Results 1-20 of 498 for speaker:Jim Wells

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Obesity (16 Nov 2009)

Jim Wells: Before the Minister moves away from the subject of bariatric services, I note that there is a school of thought that says that a sufficient number of people from Northern Ireland are having such treatment to warrant consideration of locating a clinic dedicated to such services at one of the acute hospitals in the Province. We send 120 patients across the water each year at a cost of...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Obesity (16 Nov 2009)

Jim Wells: I must emphasise that there is absolutely no link between obesity and type 1 diabetes. However, the percentage link between obesity and type 2 diabetes is as high as 80% or 85% and that is clearly the issue. No health choices can influence whether someone develops type 1 diabetes.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Obesity (16 Nov 2009)

Jim Wells: I beg to move That this Assembly approves the report of the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety on its inquiry into obesity; and calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, in liaison with Executive colleagues and relevant bodies, to bring forward a timetable for implementing the recommendations contained in the report. Obesity is a major global...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Obesity (16 Nov 2009)

Jim Wells: Much work is being done by schools, but we are still left with the worrying situation of 22% of children being overweight. In 2012, the London Olympics will be held. We are told that that will be a shining example of how to encourage fitness among young people and encourage a reduced intake of salts, sugar and fats. Yet who are the three main sponsors of the London Olympics? They are...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Child Abuse: Ryan Report (2 Nov 2009)

Jim Wells: This is an emotive and difficult issue. I will speak briefly. Although Mr Newton, who is a junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, will respond to the debate, he will do so on behalf of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. That fact emerged only this morning. The Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety, of which I...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Assisted Suicide (12 Oct 2009)

Jim Wells: Will the Member agree that David Steel, who introduced the Act in 1967, said that it was intended only to clarify the confusing and difficult cases? He managed to clarify the 2% of difficult cases by introducing an Act that led to the deaths of seven million unborn children. Can the Member see the same danger with potential legislation on assisted suicide?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Assisted Suicide (12 Oct 2009)

Jim Wells: It is seldom that the Assembly deals with such a serious issue. I will not be my normal, chatty self in this particular debate because it is such a serious matter. Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending an event that was organised by Life After Loss at Belfast Castle, which was supported by more than 1,000 people who had lost children through a miscarriage, stillbirth or death shortly...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Public Accounts Committee Reports (29 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: That progress is commendable, but can the Minister explain why there should be any inherent difference between absenteeism in the public sector and the private sector? Absence levels in the public sector are still 50% above what would be tolerated in a private company in Northern Ireland, yet the work is largely similar. The overall target has to be to reduce the public sector’s average...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Public Accounts Committee Reports (29 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: Will the Member give way?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Public Accounts Committee Reports (29 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: I cannot allow those scurrilous accusations against the badger community to go unanswered. The jury is still out on a link between badgers and bovine TB. Some scientists believe that there is a direct link, and others believe that they have proved that there is no link. There is also a view that attempted eradication simply causes badger communities to disperse, thereby spreading disease...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Public Accounts Committee Reports (29 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: The other day, someone asked me to describe the role of a Back-Bencher in controlling the Executive, and I said that trying to control the Executive is like standing jeering at a passing steamroller. To a large extent, that is how one feels about one’s role as an obscure Back-Bencher in this House. However, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is the one Committee that really seems to...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Question For Urgent  Oral Answer: Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (22 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: The fact that the Minister has failed to deny the claims that have been made by the unions this morning shows that they must contain some truth. It is quite clear that 150 beds will be removed from the system. As Mr McCarthy has, quite rightly, said, that has profound implications for the ability of both the Royal Group of Hospitals and the City Hospital to deliver. Part of the package that...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Health and Food Safety Sectoral Format (22 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: I thank the Minister for his statement. I note that the issue of swine flu did not feature in that meeting, although I suspect that that was because concern about swine flu was only starting to emerge at the time of the meeting. I note that the Minister intends to call a second sectoral meeting in the autumn of 2009. Can he assure us that the issue of swine flu will be discussed at that...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Swine Flu (15 Sep 2009)

Jim Wells: I thank the Minister for his statement, and I also thank his staff for the regular updates that Members of the House and members of the Committee have been receiving. As the Minister knows, the Chief Medical Officer and his assistant briefed the Committee on this issue. Indeed, during quite a long meeting, they also briefed the Deputy Chairperson and me. Openness and transparency throughout...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Impact of Economic Downturn on Businesses in Northern Ireland (23 Jun 2009)

Jim Wells: The Minister might be interested to hear that there was an Assembly question about how much each Committee had spent on travel. While other Committees had gone to Colorado and Singapore, the Chairman of the Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment was able to reply that, in two years, the total expenditure on travel for that Committee came to the grand sum of £200, which accounts...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Impact of Economic Downturn on Businesses in Northern Ireland (23 Jun 2009)

Jim Wells: It is appropriate at this stage to pay tribute to the outgoing Chairperson of the Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment. I have sat under the Mr Durkan’s chairmanship for a year and have found it very enjoyable. No doubt, he is grooming himself for a higher position. [Laughter.] At least he has the option of being the nominating officer for his party. All three DUP Committee...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Impact of Economic Downturn on Businesses in Northern Ireland (23 Jun 2009)

Jim Wells: Lenders cannot be allowed to take our money but then refuse to lend it back to strong folk who are guaranteed to repay.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Matters Of The Day: Kilkeel Plane Crash (15 Jun 2009)

Jim Wells: I thank the Member for South Down Ms Ritchie for tabling this matter, because it is important for the House to extend its condolences to the families of Andrew Burden, Stephen Annett and Hugh McKnight, who died as a result of Friday’s tragedy. All had a love of sport and were coming back from the TT races on the Isle of Man when the incident occurred. Hugh had been ferrying people back...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Short-Term Aid Scheme for Business (26 May 2009)

Jim Wells: I am sure that the House will join me in welcoming this innovation. I am delighted to see that Northern Ireland is trailblazing once again as far as the rest of the UK is concerned. That is very welcome. I wish to raise two issues with the Minister. We all hope that, by the end of December 2010, the recession will be a thing of the past and that companies will have come out of their current...

Northern Ireland Assembly: regional development: Infill Development (11 May 2009)

Jim Wells: Does the Minister share my profound disappointment that his definition of what constitutes brownfield development, as a result of the review of the regional development strategy, has had absolutely no impact on the amount of high-density development in Northern Ireland? His Executive colleague Mr Sammy Wilson has confirmed that not a single planning application has been turned down as a...