All of Ms Liz Kimmins’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
Nothing surprises me any more in the Chamber. I do not know how many times I have to outline what my approach has been. You obviously do not think that it is working. It is important to identify that this is a resource budget, not capital, so that is what the investigation was looking at; that is where the overspend…
When I first gave a statement to the Assembly to make Members aware that I was taking those steps, I made it clear that they were a consequence of that instruction to overspend. Members will be aware that, if the Executive were to overspend their Budget, there would be serious consequences, which are outlined by the…
I do not know how many times I have to outline the work that I am doing. We have repeatedly pointed to the approach that the Department has taken to the developer contributions consultation, the sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) Bill and our work with Executive colleagues. This piece of work has helped us to look at…
Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle, and I thank you for the opportunity to address the Assembly. This statement will update the Assembly on the outcome of the forensic accountant's investigation into the reasons why NI Water was unable to live within its resource budget allocation in the 2024-25 financial year.…
I thank the Member for the question. In the main, the Fiscal Council report considers how that funding gap can be closed. It is important to put it into perspective. We are talking about a difference of £55 million between the indicative amount that my Department is allocating for capital funding to NI Water, which is…
Thank you. The average household rate in the North for 2024-25 was £1,180 per annum, so, if we applied the notional figure of £595 on top of that, the starting point would be an average annual bill of almost £1,800 for households. Again, it would be unfair to add that extra financial burden to households. It is…
Yes, that is a pertinent point. I saw the report from the Consumer Council. It reported that food costs account for almost a quarter of households' basic spending, with almost half of young adults surveyed fearing that their food would run out before they had the money to buy more. Again, I think — Sorry, Mr Speaker,…
I thank the Member for his question. I agree that the report from the Fiscal Council is welcome. It confirms what my predecessor and I have said consistently, which is that alternative funding models for NI Water would lead only to the introduction of water charges for householders. For the avoidance of doubt, let me…
OK. I am not sure where to start with that, but I will say that the land is part-owned by the Department; the Department does not own all of it. When billboards have been erected in the past, the Department has made contact with those who erected them. I am happy to take further questions on that. If you want to write…
I wonder whether the Member has moved constituencies and is now representing Newry and Armagh. I have received numerous questions about the billboard. It is a planning matter, so I ask the Member to speak to the local council about it.
As I have said before and in response to questions for written answer, due to our budget, we have a more limited service for all the Department's operational duties. That is continually under review, and I continually ask for additional funding to support the Department's work. It is fair to say that I am not…
I do not know the specific parts of North Down that you are talking about. Last week, I met councillors from Ards and North Down Borough Council to discuss road conditions, and they raised a number of issues. We had a positive discussion about how we can work together to ensure that we address those issues, as is the…
Absolutely. I would not have made the announcement had I felt that we could not do that. As I said when I made the original statement a number of months ago, what was important for me was that, while we were unable to commit to the full project at that stage due to budgetary constraints, I wanted to ensure that we did…
Just give me a second. I have lost my train of thought. As the Member will know, I made an announcement earlier in the year. At this stage, we are engaging with stakeholders and starting the process. I recently met some stakeholders from the Ormeau Road end, as well as Retail NI. We are looking at the next stage and…
As I said, I want to see a solution. We need to act in immediacy, but it is important that we do so very thoroughly. Today's ruling is a detailed decision, the implications of which we do not know at this stage, because we received the judgement less than three hours ago. It would be remiss of me to start saying that…
As I said in my previous response, today is a hugely disappointing day; in fact, it is heartbreaking, particularly for all who have campaigned very strongly and for all the families who have put so much time and effort into doing so, despite dealing with their own grief and loss. They believe that the A5 upgrade is…
First, I will say that this has been a very disappointing day. My first thoughts are with all of the families who have lost a loved one and those who have been injured as a result of road traffic collisions along the A5. It is not a day for point-scoring or anything like that; it is a day to look at what needs to be…
As I said, I am deeply concerned about the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Sadly, younger drivers, particularly young male drivers, are significantly over-represented in road traffic collision statistics. The aim of graduated driver licensing is to reduce the over-representation of new, mainly…
As I said earlier, road safety is a major priority for me as Minister. I am committed to considering any initiatives that will improve road safety for everyone. I recently announced an extensive package of road safety measures aimed at safeguarding schoolchildren travelling to and from school, as I mentioned earlier,…
I offer my best wishes to those residents. Nobody likes to be in that situation, whether it be a security incident or whatever it may be. I cannot imagine how stressful and anxious a time that must be, especially if it has happened on a number of occasions to those residents. As I said, that second access must be…
The numbers and types of access for developments are assessed on a site-specific basis as part of the planning process, taking into account site constraints and transportation assessment modelling. The Creating Places supplementary planning guidance is used in the design of all proposals for residential development…
Yes, absolutely. The more we utilise nature-based solutions, the more sustainable it is. As I mentioned, I have introduced the Bill. It is an exciting time, because it shows innovation. So much work has gone into the Bill, and, from speaking to developers and representatives of the construction industry, I know that…
I have secured £15 million over the next four years from the public-sector transformation fund to develop and deliver a pilot project that will use nature-based solutions to help transform our urban drainage systems. The aim is to provide a range of nature-based drainage and flood management solutions to demonstrate…
I agree. That is the point that I am making. None of us underestimates the fact that it is a really live and significant problem. If I had all the money to do the work, we would not be having this conversation, but the reality is that we do not. Difficult decisions have to be made every day on the budget. That does…