THE WEEK THAT WAS….
Business in the House was never going to make for prime time viewing, but in recent months what little did pass for entertainment seems to have dried up. The atmosphere is as flat as Rio Ferdinand’s ‘welcome’ home party from the World Cup and as enticing as free membership of the Dublin branch of the French football team’s supporters’ club.
It needs some serious oomph – otherwise the next four weeks before the summer recess are going to be as much fun as an Adjournment debate on Strangford’s many and varied potholes. If only Mastermind would allow it as a specialist subject some of the Members would be in with a realistic shout at the title.
Maybe it’s the proximity of the recess which has sucked the lifeblood out of the place. Maybe it’s the scandals, the Westminster campaign, the interminable negotiations over Justice which actually delivered something or the interminable negotiations over RPA which look like going nowhere. Maybe they’re all just a bit punch drunk? Probably they’d all rather be at home watching Chile vs Switzerland.
While tribal controversies are never far away – next week there’s the Bloody Sunday report and the Tour of the North parade to get worked up about – the political process has been robust enough to survive everything which has been thrown at it to date.
Leader writers often wring their hands in despair at the calibre of person which politics attracts. In the past people could offer up the not unreasonable excuse that putting yourself up for public scrutiny led to new additions to the family – such as a four-man personal protection squad. It’s hard to have a quiet night in with the missus when there are six of you.
But the truth is, most people – including those from the professional classes – don’t want to actively get involved because politics is mostly dull, particularly when you get down to the nitty-gritty of actual governance. Who in their right mind is interested in River Bann Navigation Orders or Donaghadee Harbour Orders? Don’t be too hard on your representatives. It’s miserable work. But somebody’s got to do it.
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Oral Answers
The DFM revealed more details about the upcoming US Investment conference, had little progress to report on help from the Treasury for PMS savers and admitted that with so many parties involved in the Executive, Departments tend to work in “silos”.
The DEL Minister confessed that most of his staff are “low paid” and advised that about 2/3 of local students in GB return home eventually. The DETI Minister talked up the benefits of Titanic Quarter and the NI Science Park, welcomed Aitricity to the domestic electricity market and noted that while GB visitors to NI have fallen by 8%, those from the Republic are up by 32% on the year.
Written Answers
OFMDFM noted that it funds the Equality Commission to the tune of £6.99m and £8.9m for the Community Relations Council annually. The DCAL Minister’s ‘Minority Languages’ strategy is being held up in ongoing correspondence with the Education Minister while DETI has spent £250K to date on RPA.
Education confirmed that of the 2,070 teachers who qualified in the past three years, less than half are employed as full-time teachers, DoE revealed strong public support for the reduction of drink-driving limits and DFP advised that there are 246 vacancies in the Civil Service. Health disclosed that toilets in the Royal Victoria are cleaned twice as often as those in the Mater and Justice noted that Court fines for road offences totaled £3.3m last year and that there were 6,754 shoplifting offences.
COMMITTEES
DFP was considering rating for empty houses, DEL was musing over how to widen participation in the Higher Education sector while Education was ‘toying’ with Early Years strategy. Environment was ‘mucking’ about with the Waste & Contaminated Land Bill and the new DSD Minister briefed his Committee on his departmental Corporate Plan.
OFMDFM went AWOL to Brussels, the Tourist Board briefed DCAL on its tourism strategy and DETI was doing its bit for the Social Enterprise sector. Things are warming up over at Health with the new Sunbed legislation.
AND FINALLY….
The only saving grace of Northern Ireland’s wretched history is that it provides a fair degree of material of the little banter that does occur – sometimes popping up in the most unexpected places.
For instance, during the Adjournment debate on works to the A2 Carrickfergus road, Ken Robinson (UUP, Antrim East) complained that 300 years ago King Billy also encountered difficulties on the road en route to the Boyne. The Sinn Fein DRD Minister retorted that if he’d known it was so easy, he would have taken action earlier to block the road and “save us a lot of problems”. Wonder if that would have passed a Section 75 Equality Assessment?
