Northern Ireland Assembly, 4 December 2012

302 contributions from 68 members. The official report.

Ministerial Statements

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Le do chead, a Cheann Comhairle, ba mhaith liom ráiteas a dhéanamh faoi na chéad chéimeanna eile i dtaca le hoideachas agus foghlaim do na luathbhlianta. With your permission, Mr Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the next steps for early years education and learning.

In July, I came to the Assembly to set out a clear way forward for early years. I explained at that time that the child and their needs must be the central focus of my revised proposals. I outlined my intention to proceed with a two-strand approach. The first strand would be the development of revised proposals with a clear focus on early education and learning. The second strand would involve engagement with ministerial colleagues to explore the potential for enhanced co-operation around early intervention, including early years, under the Delivering Social Change framework.

Strand one is now complete, and I am in a position to launch a new framework for early years education and learning entitled Learning to Learn, which, for the first time, sets out a clear way forward for all early years education and learning services. In developing this framework, I have carefully considered the views of a range of interest groups and concluded that the approach that I am announcing today provides a solid basis on which to move forward. I have also considered lessons learned elsewhere in early years education and have spoken with colleagues from other jurisdictions at a recent meeting of the British-Irish Council to hear the experiences of other Administrations across these islands.

Since the early years 0-6 strategy was launched in 2010, aspects of early years policy such as child-minding and day care have been realigned between my Department and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The starting position for reviewing the strategy is, therefore, very different. Learning to Learn will be a key building block in a suite of important education policies aimed at helping children achieve their full potential through a determined focus on raising standards and narrowing the performance gap. It aims to strengthen existing policies and programmes delivering early years education and learning services to children and families.

Since 2010, when the draft strategy was launched for consultation, my Department’s investment in preschool services has increased from £73 million to £84 million. If the foundation stage is included, that figure increases to over £200 million per annum. I have made additional funds available to ensure that the availability of preschool places for 2013-14 is in line with the Programme for Government commitment to make a preschool place available for every child whose parents wish it. I have also amended the legislation on admissions arrangements for preschool to remove the priority criteria for children with a July/August birthday.

Between 2006-07 and 2011-12, the number of children in funded preschool provision increased by over 2,000. Sure Start funding has more than doubled, from £9·3 million in 2006 to £23·4 million in 2012-13, and the Sure Start developmental programme for two- to three-year-olds, which was first introduced in 2007, will be delivered to over 1,600 children in their penultimate preschool year in 2012-13. That investment and focus on protecting early years budgets demonstrates my commitment to providing a range of early education and learning services for children. I am bringing forward proposals to ensure that the early years education and learning services we have are of a high quality, are child-focused and contribute to children achieving their potential.

The goals of raising standards for all and closing the performance gap underpin the Learning to Learn framework. They are just as relevant to education services for our youngest children as they are to older learners; in fact, maybe more so. For children in the preschool programme, their education experience lasts for 38 weeks, and the foundation stage lasts for a further two years. Delivering anything less than the highest quality of early years educational experience short-changes those children. We know that some children come to preschool and some start school already lagging behind their peers cognitively, emotionally and socially. If we do not address that in the early years, those disadvantages will accumulate, and they can impact on a child’s life chances.

The overall policy aim of the Learning to Learn framework is, therefore, that all children should have opportunities to achieve their potential through high-quality early learning and education experiences. The framework is underpinned by a set of early education and learning principles that make the needs of children the key focus of provision and will shape how we plan and deliver early years education and learning services now and in the future. Those principles are that education and learning begins at birth; children and their families are entitled to high-quality and age-appropriate early years education and learning services and opportunities; the rights of children and their families should be respected; equality and inclusion are essential characteristics of quality, early years education and learning; and collaboration between key sectors and bodies will play an important part in securing improved outcomes for young children in their early years.

Sonraíonn an creat roinnt mhaith gníomhartha sainiúla le foráil oideachais do pháistí sna luathbhlianta a fheabhsú agus a neartú. The framework details specific actions to strengthen and enhance provision for children in their early years. I will highlight, briefly, some of the key actions.

The preschool education programme should be focused on children in the preschool year only. That has been a long-standing issue, and I intend to legislate as soon as possible to define the age range for the preschool education programme. Only children in their immediate preschool year will be eligible. However, I will retain a power to enable two-year-olds to access services in schools and nursery schools outside the programme. I will legislate to prevent schools establishing new or maintaining existing reception classes.

Sure Start represents a major investment for my Department. I intend to commission a review of the Sure Start programme to examine the extent to which the investment helps to secure well-being and developmental outcomes for children and families. That will include potential options for the expansion of a two-year-old programme and a consideration of how access to services is determined.

Early years education is an important stage of education in its own right as well being essential in helping to prepare children for the transition to primary school and continuous learning. I therefore plan to extend the foundation stage curriculum to include a non-compulsory preschool year and two compulsory primary school years. That will be supported by the development of guidance and information for parents and practitioners on managing those transitions.

The thorough inspection process already in place will continue and be extended, with the principles of Every School a Good School being applied to all DE-funded early years provision.Children who may face barriers to learning because of disadvantage require particular support. I want to refocus the use of extended schools funding on nursery schools and nursery units to help to identify and address underdeveloped social, language and communication skills. I also plan to make available additional resources to voluntary and private settings in the preschool programme that meet similar criteria for extended schools funding.

In the area of quality, I am keen to draw on the existing expertise and experience in the sector. I plan to pilot early years education support clusters to help to raise standards by making greater use of the teaching expertise in nursery schools and units along with expertise in playgroups across other relevant providers and early years specialists. Additional funding will be made available to support these pilots. The role of the workforce is of fundamental importance. In my November statement, Putting Pupils First, I highlighted the importance of effective leadership and high-quality teaching. I, therefore, plan to introduce a programme of continuous professional development for preschool providers with a focus on leadership and management.

There has been a recurring issue around enrolment in nursery schools and nursery units and staff ratios. I intend to introduce some flexibility in overall enrolment numbers up to a maximum class size of 30 in certain circumstances. I will also engage directly with nursery teachers and principals on the development of pilots to test the optimum staff:pupil ratio for nursery schools and units. In the longer term, the Department will also consider options for standardised patterns of preschool attendance as part of a wider approach to area-based planning. Until this work is complete, I do not plan to approve any new full-time provision. Following evaluation, I will consider the extension of the current pilots initiated by the review of special educational needs and inclusion. This will help to improve access to specialist support and build capacity for staff to enable them to identify and meet the special and additional educational needs of children across preschool settings. I will also seek to identify further opportunities for joint working with other Departments to improve the co-ordination of services to families.

The key role of all parents or guardians as their child’s primary educator cannot be overemphasised. Indeed, I recently launched the campaign Get Involved Because Education Works to try to engage and encourage parents from all walks of life to become more involved in their child’s education. I will continue to develop that initiative and will engage directly with the Health Department and other Departments under the Delivering Social Change framework led by the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) to support parents and help them to understand the value of education and improve the home learning environment.

The changes that I have outlined will have a significant impact on the way we manage and implement our services. Some proposals may involve a reallocation of early years funding outside the schools budget; others will require additional investment. I have already made additional funding available to early years, and I am prepared to make further funding available. In taking forward these actions, I will review existing early years budgets with a view to redistributing funding from budgets that are no longer consistent with the framework and our aims and objectives. The framework contains specific actions. When they are implemented, we will build effectively on existing good practice and enable significant further progress to be made in improving early years education provision. This will also increase the capacity for improvement and facilitate genuine engagement with parents. The statutory sector, the voluntary and community sector and the private sector all have considerable expertise and a shared commitment to and passion for early years services. Moving forward, I hope that all those sectors will be able to work together productively to deliver improvements for children and families. Although I welcome the debate on early years services, the context has changed, with aspects of early years policy going back to DHSSPS and the emergence of the Delivering Social Change framework. The time has now come for positive action. I want all children and their families to benefit from quality services, and, today, I have set out how we can achieve this.

I know that there will be considerable interest in the Learning to Learn framework, and I, therefore, announce a further focused consultation that will end on 31 January 2013. This will provide an opportunity for key stakeholders and interested parties to consider whether the proposed actions require further refinement. I am not ignoring calls for an integrated approach to early childhood education and care for this Administration, but I am not reopening the debate about the policy aim, objectives and outcomes of the framework. We cannot hope to raise standards and narrow the gaps in performance if we remain locked in debates about strategies and take no action. The time has come to set out what I plan to do to improve the early years education and learning experiences for children.

The publication of the Learning to Learn framework represents a new and important chapter in the development of early years education. For the first time, the Department of Education’s overall policy for early years education and learning is set out clearly, as are the actions that I propose to take to strengthen and develop early years services. I have already taken important steps to develop this area, and I want to see further action. Action is the key. Children have a very short period to benefit from early years education. I want every child to have the best early years experience that we can deliver, and I want families to be genuinely engaged in their child’s learning and development. We should think in terms not of the child being ready for school but of our services being ready for the child.

Mervyn Storey (DUP, North Antrim)

I thank the Minister for his statement.

The early years strategy has been in development for some time. Indeed, the previous Education Minister came to the House in 2006 and said that it was anticipated that the Department would be in a position to publicly consult on a draft strategy by February 2008. Here we are now almost in 2013. Progress in the Department is certainly swift and decisive.

The House needs to be aware of the feedback that was given to that consultation, when it eventually went out. Some 2,000 responses were received, of which 1,200 were described as providing a detailed narrative. However, the Department confirmed to the Education Committee that 90% of those respondents did not agree with the aim, visions and actions under the four objectives in the strategy. Therefore, I am glad that the Minister has come to the House today and set out a number of issues, including the review of Sure Start and the provision of nursery places for schools and of more resources for voluntary and private preschool settings that meet the extended schools criteria. However, it raises a raft of questions that, no doubt, we will come to over the next number of weeks.

I want to take the Minister to one point that he made in his statement. He mentioned the:

"reallocation of early years funding allocated outside of the schools’ budget".

Will the Minister clarify whether that will mean an actual reduction in primary school budgets, and will he ensure that the funds in our primary schools, which are already being stretched, are not depleted further or decimated?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

I thank the Member for his comments, and I welcome the opportunity to clarify that point. If the House got that view from the statement, I want to correct it. It certainly is not a reallocation of funds away from primary schools or post-primary. We are referring to the funding for nursery schools etc under the aggregated schools budget, which is not affected by the framework that I announced in my statement. I am looking at other areas of early years funding, and I am reviewing them to ensure that they fit in with the context of my framework today. All schools have been notified of their annual budget over the next couple of years, and today's statement will not affect that. It refers to other areas of funding for early years, which I will be reviewing. They may well fit into the framework that I announced today, but, if they do not, that funding will have to be realigned elsewhere.

Christopher Hazzard (Sinn Féin, South Down)

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I welcome the Minister's statement, and I agree with him that it represents a vital and important development in early years education. Bearing in mind that the Minister referred to the fact that the framework that he announced is consistent with best practice elsewhere, can he outline the importance of learning from what is happening elsewhere and, indeed, of sharing our best practice with others?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

I thank the Member for the question. I think it is vital that we learn from experience from across these islands and, indeed, internationally. Last weekend saw the meeting of the British-Irish Council, where Administrations from across these islands came together in Wales to discuss early years education. I found that very valuable, not only the meeting but the engagement with Ministers and their officials from elsewhere during the couple of days that we spent in Wales. I want to learn from other jurisdictions, and I want other jurisdictions to learn from us.

The Chair of the Committee rightly points out that we have been working on an early years strategy for the past number of years, but I will also point out that, during that time, things have not stood still. We have expanded our preschool services, and 23,000 to 24,000 children now benefit from preschool education. The Programme for Government makes it explicit that we now have to provide every child who wishes it with a preschool place. That will require further investment, and I made investment available this year. We also want to look at early years provision across the Executive. The Delivering Social Change framework allows us to do that. My officials and I are engaging with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, and I know that other Ministers, in particular the Health Minister, are keen to get early years provision right.

I listened to the presentations from the various Administrations — Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, the South, England, Wales and so on — on how they deliver their early years services. In some aspects, we are more advanced than they are, but, in others, we should learn from them. I am particularly interested to learn about the programme for two-year-olds that is being rolled out in England. There are elements of that that I would like to see transferred across to our jurisdiction. That will require funding. I also see an opportunity in the review of the Sure Start programme for us to learn from the two-year-old programme and perhaps match it with something similar here.

Danny Kinahan (UUP, South Antrim)

I thank the Minister for his statement and welcome a great deal of what is in it, particularly on working with the rest of the UK, early education and learning and including parents.

I have a concern that, driven probably quite rightly by budgets, we will eventually end up with too much regulation and guidelines being forced on everyone. Will the Minister respect the need for parental choice and flexibility and not go into too much regulation?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

The only area of regulation in which I am really interested is ensuring that all providers, whether they be statutory, private or voluntary, are providing a high-class education service to the young people in their care. It is evident from all the research that we examined that the early years are fundamental to improving a child's educational outcomes. The most recent chief inspector's report has stated that we are making good progress on ensuring that all settings provide good education, but I want to ensure that that continues. Although I have not today set out any legislative changes relating to the inspection process, I am of the view that any setting that is open to inspection by the inspectorate should be responsible for the outcome of the report and for ensuring that, if there is a need for improvement, improvements are made. If support is required, it should be offered. However, if we get to the stage at which a voluntary or private sector provider is not improving, it should be removed from the preschool education advisory group (PEAG). As I said in my statement, it has 36 weeks with a young person in its care to provide early years education, and that should be right and proper.

I want to work and co-operate with all providers and parents out there. It currently is the case that parents put down their preference. It is not a choice but a parental preference, and we try to facilitate that as best we can. We cannot always match identically demand to provision, but we are getting better at it all the time.

Seán Rogers (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Down)

I welcome the Minister's statement. I, like others, have had opportunities to witness the Sure Start and Barnardo's programmes, which are enhancing the key role of parents and giving our children the right start. What practical steps are being taken to ensure that such programmes are rolled out to a wider audience?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

In April, I think, I announced the expansion of the Sure Start services to the top 25% most deprived wards. They are in the top 20% at the moment. Now is an optimum time to reassure ourselves that the almost £24 million that we spend annually on Sure Start is spent in the most effective and efficient way possible to deliver the services required. The principles of Sure Start are sound: early intervention and working with families and children. The two-year-old programme also provides important and essential work in communities. However, now that the programme is there and receiving a substantial amount of public money, it is a good time to reassure ourselves, through a review, that the money is being spent in the right areas and that the right people, families and communities are receiving the support that Sure Start provides.

