Part of Question for Urgent Oral Answer — Infrastructure – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 3:45 pm on 16 September 2024.
Matthew O'Toole
Social Democratic and Labour Party
3:45,
16 September 2024
Minister, I welcome your clarity on the safety of the drinking water and your commitment to the Lough Neagh action plan, but there is, with the greatest respect to the Minister involved, a lot of inaction in the action plan. There is not a huge amount of clear legislative or financial commitment. You said that there was independent assurance about the water, but the truth is that we do not have independent assurance, because we do not have an environmental protection agency. Will you join the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister to do all that you can to ensure that that one deliverable thing is included in an updated Programme for Government?
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.
