Declan O'Loan: What is the Minister doing to encourage private investment in trees and forestry?
Declan O'Loan: The Minister has partially answered my question. Why can we not, and why did we not, simply replicate the UK government scheme? Why must the scheme be different here?
Declan O'Loan: Does the Minister intend to meet his Scottish, Welsh and English counterparts to seek a strengthening of the UK water mutual aid scheme? Does he have plans, or has he taken any action, to meet his Southern counterpart to discuss an all-island scheme of a similar nature?
Declan O'Loan: 2. asked the Minister of Justice what action he intends to take to address the problems identified in the recent report by the Criminal Justice Inspection on corporate governance arrangements in the NI Prison Service. (AQO 866/11)
Declan O'Loan: I thank the Minister for his answer. Given that a new director general of prisons has just been appointed, what direction has the Minister given to that new office holder in order to commence the absolutely rigorous reform agenda that is so clearly necessary?
Declan O'Loan: I welcome the continuation of the work of the Budget review group to investigate further Budget opportunities. Will the First Minister support the continuation of a process to interrogate and to improve the Budget beyond March, when a revised Budget will be presented to the Assembly?
Declan O'Loan: 11. asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to outline the anticipated level of any job reductions resulting from his departmental savings plan and how these reductions will be achieved. (AQO 831/11)
Declan O'Loan: I congratulate the Minister on getting his departmental spending plan out so quickly and on the fact that it was such a substantial paper. As an aside, the variation in the style, content and manner of the different departmental papers is a concern. I will confine my remarks to the Civil Service, rather than commenting on the whole public sector. The non-filling of vacancies and redeployment...
Declan O'Loan: 9. asked the Minister of the Environment to outline any plans for the protection of coastal towns and villages affected by inappropriate and unbalanced development. (AQO 816/11)
Declan O'Loan: I note what the Minister said. He has taken a very definitive position. Does he consider that it would be at least worthwhile to look at other places where the MOT system is carried out well in the private sector and to recognise that privatisation offers the possibility of financial gain for the Executive? If he looked at that, would he not feel that governance and regulatory issues could be...
Declan O'Loan: I support the Bill, which has been well addressed in Committee, as the Chairperson said. I do not think that there are any significant concerns. Obviously, the construction sector is a very important part of our economy. It is also important to the public sector, because government is a major client on many occasions. It is important that there is a good framework of law to facilitate the...
Declan O'Loan: I may be correcting the Minister by saying that Mr Justice Holland very clearly said that he did not count pleural plaques on their own as actionable or as being worthy of action. However, as the Minister quotes him as saying, when the anxiety factor is added, and both are taken together, there is justification for action. In other words, he would appear to be accepting the concept of an...
Declan O'Loan: That is useful information from the Minister. The Assembly researchers have looked at that on behalf of the Committee and found it difficult to quantify. There could be a burden on other Departments. Who knows what buildings and so on they have been responsible for? It may be that those Departments have not even considered the issue but may have liability. We have been told that the Attorney...
Declan O'Loan: I am pleased to speak on this important legislation. It should pass its Second Stage and be fully debated in Committee, but, as Simon Hamilton said, it needs to be a very full debate. All Committee members would be very assertive about that. There are problems with the timetabling, and the Bill comes to the Committee very late in the day. The time that the Committee has been allowed is now...
Declan O'Loan: The Minister’s spending plan states: “important and successful initiatives in innovation, knowledge transfer and research and development will need to be curtailed”. That must come as a surprise to all of us in light of the Executive’s stated focus on the economy. Will the Minister tell us whether he believes that those critical areas will be adequately funded and, if not, to what...
Declan O'Loan: I thank the Minister for his statement. I want to ask him about the remaining £23 million of capital money to be carried over to next year. Is it possible that there might be further demands on that money in this year on account of the recent extreme weather? I am thinking possibly of demands from roads, from water and from the Housing Executive. If those demands were to be made in February,...
Declan O'Loan: The independence and robustness of the review are crucial. Northern Ireland is a small place, and those at senior levels in public life form a small community who often know each other. The Facebook connection — I do not want to overstate it — illustrates that point. Will the Minister accept that, for full public confidence in the review, the two persons appointed alongside the regulator,...
Declan O'Loan: A pupil premium has been established in England that pays approximately £430 to schools for each disadvantaged pupil. Of course, money for that will have been reflected in the Northern Ireland block. Was any bid made or money allocated for an equivalent scheme here?
Declan O'Loan: These are very serious cases, and I read the Minister’s written statement with considerable alarm and concern. Is it not possible that there is some responsibility on the Department for these matters? Would the investigation not therefore need some independent element?
Declan O'Loan: The Minister’s officials have kept postponing their appointment with the Committee to discuss this matter. I understand that the subgroup that he referred to, which is led by his Department, to address the matter has, in fact, rarely met. Can he contradict that, and can he tell us, apart from mere intentions, what activity is taking place to deliver the stated objective?