Trevor Lunn (Alliance, Lagan Valley)

I also warmly welcome the Minister's statement, which is very well summed up by its last line.

I want to ask about the suggestion of co-operation in nursery provision between the various sectors. The Minister plans to pilot early years education support clusters. Does that mean that he will make an attempt to standardise the qualification levels for teachers across those sectors? Has he any plans to introduce some flexibility to the school starting age?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

I have no plans to introduce flexibility to the school starting age at this time. I am of the view that that would require its own consultation and significant work by the Department, ESA and the boards. It covers so many areas, from the structures of our education system to parents and childcare. All those matters would have to be brought in. Therefore, it would be a piece of work on its own. The foundation stage has slightly changed the question around that. At one stage, there was a concern that we started our children at school far too young and that the education provided was not appropriate. I think that the foundation stage has reassured people that more age-appropriate education takes place in those first two years. However, I have no doubt that we will return to that question at some stage.

On your other point, the clusters are being brought together to share expertise between the statutory and non-statutory sectors. There may be one or other of the lead organisations involved; there may be a statutory body in one area and a non-statutory one in another. However, the key is that those groups are brought together and learn from each other's best experience. It is fair to say, from my experience in the Education Committee, that, at times, the relationship between the two sectors was frosty. I think that has improved, and I think that there is better work and communications between them. I believe that the idea for the clusters came from the groups themselves, and it is a good idea.

At this stage, I am not proposing to standardise qualifications in the sense that it all must be teacher-led, but I want to ensure that there is continuous professional development among teaching staff and non-teaching staff in non-statutory sectors. I also want to ensure that the qualifications that are currently available and required are the most robust and satisfactory. We also have to give space and time to those working in the sectors to achieve further and higher qualifications, so there is a supporting role for the Department as well.

Jonathan Craig (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I welcome the Minister's statement. I note that we are talking about the statutory, voluntary, community and private sectors working together to deliver improvement for our children. What role will the inspectorate have in ensuring high-quality delivery for our children and consistency across all sectors in that delivery? For that matter, Minister, what enforcement power does the inspectorate really have across sectors, specifically the private sector?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

The inspectorate, by right, can inspect all settings, regardless of their status. The Every School a Good School policy relates to schools and nursery units specifically, where formal intervention programmes etc can be put in place. In the voluntary, community and private sectors, there are inspections, and a report can be produced and recommendations made for improvement. What if improvement does not take place? There is a duty on anyone receiving money from the Department of Education for education provision who is inspected to take cognisance and due regard of the report and to make improvements. Ultimately, if improvements are not made, they can be removed from the PEAG programme. That is the ultimate sanction. I would not want to reach that point but, if it has to be reached, we will reach it. My statement shows that early years is now an integral part of our education system; it is as integral as primary and post-primary. It is now early years, primary and post-primary, and I expect all the providers in those sectors to provide a first-class age-appropriate education to the young people they serve. There is an inspection regime and a sanctions regime for all. I will take a look at the contracts that will be signed by voluntary, community and private providers to make sure that the clause on inspection is robust enough, and, if I am of the view that it is not, I will certainly strengthen it.

Michaela Boyle (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I welcome the Minister's announcement to the House on introducing a programme of continuous professional development for preschool providers. As preschool provision is a short period of any child's life, will the Minister expand on the importance of effective leadership and high-quality teaching in those early years settings?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

Time and time again, across our education sectors, we have found, through local and international research, that leadership is the key to good education. The leadership of the principal and of the teacher in the classroom and, in the community and voluntary settings, the leadership of the classroom personnel are vital. It is the personnel in the classroom who are the key to improving our educational outcomes.

The cluster groups, which I spoke about with Mr Lunn, are key to continual professional development for all staff in our early years settings, and they will be key to delivering continuing professional development. I am also looking at how we can assist community and voluntary groups to provide further support, learning and training days for their staff. I will continue to examine how we can improve that further.

One of the key aspects on the way forward is the cluster groups: the sectors learning from each other; best practice being shared; and communication with each other on how we best deliver early years education to our young people.

Brenda Hale (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I thank the Minister for his statement this morning. I note that he plans to put a freeze on full-time preschool provision until a standardised pattern of attendance is considered. Given extended timescales for area planning, can the Minister give some indication of the timescale for ending the freeze on new full-time preschool places?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

The research we are dealing with dates back to 2006, and that research indicated then that there was no cognitive difference in a child's development between full-time and part-time provision. In legislation, full-time provision is four and a half hours; part-time is two and a half hours. There is a range in between those. Recently, because of budgetary constraints, I have been approving only part-time provision, but this question has always remained: what is best for the child's development? Do we need full-time provision? Do we need to extend or, maybe, change the legislation to define what full-time provision is? I want to conduct further research on that matter. That may take time; it may take upwards of a year to complete that research. That will not be affected by area planning, because, at this stage, I have not conducted area planning in relation to nursery provision. It will be affected by the time that it takes me to commission research and for that research to be delivered back to the Department.

Jo-Anne Dobson (UUP, Upper Bann)

I thank the Minister for his statement and welcome the fact that his strategy is now finally in place. The Minister has said that he hopes that the statutory, voluntary, community and private sectors will work together in the future. I am sure he will agree that that is key to the delivery of quality early years provision for children and their families. How soon does the Minister think that will be achieved? What specific steps is his Department taking to ensure that it is?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

The relationship between the community, voluntary and statutory sectors has improved over the past number of years through collaboration and a better understanding of each other. It will take a bit of time to put the cluster groups in place. I would like to see it being months, rather than years; in fact, I would like to see something in place by the start of the 2013 school term, if not sooner. However, it depends on how quickly we can get them together. I am not looking to delay them any further than that. I am setting funding aside to assist them with pilot programmes, and there will be pilot programmes across the North, in both rural and urban areas. We will learn from those pilot programmes over, probably, two years, and then we will implement the best practice for them across the sectors. It is a good way forward. These people work at the coal face every day of the week; they know the best practice; they know the expertise; and they know what works in the classroom. I want them to learn from each other. It will be a way for them to develop a better relationship than in the past.

Oliver McMullan (Sinn Féin, East Antrim)

I congratulate the Minister on his statement this morning. Will the Minister reiterate the significance of early years education and why it is so vital that we get it right? Go raibh maith agat.

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

As I said, all local and international research tells us that intervention at an early stage of a child's life is one of the key elements to ensuring that that child's educational and social development is improved. We are seeing the benefits of it. The investment that we have made in early years over the past decade is now beginning to show results in our primary schools and, in the future, will show results in our post-primary schools. We do not always get it right, but we are improving dramatically from where we were even five years ago. Early years is key to success. Today, I have set out early learning in the context of education; we will work in partnership with Executive colleagues. Delivering Social Change, which now operates under the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, will bring significant change in the level of co-operation between Departments and the levels of service being delivered to families to ensure that the early formative years of a child's life are improved and children are given the life chances to be everything that they want to be or can be in future years.

Dominic Bradley (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Newry and Armagh)

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a ráitis. Ba mhaith liom a fhiafraí den Aire conas a chinnteoidh na moltaí a nocht sé anseo inniu go mbeidh áiteanna réamhscolaíochta ar fáil sna áiteanna a bhfuil siad de dhíth. I thank the Minister for his statement. How will the initiatives that he revealed today ensure that preschool places are available where they are needed?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

Is bualadh leat an cheist. I thank the Member for the question. Today's announcement will not make school places available where they are needed. I conducted a review in 2011 to achieve that. It will be a rolling programme of work over a number of years. I am aware that the Member sponsored a debate in the Chamber a few months ago on Middletown. We are getting it right 95% of the time, but we need to get it right 100% of the time. We continue to work on matching demand with services. I have made more funding available to the education boards to provide early years places at statutory, community and voluntary and private level. A rolling programme of work will assess what services are available, assess what services we need to deliver and, most important for me as Minister, ensure that they are in the right place. There is no point in bringing development proposals to me to provide additional nursery places in areas in which they are not required, which has been the case on a number of occasions. I want to see nursery places in community and voluntary settings in the arease where they are required. We are getting better at it and are improving all the time. We have not got it right yet, but I expect an improvement this year as well.

Michelle McIlveen (DUP, Strangford)

I welcome the fact that there will be a consultation period on the framework, although I would have preferred a 12-week period, given that we are running into Christmas. It would be useful if the Minister could maybe consider that. How does the framework link to the childcare strategy, specifically in relation to the research that is being undertaken to make better use of the schools estate to support childcare access and affordability?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

I am willing to work with the childcare strategy. I am also working with Delivering Social Change. Indeed, tomorrow morning, there is a subcommittee meeting of the Executive on childcare provision that I will also be attending. I am open to discussions and flexibility. The framework that I have set out today is about early learning. It does not rule out the involvement of other strategies or using the schools estate for childcare. However, I emphasise that the early years programme is about children's development; it is not a childcare service. The consequence is that childcare is provided, but we do not send our children to primary school for childcare purposes; we send them there for personal development and education. It is the same for early years. I am trying to get the message across to parents and communities that this is about education. However, I am up for involvement in a childcare strategy. The framework does not rule that out. It will fit quite neatly into a childcare strategy, and my Department will play its role in developing that strategy.

Joe Byrne (Social Democratic and Labour Party, West Tyrone)

Like others, I welcome the Minister's statement and recognise the improvements that have been made in preschool provision. In relation to the second strand, what co-operation is the Minister seeking with ministerial colleagues about improving preschool provision? Does he recognise the fact that Montessori schooling is proving quite beneficial in some areas?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

I seek the co-operation of ministerial colleagues, as they seek my co-operation. It is now recognised by all Departments and the Executive that early intervention is key. I am acutely aware of the work of the Health Minister, and I will meet him later today to discuss further how we can co-operate with each other on early interventions from birth right through to the start of formal education.

Today, I set out a framework that encapsulates early learning. It allows for all our communities, rural and urban, to be provided with an early learning setting that will assist their children to be ready to move on to the next stage of education, which is primary school education. Therefore, if a setting fits into that framework, I support it; if it does not, questions will have to be asked about why it is continuing. It would have to prove its benefit to early years education. The framework sets out the Department's role. If others working separately to that wish to seek public funding, they will have to prove their worth.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I also thank the Minister for his statement. In it, he says that he cannot overemphasise the need for parents to be involved in the education of their children. I am sure that everyone in the Chamber totally agrees with that, particularly if the parents were let down by the system themselves. How does the Minister propose to mark his own homework, so to speak, and evaluate the progress made in his Department and with others to ensure that we break the cycle of illiteracy and innumeracy that has plagued us for far too long?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

We are breaking it. All the reports coming forward show that the education system is improving. It is not improving as fast as any of us would like, but there are clear step changes in educational outcomes for young people. One aspect of how we improve is the role of parents — you were right about this — particularly parents who had bad educational experiences or are from a background where, perhaps, education was not as valued as it should have been in the family home.

Recently, I launched a television advertising campaign that spoke directly to all parents, particularly those who, perhaps, are not sure how exactly they should involve themselves in their child's education. They did not have a great education themselves and so wonder, "How do I do this? I cannot do it. It is the role of a professional". It is as simple as reading your child a bedtime story; fun ways of counting with your child; talking to your child about their day at school; encouraging your child; and ensuring that your child is at school — even at primary school and preschool. All those simple steps will instil the value of education in children and assist them to develop into everything that they can be.

Early years education is, probably, one of the areas with which I am most familiar. I am the father of a seven-year-old, a four-year-old and a four-month-old, so I am going through the stages of early education and recognise the different elements of it. Most of us in the Chamber lead a very busy life. One of the best ways to relax in the evening, if you get home on time, is to sit down and read your child a bedtime story. You may be stressed out, but, when you sit down and read your child a bedtime story, it brings a calming end to both of your days and plays an important role in your child's education. My simple message to all parents is to read to their children and talk to them about education.

Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice, North Antrim)

If the Minister wants to build a successful system, why does it have to involve dismantling existing reception classes, where the experience of many children has been positive? Is there not a danger of creating uniformity for uniformity's sake with no regard to what has been working for some?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

It may well have worked for some, but I am not sure on what basis the Member makes that assertion. Research shows that reception classes are not offering appropriate education to the children involved. Bringing three-year-olds into primary 1 classes is not age-appropriate education. It can even stymie a child's development. Therefore, it is more important to bring age-appropriate education to primary-school children rather than just fitting them into a class or sector and saying, "We have looked after that child. They are in somewhere. Just leave them there, and they will eventually move on through the system".

Reception classes are outdated and outmoded and are not age-appropriate. They may well have worked for some, but they do not work for all. There is a better way. Let us make preschool provision available to all. Let us ensure that children have access to age-appropriate education. Then, let them move on to primary school. That is the best way forward.

Chris Lyttle (Alliance, Belfast East)

Parental involvement in raising educational attainment and aspiration has been mentioned. What provision will the early years framework make for training to help parents learn how best to read with their children at home?

John O'Dowd (Sinn Féin, Upper Bann)

As part of the advertising campaign that I launched earlier this year, back-up training material is available on the web, in libraries etc to allow parents access to the information that they require. When parents see the advertisements on the side of a bus, at bus stops, in supermarkets and, indeed, on television, they can access the relevant information quite handily and decide what is the best way for them to engage with their child. So, information is available. I intend to continue rolling out the advertisement campaign and developing the back-up material.

One of the earlier questions asked how we learn from other countries and international support. The back-up material that we have is largely from Scotland. Scotland rolled out a programme of work to enable and support parents through the provision of information. Scotland kindly shared that information with us and allowed us to use and adapt it to our own needs. So, we are now using it as well. That shows how we can co-operate with each other across these islands.

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I wish to make a statement to the Assembly on promoting innovation in health and social care. It is timely to make such a statement this week. It is almost a year since my colleague the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and I made statements to the Assembly setting out our shared agenda for Connected Health and prosperity. It is, therefore, appropriate to now provide an update to the House on the significant progress that has been made over the past 12 months.

