Debate contribution: Administrative and Financial Provisions Bill: Second Stage

Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on 1 July 2025.

MLA

Mr John O'Dowd

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

1 July 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Administrative and Financial Provisions Bill: Second Stage

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5061893

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, and I thank colleagues for their comments, views and questions on the Bill that is before us today. I will try to cover as many of those as possible in my closing remarks. It is quite a wide-ranging Bill in the sense that it covers a lot of Departments and issues. It basically tidies up several matters that have accumulated over this last number of years and puts things on a proper statutory footing to enable them to proceed in a transparent and open way, allowing the Assembly and others to scrutinise properly Departments' budgets. Only three elements of the Bill relate directly to my Department: the investment fund and FTC; the auditor; and the increase from 2% to 4% for excesses out of the Consolidated Fund. I note the Committee Chair's comments that the Committee has already been in correspondence with other Committees asking them to ensure — I am sure that they will — that they scrutinise the various elements of the Bill that relate to them and that they express their views on those. A number of the questions that were raised today will also have to be raised directly at Committee, and no doubt they will be. It is strange, the things that you remember from this place. I remember a quite, at times, heated debate in the Chamber between Conor Murphy, a predecessor of mine, and Jim Allister about the black box. Things have dramatically improved since then, but this Bill will further improve them. Other anomalies may build up over time as we move through the budgetary processes, so we always have to come back to this sort of Bill. However, we are making a go of it here. In terms —.

Yes.

It is really for Members to decide what amendments they, the Committee or a Committee may wish to table. I will establish a view on that when I see the details of whatever implications it has. The Bill now sets the pathway and course for proper accountability on budgets. Some of the issues in the Bill highlight the important work that goes on in Departments. A number of Members mentioned that. For example, ending violence against women and girls is important work. The shocking statistic is that 27 women have lost their life in these past number of years. The importance of work on that strategy is clear. We must do everything that we can to support TEO in the delivery of that strategy, making it a reality, seeing its outworkings and positive results and making a significant change in attitudes in society to that dreadful issue. Other issues include how the Department for the Economy will use loans, Tourism NI, councillors' allowances and SmartPasses etc. I have no doubt that those issues will be engaged on at Committee level. I caution Members against taking a populist view of any of the measures that raise revenue. As someone who is heading rapidly towards the age of 60, I am not in poverty, yet and all I will be handed a free bus pass. Think about it.

Yes.

Quite rightly, we have to protect those in society who require protection, but I do not need protection in that sense. Think about it from both sides of the debate. I have no doubt that Members and their party colleagues will debate those issues at length in Committee. Others Members welcomed the pipeline of legislation being opened. Mr O'Toole made his views on that known, and the opposition to the Opposition, Gerry Carroll, made his views known on that response. If any Member has not been in the Assembly when we have been working our way through reams of legislation, I advise you to buckle up. You are in for an interesting ride over the next year and a half, with long days and long nights in this place scrutinising legislation. You will be surprised at how quickly it can take over your life. Gerry referred — it was only a passing remark, not a definitive statement — to how this may be seen as routine legislation: there is no such thing as routine legislation, and I am sure that Members will carry out their duties diligently when scrutinising this and other legislation. Some other comments were made. I reassure Gerry that, when it comes to the integration of and support for newcomers in our society, there has not been a change of policy in legislation. It is merely about placing a statutory framework around how that money is spent. I welcome the continued support offered by TEO and have no doubt that it would like to offer more and do things differently, but it is a joint office, and the legislation that we are examining today does not change the mandate or role; it merely gives legislative cover for the spend.

I will, yes.

I do not think that it is anybody's intention to place barriers in front of anyone. I am putting to you the reality of some people's lives. We need to use our limited resources to make the best impact and have the best effect and give support to people who require it most. I would argue that an MLA who is heading into his 60s does not require it. Others may have a different view. I have covered most of the points, but I will touch on fraud. A number of Members mentioned the Department for Communities. Diane Forsythe gave a history of the changes to the appointment of auditors and outlined the history of that through the Audit Committee. That Committee has been asked by the Finance Committee to scrutinise clause 20 and report on it. She also raised the issue of tenancy fraud, and, again, there is a recommendation from the Audit Office in that regard. It is about making the best use of the provisions on audit when tenancy fraud takes place, including how to best investigate it and who is best placed to investigate it. There are other elements related to overcharging or tenants not receiving proper services from contractors etc. I am not an expert on those matters, but I suspect that there is provision in the Housing Executive for those matters to be investigated. Those matters can be raised through the Department for Communities. I have, hopefully, responded to the broad outline of Members' comments, and I recommend that the Assembly pass the Bill at Second Stage.

1,076 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification