Mr Oliver Gibson: What arrangements are in place to allow the Housing Executive to determine whether safety standards are met in houses in multiple occupation? How often does the Housing Executive inspect premises to ensure that those standards are met and that the safety features are in place and working?
Mr Oliver Gibson: The younger generation has accepted IT as the new infrastructure for Northern Ireland. Does the Minister not consider the resources that he has announced today — and previously — inadequate to ensure sufficient provision to allow Northern Ireland to compete equally on the European scene?
Mr Oliver Gibson: Mr Speaker, what was the position of Committees after Members’ re-designation? What was their legal status, given that the proportional balances that were put in place were altered? Are any decisions that were made during that period legally acceptable?
Mr Oliver Gibson: While we are awaiting the decision on the location of the new hospital in the rural west, will the Minister give an assurance that there will be no diminution of services in either the Tyrone County Hospital or the Erne Hospital? People in Tyrone County Hospital are fearful — and this has already been put to the Minister by a delegation — that someone is already implementing a report that...
Mr Oliver Gibson: 7. asked the Minister for Regional Development to give his assessment of how the recently announced draft Budget proposals will help to improve the road network of West Tyrone. (AQO 213/01)
Mr Oliver Gibson: Is there sufficient finance available in the draft Budget proposals to complete the bypass of Omagh, which is a much more significant town than Dungannon, Magherafelt or Cookstown?
Mr Oliver Gibson: "There’s Cavanamara and dark Derrymeen, There’s Carrickatane and Munderrydoe, With Strawletterdallan and Cavankilgreen All dancing a jig with Cregganconroe." There are three essential reasons why townlands should be retained. First, there is a legal reason. Most of us live in or own property that is identified by its county, its barony and its townland. Legally, we should retain a...
Mr Oliver Gibson: When the proposed rural recovery programme strategy is published, will there be a consultation period so that people will have the opportunity to make suggestions, amendments and improvements?
Mr Oliver Gibson: When the proposed rural recovery programme strategy is published, will there be a consultation period so that people will have the opportunity to make suggestions, amendments and improvements?
Mr Oliver Gibson: 10. asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to detail her plans for a rural recovery strategy to assist the rural community of west Tyrone. (AQO 124/01)
Mr Oliver Gibson: In the last round of funding, west Tyrone received 49% of available money for GAA, which is a sectarian leisure pursuit, and 4% for football, which is a cross-community pursuit. What checks and balances has the Minister put in place to ensure that that is corrected and that such blatant discrimination does not reoccur in this round of funding?
Mr Oliver Gibson: The Queen’s University of Belfast published research last week that showed that three groups had been alienated and excluded from society. Those groups were the Protestant community, farmers and women. Members of those groups in west Tyrone feel especially isolated and alienated. What will the Minister do to ensure that such alienation is addressed during the next funding period?
Mr Oliver Gibson: In view of the reprocessing of farm plastics, which are an obscenity in the countryside, what efforts have been made to implement the European Directive that says that the polluter should pay? What efforts are being made to persuade the takeaway industry and farm suppliers to find suitable alternatives that are not too expensive, but stop the countryside from being polluted with plastic bags...
Mr Oliver Gibson: Our main difficulty is that suitability checks are not applied in a standard fashion throughout the Province. Also, there is no system that applies to workers coming in from Wales, England or Scotland, mainly because of the speed with which devolution has taken place. There are no quick verifiable checks in place. The Assembly should take that on board, and the Minister should try to...
Mr Oliver Gibson: I am pleased that the Minister has accepted the review’s recommendations on this issue. People in west Tyrone will particularly welcome his comments about small settlements. It is vitally important that they be connected to the major salted routes in case of emergencies. There is another issue that I am concerned about. There are many salt and grit boxes in rural areas. During times of...
Mr Oliver Gibson: Can the Minister tell us how many miles of the Ulster Canal are in Northern Ireland and how many miles are in the Irish Republic? Have the 220 people who have been relocated to Enniskillen been subject to fair employment legislation, as required by section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which is used by every agency that employs people in Northern Ireland? What is the religious balance...
Mr Oliver Gibson: What are the current arrangements for funding the research of our newer industries? Does the Minister consider a close link between the universities and industry to be essential? The need for closer links is particularly evident when one looks at such aspiring EU countries as Finland, in which the Oulu University is linked to 18 industries, including Nokia. Will the Minister ensure that the...
Mr Oliver Gibson: How is the Minister intending to finance those works?
Mr Oliver Gibson: I welcome the Minister’s statement and the facts and figures that he has given. The Minister posed several questions about carrying forward money. First, I would like him to consider the idea of being able to carry money forward, or give a guarantee that a project entered into can be sustained over a period of time. I am thinking of the Hayes Report, which recommends a hospital for the...
Mr Oliver Gibson: All Committee members were struck by the enthusiasm, genuineness and sincerity of the presentations. Without doubt, they proved the need for a commissioner for children and demonstrated that there is a failing in the present system. There is no means of dovetailing and co-ordinating the work of the various statutory and other agencies that try as best they can to deal with the small...