It is also a year since the official launch of Telemonitoring NI, our award-winning remote telemonitoring service. The service is being rolled out to thousands of patients, and an ever-increasing number of people in Northern Ireland benefit from the ability to have their long-term conditions regularly monitored from the comfort of their own home.

Recent developments in the arena of research and development and how that is used to support healthcare provide exciting possibilities for the improvement of services, as well as the life sciences sector, to the benefit of patients and the economy.

There are strong reasons why my Department and the health and social care sector should focus on supporting and encouraging those areas of development. We have the fastest growing population in the UK, as well as an unusually young population. We also have more rapid ageing of the population structure than most other regions. It is estimated that, in the 11 years from 2009 to 2020, the number of people over 75 will increase by 40% and, with that, the incidence of long-term conditions, hence the need for a radical and strategic approach to management.

At this time, we also face challenging economic circumstances, with increasingly constrained financial resources and increasing budgetary pressures. Transforming Your Care sets out clearly the challenges we face and the compelling need for change. Connected Health and innovation have key roles to play in meeting the challenges to our health and social care sector. We cannot afford to ignore the potential contribution that they can make. The reason behind my Department’s joint work with Invest NI is to advance co-operation on Connected Health across the clinical, academic and industrial sectors not just to improve patient care, which is my priority, but to ensure that we maximise the economic development opportunities that cross-sectoral collaboration can bring.

Over the past year, there have been significant milestones. The introduction of the electronic care record will improve patient safety and will enable many other developments. The Connected Health and prosperity memorandum of understanding, signed by the economy Minister and me on 6 December last year, committed to the production of a strategic action plan, which was produced in September. A core element of that plan was the establishment of a Northern Ireland Connected Health ecosystem, a forum where clinicians, researchers and industry can come together to share and develop ideas. The ecosystem was launched in September and will facilitate greater collaboration on addressing challenges in health and social care and on finding solutions. It is due to hold its second meeting later this month. Its initial focus, not surprisingly, is on how it can best support key areas of the work planned under Transforming Your Care. In addition, the recently published Northern Ireland Executive economy and jobs initiative makes a commitment to establish a group under the remit of the Connected Health and prosperity board, which my Department and Invest NI lead, to identify the economic opportunities from the health and social care sector.

There have also been developments further afield. Northern Ireland has made a number of commitments within the European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing and has applied for candidate reference status under the initiative, which means promoting Northern Ireland as a leading region in Europe in the area of innovation to address health and social care challenges. Our involvement is providing us with the opportunity to share experiences with regions across the European Union and to work together towards the achievement of the challenging Commission target of increasing by two years the healthy life expectancy of a child born in 2020. We also work closely with partners throughout Europe and further afield through the European Connected Health Alliance, sharing learning, experiences and joint developments.

In October, I represented Northern Ireland at the EU-US eHealth Marketplace event in Boston, an opportunity to raise our profile among leaders in the field from around the world. I visited the Basque region in May this year to share experiences with my counterparts on the use of technology in health and social care and chronic condition management. That visit resulted in the agreement of a memorandum of understanding with the Basque region formalising our plans to work together to the benefit of both regions. The Basque Health Minister and I signed the memorandum in Belfast on 22 November. That will help to build on collaboration already under way between the Basque region and the South Eastern Trust in the area of learning networks.

We already have a lot of knowledge that could extend people's healthy lives. However, there are many other things that we do not know or understand, so we need to focus on specific knowledge gaps. I am very pleased to see that, in line with the Assembly's wish to increase EU funding, clinicians across the HSC are working with academics and business to submit proposals for substantial R&D funding. A number of proposals have already been successful. I congratulate those involved on their success and encourage others to explore the potential for support of their R&D efforts.

In keeping with our aim to be at the forefront of R&D, innovation and use of technology, my Department and Invest NI are exploring opportunities for an event at the European Parliament at the end of January, including an exhibition to showcase Connected Health in Northern Ireland. In addition, the Republic of Ireland will hold the presidency of the EU in 2013. As part of the presidency, the Irish Government will host an e-health week in May. That will include a high-level e-health conference on 13 and 14 May that will run in parallel with the World of Health IT conference and exhibition. That should provide an opportunity to invite key individuals and interests attending the conference to visit Northern Ireland to see and learn at first hand how we are moving the e-health agenda forward.

Research and development plays a vital part in promoting innovation in health. In July 2012, I launched 'Evaluation of the Impact of HSC R&D Funding in Northern Ireland'. I commissioned that report on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, specifically to evaluate the benefits of research and development to the health and social care system and the wider economy. One of the most significant findings of the independent report was that every £1 invested in research and development had generated £4·14 of income in the form of further grants or other funding for clinical studies. The report recommended that Northern Ireland should contribute to the joint funding managed through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in England. By making that investment, Northern Ireland researchers would be able to compete in selected research programmes alongside colleagues from across the UK. For the first time, we have concrete evidence of the additional income brought in by our investment in R&D, in addition to its beneficial impact on health and social care.

My immediate response to the report was to commit to contributing to NIHR and thereby create opportunities for researchers based in Northern Ireland. We appreciate the way in which our involvement was warmly welcomed and supported by colleagues in NIHR and the Department of Health in England. Our researchers now have access to an annual funding pot of over £75 million and will be able to compete on an equal footing with researchers from other UK countries. They will also gain the opportunity to join research partnerships that could draw down larger amounts of money from other sources.

Although that investment is good news for Northern Ireland’s HSC, it will also provide a timely boost for our wider economy and bring real scientific, health and economic gains. The PHA will support researchers to benefit from that new opportunity and build on the excellent work done by our current researchers. Northern Ireland has a proud history of cutting-edge research in health. The investment will help to ensure that we build on that tradition. Research is a cornerstone of reform, and innovation is a catalyst for improvement. As we move forward with Transforming Your Care, such investments will be crucial to the reform of our health and social care system.

The evaluation report also makes other recommendations that are being taken forward by the Department and the PHA. They include increased emphasis on aligning research with policy questions that we need to answer to inform the future of health and social care, as well as supporting research that addresses questions arising directly from clinical practice. We also want to provide increased opportunities for commercial development through collaboration with businesses that are based locally or elsewhere and ongoing opportunities to build further on the research findings.

I stress our underlying aim of benefiting patients through investment in maximising access to clinical trials, allowing patients access to new treatments, and through increasing knowledge in the HSC. I want to raise the profile of R&D and have it recognised as an integral part of the work of HSC organisations. However, R&D goes wider than just Health and Social Care. I want to ensure that our universities, commercial organisations and Invest NI work collaboratively to maximise the full range of new opportunities that we have at this time. A new strategy for health and social care R&D is under development at present. I plan to launch it early next year. That overarching strategy will include the recommendations of the evaluation report and will set out the way forward.

With pressing targets to meet, it would be easy for me, as Health Minister, to focus simply on how technological developments can help to meet short-term needs and pressures. However, it is vital that we take a longer-term view. Health services generate a massive number of records, and the information stored in those records is invaluable in ensuring that every patient receives the correct treatment and care. The records can also be extremely valuable in other ways. They help politicians, policymakers, managers and health and social care professionals to plan, develop and deliver the right services to the right people. Through research on patient records, we can understand better the occurrence or spread of illnesses or find out which services or treatments are most effective for particular conditions. It is, of course, absolutely vital that patient confidentiality is respected. Northern Ireland has high-quality systems in place for the safe and secure storage of patients’ confidential healthcare records. However, it is possible to respect that and still gain the great benefits that R&D can offer by using data that is anonymised and cannot be tracked back to an individual patient. I recognise that, locally, we need to make changes so that the right people can gain access to anonymised records. In common with partner health Departments across the UK, officials are putting in place a new system that will provide access while maintaining patient confidentiality and anonymity. We call it an honest broker service. It will provide a robust process to support the safe and secure sharing of anonymised health information to support ethically approved health and social care-related research.

It is not only for our own planning purposes that access to data is vital; researchers and business will dedicate their resources to health only if they feel that they will get the co-operation and support that they need to achieve their goals, including product development. That is partly economic support, but it is more than that: it is the co-operation of clinicians in explaining their needs; it is access to the data that they need for research; and it is co-operation in the trial stage of product development. Interestingly, the very technological developments that come out of research allow us to collect data electronically with more efficiency and effectiveness than ever before. Therefore, it is appropriate to ensure that that data can be used to benefit the individuals from whom it was collected, in the overall interest of public health and the development of health-related policy. As I have outlined, the information also has the potential, with appropriate safeguards, to support economic development.

I have provided an update on the developments in Connected Health, research and development and promoting innovation since my statement a year ago. It is an important and fast-changing area for our health service. Northern Ireland has much to offer in those areas and much to gain. We must, therefore, continue to build on the significant progress that has already been made. I commend the statement to the House.

Gordon Dunne (DUP, North Down)

I thank the Minister for his statement. Is national R&D money available to the Northern Ireland health service through the small business initiative, which we have recently been made aware of through the Enterprise, Trade and Investment (ETI) Committee?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

We can apply for money from a range of areas. One of the more recent ones is the National Institute for Health Research, which has a funding pot of £75 million. Our universities believe that they are well placed to get considerably more than the £2 million investment that we have put in. Also, the opportunity for collaboration with other universities across the UK will lever in considerably more money from other sources. Outside of that, there are other opportunities for investment in innovation, locally, nationally and, indeed, at European level. It is our task to ensure that we maximise the ability of our key research teams, universities and businesses to be able to access such funding and lever in additional investment from elsewhere.

On a very positive note, in the past few weeks one of the largest pharmaceutical companies has actually agreed to establish a base in Northern Ireland. We are seeing Northern Ireland being noticed by people who have a really major contribution to make in health and social care research.

Dolores Kelly (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Upper Bann)

I thank the Minister for his statement. I commend the officers and the Minister himself for the initiative that they have shown in driving this forward. As the Minister will well know, the rolling out of e-health technology will require good broadband coverage across the North. There are still pockets that do not have access — or not good access — to broadband. Will the Minister tell us what discussions he has had with the ETI and Agriculture and Rural Development Ministers in relation to ensuring coverage throughout?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I thank the Member for the question. She is right. There are pockets in Northern Ireland where broadband availability is not good, but they are pockets. Northern Ireland is one of the most advanced regions in its availability of broadband to the general public. I have been to other places where they are absolutely amazed that in Northern Ireland we have superhighways running between our towns and villages, whilst their technology virtually has single-track lanes. We are in a position of advantage in all this, because of the good broadband services that we have. I know that the ETI Minister is continuing to work with communities where broadband is still a problem, one of which is in my constituency. I will continue to encourage her to find solutions for the small number of pockets that exist.

Kieran McCarthy (Alliance, Strangford)

In his statement, the Minister spoke of the overarching strategy, which will include the recommendations of the evaluation report and will set out the way forward. The Minister stated that there have been developments further afield, namely in the Basque region and Boston. The Minister will be aware that, as we speak, the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Health Committee are visiting Cuba to see how it provides the best healthcare in the world.

William Hay (Speaker, Foyle)

I encourage the Member to come to his question.

Kieran McCarthy (Alliance, Strangford)

I am coming to the question.

Will their report, made when they return, be factored in to the Minister's evaluation report and strategy, to be launched, as he states, early next year?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I will certainly be very happy to listen to what the Chair and Deputy Chair have to say. I always listen to what the Chair and Deputy Chair have to say when it comes to health matters. I greatly appreciate the support that they give and the information they provide. I suspect one thing they probably will find in Cuba is that huge amounts of money are being pumped in from Venezuela, through the Hugo Chávez regime, to support the health service in Cuba. Consequently, the people in Venezuela have not seen the benefit of being such an oil-rich country. Many of those people are impoverished, because Mr Chávez offers such support to the Cuban regime.

George Robinson (DUP, East Londonderry)

Can the security of patient data really be guaranteed?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

To make progress, it is absolutely essential that that is the case. Were such data to fall into the wrong hands, the public would be reluctant and reticent for it to be used. An honest-broker system will provide a robust process to support the safe and secure sharing of anonymised health information in ethically approved health-related research. Non-anonymised data is released only when a patient has given fully informed consent in advance — for instance, when he or she has chosen to be part of an organised clinical trial. In all that, we would not ask patients for the opportunity to use their information to advance health and social care unless we were absolutely confident that we could keep their details anonymous and, therefore, without any impact on their personal lives.

Samuel Gardiner (UUP, Upper Bann)

I thank the Minister for his statement and congratulate him for his accomplishments to date. Does he agree that he must now, as a matter of priority, address the fact that Northern Ireland has the highest non-attendance rate in the United Kingdom for clinical appointments, and does he agree that using short message services technology should be used to tackle that problem?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I thank the Member for his question. Indeed, in his own area, the Southern Trust received two national awards last year for moving forward in innovation, and it has been particularly to the fore in telemonitoring. I agree that we have all sorts of communication methods that we must use to maximum effect to ensure that we get full efficiency in our health and social care system. Certainly, the methods that the Member referred to are widely used in a range of fields, and we are happy that that is also the case in the health service. It would be positive to continue to drive that forward and ensure that the number of people missing appointments is reduced.

Roy Beggs (UUP, East Antrim)

Telemonitoring has been used in Northern Ireland for over a year, so will the Minister give us an update on the range of conditions that are deemed suitable for its use and the feedback from patients, GPs and consultants?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

Up to mid-November, approximately 2,500 people in Northern Ireland had benefited from remote telemonitoring since its introduction, around half of those since the regional contract was put in place. We have 124 who have been referred and await its installation.

Telemonitoring is a means of reading vital signs and passing them to the central database, which will demonstrate whether there is stress. Telemonitoring can be of significant benefit for conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, diabetes and circulatory issues. Those records can come to the central database and, when there are those signs of stress, be dispensed very quickly to a district nurse, who can take action.

I called on a gentleman in Larne, in the Member's constituency, who is suffering from COPD. He indicated that, in, I think, the previous two years, he had had approximately 12 attendances at Antrim A&E and had been admitted to hospital a number of times. Since going onto telemonitoring, I think that he had had one attendance at A&E. That demonstrates its effectiveness, particularly, in this gentleman's case, for COPD.

Pam Brown (DUP, South Antrim)

I welcome the Minister's statement. What proof is there that telemonitoring is cost-effective?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

Before we decided to invest, a whole system demonstrator evaluation conducted in England highlighted the positive impact of telemonitoring on reducing A&E visits, emergency admissions, elective admissions and bed days. It also highlighted a reduction in tariff costs, although the use of tariffs is specific to the NHS funding system that operates in England.

