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.
I thank the Member for his question; I will thank him. The Member asked why my officials are engaging with an applicant. That is not unusual. Officials will engage with applicants on planning applications if they require further information or clarification on any matter. As I said, it would be inappropriate for me to…
My officials continue to process this application, and, as the Minister with responsibility for this planning decision, I will fully consider the recommendation that comes from my officials before taking any decision in the public interest. I am aware of the number of responses to this planning application, as well as…
I do not favour using consultants, except when necessary. It is to deal with the backlog. While we work our way through the backlog, I can continue to recruit staff into my team.
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the Members who tabled the motion and the Members who have spoken on it. I am conscious of the private Member's Bill to be introduced by Deborah Erskine on the subject. My officials are gathering information to inform her proposal, and I look forward to working with Deborah as…
Any site that is not adopted is unadopted for one reason only: the developer has not carried out their duty to bring the site up to an adoptable standard. It is not a case of DFI turning around and saying, "We do not want it". I know that the nature of the game that we are involved in is to have a go at the Department…
Yes, and we have seen significant growth in the installation of charging points by the private and commercial sector. Now that the private and commercial sector has been given the confidence that we are moving towards zero-emission vehicles and that we are part of that mandate, they will have the confidence to invest…
We passed important legislation in the House last week to allow an amendment Order to go through Westminster early in the new year in relation to zero-emission vehicles and setting quotas for new sales of those vehicles. Zero-emission vehicles are crucial to the plan to tackle climate change and decarbonise the…
My Department is working with the local council and others to support those, in some instances, fledgling resilience groups to ensure that they have the information required. The information will be shared in the usual manner, whether it is through text or email alert, but full information will be given to those…
The Member will be aware of the review that was carried out in relation to the flooding in that area and the lessons to be learned from the responses of agencies to the flooding and how we react in the future. One of the most immediate actions that we can take is to continue to develop how we support the local…
Without a doubt. While I understand the frustration of commuters and, indeed, businesses about the disruption, which is significant, the outworkings and completion of the work will also be significant and ground-changing for Belfast and will see Belfast have a state-of-the-art transport hub with fantastic public realm…
To alleviate some of the disruption and to support the taxi industry, I am bringing forward proposals that will permit class A and class C taxis to use certain bus lanes in the vicinity of the works. The Member will be aware that the taxi industry provides an important service in our community, ensuring that people,…
I assure the Member that that is the case. Back as far as May or April, we notified Assembly Members that there would be significant disruption in Belfast city centre, and we have also undertaken to keep that under review. Where lessons can be learned as the work is ongoing and where we can alleviate traffic…
I am sorry that I cannot confirm to the Member whether that is a permanent closure, but I will get him that information. The plan is to get as much of the public realm works around the Grand Central station as possible completed as quickly as possible so that, at the end of the work, there will be no further traffic…
As I said to a Member in my answer to a previous question, if the Member chooses to write to my private office, I will take the invite under consideration.
I am not aware of that specific area, though I am tempted to say that it is interesting to hear that there are traffic jams outside Belfast. With new developments, the local division responds to planning applications on the basis of whether the road network can or cannot take additional commuter traffic as a result of…
NI Water undertakes the work that the Member calls for, and it can provide that information. I will ask for that information to be provided to the Member. When it comes to a strategy on how we will deliver that, over half a billion pounds of public funds are being given to NI Water this year. That will be invested…
It is an impediment in all constituencies, but there are towns and villages within constituencies that may be impacted on to a greater or lesser degree. It is important to send out this message: we are open for business. I encourage developers to engage at as early a stage as possible with NI Water, which has set up a…
I will avoid giving into the rhythm of the dance move. The British Government should immediately lift their embargo on those deals. It is causing uncertainty. As the Member will know, any uncertainty is bad for business, bad for investment and bad for councils and the Executive in planning the way forward.
The Enniskillen bypass is proceeding. That, it has to be said, is due to the commitment of the Executive to it, even though it is part of the Mid South West region growth deal from which the British Government withdrew. I assure the Member that the Executive have committed to it and that it is going ahead.
As I said, we are reviewing parking as part of the transport plans. If the terms of reference do not cover the Member's concerns, we may need to do a separate review of Lisburn on its own. I have no doubt that some of my Newry colleagues will ask, "Well, what about Newry?", but let us see whether what we currently…
A controlled parking zone was introduced in Lisburn in 2008 following an approach from the council to review the on-street car parking arrangements in the city. Controlled parking zones aim to manage demand in an appropriate way, deterring all-day parking and facilitating improved customer access to businesses by…
One of the reasons why we set up the working group and tasked officials was to interrogate questions such as that. On the face of it, you would imagine that there are opportunities to use community transport and achieve savings. Investment in community transport is investment in the local community. We want officials…
The computer cannot keep up with you. On 9 September 2024, I met Minister Nesbitt and Minister Muir to discuss the cross-departmental working group on community transport, which I established during my previous tenure as Minister. We collectively agreed that the group will consider whether transport in the community…