All of Mr John O'Dowd’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
Land and Property Services (LPS) has robust processes and procedures in place for the collection and recovery of rates and is committed to collecting all unpaid rates and takes proactive steps to do so. They include ongoing billing; notifications, emails and text messages; direct contact with ratepayers via telephone…
Not only has he done his homework but he has been reading the dictionary. I have heard no one around the Executive table or, indeed, beyond it claim that patients should be kept in anything other than first-class, first-rate conditions in our health service. Despite the best efforts of our health workers and teams,…
Criminal mismanagement. If the Member has any evidence of criminal mismanagement, he should bring it forward. It sounds to me like a very serious accusation for the leader of the Opposition to make. If the leader of the Opposition has any evidence to back that up, the leader of the Opposition should come forward with…
Thank you for the opportunity to update Members on the 2025-26 December monitoring round, which was agreed by the Executive earlier today. Reaching that decision as soon as possible following the autumn Budget was essential to provide Departments with the certainty that they need to plan and deliver. That was…
Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank again all the Members of the House who have contributed to the heartfelt debates on the matter, who have corresponded with my office about the Bill or who have otherwise engaged meaningfully in helping to push this important Bill forward. I again record my thanks for the…
I beg to move Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. I am pleased that we have reached the Final Stage of the Deaths, Still-Births and Baby Loss Bill. I am grateful to Members for the support that they have shown for the Bill to date and, in particular, for the positive comments from all sides in respect of the proposed baby…
The Chancellor's Budget was last week, and the Executive have not met since then. I will bring a multi-year Budget once I have had the full opportunity to analyse the implications of the Budget and all the returns thus far from my Executive colleagues. I will bring that Budget to my Executive colleagues before the…
The Member seems to have changed his tone since last Wednesday and Thursday. I listened to him and other SDLP representatives who were out on the airwaves welcoming the Budget and challenging the Executive, saying that everything and anything was the Executive's fault. It is good to hear, now that, over the weekend,…
Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Thank you for the opportunity to update Members on the implications of last week's autumn Budget for our public finances and our society. I have been clear, inside and outside the House, that delivering quality public services and creating conditions for economic growth are key…
The Education Minister delivers the childcare policy on behalf of the Executive. The Executive have, from almost a standstill start on that and other areas of child support, invested £55 million in the past financial year. I will make proposals to the Executive about increasing that over the next three-year budgetary…
I have made representations in writing and verbally to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on that for the very reasons that the Member outlined. It is important that we support hard-working families with the cost of childcare. That is a way in which the Treasury can assist. As the Member will know, the Executive have…
Yes. The requirement for a change in legislation or the introduction of legislation in that area is driven by that need. There is a feeling, which is coming through in some of the initial evidence reports that were done on the matter, that property owners in shared accommodation are at a disadvantage. They certainly…
Given that we are at the start of that process, I do not think that we will be able to change legislation in this mandate. However, I hope that we will leave the groundwork and a lot of preparatory work available for the next mandate so that legislation can move quite quickly.
We have progressed changes to the policy to try to make it simpler and easier for the community sector to access unused property that it believes can be brought back into community use for the benefit of the community. I continue to engage with elements of the community that raise questions with me and enquire about…
It is vital. It is estimated that the Executive and their agencies own land that is comparable in size to County Armagh. We have to use a lot of that land and property for the delivery of required services, and it is used regularly. However, in that portfolio is land and property that, in my opinion, we should dispose…
The Member know my views on inheritance tax. It is an unfair taxation policy, particularly here. I do not want to interfere in individual cases, but I want to be assured that the policy and legislation are being adhered to fairly. As I have said, I deal with a number of Members' correspondence cases, some of which…
It is important that LPS remain independent in the matter and that there be no ministerial interference in setting land valuations. LPS plays an independent role. It engages with agents appointed by landowners. Understandably, there will be a negotiation in such scenarios to reach agreement on the price of land. There…
I am not aware of any bonus scheme for senior civil servants. I think that it came to an end a number of years ago. It is easy to take potshots at the Civil Service. It does make mistakes. There are errors made and lessons to be learned. Learning, skill sets and all those sorts of things need to be reviewed. At the…
There are a number of reports to be studied, the latest of which is the inquiry report. Its recommendations deserve to be studied closely, and I will play my part in responding to any recommendations that relate to the role of the Civil Service. There are lessons for us all to learn from the COVID experience, and I am…
If allocating half a billion pounds, connecting 5,000 properties to waste water treatment works and the Infrastructure Minister engaging in a legislative process on developer contributions amounts to doing nothing, I do not know what world the leader of the Opposition is living in. Again, if there is a suggestion in…
The Member will be acutely aware that NI Water receives around half a billion pounds annually in public funds. That is stage 1 of the plan. Stage 2 is that we have seen significant additional investment in NI Water as a result of a strategic use of monitoring rounds. We have connected over 5,000 homes to waste water…
The Member is aware of my position on fiscal powers. I outlined it again this afternoon during a debate on the Budget. That is on record. The Executive's ability to continue to mitigate the impacts of decisions by the British Government is very restricted. It will obviously be a decision for the Executive when I bring…