Increasingly, the evidence from other large-scale studies internationally highlights the cost-effectiveness of telemonitoring, including the example of the Veterans Association, where a large-scale programme has reported a 25% reduction in bed days. I believe that Northern Ireland will be in a leading position to inform other EU countries on telemonitoring. That is why we have applied for regional status. If accepted by the European Union, we will be a reference site. Currently, the EU is looking for five or six reference sites. If we gain that status, it will place Northern Ireland as a leader in health innovation in Europe, and others will look to our example. We should not underestimate the powerful contribution that we can make to health and social care, not just in Northern Ireland but beyond these shores.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I also welcome the Minister's statement. He said that, over the next few years, the ageing population will increase by 40%. I am sure that the Minister will agree that that age group could benefit enormously from telemonitoring. How will the Minister ensure that this programme comes to their attention, and what support will they have to ensure that they take full advantage of telemonitoring for their particular health conditions?

Edwin Poots (DUP, Lagan Valley)

This will be conducted through GPs and in association with the trusts. At present, some trusts are more effective than others, so we need to encourage everyone to get involved. The money is set aside to do that, and the capability is there to do it. The uptake has been good, and we would like to continue to maintain and even build on the momentum to ensure that we fully benefit from the investment being made here. We want to ensure that people with chronic conditions, particularly older people, can receive that support. We want to ensure that they do not end up in hospital because their condition has been allowed to deteriorate to that extent.

Committee Business

William Hay (Speaker, Foyle)

The Business Committee has agreed to allow up to one hour and 30 minutes for the debate. The proposer will have 15 minutes to propose the motion and 15 minutes to make a winding-up speech. All other Members who wish to speak will have five minutes.

Sean Lynch (Sinn Féin, Fermanagh and South Tyrone)

I beg to move

That this Assembly approves the report of the Committee for Regional Development on its inquiry into unadopted roads in Northern Ireland (NIA 44/11/15); and calls on the Minister for Regional Development, in conjunction with his Executive colleagues and relevant bodies, to implement the recommendations.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Tá mé sásta an rún ar an tuairisc a thabhairt os comhair an Tí inniu ar son Chathaoirleach agus baill an Choiste Forbartha Réigiúnaí. I am pleased to bring the report to the House today on behalf of the Chair and members of the Committee for Regional Development. I pass on my best wishes to Jimmy, the Chair, who is recovering.

The Committee first received a presentation on the increasing number of unadopted roads in the North of Ireland from NILGA on 18 January 2012. Following that presentation, the Committee agreed to undertake an inquiry into unadopted roads. It has been a lengthy process, during which time the Committee heard some horrific stories of residents of unfinished housing developments being left liable for thousands of pounds because roads or sewers were unfinished and unadopted.

I should state at the outset that the Committee is sympathetic to developers who find themselves struggling in very testing economic times. The recommendations contained in the report are not intended as a criticism of contractors. Rather, the Committee believes them to be pragmatic recommendations aimed at ensuring that consumers are afforded greater protection. I hope that the Minister and other Members will agree with the Committee on that point.

During the inquiry, the Committee was advised that there were anything between 1,200 and 3,500 unadopted roads and some 1,200 sewerage schemes in backlog. The Department for Regional Development (DRD) and NI Water are unable to quantify the precise numbers, which the Committee believed was a serious weakness in itself.

Recommendations to negate that weakness have been made and are detailed later in the report. It was also estimated that it would take some £300 million to bring roads up to a standard that is sufficient to allow for adoption and somewhere between £41 million and £100 million to allow for the adoption of sewerage and wastewater schemes.

As could be expected in today's economic climate, it is extremely unlikely that those levels of investment could be acquired from central government. The Committee is not suggesting that actions cannot be taken to rectify this significant problem; rather, it believes that a co-ordinated effort by all sectors involved in the process could see major improvements in the most critical cases.

I want to discuss the inquiry's main findings. As I said, the Department and NI Water are not in a position to quantify either the extent of unadopted roads and sewers or the cost of the remedial works that are necessary to rectify the problem. NILGA brought that issue to the Committee, and, during the inquiry, the Committee received a significant amount of evidence from individuals and local councillors of the devastating effects that unadopted roads and sewers can have on residents and their properties.

The resources that are required to undertake the righting of all defects are not available. However, the Committee does not believe that this should be the end of the matter, and it recommends that NILGA co-ordinate a prioritisation audit in each council area. Such an audit should list the numbers of unadopted infrastructures and apply an agreed grading that is based on the risks to public health and safety. That would allow for priority-based intervention bids by the Department and/or NI Water, should sufficient resources be made available.

Having briefly mentioned resources, I want to discuss the bond. Prior to the separation of Water Service and the Department in 2006, roads and sewers were legislated for in the Private Streets Order 1980. A number of respondents, particularly those from the construction industry, raised concerns that, as a result of that segregation, there was a requirement for two bonds, one each for roads and sewers. The industry and bond providers claimed that, when there was one piece of legislation, the cost of providing dual coverage had risen to £7,500 from approximately £3,000. Although the Committee does not wish to prohibit recovery in the construction industry, it has received sufficient evidence to indicate that the level of bond coverage is insufficient to cover remedial works that might be required to bring infrastructures to a standard where they could be adopted.

In addition, given that the process for calling in the bond can take a significant period of time, it is often the case that costs have been increased by a compounded inflationary figure. That has the significant potential to expose the statutory authorities and, ultimately, the taxpayer to that burden. The Committee recommends, therefore, that statutory providers and representatives of the construction and financial sectors agree a bond level that is acceptable to all parties and that includes an inflationary amount.

As indicated, the process for triggering the bond is lengthy and complex, particularly where a developer has gone into liquidation. There are a number of occasions when the statutory bodies have not been advised that a developer is in liquidation until a significant period of time passed. The Committee is also not content that the Department is waiting for up to 18 months after a developer has received the preliminary certificate. The Committee believes that, although not intentional by the Department, the process does not take into account the very significant risk of residents' safety, aside from the major inconvenience caused. The Committee recommends that the Department review its procedures with a view to ensuring that there is a more prompt reaction to calling in the bond. The process should be aimed at alleviating public health and safety risks to residents.

The primary pieces of legislation for the adoption of roads and sewers are as follows: the Private Streets Order 1980; the Private Streets (Amendment) Order 1992; and the Water and Sewerage Services Order 2006. The Committee was concerned that the legislation is outdated, being 30 years old and 20 years old respectively. Members were also concerned that the principles of the orders do not adequately recognise the current economic circumstances or those of the consumer.

The Committee is also extremely concerned that there is no mandatory requirement in the 2006 order for a developer to submit a drainage plan to building control or even enter into an agreement with NIW over a bond. The Committee considers those to be major flaws that need to be redressed urgently.

We considered the merits of having one order to consolidate the legislation. However, the Committee is mindful of the fact that there is a degree of urgency with the review of the legislation and is content to recommend that the Minister urgently review the private streets legislation to ensure that it has adequate measures to deal with the increasing occurrences of unadopted roads.

In addition, the Committee recommends that the 2006 order be reviewed to bring it into line with the Private Streets Order to provide detailed plans to Building Control and close the loophole through which a developer can choose whether to enter into a bond agreement.

In all our deliberations, protection of the consumer — the resident — was to the fore. A number of respondents raised concerns about the level of detail contained in the property certificate, particularly the absence of adequate information on the condition of roads and sewers. That would potentially have an adverse impact on vendors should the property be resold. In addition, there were complaints that, although the Department could be contacted frequently by developers and the legal profession, those dealing with the real impact of unadopted infrastructures — the residents — were not afforded the same access and were not privy to the same level of information.

The Committee believes that the onus to identify potential issues lies with the legal profession and is best carried out during its searches in respect of the resale of properties. The Committee recommends therefore that the property certificate should be adapted to include legal opinion on the condition of the roads and sewers and whether they have been adopted. It should advise potential vendors of the consequences that non-adoption will have for them. The Committee recommends that the legal profession, in conjunction with other stakeholders, compile a guide for vendors that will include information on, for example, their rights and entitlements, resolution techniques and dealing with administration and/or bonding services.

Consumers must be afforded an opportunity to access and challenge government bodies in the same way as developers and the legal profession. The Committee believes that if an appropriate system were in place, the Department and/or NI Water could adapt it to aid in the quicker triggering of the bond enforcement processes. The Committee recommends therefore that a code of practice or protocol be compiled advising of the structures in place, or being put in place, to effect the prompt triggering of bond enforcement.

The Committee was struck by the number of organisations and stakeholders involved in the process, from construction to residents, and, in very many cases, beyond that. The Committee was also cognisant that each stakeholder had its own agenda and that a collective view of, or challenge to, the problem was not particularly evident. The Committee believes therefore that a greater degree of co-ordination and co-operation is required to address the problems associated with unadopted roads and sewers.

The Committee recommends that a co-operation forum is established to agree how the issue of unadopted roads and sewers can be dealt with collectively. Without being prescriptive, it should be representative of residents, statutory and local government bodies, contractors, bonds services and the legal profession. The Committee suggests that the body define its own terms of reference but that it may wish to establish the level of bonds, compile codes of practice, protocols and information packs, and assess whether the current and future legislative provisions are sufficient.

I am sure that, during the debate, Members will recount individual instances of unadopted roads and sewers in their own constituencies. That will provide further evidence that urgent action is needed to address the situation. We are sympathetic to developers and the construction industry and want to see that important sector revitalised. That is why we fully support the Executive's efforts to bolster the construction industry through investment in, for example, major road infrastructure projects. However, we must also remember that the people who put us in this place are the very people who, through no fault of their own, are being faced with liabilities running into tens of thousands of pounds; who must drag their refuse 200 yards for collection; and who purchased their properties in good faith. They are the people who the inquiry seeks to put first. They are the people who should be put first. They are the people who I believe the Committee has put first in making these recommendations.

I move the motion and hope that the House supports the Committee for Regional Development in its efforts to protect the consumer.

Ian McCrea (DUP, Mid Ulster)

I welcome the debate. I welcome the Minister and thank him for attending. I look forward to hearing what he has to say in response to the debate. I join the Deputy Chair in commending the Committee on the time that it spent working on this inquiry. Most importantly, it would be remiss of me not to refer to the Committee Clerk and the staff under him who had the hard job of putting all this together and trying to guide the Committee through the process. We are thankful for that.

As the Deputy Chair highlighted, we had evidence sessions with a number of different organisations as part of our inquiry. We received quite a number of responses from councils across Northern Ireland. No one will be surprised to hear that one of those was from Cookstown District Council, of which I am a member. At the time of the report, there were around 3,148 roads that were determined for adoption but had not yet been adopted. Of those, 107 were in Cookstown and 99 were in Magherafelt. I will not bore the House by going through each of the 107 in Cookstown and 99 in Magherafelt, but the Minister will be more than aware of them. I hope that those numbers will become a lot smaller in the not too distant future.

The issues raised in response to the inquiry were pretty much the same from council to council. It is important that we highlight some of those today.

The main issue, which will not surprise anyone, was refuse collection. In many areas, insurance was a major problem for councils, because companies either refused or put high premiums on vehicles entering unadopted roads. As the Deputy Chair said, that brings the problem where councils decide that they can no longer enter a development that has an unadopted road. The result of that is that people have to bring their bins to the edge of their estate, which has health and safety implications. Those people have purchased their homes, and they pay the same rates as those who get their bins collected, yet they feel that they are, on many occasions, treated as second-class citizens.

There are many recommendations. I will not go through them; they are detailed in the report. I have read the Minister's initial response to the recommendations. I give credit where it is due, and I welcome the Minister's response. It is important that we change the way things are and ensure that bonds are used much more quickly than they have been, more so in developments where the developers have gone bankrupt and have left the estates in a mess. It is important that we get around that issue.

As a member of the Committee, I look forward to working with the Minister as we move forward on this issue. I assure him that I and my party will not be found wanting when it comes to trying to move this thing forward.

Ross Hussey (UUP, West Tyrone)

I begin by pointing out that I joined the Committee on 23 April 2012, and you will note how hard they have worked since then.

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak about the Committee's inquiry into unadopted roads in Northern Ireland. Anyone who has a background in local government will know that this particular issue causes many headaches for those who have bought houses in developments where the roads have not been adopted and, consequently, bins are not collected by the local council from the estate but from the nearest public road. In my constituency of West Tyrone, we have 146 unadopted roads.

Our recommendations are not overly complex, but they attempt to assist the Minister and his Department by bringing some of the long-standing issues to a head and trying to provide a framework by which we can move forward. Clearly, this problem has been about for a long time, and it predates the appointment of the current Minister. I thank the Minister for his support to the Committee.

On 7 February 2012, he stated:

"I recognise the concerns of local home owners who find themselves in new housing developments, where developers have left roads and sewerage systems unfinished. Roads Service and NI Water are making use of the current legislation and procedures to address these problems but this process takes time to complete ... I will ensure Roads Service and NI Water officials are available to the Committee throughout their inquiry process."

There is no doubt that the Minister and his team did that.

As someone who has a background in financial services, I am well aware that the cost of a bond is based on the financial risk that the financial institution granting the bond has to undertake. We seem to have been reluctant to enforce bonds. In my time as a councillor, I found it very frustrating, when attempting to push for a resolution, that Roads Service seemed to be reluctant to force the hand of the developer in relation to the bond. For that reason, I welcome the recommendation that the Department review its procedures with a view to ensuring a more prompt reaction to calling in the bond. That process should be aimed at alleviating public health and safety risks to residents.

In conjunction with that recommendation, it makes sense to follow with a further recommendation for a code of practice or a protocol to be compiled, advising of the structures that are in place to effect the prompt triggering of bond enforcement.

Obviously, because of time constraints, I cannot and, I am sure you will be relieved to hear, will not be going through all the recommendations. I fully support all the recommendations, but priority must be given to our recommendation for a prioritisation audit to be done in each council area. That must be completed as quickly as possible, and the process of priority-based intervention must be implemented as soon as funds become available.

