I want to write to John Blair
John Blair: I thank the Minister for his statement. I genuinely wish DAERA well with the strategy, just as I did — also, I hope, genuinely — when the green growth strategy was announced, but there are some problems. The business plan update presented to the AERA Committee just two weeks ago today showed that, in this mandate, there was not the required interdepartmental collaboration on green growth....
John Blair: My opposition to widespread culling is on record here. In the recent past, I presented a petition of over 10,000 signatures to the House. I want to record again my thanks to the USPCA and Ulster Wildlife for bringing that forward. Last week, a report that was published in the 'Vet Record' concluded that there is no evidence that badger culling has had any meaningful impact on the incidence of...
John Blair: I thank the Minister for the statement. I was a little surprised when I realised that it mentions the word "climate" only once and makes no mention at all of the Minister's Climate Change (No. 2) Bill. I thought that those matters would be integral to any agricultural policy that comes forward at this time. Will the Minister give an assurance today that the policy direction and sectoral...
John Blair: I thank the Minister for the updates and the insights from a Justice point of view on the issue of misogyny. Further to that, I will link that to the issue, which is obviously related, of violence against women and girls. Given the work that has been commenced by the Department of Justice and by the PSNI, which I am aware of as a Policing Board member, does the Minister share my concern that...
John Blair: I wish to express genuine regret to the victims of domestic violence for whom the passage of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act 2021 came too late. That is the shameful legacy of three lost years without a functioning Assembly. To those people, I can only apologise. It is hard, therefore, to fathom why, yet again, we are without an Executive, after they were restored just two years...
John Blair: I thank Members for their contributions. Whilst neither me or my Assembly Commission colleague Trevor Clarke were on the recruitment panel for the C&AG, as members of the Commission we are assured that a fair and open recruitment competition took place. I repeat Mr Clarke's thanks to Mr Pitt and Mr McCarthy for their assistance with the recruitment process. It is always welcome when those...
John Blair: Following the passage of the Climate Change (No. 2) Bill, will the Minister seek to ensure that all future financial decisions are climate change proofed to ensure that we play our part in averting climate catastrophe and meet the targets set in that legislation?
John Blair: Whether it is the improvement of the road link in my constituency with North Antrim, which was the subject of the original question, or the progress made on the various active travel routes that I looked at in my constituency yesterday — I welcome some progress on those — how will the failure to agree a Budget impact on the Minister's departmental capital infrastructure spending...
John Blair: I thank the Minister for the statement and for the detail regarding planned actions. I associate myself and my party with the comments from across the House about the workers involved and those working to help those members affected. As I am a member of the AERA Committee, my question relates mainly to supply chains. Some of the parties — including the Minister's, it seems — on the local...
John Blair: I thank the Member for his question. The Department of Finance engaged with Assembly Commission officials to consider the policies and decision-making processes that the Assembly Commission has in place to govern events and requests for commemorations in Parliament Buildings. In particular, Assembly Commission officials provided an update on the review of artefacts that the Assembly...
John Blair: I am not in a position to make a commitment on behalf of the Commission, but I am sure that the points that the Member has raised will be considered. The event that the Member referred to was, of course, held within the precincts of Parliament Buildings. Therefore, it was a matter for the Assembly Commission, not the Department.
John Blair: I thank the Member for his question. The Member will be aware that the Assembly Commission has responsibility only for the lawns adjacent to Parliament Buildings within its curtilage, and those end at the railings to the front of the Building. Beyond that, the management of the Stormont estate falls within the remit of the Department of Finance, specifically its estates management unit. While...
John Blair: As I understand it, there is regular contact between the Department of Finance and the Assembly Commission on estates matters, especially where the estate for which the Commission is responsible interfaces with the remaining Stormont estate. I am more than happy to take the suggestion of further work in that regard back to the Commission and the sustainable development office.
John Blair: I thank the Member for that question. As I outlined, the sustainable development office will continue to work closely with the estates management unit to encourage visitors to Parliament Buildings to avail themselves of the walking trails, for example, throughout the Stormont estate. There is no reason, therefore, why the suggestion in the previous question to extend that to other...
John Blair: T2. Mr Blair asked the Minister of Health to outline the immediate action that he is taking to address the pressures being experienced by emergency departments in Northern Ireland, particularly because, last month, a potential major incident was declared at Antrim Area Hospital in his South Antrim constituency. (AQT 2152/17-22)
John Blair: I thank the Minister for his reply. I am grateful for the reviews that are being undertaken and the initiatives that are under way at the behest of trusts. Are all aspects of the pressures on emergency departments being addressed? The issue of access to GPs has been mentioned a number of times today. Is the impact of that on emergency departments being actively considered by the Minister and...
John Blair: I thank the Minister for the detail that he has provided already. We touched on the issue of an inter-agency approach a question or two ago. Can the Minister give a broader update on emergency service reform, including interlinkages between first response services to include cardiac arrest response, for example?
John Blair: I am pleased to be able to speak on behalf of Alliance in support of the Justice (Sexual Offences and Trafficking Victims) Bill at its Final Stage. I concur with the many comments made by Members about victims and the work that has to be done across the justice family and beyond on their behalf. The Bill represents the last of five substantive pieces of legislation that the Minister wished to...
John Blair: I am pleased to join the debate remotely today and to speak on behalf of Alliance. At the outset, I thank the DAERA officials who were involved, the AERA Committee members, the Committee officials and those who presented and made representations to the Committee in relation to the progress of the Climate Change (No. 2) Bill and the Climate Change Bill. On the day that the UN Intergovernmental...
John Blair: I am pleased to be able to join the debate from a remote location. I support the comments made by the Committee Chair and other Committee colleagues. The glass ceiling that restricts women in the various strands of the agriculture sector is similar to that witnessed over many generations in other walks of life. Those, of course, include politics and other areas of public life. It is important...