Results 1-20 of 501 for speaker:John O'Dowd

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Lurgan Area: Improvement Scheme for 19 Rural Cottages (17 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I have in my hand the oldest active file in my constituency office. I emphasise that because this is not a debate to get at Margaret Ritchie or the SDLP.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Lurgan Area: Improvement Scheme for 19 Rural Cottages (17 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I know. It depends how the debate goes. I have been working on this constituency issue since the summer of 2000. It started in the same way as many constituency cases. An elderly gentleman called to my constituency office one day and spoke to me about his home. I hopped in the car and we went to look at his house. As we approached the cottage, I wondered why the gentleman had a difficulty,...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Adjournment: Lurgan Area: Improvement Scheme for 19 Rural Cottages (17 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Dolores Kelly is the obvious exception to that rule. [Laughter.] The houses continued in disrepair. I was repeatedly informed between 2005 and 2007 that work would not go ahead. Eventually, we got the good news that £498,000 had been secured for a scheme on the properties. To emphasise the poor condition of the houses in 2003, I will read from a Housing Executive letter of that year:...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. A common theme is running through the majority of contributions thus far, and that is that we need to support and enhance our rural schools network. Some of the contributors to the debate may have slightly different points of view as to how we go about that, but, if we can agree on the broad theme, that is a good start. The sustainable schools...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I certainly agree with that. It is a circle of life in that sense; one cannot exist without the other. The only reason that a school will close is if its enrolments fall. One way or another, parents make that decision. The location of the school may no longer suit their needs, and they may move out of the area because of a lack of jobs, investment and community infrastructure. Parents who...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Together Towards Entitlement (16 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Further to that point of order, will you rule as to whether it was a point of order according to the Speaker’s previous rulings? Clearly, that point of order does not fall into that category. Was it a point of order? Is there some guidance for Members?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Together Towards Entitlement (16 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Does the Minister agree that the questions from the opposite Benches clearly show that, despite those Members’ claims that they recognise that both the maintained and controlled post-primary sectors offer, and can offer, an enhanced role in our education system, they have concentrated once again on academic selection? If academic selection is...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Together Towards Entitlement (16 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: The question is coming. Does the Minister agree that if academic selection were removed from the education vocabulary of the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP, they would have no education policy?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I suspect that the Member knows the answer to that question, because any politician who asks a question that he does not know the answer to —

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: We certainly agree. I assume that my party leader was referring to May 2008, which has now passed, when he made those comments. I support the Bill and oppose the amendments for the reasons that I have given. As the days tick by, there is no point in debating the legislative process in the Chamber; we must now enact legislation to appoint a justice Minister and a justice Committee and start...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. It has been a lengthy debate on policing and justice, and perhaps rightly so, but I suspect that the SDLP contributions have relied on quantity rather than quality. SDLP Member’s contributions can be condensed down; they have probably lasted around two and a half hours so far. Despite that party’s valiant attempts at the end of each...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: Is that right?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I am sure that the Deputy Speaker will allow me some latitude as I deviate from the Bill to explain where the SDLP stood on that matter. Does the SDLP honestly believe that negotiations never stop? In any forum of politics, does the SDLP really believe that the public void is really the void? Of course negotiations were going on. They may not have been intense or pointed, but they were going...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: It says: “Can you advise John to sit down?” [Laughter.] The SDLP tells us that, although we will not reach that agreement in 30 months, under its proposals, we will reach it within 14 days. Later, in the second part of the debate, we will discuss amendment No 6, which asks for 7 December 2009 to be inserted into the Bill as devolution day. Therefore, the SDLP tells us that, by 21...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I am glad that Mr Hamilton pointed that out, because that makes it even more stark; there is even less time to reach agreement. We will not reach agreement within 30 months; however, we will do it within a couple of weeks. That is the logic of the SDLP’s argument. Despite the two-and-a-half-hour-long contributions that have been made by the amendments’ sponsors, I have not heard...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I am more than happy to correct Mr Durkan on that point. Sinn Féin has said that the deal is required to be done before Christmas. There is no reason why a deal on the transfer of policing and justice cannot be completed before Christmas. In legislative and practical terms, that does not mean the establishment of a policing and justice Department before December. However, an agreement on...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: The Member is indicating that the legislation, as it is currently penned, is not competent. His argument is that the legislation could create the scenario of having a Minister but no Department. Surely, as the report went through the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, the Assembly and Westminster and is now back in the Assembly, some of the highly qualified individuals in all those...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for the Assembly to debate or discuss legislation that is not competent?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: The Member says that nobody believes Sinn Féin. I think that you will find that the vast majority of the nationalist, republican electorate believe Sinn Féin. Let us not have such sweeping comments. In relation to a number of points that you are making, I have sat through several hours —

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Consideration Stage (10 Nov 2009)

John O'Dowd: I was following the example set by the First Minister earlier, but I will take my lead from the Deputy Speaker.