Many of us have problems in our constituencies with unadopted roads. They are in various villages and towns, where people are concerned that their home is no longer their home because of problems on the roads or in the sewerage infrastructure. That was fully evident in our report and our inquiry. Overall, I welcome the report and urge its implementation as soon as possible.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I am delighted to speak on the report today, and my first thoughts are with our Chairman, Jimmy Spratt. Jimmy, if you are looking in — I am sure that you are — I assure you that the absence of Members does not indicate a lack of interest in the report, which affects every part of Northern Ireland.

When the report was drawn up, it set out five key objectives, and I believe that it has achieved them. The first objective was to put a cost on bringing roads and sewers up to an acceptable standard, and my sympathy goes out to the Minister because of the money that he needs to find to ensure that that happens. Members will agree that the concept of a voluntary undertaking or agreement has not worked. Time and time again, Members get the runaround when trying to find out who is responsible for a particular problem. That needs to end, and we need to find a solution, arising out of the report, to put an end to that. The report sets out good reasons for dramatic changes that will compel property sellers to provide the most detailed information not only on the property but on the whole network of sewers and roads in the vicinity. Very often, the problem may not be at someone's own doorstep but may be further down the road. I am sure that most Members know of such cases.

The issue of unadopted roads and sewers has probably been about since Roman times. I am sure that some historian will point out that the issue goes back long before that. I suggest that the time has come to put an end to it, and, quite frankly, I do not see that happening without new legislation to enforce particular procedures to ensure that it happens. The recent downturn in the property market here and in the Republic has brought to a head the absolute urgency of putting the issue in focus. I can think of one terrible incident in the Republic in which a child was drowned on a site that was not completed. I am not aware of anything like that in the North, and, please God, that it will not happen.

During our fact finding, we met a lot of people, and one of the most tetchy — if I can use that word — meetings was with the Law Society, at which we indicated that we believed that its members should be made more amenable to their involvement in conveyancing and should ensure that all the services that are supposed to be in place are in place. From correspondence with the Law Society, I know that it was not too happy about that, but all Members here will agree that there is an onus on solicitors, most of whom carry out their work exceptionally well and professionally. However, a few have made big bucks out of property and have not delivered, and I have no doubt that Members around the Chamber are then left with the task of trying to unravel what has been left as unfinished business, which is sometimes not easy.

I have no doubt that the Assembly will adopt the report, but I have one concern about the resources that are needed to address the problems it highlights. As I said earlier, the Minister will have our full support in ensuring that those unfinished estates and faulty sewers, some of which have been giving problems for years on end, can be addressed in a new way. If we do that during the lifetime of this Assembly mandate, we can claim success, despite the fact that not many Members turned up for the debate.

William Hay (Speaker, Foyle)

The Member's time is almost gone.

Stewart Dickson (Alliance, East Antrim)

I welcome the report, and I place on record my thanks to fellow members of the Committee for Regional Development and, in particular, to the Clerk, staff and all who contributed to what I consider to be an excellent report. Indeed, this is an effective example of democracy at work. A problem was highlighted, and the Committee has investigated and made recommendations to help to remedy what is a genuine situation for many people. We now look forward in anticipation to the response of the Minister and the Department.

That our report's estimate of the number of unadopted roads is anywhere between 1,200 and 3,500 speaks for itself about the level of uncertainty surrounding the issue. It also highlights neglect and the fact that there has been no concerted effort thus far to co-ordinate a large-scale, multi-agency response to the problem. The scale is immense. We are told to never say never in politics, at least most of us are, but, at a cost of between £340 million and £400 million, it is very tempting to say that there is no chance that the Assembly will pay to bring all affected roads and sewers up to adoption standard, particularly given the absolutely dire financial situation that already affects, for example, our water and sewerage infrastructure and services.

With this in mind, the Committee's very sensible recommendation is that the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) co-ordinate and prioritise an audit to allow for the possibility that the unadopted roads and infrastructure causing risks to public health and safety could be addressed by the Department and/or Northern Ireland Water (NIW). This is, in my view, a sensible way for us to try to deal with the existing problems. If investment is forthcoming from either of these sources, it is appropriate that priority be given to areas causing the most harm and damage.

We could also benefit from better co-operation and awareness from all parties involved. We, too, were told of examples of Northern Ireland Water not being formally notified when a developer goes into administration. We were also informed that it may enter into property agreements, unaware of the status of roads and sewers and the consequences of non-adoption. It seems that greater awareness from and contact between the stakeholders could help significantly, so the recommendations set out in points 21, 22 and 24 are particularly welcome.

We must also look forward to putting in place legislation and measures to prevent the appearance of many more unadopted roads and structures. It is very concerning that there is no mandatory requirement in the Water and Sewerage Services Order (Northern Ireland) 2006 for the developer to submit a drainage plan to Building Control or to enter into an agreement with Northern Ireland Water in respect of a bond. Moreover, we note that the Private Streets (Northern Ireland) Order 1980 does not adequately recognise the current economic circumstances or those of the consumer. There are major flaws that need to be addressed urgently. Perhaps they could have been dealt with in the upcoming water Bill had there been more forward thinking from the Department, but it is clear that there is a strong case for legislative change, so I encourage the Minister to bring forward proposals as soon as possible to address the legislative failings identified in the report.

The Assembly and the Executive have a duty to assist those affected by the economic downturn where they can. The Committee has made clear recommendations to assist all of those affected or potentially affected by the problem of unadopted roads across Northern Ireland. As a member of the Committee, I support these recommendations. I urge Members in the Chamber to support them, and, in particular, I urge the Minister to act on them as soon as possible.

Alex Easton (DUP, North Down)

In Northern Ireland today, there are a number of unadopted roads. This has a dramatic impact on the residents of unfinished developments and on the reputation of the building trade. A balancing act needs to be achieved between the householder, who often innocently faces the consequences of residing in a development with an unadopted road, and the builders, who report a substantial rise in the cost of the required bonds. Obviously, in these tough economic times that extra financial burden can have a significant impact on a struggling sector.

An unadopted road is defined as one where a bond has been put in place and one about which the Department is not satisfied that the street has been levelled, paved, channelled, made good and lighted. Obviously, if a road is not deemed to have met those criteria, that will have a serious impact on residents. There have been cases where residents have been unaware that, if they live on an unadopted road and repairs need to be made to the sewerage system, they are responsible both for ensuring that those repairs are completed and for their cost. If the street is not properly maintained and built, there are dangers to personal safety, especially where street lighting in the dark winter months is concerned.

There are also issues surrounding what happens when homeowners want to sell their property and move on to pastures new. Prospective house buyers may receive legal advice not to purchase property on unadopted roads, and that can have a serious impact on innocent homeowners who are not experts in the field and who have purchased houses in good faith.

I believe strongly that the vast majority of builders in Northern Ireland want to do their best for the future residents of the homes and business premises that they construct. In the construction trade, personal reputation is often a builder's best asset in securing future work. After all, Northern Ireland can be very small place, and bad news often travels faster than good. For that reason, I believe that our good builders should be supported in their endeavours in this difficult economic time.

Since 2006, when the bond system was split into two separate bond requirements, the cost has risen from approximately £3,000 to £7,500. Against that rise, however, there is also a concern that often the bond level is not sufficient to cover the work that is required to bring the infrastructure to a state where it can be adopted. A balance needs to be achieved in such a situation, and I believe that the report allows for that avenue to be explored further.

I support the report's recommendations, and I believe that, by implementing them and ensuring that there are closer working relationship between consumers, builders and local and regional authorities, we can continue to be confident in the construction industry. I particularly welcome the closing of legal loopholes and the extension of property certificates to cover the condition of roads and sewerage. Those certificates are very important in protecting the consumer. The re-examination of the level of the bond and the burden that it places on builders at this time is also extremely welcome. It will allow for dialogue to begin between those who are completing the work and those who have to pay when things ultimately go wrong. I also appreciate that the proposed register, along with the recommended grading of the most serious problems, will allow local authorities to address the most serious and dangerous situations as a priority.

I support the report.

Declan McAleer (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. I take the opportunity to support the motion. I commend the Committee and the officials, particularly Paul, Nathan, Tara and Alison and all the others who were involved in initiating this hugely important report into unadopted roads and housing developments.

As I found out, this is a very complex and multifaceted issue, and I am glad to note that the report's recommendations avoid attributing blame. Their thrust aims to achieve a consensus among all the relevant parties.

From dealing with residents, I know how frustrating it can be. People purchase a new home. They take great care of and pride in that home, but that is completely undermined by the fact that their home is in the middle of an unfinished site, where there is no street lighting, manhole lids protrude and the sewerage system is not complete. They may have the added complication of bin lorries being unable to enter the development for insurance reasons. Coupled with that, the economic downturn has had a hugely adverse impact on our construction and building industry. Unfortunately, many of the developers of those unfinished sites have gone into liquidation and do not have the means to complete the sites to a standard that is fit for adoption.

Adopted roads and developments are legislated for under the Private Streets Order. I support the report's finding that the Order is outdated and in need of review. As was mentioned, there is a major flaw in it that means that developers do not have to submit a drainage plan or enter into an agreement with NI Water. As John Dallat said, that can have major public health implications, so it is imperative that the Water and Sewerage Services Order is brought into line with the Private Streets Order 1980.

Planning Service also has a very important role to play, particularly to ensure that all the conditions are met for sewers, rivers and roads. I consider it a major legislative flaw that a developer can get permission to start a new development even if its previous project has not been completed. I can imagine how frustrating it must be for a homeowner who has been living for years on an unfinished site to watch while the same developer starts work on a new site up the road. In many ways, the loophole has allowed a small number of repeat offenders to continue that practice while giving genuine developers — incidentally, the overwhelming majority — a bad name.

The legislation should be amended to include a clause that states that a house cannot legally be conveyed until the road and all relevant utilities are in place. I welcome the recommendation to adapt property certificates to include a legal opinion on the condition of the roads and sewers and the potential consequences of non-adoption.

I also support the recommendation that councils, in conjunction with NILGA, play a central role in co-ordinating a prioritisation audit of unadopted infrastructure. As a councillor until recently, I am of the view that no organisation is better informed or better placed to carry out such an audit in each respective district. That will be effective only if the necessary legislation, clarity and resources are in place to act on the audit's findings.

I appreciate that the subject of unadopted roads is very emotive and difficult to deal with, bearing in mind the number of agencies and factors involved. I believe that the report is long overdue. I welcome the fact that it is resolution-driven, avoids blame and places the homeowner at the centre of the resolution process.

The debate stood suspended.

The sitting was suspended at 12.22 pm.

On resuming (Mr Deputy Speaker [Mr Dallat] in the Chair) —

Oral Answers to Questions

Dolores Kelly (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Upper Bann)

1. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline the steps that are being taken to regularise the dual claim use on applications under the single farm payment and the less-favoured area compensatory allowances schemes to meet EU requirements. (AQO 3016/11-15)

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. My Department has been giving consideration to a range of approaches to address concerns that have been raised by EU Commission auditors on our controls governing dual use claims. The particular challenge is to develop a control mechanism that can demonstrate that the conditions of the single farm payment (SFP) and the less-favoured area compensatory allowance (LFACA) schemes are being met simultaneously by each claimant on a single parcel of land. At this stage, my preferred approach is that a written conacre agreement should form the basis of the control mechanism and should be in place between the single farm payment scheme and the LFACA scheme claimant where a dual use claim exists. My intention is that those enhanced controls would not place an unacceptable administrative burden on the Department or on applicants but will meet the Commission’s concerns.

I launched a public consultation on that approach in early October, which closed on 9 November. At that time, 19 responses had been received. The majority of the responses supported my preferred approach, and most of the respondents were content with the proposal to use a standard written conacre agreement. I am currently considering all those responses and will announce my decision on the preferred way forward very soon.

Dolores Kelly (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Upper Bann)

I welcome the simplification around audit control. However, can the Minister give an undertaking that farmers will not be penalised because of any irregularities that have existed in the system for single farm payments and payments for less-favoured areas?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I can give the Member that assurance. It is never the Department's intention to make life difficult for farmers. In a lot of these cases and in this instance, Europe dictates what it will accept from us, so it is important that we have proper controls in place. As I said, my preferred approach would be the most simple way forward, and I intend to work with the farmers to make sure that we can get those agreements out and they can easily access them, so that they can have something in place that will help us to move forward and avoid any negative comments from Europe.

Declan McAleer (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

Can the Minister assure us that the written conacre agreements will be as farmer-friendly and as simplified as possible so as not to add to the bureaucratic burdens that farmers currently experience?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I can assure the Member that I believe that the requirement to have the written agreement brought into place is the minimum necessary to allow us to separate the claimants for the single farm payment and LFACA schemes on a single land parcel to demonstrate that they meet the respective scheme obligations, individually and collectively. My officials have been working actively with the Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Ulster Farmers' Union to ensure that any such agreement is as farmer-friendly as possible but is also fit for purpose and acceptable to the Commission as a proper control mechanism.

Danny Kinahan (UUP, South Antrim)

Will the Minister give us her assessment of the potential impact of the reclassification of less-favoured areas on future dual use claims?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

The reclassifications are not relevant to this claim. That is a process that has been started in Europe. The Commission's thinking is that that will be separated from the CAP reform negotiations, so it is being put further down the line until perhaps 2014-15. There is a menu of options that may be applied in respect of all the changes that the Commission has proposed, but we want to make sure that we protect areas that are disadvantaged and that the proper support goes to those people. As the process develops further down the line, I will make sure that we consult widely with the people who will be impacted by those decisions. However, it seems that they have been put on the long finger, and it may not happen until 2014-15.

Farming: Regulation

Paul Givan (DUP, Lagan Valley)

2. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what steps are being taken to reduce the regulatory burden on the farming industry. (AQO 3017/11-15)

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

Since taking over responsibility for agriculture and rural development, I have highlighted the reduction of the regulatory burden on the agrifood industry as a particular goal of mine to ensure that the amount of administrative work that farming businesses have to cope with is reduced as far as possible. The key aim has always been to ensure that the balance between regulation and simplification creates an environment that allows businesses to grow further and our rural communities to flourish.

My officials are currently taking forward the third year of the Department’s current three-year better regulation action plan. The specific key actions in the third year involve my officials working on the development of plans to introduce an electronic identification policy for cattle. The legislation to underpin that is under consideration in Brussels at present and offers the potential to significantly reduce paperwork for farmers. Another key action is the development of remote sensing techniques, which have the potential to reduce the number of on-farm inspections carried out by the Department. Those, together with other initiatives such as a major new project to procure a replacement for the current animal and public health information system (APHIS), will provide further opportunities for us to help farmers to reduce their administrative burden by improving flexibility of access and performance.

