“However, it is not the case that we had money at our disposal to spend and handed it back, apart from the capital DEL in that one year.”
“As I outlined in my earlier answer, none of the resource that is used for our public services was returned over that period. Just over £81 million of capital was returned in 2019-2020. I outlined the reasons for that: the onset of the pandemic stopped construction, and there was a significant hold-up in a health project that was to consume a lot of capital. The other costs relate to money that is available if it is required for a specific purpose. If it is not required for that purpose, it cannot be utilised. <BR /> <BR />We can improve on how we deal with financial transactions capital. Financial transactions capital can only be engaged in very specific ways over a 25-year period, but I have said that Departments need to step up and look more closely at how they can use that. We can certainly do better in that regard.”
“As a result, £270·3 million has not been utilised over that period.”
“No non-ring-fenced resource DEL, which funds the ongoing cost of providing services, was returned to the Treasury. While no capital DEL was returned in 2018-19 or 2020-21, unfortunately, £81·1 million was returned in 2019-2020. That was primarily because of delays to projects due to COVID and a delay in signing the contract for a health project, as it required further due diligence. <BR /> <BR />Ring-fenced resource DEL is provided for non-cash accounting transactions relating to depreciation or impairment, including student loans, and it can be used only for that purpose. As such, £537·3 million of the total available has not been required over that period. Members will be aware of the restrictions on the use of financial transactions capital (FTC) and the difficulties that that has caused.”
“We operate on the advice that we are given from those who have policy responsibility for that, and we put together a scheme to provide support. <BR /> <BR />As for those who have had other business, hotels and hospitality were not required to close. Nightclubs were required to close over that period, and there is a recognition that they lost a lot of the Christmas trade that they would have otherwise got. If there is a case to be made that others did not lose that, I am certainly happy to look at it. I do not believe, however, that that case has been made to us.”
“The payments have been made, and the case has now been made for hotels to be included in that additional £40 million scheme. That will bring it up to somewhere in the region of £2·5 million. A number of hotels have been identified by the Department for the Economy that it says require support, and we are content to pay out on that basis. We do not have the ability to decide which other sectors in tourism and hospitality should receive support and say, "We think those people should be supported". The case for that level of support has to be made to us. B&Bs, guest houses and other things may not be included in the scheme because they have not been identified to us by the Department for the Economy as requiring support.”
“We hope to carry over as much as we possibly can. We know that, even with the three-year Budget, a lot of public services will continue to be challenged. If a case is made for some of the businesses that the Member has outlined, I am happy to look at it.”
“The Member was here this time last week when I made the January monitoring statement. I supported all the bids that came in. Every bid was met, and a proportion of money is left over. We are challenged next year in our budgets, so my objective and that of the Department is to try to maximise our carry-over in order to try to support public services in the next year and to spend out money where very good cases are now made for the provision of support to some people who continue to be affected by the pandemic, which we are still experiencing. <BR /> <BR />Again, I am quite happy to look at the cases that are made by other Ministers. It is not the case that money is just languishing in the coffers: that money can be carried over. We are in discussion with the Treasury about the limits that we can carry over.”
“I think that Communities has been looking at some schemes, but, as I said in my opening answer, it is up to those with policy responsibility to bring forward a proposition that is supported by some evidence of need, and I am very happy to make a recommendation to the Executive on that basis.”
“As the Member says, on the back of advice from the Department for the Economy the weekend before last, we agreed to add hotels to the scheme. She will know that hospitality and support for businesses are not in my area of responsibility, but Land and Property Services has, thankfully, agreed to step up to that task. Some other people in the associated supply chains of entertainment will fall under the ambit of the Department for Communities, and others will fall under the ambit of the Department for the Economy. As yet, I have had no bids in relation to those matters.”
“Officials from my Department have also been working with representatives of the hospitality industry on proposals for retrospective support for nightclubs to compensate them for the period that they were required to remain closed while other businesses could reopen.”
“I have encouraged the Minister for the Economy to consider whether there is a need for further financial support for businesses. As I noted in the Assembly on 25 January, I am happy to work with any Minister who wants to bring forward a proposition for sectoral support, and I am happy to make a recommendation to the Executive on that basis. Ministers will, however, have to bring it to me; I cannot reach into other Departments and make their case for them. Nightclubs and similar establishments are covered by the omicron hospitality payment, which I announced on 23 December past. They have also benefited from a 24-month rates holiday since April 2020. Under the plans that I announced in the Budget, they will have no rates to pay in the first three months of the next financial year.”
“As I said, on energy matters, we liaised through the Department for the Economy, which advises on those issues. It would be up to the Treasury to seek a derogation, should one be required. As I said, there is a provision at the Joint Committee to review the implementation of VAT provisions, so, if such a derogation is required, we expect that to be raised through that mechanism.”
