Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Communities – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 2:15 pm on 16 September 2024.
Robbie Butler
UUP
2:15,
16 September 2024
I thank the Minister for his answer, which was given with brevity. Two hundred and forty nine thousand is an incredible number; it is almost a quarter of a million. Will the Minister detail the concerns that he has raised about the disproportionate effect that it will have on pensioners in Northern Ireland, given that it is a disproportionate number? Will his Department introduce a support scheme, such as the previous emergency fuel payment scheme, to assist householders who are in need?
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