You will also be aware that my officials are working with stakeholders on developing the next rural development programme, which will run up to 2020. That presents us all with a tremendous opportunity to contribute ideas for simplification in the new programme and measures at this very early stage in the programme's development.

The industry is well aware of the tight restraints under which we are obliged to regulate and appreciates that the rules safeguard the industry and protect the public. However, I am determined that simplification will be a key theme in the future.

Paul Givan (DUP, Lagan Valley)

I thank the Minister for that response. I welcome the work that her Department is taking forward to ensure that the processes are as simplified as possible and only where necessary. The Minister will know that the farming industry often feels aggrieved at the rigidity of the Environment Agency in respect of the role that it plays and how that impacts on the farming industry in terms of the closed period to do with slurry spreading and other areas where it often encounters an inflexible approach and an approach that is not common sense. Can she assure the House that she will continue to represent the concerns of farmers so that the Environment Agency acts reasonably?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I agree with the Member, particularly in wanting to avoid any situations where you create additional administrative burdens on the farming community. It is always about a balance between having legislative controls and providing freedom for the industry to operate and do what it is doing. I have engaged with DOE on that issue, and we will continue to do that. I have a meeting scheduled with the Environment Minister in the next number of weeks, and that is one of the issues that is on the agenda. So, it will continually be raised. As those issues are raised by farmers, I will make sure that I carry out my role and responsibility by raising them with DOE or any other Department that may come into play in any of these issues.

Joe Byrne (Social Democratic and Labour Party, West Tyrone)

Can the Minister enlighten the House as to whether the LPIS will be on target to be delivered so that it can help farmers in their claims? Will the Minister accept that the random selection of farmers for scrutiny is causing great concern to some of them?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

The Member will be aware that I updated the House last week on the maps issue and LPIS, and I refer him to that statement. We are still on target according to what I said at that time. It is important that the Department continues to assist farmers to do things better, to make sure that we improve productivity and to make sure that everything is speeded up.

Leslie Cree (UUP, North Down)

I thank the Minister for her replies to that important question. Can the Minister give her Department's specific year-on-year accomplishments during the past three years on reducing the regulatory burden, which, as she knows, is a target for the Programme for Government?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

The Member will be aware that work was taken forward with DARD and DETI looking at the industry in general and how we can improve things. A number of interim targets have been achieved, and there have been ongoing improvements, but not all things have been achieved. The plan will run up to, I think, 2015 before we will expect to see full delivery, but there have been a lot of improvements, particularly over the last number of years around sheep ID. That reduces the burden on farmers to be able to freely move their sheep. We have improvements in APHIS, we have the synchronising of herd testing and we have the introduction of the computerisation of the agrienvironment scheme. There are four key pieces of work that are definitely working to reduce the burden on farmers, and there is much more work ongoing. I encourage farmers who have very simple ideas about how to improve things to contact us through the website or through DARD Direct offices to give us the practical examples, and we will make sure that we improve things where it is possible to improve them.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I call Mr Jim Allister for a supplementary.

Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice, North Antrim)

Mr Cree stole my thunder, I am afraid.

Common Agricultural Policy

Alasdair McDonnell (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Belfast South)

3. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for an update on negotiations on the common agricultural policy reform to maximise the interests of the farming community. (AQO 3018/11-15)

Oliver McMullan (Sinn Féin, East Antrim)

11. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for an update on the common agricultural policy reform negotiations. (AQO 3026/11-15)

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

With your permission, a LeasCheann Comhairle, I will answer questions 3 and 11 together.

It is fair to say that progress in the CAP reform post 2013 negotiations has been very slow. One of the main stumbling blocks has been the desire to secure agreement in the negotiations on the EU budget for 2014-2020. The budget negotiations have been difficult, to say the least, given the wide-ranging views on the way forward coming from member states and the Parliament. Members will be aware that discussions between member states on 22 and 23 November broke up without any agreement. It is unlikely that any real progress will be made on CAP reform until after the budget negotiations conclude. I continue to argue strongly for no further cuts to the CAP budget beyond what the EU Commission has proposed, which is a freeze in nominal terms. That would amount to a substantial reduction in real terms and is harsher treatment for the CAP compared with the EU budget as a whole, even if it were frozen in real terms as some are demanding.

Despite the complication of the EU budget negotiations, discussion on the detail of the proposals for CAP reform continues. I continue to do all that I can to influence that discussion and represent the interests of our farmers and rural communities. I suggested a number of amendments to the CAP reform proposals. I am grateful to our MEPs for putting those forward. Around 7,500 amendments were proposed by MEPs. They are being consolidated into a more manageable number prior to the Parliament completing its First Reading, which is now scheduled for March 2013. With regard to the EU Council discussions, the presidency has tabled revised texts that could be described as a step in the right direction on some issues. However, it is clear from the reaction of member states that many aspects remain unresolved.

I have now met the Commission on a number of occasions and taken the opportunity to push hard for change on key issues, such as moving to a flat rate and greening. Apart from the Commission, I have been engaging directly with DEFRA Ministers and my devolved Administration colleagues on the reform proposals, as well as with Minister Simon Coveney in the South. I also continue to have regular discussions on CAP reform with our local MEPs. My officials are very closely involved with DEFRA and devolved Administration counterparts in feeding into the Brussels working groups. They also keep in regular contact with our officials in Dublin.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

Minister, will you clarify that you are grouping questions 3 and 11?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

Yes.

Alasdair McDonnell (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Belfast South)

I thank the Minister for her answer. Has she had any direct discussions, negotiations or dialogue with the Minister for Agriculture in Dublin, Simon Coveney, or the appropriate Ministers in Cardiff, Edinburgh or DEFRA in London? I am talking about ministerial rather than official level.

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I think that I answered that question in my main answer. I have had ongoing discussions. Last Thursday, I had discussions with DEFRA, the Scottish Minister and the Welsh Minister. The previous week, I met Simon Coveney to discuss CAP issues. I have ongoing discussions with all those people. It is important that we also continue to engage with our MEPs because we have co-decision-making in Europe now. That means that our MEPs play a key role in the discussions that go through the Parliament.

I continue to use every avenue that is open to me and knock on every door that I can to ensure that our views are reflected in the ongoing discussions. It is important that we continue to do that in the time ahead. It is unfortunate that we did not agree the financial framework last week because that holds up the negotiation of all the details. The next six months will be crucial.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I call Mr Oliver McMullan. I am sorry, Mr McMullan. Your question 11 is grouped with question 3. Therefore, you are now entitled to ask a question.

Oliver McMullan (Sinn Féin, East Antrim)

Go ahead.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I call Mr Chris Hazzard.

Christopher Hazzard (Sinn Féin, South Down)

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Has the Minister any idea of when CAP reform will be agreed?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

As I said, it is not possible to be definitive at this stage. Given the failure to agree the financial framework, it will be difficult to gauge how we will move forward. The earliest that we may be able to see a financial agreement, if that is possible, will be February. That will make the timescale very tight for the South of Ireland to deliver in its presidency before the end of June. I know that they are anxious to do that. A lot of the detail could be worked through quickly if we were able to get the financial framework. However, in its absence, it is difficult to iron out all the other issues because you do not know what money you are dealing with.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I call Mrs Jo-Anne Dobson.

Jo-Anne Dobson (UUP, Upper Bann)

My question has been answered.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I call Mr William Irwin.

William Irwin (DUP, Newry and Armagh)

Moving to a flat-rate payment will disadvantage many farmers in Northern Ireland who produce a lot of food but own very little land. Does the Minister agree that Northern Ireland needs a degree of flexibility to address that?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

The three core components of the argument around CAP reform are an adequate budget, flexibility and simplification. That will be key as we move forward.

We carried out a lot of analysis on the flat rate, which showed that the flat rate will favour farms that, under the old regime, were lightly stocked and claimed relatively little direct support. The key issue for us is that, although the Commission has put an offer on the table of five years to allow for the transition, we have argued very strongly that we need a 10-year transition period to allow farmers to adapt to the changing situation. That is gathering a lot of support across Europe, and we hope to achieve some movement on it in the time ahead. What the Commission has proposed is much too severe. It is not gradual, and you cannot expect farmers to adapt to that kind of change overnight.

Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Framework

Rosaleen McCorley (Sinn Féin, Belfast West)

4. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline progress on her tackling rural poverty and rural isolation strategy, which includes the rural challenge fund. (AQO 3019/11-15)

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I am very pleased with the progress achieved by the tackling rural poverty and social isolation framework, which is on course to meet its specific Programme for Government target, including spend of £4 million in this financial year.

A range of initiatives under the framework is currently under way, all of which provide valuable assistance in addressing rural poverty and isolation. They include the assisted rural travel scheme; support for the Rural Support charity; support for rural community development work; the maximising access in rural areas (MARA) project; the farm family health checks; the connecting elderly rural isolated project; the rural borewells scheme; a youth employability programme and a young entrepreneurs project; and fuel poverty energy efficiency work.

The rural challenge programme opened a call for applications in September. It included a mandatory requirement for potential applicants to attend a best practice workshop to assist with the identification and evidencing of their local poverty and isolation needs. All 13 workshops in the North have been completed, with over 400 community and voluntary groups having attended. That is very encouraging in itself and is a ringing endorsement of the need for such interventions in rural communities and of the role played by volunteers who want to improve the community in which they live. The closing date for receipt of applications is 14 December, and I expect that we will achieve a high number of applications.

Rosaleen McCorley (Sinn Féin, Belfast West)

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a freagraí go dtí seo. I thank the Minister for her answer. What is the programme budget and the timeline for delivery?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

As set out in the business case, the budget for the rural challenge programme is £700,000. It is envisaged that, through the programme, 70 projects will be funded. Ideally, that would mean funding 10 projects from each of the identified target beneficiary groupings. However, as the minimum grant is £2,000 and the maximum £10,000, it may be possible to fund more than 70 projects, as it is unlikely that all applicants will request the maximum grant.

The programme opened for applications on 14 September, and adverts were placed in the three main papers. Applicants have had three months to consider the needs of their area, identify the appropriate solution and submit an application. That, absolutely, is the beauty of the project. It is about an idea that has grown in a local area and suits the needs of that rural community. It is not about the Department telling an area to suit its priorities. To me, that is the success of the programme and why we have been so oversubscribed with applications.

The deadline for submission of applications is 14 December. I hope that applications will be assessed for their eligibility and scored in January and February, with letters of offer to successful applicants scheduled to be issued in March next year. They will then have 21 months from that date to deliver their project and a further three months to draw down any grant aid and submit a final project evaluation. I am quite excited by the project, and I hope that the applications are beneficial for rural communities.

Ross Hussey (UUP, West Tyrone)

I thank the Minister for her responses so far. Will the Minister give the House details of all the administration costs associated with the rural challenge fund to date?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I do not have a figure. That programme is run by the rural development end of the Department, and a group of people are consistently working on it. There is no additional cost in that respect. I am happy to provide the Member with the detail of the breakdown of the admin costs, if I can get it.

The beauty of the programme and the entire tackling poverty and social isolation project is that £16 million will be invested in rural communities, and that £16 million will be used for all the various projects to lever in additional funding from the other Departments. So, I am not concerned about the administration costs in this regard, but I am happy to provide the Member with a breakdown.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I remind Members that they must continue to rise in their place otherwise they will not be called.

Seán Rogers (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Down)

I thank the Minister for her responses thus far. What discussions has her Department had with DRD to continue to prioritise community transport for rural dwellers?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I am happy to provide the Member with more detail, but I can say that we continue to work with DRD on rural transport. As you are aware, access to public transport in some rural areas is sparse, to say the least, so I will continue to fund that. I do not have the exact figure but am happy to provide that to the Member by letter after Question Time. Transport is a priority area for me in tackling the inaccessibility and the inequality that exists in access to public transport.

Kieran McCarthy (Alliance, Strangford)

I thank the Minister for her answers so far. What role does she see for a robust shared future strategy for increasing cohesion in rural communities?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

We all welcome and look forward to the cohesion and integration strategy. All the work that is ongoing in the tackling poverty and social isolation framework looks at the needs of rural communities as a whole; it is not broken down into nationalist or unionist backgrounds. It is about how we look at and address the needs of rural communities. Those are the same for everybody. It is all about tackling inequality, isolation and poverty, regardless of anybody's background.

Ash Dieback Disease

David Hilditch (DUP, East Antrim)

5. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline what discussions she has had with local councils in relation to ash dieback disease. (AQO 3020/11-15)

Anna Lo (Alliance, Belfast South)

7. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development what is the position regarding the spread of chalara fraxinea in ash trees. (AQO 3022/11-15)

David McClarty (Independent, East Londonderry)

8. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development whether the identified cause of ash dieback disease is the only source. (AQO 3023/11-15)

George Robinson (DUP, East Londonderry)

9. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development how many cases of ash dieback (chalara fraxinea) there are on Forest Service land. (AQO 3024/11-15)

Sean Lynch (Sinn Féin, Fermanagh and South Tyrone)

12. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for an update on ash dieback disease. (AQO 3027/11-15)

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

With your permission, a LeasCheann Comhairle, I will answer questions 5, 7, 8, 9 and 12 together.

Our strategy for dealing with the disease requires the surveillance of likely sources of infection and the detection and eradication of diseased trees. Some councils have landfill facilities and have made them available for the deep burial of trees that need to be destroyed. One council has been directly involved because infected trees were found in a recent planting on its land. The council officers are working very closely with DARD inspectors to protect the site and destroy the trees. The chief executive of Forest Service is contacting council chief executives as and when infected trees are found in that council area to advise them of the finding, brief them on the actions that need to be taken and to offer basic biosecurity advice. Council biodiversity officers and recreation officers also play an important part in monitoring trees in council areas and alerting the Department when they are concerned about diseased trees.

In terms of the current spread of the disease, I can advise that the position at 10.00 am today was that there have been 16 confirmed outbreaks at recently planted sites and two in trade where material was found before distribution to sites. The confirmed outbreaks at recently planted sites are in Counties Antrim, Down, Derry and Tyrone. Notices are being served, with the destruction of some 8,700 plants to date. Again, as of 10.00 am today, there were four separate sources, two of which were planted out, all linked to imports from continental Europe. I can confirm that, to date, no cases have been found on Forest Service land.

