Part of Question for Urgent Oral Answer — Infrastructure – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:30 pm on 16 September 2024.
Deborah Erskine
DUP
3:30,
16 September 2024
I thank the Minister for coming to the House today. We know that the system needs to be significantly upgraded and that we have more pollution incidents per kilometre of pipework in Northern Ireland. As the Minister said, the prioritisation of clean drinking water is important. Capacity in our system is also an issue. Will the Minister tell us, in light of the Programme for Government, what detailed discussions have been taking place about the investment strategy on our waste water treatment and the timelines for that to come to fruition?
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.