“I understand that Spain's Government passed emergency measures to reduce the cost of heating and electricity bills by reducing VAT from 21% to 10%, and the Czech Government announced a VAT waiver on electricity and gas supplies in November and December, due to the energy crisis, so, clearly, flexibilities are permissible under the EU rules.”
“First, on the protocol itself, my officials liaised with the Department for the Economy when writing to the Treasury, and both energy and VAT are included in the protocol to some degree, although they are complex areas. As such, we cannot give a definitive view on whether notification to the EU will be required for the support to be implemented here in the North. As I have said, however, VAT is an excepted matter, and the Treasury would be responsible for seeking a derogation, should one be required. The protocol provides for the Joint Committee to regularly review the implementation of VAT provisions.”
“That type of policy issue will be a matter for the Executive as a whole, brought forward by those who have responsibility in that area. In terms of energy, it will probably be a combination of Economy and DAERA. Of course, the Executive have their own overarching targets in relation to that, which is faced by the real challenge of rising energy costs, which is outside our control, and the ability to support people in that. <BR /> <BR />Rather than being a matter for the Department of Finance, which makes propositions about the Budget, the overarching policy will be a matter for the Executive as a whole, led by the Departments that have responsibilities in that area.”
“It took that length of time to get the Executive to agree it. The Communities Minister raised the issue with me immediately after the October monitoring round. We asked Departments to indicate to us earlier than normal what moneys they may surrender in January monitoring so that we could get a sense of what type of scheme we could put together. We put that together over December and asked for Executive agreement, but it did not get that agreement until January, unfortunately. The Minister for Communities and I would have preferred if the scheme had been in place and able to reach people earlier.”
“Yes. We have had an ongoing discussion on the issue. The first iteration, I think, was on the effect on pleasure crafts and things like that. Yes, we have had engagement with the Treasury and will continue to do that. The issue is tied up in the attempted reduction in carbon emissions. We recognise the strong cases made by construction in some of the charges. Many Members have been lobbied by people in the construction sector. While we want to make sure that we are getting to more renewable energies, we need to ensure that the impact of that is not so severe that people are not able to cope with the journey that we all need to be on.”
“When our budgets are so tight and there are unforeseen emergencies that are out of our control, such as the increases in energy costs, we can make only very limited interventions. We should have in our hands all the fiscal levers that we can in order to make sure that we can intervene when necessary as per our own judgement in this part of the world.”
“I established a Fiscal Commission to look at the prospect of economic levers that we do not currently have. We are a long way behind Scotland and Wales, which have had a number of iterations looking at that issue. Since 1998, this institution has never taken a detailed look at what might be available to us. <BR /> <BR />Unfortunately, that takes some time. I hope that the report will be available before the end of this mandate, but it will be for an incoming Executive to look at it. If there were then the political will to move and look at revenue-raising options for us, that would require a negotiation with the Treasury. I do not think that any of those issues will be in time for this three-year Budget cycle but will probably be available towards the end of the next mandate. <BR /> <BR />It is incumbent on us to look at the situation.”
“Yes. In the past number of weeks, I had a four-way meeting with the Finance Ministers from Scotland and Wales in which we collectively pressed the Treasury on these issues. We are assured that there will be a spring statement towards the end of March — a bit late for inclusion in our current financial process — that will address cost-of-living issues. We do not have the detail on what that might include, but we will continue to press the case for support, as the Member outlined, for hard-pressed families.”
“With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I will answer questions 4, 8 and 13 together. <BR /> <BR />I wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 11 November last year, calling on him to waive VAT on energy bills temporarily to support the many households and businesses that are struggling with the cost of living and spiralling energy prices. I have not yet received a response to my letter, and my officials have followed up on that with their Treasury counterparts. While it is disappointing that the British Government do not appear to be prepared to cut VAT on energy bills, I will continue to call on the Treasury to take urgent action on the cost-of-living crisis.”
“I agree with the Member about the necessity of protecting the Mournes now and in the future. The Executive are on board, and each Department has provided representatives to work with the team. The work of the Innovation Lab will include a review of existing research, as well as the commissioning of additional expert research, should it be needed. There will also be a series of research engagement events with a cross section of the community that will include focused citizen engagement sessions. The purpose of that is to enable the development of a long-term plan that will include the community and stakeholders in the Mournes. I expect that work to be completed later this year.”
“The Innovation Lab team is also developing a business case to secure external expertise to conduct the public engagement.”
