Results 1-20 of 127 for speaker:Jonathan Craig

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

Jonathan Craig: The Minister said: “The concept of area learning communities has been widely embraced”. Does the Minister not also recognise that there is an overprovision of sixth-form education in some areas and that the area learning community concept will not deal with that core issue? Has the Minister looked at area learning plan concepts that have taken place in England? Unfortunately, most...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Planning Policy Statement 7:  Draft Addendum (9 Nov 2009)

Jonathan Craig: To labour that point a bit, I noted that the Minister said that the size of a home is a key factor in determining who can live in it and how the policy statement will be used. I have noticed that one of the biggest changes in character, which was discussed earlier, is that many settled family homes are converted into multiple-apartment buildings where families do not tend to dwell. That has a...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Employment And Learning: Further Education: Engineering (2 Nov 2009)

Jonathan Craig: I thank the Minister for his reply. I spent 15 years in polymer engineering, and I know that it is an important area for the future of the aircraft industry, which we are proud to have in Northern Ireland. Biochemistry is another field of engineering in which we can continue to compete in the world market; we can compete against low-cost manufacturing economies. Does the Minister agree that...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Employment And Learning: Further Education: Engineering (2 Nov 2009)

Jonathan Craig: 3. I apologise for getting in between all those Strangford people. Question 3, Mr Speaker. The Question was as follows: To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning whether he can provide an assurance that technical colleges will prioritise and support the training of potential employees in high-tech engineering, such as polymer and biochemical engineering.    (AQO 291/10)

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Town Centre Regeneration (2 Nov 2009)

Jonathan Craig: Some of the remarks about Belfast and Londonderry have been interesting. The Committee began its inquiry into town centre regeneration on 11 October 2007. There were specific reasons for ensuring that the inquiry did not cover Belfast and Londonderry. Indeed, there was a belief that the two cities received the bulk of all funding for regeneration. The Committee set about its work and...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Local Government Reform Programme (20 Oct 2009)

Jonathan Craig: I also welcome the Minister’s statement, and I declare an interest not only as a member of Lisburn City Council but as the chairman of the Castlereagh/Lisburn transition committee. Will the Minister outline the timetable for the drawing up of legislation for a legislative transition committee? Furthermore, does the Minister have any plans to legislate for a transition committee for...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Finance and Personnel: Civil Service Equal Pay Claim (6 Oct 2009)

Jonathan Craig: I will ask the million dollar question to which all civil servants want an answer. If a settlement were reached, how quickly would civil servants receive a payout?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Social Housing (6 Oct 2009)

Jonathan Craig: I have a feeling of déjà vu when we come to this subject; we seem to debate it time and time again. The simple truth is that the Finance Department cannot issue blank cheques. Although I support the motion — I would love to see more social housing built in Northern Ireland — I share Finance Committee members’ concerns that it makes no provision for finance and that...

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

Jonathan Craig: For my sins, I have been asked to speak about private finance initiatives (PFI). The Public Accounts Committee has looked at a number of PFIs in the past year. One of the first PFI contracts that the Committee looked at was the upgrade of MOT centres to the tune of £57 million. The contract was to provide installation and maintenance of new MOT testing equipment. For whatever reason,...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Enterprise, Trade And Investment: Signature Projects (29 Sep 2009)

Jonathan Craig: Will the Minister outline what she proposes to do with regard to the production of a new tourism strategy for Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Culture, Arts and Leisure: 2012 Olympic Games (22 Sep 2009)

Jonathan Craig: Will the Minister outline what financial assistance will be available to facilities such as the Salto National Gymnastics Centre in Lagan Valley? That centre has succeeded already in attracting international gymnastics teams to Northern Ireland, and staff there would be very keen to support the 2012 Olympics programme.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Report on the Northern Ireland Assembly Code of Conduct and the Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members (23 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: That was a very timely intervention. I support the report. I commend the staff, and especially the Committee Chairperson, for their hard work. It has been a long drawn-out affair. I do not know how I ended up sitting on the Committee on Standards and Privileges, but I was parachuted in approximately one year ago, and the report was well under way then. The project has been ongoing for some...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Report on the Northern Ireland Assembly Code of Conduct and the Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members (23 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: That is where the confusion arises. When issues around those matters have arisen, as they have done several times, the Committee has always given people their place. The Committee has written to the Assembly Commission several times. It has also written to the Speaker about internal issues on a number of occasions. However, we are not here to debate those issues; we are here to debate the new...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Report on the Northern Ireland Assembly Code of Conduct and the Guide to the Rules Relating to the Conduct of Members (23 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: There is a very clear mechanism. It is a complex and costly mechanism, but it was agreed in the same agreement that brought this body into being. It is important to get back to the subject that we are debating, namely our remit and the new code of conduct that is being introduced. All Members have signed up to and agreed the code of conduct relating to Members’ behaviour outside the...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Housing Budget (9 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: I thank the Member for giving way, because, unlike other Members, I do give way. Does the Member not agree that it is inappropriate to cut the entire maintenance budget in order to create new housing? It puts 750 jobs in the construction industry at risk. That is an unacceptable way to manage a budget. We cannot keep building new roofs over our heads and allow existing housing to fall into...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Housing Budget (9 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: The debate centres on the £100 million shortfall in the housing budget. It is one of those stories that asks whether there is ever enough money in any budget. Even on a personal level, does anyone ever have enough money to spend on what he or she wants? The answer is always no. The same is true of DSD. There will never, ever be enough money to spend on public housing. There will never be...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Housing Budget (9 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: Any Member can put his or her own spin on the matter, but there are facts. The reality check for DSD, as there is for every other Department, is that budget allocations are flexible. Certain people in the Chamber have criticised the whole Executive’s inflexible approach to the Budget and their reluctance to change it to adapt to circumstances. Changes have been made to that Budget. The...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Housing Budget (9 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: I concur with the Member, and I will address those issues in a moment. The Minister was taken into a pensioner’s bungalow, where she was shown a kitchen ceiling that had collapsed several months previously. However, the Housing Executive refuses to repair the ceiling because it does not have sufficient funds. It is waiting for a scheme, which was cut this year, to be implemented....

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Housing Budget (9 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: When Ministers make choices, they must realise that there is no wonderful pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If Departments want another £100 million, from whose budget will it be stripped?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Finance And Personnel: Energy Performance Certificates (1 Jun 2009)

Jonathan Craig: 2. asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to provide an update on energy performance certificates.         ;    (AQO 2872/09)