This disease has a very high priority in the work of my Department, and considerable resources are being allocated using our trade knowledge to trace the movements of plant material from suspected sources to planting sites. We are giving that the greatest priority. In addition, we have surveillance under way targeting about 1,000 sites and are focusing on sites planted over the past five years. Our strategy going forward to eradicate the disease will depend on the outcome of that surveillance and the developing scientific advice.

Information about the disease symptoms is available on the DARD website to assist landowners with their inspection and the recognition of the disease. A telephone helpline number for reporting suspect sites is also available on the website.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

Minister, your time is up.

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I take this opportunity to encourage all stakeholders to be vigilant and report all signs to the Department.

David Hilditch (DUP, East Antrim)

I thank the Minister for her answer. Minister, the diamond jubilee wood in east Antrim was established last year with the planting out of some 60,000 trees. It was done in conjunction with a departmental forestry grant, and part of the condition of the grant was that 22,000 to 23,000 ash trees had to be planted. Knowing that the disease was present in Europe for a number of years, was it or is it good practice to insist on such a high percentage of single species tree in any project as a condition?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I cannot speak about the individual case, but I can confirm that this strain of the disease is very different from what we have seen in Europe, which is why there are particular problems in identifying effective treatment and actions. The science is not there because this is a relatively new disease, only found in England since 2011. We are working our way through that and trying to develop the science and the effective treatments as we move forward. At this stage, it is about taking out the new plants and making sure that we target the new plants so that it never gets into the older plants. The condition, as I said, is not because there was inaction: this is a very different strain of ash disease.

Anna Lo (Alliance, Belfast South)

As the Minister said, England discovered this last year. Has the Minister engaged with the parts of England that were affected about best practice and what they have been doing to address the problem?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I assure the Member that it is my priority to make sure that we eradicate the disease. That is very much the stage that we are still at. We are very much involved in surveillance and research. We will look to everybody, particularly to England because of the position that they are in. We also look towards the South of Ireland. We have very much employed the fortress Ireland approach when it comes to keeping the disease out of Ireland. That is all important work. It is important that we engage, particularly as we develop the science. We do not want to reinvent the wheel: if someone else has found a way to deal with the disease, we will obviously also use that method. We are working with DEFRA and DAFF in the South.

David McClarty (Independent, East Londonderry)

I thank the Minister for her answers so far. What steps is she taking to ensure that the four sources identified for the disease in Northern Ireland are the only sources?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I assure the Member that we are currently surveying. As I said, we want to survey about 1,000 sites in which we want to make sure that there are no symptoms present. At the moment, I think that we have been to over 200 sites. There is a trade trace, if you like, so we can trace anything that has been imported from potential sites or the sites where cases have been detected. We are very much tracing that whole movement. Officials are working through that process. We have diverted a lot of staff to make sure that they are out on the ground, doing the inspections and getting us as much information as possible. The priority at the moment has to be around surveillance, research and eradication. I am very much committed to making sure that we eradicate the disease.

The Department is also involved in practical support to assist people to remove trees that need to be removed very speedily. We do not want things sitting around if there is the potential for disease. A lot of work is going on.

I use this opportunity to appeal to people to be very vigilant and report symptoms. If you are in any doubt, please contact us and ask for information. We will continue to work with our partners, particularly councils that have access to parks and Forest Service. It is important that people are very vigilant about their biosecurity.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I discourage the private conversations that are taking place on both sides of the House while the Minister is answering questions.

George Robinson (DUP, East Londonderry)

Will the Minister state whether her Department will replace trees that are lost to ash dieback with indigenous species to maintain Northern Ireland's natural woodland habitats as much as possible?

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

I missed the start of the Member's contribution, but I think that he asked me whether I was planning to replace trees. As I said, the focus at the moment is certainly on eradication. I have asked Forest Service to look at the potential implications further down the line, such as, for example, for someone who received their woodland grant scheme and then had to remove trees. We are working on that, but the focus at the moment is very much on making sure that we eradicate the disease. We do not want it to be an even bigger problem down the line. We want to avoid any instances in which people have to come to us for compensation. I assure the Member that we are still on target to pay our woodland premium scheme in December and for the forestry agrienvironment scheme. There is no delay in any of that because of what is going on.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

Question 4 has been withdrawn and a written answer is required.

World Police and Fire Games

Karen McKevitt (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Down)

1. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what steps she is taking to ensure a lasting legacy from the 2013 World Police and Fire Games. (AQO 3029/11-15)

David McIlveen (DUP, North Antrim)

3. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure for an update on her Department's plans to ensure that there is a lasting legacy following the World Police and Fire Games 2013. (AQO 3031/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for her question. With your permission, a LeasCheann Comhairle, I will take questions 1 and 3 together.

The World Police and Fire Games in 2013 must deliver a lasting legacy. The games provide an opportunity to build strong links between the services and the communities that they serve. The volunteer programme's main recruitment phase closed with over 6,000 people pledging support. The focus has now moved to encouraging under-represented groups, including people with disabilities, older people and people from neighbourhood renewal areas to volunteer during the games, and hopefully beyond.

Karen McKevitt (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Down)

The possibility has been raised that accommodation might cause some difficulty in the delivery of the games. I welcome the information roadshows on that, which are beginning this week. Does the Minister think that any lessons could be taken from the efforts to create a lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and applied to the World Police and Fire Games?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for her question. There are lots of lessons we can learn, particularly from the more positive aspects. Young ambassadors were involved in the Olympics and Paralympics, as well as the games makers or volunteers from both games. We hope to transfer that to the World Police and Fire Games. We will look at the role of charities and under-represented communities, as well as at accommodation, which is going to be a big challenge. What ideas did the city of London employ that we can perhaps learn from? I am confident that the company is currently looking at all those things, not just on its own but with the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, (DETI) and the Tourist Board, to see how it can make sure we meet that challenge in the best way possible. There are lots of positive things we can do that will leave a lasting legacy from 2013.

David McIlveen (DUP, North Antrim)

Minister, will you tell me whether you plan to give any support to businesses that have been successful in securing bids? I am thinking of the example of Carnview Farms in Ballymena, which is hosting the shooting event. It is going to have to invest a significant amount of money in facilities just to bring the venue up to standard for the games. Will your Department be offering any financial support to them?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

As part of the overall funding package, Sport NI is looking at what additional support it can give. I assume, although I have not yet received a report, that it will be looking at venues, particularly those outside Belfast. Belfast City Council is looking at venues in Belfast in conjunction with DCAL. I will ask Sport NI, particularly after your question, what it is doing to help areas outside Belfast to achieve the best standard possible. I do know that, as part of the selection criteria to become a host venue outside Belfast, a lot of scrutiny, reviewing and monitoring went on. All venues met the required standard or above, so I am confident that, whatever support is needed, it is not going to be a huge amount of money. I will certainly look at that to see how we can deliver a better product overall.

Leslie Cree (UUP, North Down)

Will the Minister outline the main challenges in staging a successful World Police and Fire Games? Has she had discussions with her Executive colleagues about the question of accommodation for spectators and visitors?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

Myself and Minister Foster, through our officials and Departments, are working on accommodation and the tourism product. I think that we need to look at the overall position of where we are with enhancing the opportunities for the World Police and Fire Games. Certainly, incidents such as what happened in Belfast last night absolutely do not add to the logo of "the friendliest games ever", particularly when 15 police officers were injured as a result of the trouble. Collectively, we have been looking at areas like accommodation, businesses and communities. We have been working with Belfast City Council to try to make sure that we give as much support as possible.

Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice, North Antrim)

Does the Minister look forward to welcoming a royal personality to the opening of the games? Has such an invitation been issued?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I have not received any such invitation.

Stadia Development

Mitchel McLaughlin (Sinn Féin, South Antrim)

2. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure for an update on the developmental stages of the three stadia. (AQO 3030/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. There has been considerable activity, particularly over the past six months, in relation to the development stages of the three stadia. Under close guidance of DCAL officials, the governing bodies of all three sports have been able to establish the necessary frameworks and processes and arrangements and delivery mechanisms that are essential to making timely and significant progress on each of the stadia projects. Social clauses have been put in place for the rugby construction contract, and are being developed for GAA and IFA construction contracts, to ensure that opportunities exist for the long-term unemployed, apprenticeships and student placements.

Mitchel McLaughlin (Sinn Féin, South Antrim)

I thank the Minister for her answer, in which she partially addressed my follow-up. I am concerned that long-term unemployed and young people in particular are given opportunities during the construction phase of the three stadia. Will she indicate whether that is part of the specification for the contracts and procurement?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I can give that comfort to the Member. For a long time, we have been hearing about the long-term unemployed, and there have been different definitions of it. But I assure the Member that I am talking about "long term" meaning 12 months and beyond for the purpose of the social clauses that are included in the procurement tender and the contract documentation. For example, in the Ravenhill contract, we are looking at employing seven long-term unemployed; creating four new apprenticeships; having 5% of the workforce in recognised apprenticeships schemes; having two student placements; and producing five practical post-contract proposals that will develop a range of social returns for that area.

William Humphrey (DUP, Belfast North)

I thank the Minister for her answers so far. She may be aware that representatives of the three sports gave evidence to the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee last week. In relation to Windsor Park — home of the green and white army — is the council and her Department working together closely on a collaborative approach to the Olympia leisure centre and the new Windsor Park, to provide value for money for both ratepayers and taxpayers?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I am due to meet Belfast City Council and my officials in January to talk about other issues, including what those new proposals look like and how far they are developed. The Member is 100% right: we need to make sure that we get value for money, particularly for ratepayers and taxpayers. I remember answering that question from your colleague, I think that it was Jimmy Spratt, by saying that it does not make sense for one Department to develop opportunities only for another Department — or in this case local government — to come along afterwards and miss out on opportunities when we can deliver a better product, which I believe that the people of south Belfast deserve.

Conall McDevitt (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Belfast South)

Councillor Humphrey may want to declare an interest the next time that he asks a question about Belfast City Council. However, is the Minister satisfied that the development at Ravenhill rugby ground will definitely be completed by the summer of 2014?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I am absolutely determined that it will be delivered by 2014. In the past six months, I have been persistent and consistent with each of the three sporting bodies, and we have worked very closely to ensure that those targets are met. We met as recently as last week and will meet again next week, before Christmas comes and we go into a new year. Work has already started, as planned, at Ravenhill. So, everything is on schedule, and I am delighted that that is the case.

Michael McGimpsey (UUP, Belfast South)

Will the Department support the IFA's ambition to have a museum for football in the Windsor Park complex, bearing in mind the huge legacy that we have in this country? With the world's fourth oldest association and third oldest football league, we have a legacy and a story to tell. Therefore, it is important that the Department indicates its support, at this stage, for such a development.

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. I have to be honest: the first time that I heard about this was on the radio the other morning, and I just caught the tail end of what Jim Gracey said. I think that sport is needed but missing from within our museum family. We have a huge narrative and proud history in all sports, and that is not reflected by what is in our museums. The museum at Croke Park is a tourist attraction that brings people into the stadium and adds to the economy. It also gives a sense of history reflecting the sport which, I believe, is missing here at the minute. So, I am waiting to hear what those proposals are. I would welcome sport being better recognised by museums. It is down to the IFA and whatever it decides to propose. As long as the stands are built and the Department's requirements are met, anything additional is entirely down to the IFA. I will support its decision.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

Question 3 has been dealt with and question 4 has been withdrawn.

Ulster-Scots Agency

Trevor Lunn (Alliance, Lagan Valley)

5. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure how her Department has measured the value for money delivered by the Ulster-Scots Agency between 2008-09 and 2010-11. (AQO 3033/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. A number of corporate governance arrangements are in place by which the sponsor Departments ensure that value for money is delivered by the agency. Those include progress reports from the chair and the CEO to Ministers at the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) language body meetings; progress reports by the CEO at quarterly accountability meetings; NSMC language body meetings attended by officials from the sponsor Departments; attendance at the agency's audit and risk committee as observers; multi-report arrangements to both sponsor Departments on issues such as internal audit and fraud returns; and progress towards completing outstanding accounts and audit recommendations. The agency also prepares business cases for all proposed expenditure, and when those are above the CEO’s delegated limit, they must be submitted to the sponsor Departments for consideration and approval. When projects are completed, post-project evaluations are undertaken, and samples of those are examined by my officials.

Trevor Lunn (Alliance, Lagan Valley)

I thank the Minister for her answer. When can we expect full publication of the agency's accounts? Will they include a full assessment of the value-for-money aspect of its funding arrangements under the heading that she has just given us?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I had been anticipating that the accounts would be laid before the Assembly by December 2013, and it is with disappointment that I learn that it is not going to happen this year [Interruption.] sorry, 2012. They will not be laid now until 2013. Minister Deenihan and I received a report from the chairs of both agencies and their chief executives to say that that would happen, but unfortunately it is not going to happen. We have an NSMC language body meeting next week, and the issue will be raised again. The Member has asked that question previously and will persist until he gets the answer that he wants. I will ensure that that happens.

Sydney Anderson (DUP, Upper Bann)

How does the Minister's Department measure value for money for Foras na Gaeilge?

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

The question is not appropriate to Ulster Scots. We will, therefore, move on. I call Mr Oliver McMullan. The question has to be on Ulster Scots.

Oliver McMullan (Sinn Féin, East Antrim)

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Will the Minister tell us the current position with the 2009-2010 annual accounts?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

The Member has probably just heard the response to Mr Lunn's question. The same question keeps coming up time and time again. Without fear of repeating myself, I will just say that I am disappointed that the assurances that Jimmy Deenihan, Dinny McGinley and I sought on the issue have not been realised. The latest update states that the 2009 accounts were signed off by the chairs and the chief executives on 7 November. The process is that the accounts were then certified by the C&AG on 26 November. The aim was to have those accounts laid before the Assembly in December 2012, as I stated to Mr Lunn, but they will not be laid and will be brought early in the new year. We will write again to the joint chairs of the language bodies requesting confirmation of when the 2010 accounts will be ready. As I said to Mr Lunn, I have no doubt that we will raise the issue at our next sectoral meeting, which is next Wednesday.