“The future of the Mournes is one of my priorities. I have, therefore, asked the Innovation Lab team in my Department to lead a project aimed at securing the long-term, sustainable future of the Mournes. Executive colleagues have nominated departmental representatives to participate in the project. As part of the project, the team will engage with local stakeholders to gain an understanding of the key issues. That work has commenced, and it is hoped that an event can be held in the locality of the Mournes in the near future to bring stakeholders together. <BR /> <BR />A high-level project plan has been developed that sets out key project activities. The plan takes account of the impact of the forthcoming election and the restriction that that imposes on public engagement.”
“We have been working and will continue to work with the Health Department to get a clear sense of how that money will be spent in the time ahead and to make sure that that investment, which is necessary, will be used efficiently to create that transformation.”
“There is no doubt that, despite the professed expectation that privatisation would create efficiencies, the attempt to transform the NHS over many years by introducing privatisation has created much greater inefficiencies. You can certainly see how the recruitment of agency staff creates a huge inefficiency, when we should have been recruiting people into the health service. That has not been the solution. <BR /> <BR />The Executive have had discussions about wanting to see the timetable for how the additional money provided to Health will be spent, the milestones by which we will judge it and the outcomes in each of the big areas: waiting lists, transformation, cancer treatment and mental health. We want to see how that will be spent. Clearly, the Assembly will want to get an understanding of all that.”
“As I said, we should not contemplate that that will be the case. Any threats to bring us into that circumstance should be removed. We are a short distance from the end of the mandate. There is a lot of work to be done in the Chamber and the Executive. We need to conclude that work. We have had only a two-year mandate, essentially, given where we were. <BR /> <BR />If that were to be the case, the Member is correct: in the worst-case scenario, the permanent secretary can ensure that funding continues, but it would be at that limited level. It would not give anywhere near the certainty that an awful lot of organisations depend on. Given that we have a three-year Budget, there is an opportunity to give certainty and allow for planning for the future.”
“It will be up to Departments to prioritise the spending of that Budget over the next three years in areas that are priorities for them and that can be met from the settlements that they receive. <BR /> <BR />I hope that all parties will recognise the commitment that we all made to support Health in the time ahead and that they will get together and support the Budget proposals. I recognise that we will all face challenges in doing that, but it is a necessary prioritisation.”
“The Budget that I have produced recognises and supports the priority that the Executive, Executive parties and, generally speaking, most of the MLAs in this institution have stated many times over the last number of years: that health is the priority and that we need to assist it in its transformation, bring down waiting lists and deal with issues like cancer treatment and mental health. The Budget that I have proposed reflected that. That created pressures in other Departments, because we have looked for efficiencies to support that. However, Departments will get a year-on-year increase in their budgets. While it is not all that they would have wanted — the outcome of the spending review is certainly not all that any of us would have wanted — nonetheless, there will be a year-on-year increase.”
“We will, of course, continue to work to ensure that we get Executive agreement, get the Budget through in due course and make sure that we give some certainty to those who most deserve it.”
“We have to ensure that that does not happen. First, any threat to collapse the institutions should be removed. As I have said in recent days, the rest of us are getting on with the work that we need to get on with in the time ahead. We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted. <BR /> <BR />It will be the first three-year Budget in many years that the Assembly and Executive will have dealt with. It gives an opportunity for planning. It does not contain the amount of money that we would have liked in order to support our public services, but, particularly for some of the services that the Member referenced, it is vital to give the certainty and continuity in the time ahead that is offered by the three-year Budget outcome. It would be cynical in the extreme to deny those people the opportunity to get that support.”
“As the Member will be aware, the draft Budget is out for a 12-week consultation that ends on 7 March. As soon as possible after that consultation period ends, I will bring a further paper to the Executive outlining the consultation responses and seeking agreement on a final Budget. There is a legislative requirement for a Budget to be in place before the beginning of the next financial year. It is therefore imperative that a draft Budget is agreed by the Executive ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. Such an agreement will allow Departments to plan and deliver services appropriately, providing public services with the stability that is afforded by a three-year Budget settlement. I am under no illusion that the timetable is challenging. It will be important for the Executive to work collectively in agreeing a Budget.”
“We fully understand the importance of the airports.”
“We are talking to the airports continuously about the challenges that they continue to face. Undoubtedly, they face challenges and will continue to do so. The issue is that we do not have the same additional COVID money as we had. Therefore, the Executive are limited in what they can do. As the Member will understand, there are a wide range of competing demands. In the course of the pandemic, we stepped up. We have no responsibility for airports, but we stepped up to provide support. I am not allocating it to any single Department, but, collectively, as the Executive, there is an understanding that more support is needed. The Departments have to work on that to assess that but also, as I would, to assess what funding we have and match that against the competing priorities. In the time ahead, we are keen to help if we can.”