Mike Nesbitt (UUP, Strangford)

What is the Minister's assessment of the agency's strategy in promoting Ulster-Scots culture?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I was privileged to be at the launch of the flagship schools programme. That is a fresh, new initiative that not only works with groups of adults in the community but looks at how Ulster-Scots culture and heritage could be added to the school curriculum. The flagship schools programme is one example of how the Ulster-Scots community is trying its best to promote what it has to offer, outside what it normally does, and what it hopes to achieve.

World Police and Fire Games

Paul Girvan (DUP, South Antrim)

6. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure for an update on the World Police and Fire Games 2013. (AQO 3034/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. I am sure that he was here when I answered questions 1 and 3. By way of an update and to reassure him, I recently met members of the board, and I believe that significant progress has been made in preparation for the World Police and Fire Games next year.

I will give the Member some examples. The games opened for registration on 1 November and already over 1,000 athletes have signed up and paid their registration fee, so that is good news. The company has received almost 6,500 applications from people who wish to volunteer during the games. That figure exceeds the target of over 4,000, and the Member will agree that that is very good news.

Already, almost 5,000 bed spaces have been booked through the Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau. For us, that represents a value of over £1·7 million to the economy, which again is good news. The venues for the 57 sports across the North have also been announced. I believe that the milestones that we were hoping to achieve when I last met the board have been reached. That is very good progress to report.

Paul Girvan (DUP, South Antrim)

I thank the Minister for her answer. Has any contact been made with the University of Ulster about accommodation in the halls of residence, which I understand will be vacant at that time?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

As I said in a previous answer, work is ongoing with officials from DETI, my Department and the Tourist Board, not just with the university but with other bodies. We have heard about concepts such as pop-up hotels and using halls of residence for accommodation.

We are now, unfortunately, in a situation in which there is lots of empty office space and apartment blocks, but we are actively pursuing those options. Accommodation will be a big challenge, given the numbers that I outlined. If that continues to progress, it is not a bad thing. It is a good thing in one way, but obviously it presents us with a different challenge.

All those novel ideas are currently being pursued. If the Member or anyone else has other ideas about how we might add to those, the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and I look forward to hearing them.

Cathal Ó hOisín (Sinn Féin, East Londonderry)

Go raibh maith aghat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as na freagraí a thug sí dúinn inniu. I thank the Minister for her answers. She has told us that 1,000 athletes have already registered for the World Police and Fire Games. Is she confident that the required figure of some 12,000 to 15,000 will be registered in time for the start of the games?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I hope that that will be the case. The benchmarks that we have set thus far have been achieved, so that will be a sign of confidence, but I appreciate that it is early days.

We are in a good situation compared with the games that took place in New York last year. We have a smaller place here, but we have a lot more to offer. We also have a cultural package that will be wrapped around the games and will make them a far more attractive option. So far, we are on target, but we need to review things early next year. I hope to have further meetings with the World Police and Fire Games company to receive that assurance.

Mark Durkan (Social Democratic and Labour Party, Foyle)

I thank the Minister for her answers thus far. Will she ensure that her Department works closely with the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment to market us worldwide and maximise the potential of the 2013 games?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I can give the Member that assurance. We have a big year to look ahead to next year, and the World Police and Fire Games are a part of that. A range of promotional materials is being used to attract additional tourists here, but, as well as that, we will have the City of Culture in Derry and the World Police and Fire Games in Belfast. We are looking at events to include Féile an Phobail in west Belfast, "The Gathering", Ceol na hÉireann and all the other options that are already there. It is about how we join those up and give people a bit more choice and, certainly, better value for money.

Sports Clubs: East Belfast

Robin Newton (DUP, Belfast East)

7. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure which sports clubs in the East Belfast constituency have applied for funding from her Department in the past 12 months. (AQO 3035/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. Sport NI is responsible for the distribution of Exchequer funding to sport in the North, and it has advised me that no clubs in the East Belfast constituency have applied for funding in the past 12 months. Prior to that, between 2009 and 2011, Sport NI provided over £1·8 million of Exchequer and lottery funding to support sport and development in the East Belfast area. Furthermore, between 2009 and 2013, Sport NI has awarded Belfast City Council and Castlereagh Borough Council almost £3 million of lottery funding through the Active Communities programme to encourage greater participation in sport in areas including East Belfast.

Robin Newton (DUP, Belfast East)

I thank the Minister for her answers so far. I have to say that that answer will come as a great shock; that, indeed, in the past 12 months not one single penny of DCAL money has gone into the East Belfast constituency. It is a very large constituency with a large number of sports clubs actively pursuing their sports in the area. One can only question why that sudden drop-off has taken place over the past 12 months. What does the Minister intend to do to reactivate the level of funding?

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

I think you have got a question there.

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

Maybe the Member did not hear the beginning of the answer, so I will repeat it. No clubs in the East Belfast constituency have applied for funding in the past 12 months. I want it on record that I resent the implication that, in the past 12 months, because I am in the Department, there has been some sort of dip in sports provision in East Belfast. I would like the Member to clarify that position. I am happy to meet him and groups from East Belfast to hear about their sporting needs, but I will not tolerate people making inferences that groups did not receive funding. Groups did not apply for funding.

Michael Copeland (UUP, Belfast East)

Has the Minister taken any steps to meet officials from Glentoran Football Club in order to assess what assistance the Department may be able to offer due to the financial hardship they are facing?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I have not had any request to meet Glentoran Football Club. I am not initiating any meetings with Glentoran Football Club, because I firmly believe, in the first instance, that it is a matter for Glentoran and the IFA. However, I understand the position that the players are in, particularly in the mouth of Christmas. I assure the Member that I have not received any requests for meetings.

Arts and Culture: Child Protection

Michelle McIlveen (DUP, Strangford)

8. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what steps she is taking to extend the work of the child protection in sport unit to the arts and culture sectors. (AQO 3036/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for her question. The child protection in sport unit was established in 2011 between Sport NI and the NSPCC. It is recognised and accepted as the source of expert safeguarding advice and support by the sports sector.

Consistent and comprehensive standards have been established and agreed for safeguarding children in sport. The attainment of these standards is a funding requirement for all recognised sports governing bodies and affiliated clubs. A network of trained designated safeguarding children's officers has been established within governing bodies such as the IFA, rugby and the GAA. These officers help to ensure that core child protection requirements are applied consistently across sports and that safeguarding procedures are embedded and implemented into sport at grass-roots levels.

Michelle McIlveen (DUP, Strangford)

Given the high priority of child protection and the status it is being given currently, would the Minister agree that it would be useful to collate information centrally on safeguarding issues and child protection referrals relating to DCAL's areas of responsibility?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

Yes, I would agree. At the end of the day, the onus is not just on sport, it is on the whole DCAL family. I am keen to hear suggestions about anything that we can do to enhance the protection of children and vulnerable adults. That is the priority. There is no grey area here. I am more than willing to hear what the Member, or anyone else, can advise on anything that we can do to enhance that.

Ross Hussey (UUP, West Tyrone)

I thank the Minister for her answers so far. Does she accept that the Sandy Row Amateur Boxing Club performed the necessary requirements as regards Access Northern Ireland and that this has been verified by the NSPCC? Does she therefore agree that the moves by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) to disaffiliate the club are not valid?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I am not aware that the IABA disaffiliated Sandy Row boxing club; that is not the case. I cannot confirm any reports about child protection vetting at the Sandy Row boxing club. I would not even see those anyway. Sandy Row boxing club will receive funding based on its affiliation. Within that, there is a requirement around governance, and child protection is essential. Any reluctance to have that done would raise a lot of questions.

Creative Industries: NEETs

Seán Rogers (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Down)

9. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure how the creative industries sector, in particular television and film production, can help in reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training. (AQO 3037/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. The creative industries include areas such as music, designer fashion, craft, and television and film production. This vibrant sector harnesses our renowned creative and cultural strengths and enables individuals and companies to compete and succeed on the world stage, but we must ensure that our efforts to support the creative industries include providing opportunities for all. Young people not in education, employment or training are not bereft of creativity, talent or potential. The creative and cultural infrastructure programmes and organisations funded and supported by my Department provide opportunities to stimulate and nurture creative talent, self-belief and, hopefully, aspiration.

Seán Rogers (Social Democratic and Labour Party, South Down)

Thanks, Minister, for your response. Have you had discussions with the Department for Employment and Learning about how the creative industries fit into the success strategy?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I have not had any discussions with the Minister for Employment and Learning, but I understand officials are working together. When I spoke recently to some groups from creative industries, particularly those involved in television and film production and fashion and design, one of the things that they raised constantly was the need to perhaps amend the further and higher education curriculum to meet the needs of the sector. That is a decision that the Minister for Employment and Learning needs to take. I am happy to try to bring that forward, because we need to try to make it easy for children and young people who are not in training, education or employment to access this rather than to keep the impediments that are there.

Lough Neagh Working Group

Francie Molloy (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

10. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure what input her Department has had to the Lough Neagh working group. (AQO 3038/11-15)

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

I thank the Member for his question. I nominated a senior official at grade 5 level to represent my Department as a member of the Lough Neagh working group. There have been four meetings of the working group, all of which have been attended by a DCAL official. My officials have supplied information and briefings about DCAL's involvement in Lough Neagh, as required by the working group.

My officials were in direct contact with 14 organisations, with whom my Department has dealings, to take note of their opinions about the ownership of Lough Neagh. Their views and written comments have been collated with information gathered by other Departments and will be taken into account for the report that is due to be given to the Executive.

Francie Molloy (Sinn Féin, Mid Ulster)

Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister for her reply. This is a very important issue that we have been raising here for some time. What input can the public have to the working group? When are we likely to get the working group's final report?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

As the Member knows, this is being taken forward by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. However, if there are any concerns about delays in the report going forward, I can assure the Member that my officials will do everything that they can to ensure that written requests for information are forwarded to the working group. There will be no delay from my Department.

Samuel Gardiner (UUP, Upper Bann)

Will the Minister outline what impact the ongoing work of the Lough Neagh working group will have on the eel fishery?

Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin, Belfast North)

Unfortunately, time is running out. I am happy to write to the Member with a bit more detail. It is key that local people who fish and are guardians of those rivers and lakes, and this lough in particular, have expert information and know exactly what is needed. I am open to listening to them. My officials will listen to their plans for the way forward in eel fishing. Local people need to ensure that the lough provides them with a living.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

Members will take their ease for a minute or two.

John Dallat (Social Democratic and Labour Party, East Londonderry)

Patsy McGlone is not in his place to ask question 1.

Parliament Buildings: Irish-medium Schools

Declan McAleer (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

2. asked the Assembly Commission how many Irish-medium schools have visited Parliament Buildings in the current mandate. (AQO 3044/11-15)

Barry McElduff (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

I thank my colleague the Member for West Tyrone for asking how many Irish-medium schools have visited Parliament Buildings in the current mandate. Since May 2011, the Assembly Education Service has delivered the education programme to 10 groups of students from five Irish-medium schools, including Coláiste Feirste just yesterday.

The five schools that have visited are: Bunscoil Bheann Mhadagáin from north Belfast, which took part in an education programme in June; Coláiste Cois Life from Dublin, which took part in an education programme on 8 May; Coláiste Feirste from west Belfast took part in six education programmes, including one yesterday, as I said; Gaelcholáiste na Mara from Wicklow, which took part in an education programme in April; and Gaelscoil na Speiríní, which took part in an education programme in March.

Declan McAleer (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

I thank my colleague from West Tyrone for that comprehensive answer. Have the education officers received training in the Irish language?

Barry McElduff (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

Again, I thank Mr McAleer for his question. Go raibh maith agat as an cheist a chuir tú. One of the education officers in the team is studying for a qualification in the Irish language. Students from Irish-medium schools can receive a programme that is delivered mainly in Irish. Students from Irish-medium schools also get the opportunity to have a question-and-answer session with MLAs who are Irish speakers. The education team does its utmost to seek out the Gaelic speakers among the complement of MLAs.

Samuel Gardiner (UUP, Upper Bann)

How are schools advised by the Education Service about its programmes?

Barry McElduff (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

The Assembly Education Service provides programmes and resources to support young people in developing their understanding of the Assembly and to encourage their participation in the democratic process. All schools receive a letter and information about current programmes at the start of the academic year and are encouraged to take part, and our in-house and outreach programmes are well advertised on our website.

Ian McCrea (DUP, Mid Ulster)

Having heard Members opposite talk about how unwelcoming this place is to people from the Irish tradition, does the member of the Commission not welcome the fact that people from the Irish-medium sector feel comfortable coming to this Building?

Barry McElduff (Sinn Féin, West Tyrone)

I thank Mr McCrea for his question. Yes, obviously this is work in progress, and Irish-medium schools that visit Parliament Buildings at Stormont provide very positive feedback. That is down, not least, to the excellent service delivered by our Education Service, which I commend.

Youth Assembly

Chris Lyttle (Alliance, Belfast East)

3. asked the Assembly Commission for an update on the Youth Assembly. (AQO 3045/11-15)

Peter Weir (DUP, North Down)

I thank Mr Lyttle for his question. Initial proposals for the development of a youth assembly were presented to stakeholders in October 2009. Following consultation with stakeholders, a youth-led approach to developing proposals for a youth assembly was strongly advocated and endorsed by the Assembly Commission. As a result, a youth panel was recruited to develop the proposals for a youth assembly. The youth panel, which comprised 30 young people aged between 16 and 18, developed the proposals between March 2010 and February 2011, and subsequently presented draft proposals to the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister's junior Ministers and the Minister of Education in March 2011. The proposals were then presented to the Assembly Commission, which approved, in principle, the establishment of a youth assembly. A public consultation took place from May to September 2011. The consultation responses overwhelmingly supported the youth panel's proposal to establish a youth assembly.

In the intervening period since September 2011, the consultation responses have been considered, the youth panel has been given direction on some emerging issues and the resultant report has been drafted. Furthermore, a significant amount of work has been done in developing the recruitment plans for the youth assembly as part of the inclusion and cost considerations. As a result of those deliberations, a proposal is being drafted for the Assembly Commission with a recommendation for a two-year pilot youth assembly. However, it must be noted that the imperative to establish a robust and fitting youth assembly must be measured against the resources available to deliver such an enterprise, and it is expected that that will be central to the Commission’s decision for the future of the youth assembly.