Northern Ireland Assembly
Monday 20 May 2002 (continued)
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Mr S Wilson: I am sure that the House will be dismayed that nearly £50 million has been spent on settling cases over the past five years. Will the Minister tell us whether the figures that she gave in her previous answer include the legal costs that the Department has to bear in such cases? How long have the measures that she outlined been in place? Is there any suggestion to date that they are having an effect on the number of people who take cases against the Health Service? Ms de Brún: The amounts that I mentioned are what has been paid out in any given year, and, as the Member will know, the dates do not necessarily refer to the year in which the litigation began. Our full potential liability, including contingent liability, for clinical negligence is proportionately lower than in England. Claims are settled more quickly here, and in Britain the legal costs of litigation exceed actual settlements in a higher proportion of cases than here. The measures that are being put in place are having an effect. I gave April 2001 as the date for the introduction of consultant appraisal, but it is too early to give definitive results on monitoring, and as I said, ultimately all the developments that I outlined will work together and reduce litigation claims. Expenditure on Primary 6. Mr Dallat asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the total expenditure for (a) primary care and (b) acute care in the last financial year. Ms de Brún: Níl figiúirí iniúchta do 2001-02 ar fáil go fóill. In 2000-01, áfach, ba é £503 mhilliún an caiteachas iomlán ar chúram príomhúil; ba é £572 mhilliún an caiteachas iomlán ar an ghéarchlár cúraim in 2000-01. Audited figures for 2001-02 are not yet available. However, in 2000-01, expenditure on primary care amounted to £503 million, and expenditure on the acute programme of care amounted to £572 million. 3.15 pm Mr Dallat: Will the Minister gaze into her crystal ball and forecast whether the division of funding will remain constant in the future, or whether there will be a shift in emphasis? If so, in which direction would that be? Ms de Brún: I thank the Member for his implied support for further funding for the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. That is welcome. All health and social services need more money. With the finite amount that is available to me, I have committed significant additional resources to primary care, have increased provision to meet the community drugs bill by £25 million in the past year, have allocated £4 million to boards to support activity previously financed by fundholder overspends and have set aside £400,000 for GP accreditation and revalidation to test the professional competence of GPs. I have committed £1·8 million of new money to primary care development. I have also found a further £600,000 to help with the formation of, and early work on, the local health and social care groups, in addition to the £5 million that it will cost to run those. The Member will not be surprised to learn that I have made substantial additional bids for the future. I am gazing into the crystal ball with my fingers crossed that some of my substantial bids will be met. My bids include £4 million for next year to improve the infrastructure by increasing the number and quality of practice staff and by upgrading premises and equipment. I also wish to see community-based clinics for chronic diseases, modernised premises and equipment for dental practices, and multi-professional training of primary care teams. As a start, I have made a bid for £2 million for those purposes. We must also develop our information and communication technology so that, for example, outpatient appointments may be booked for GP surgeries. I am bidding for £3 million for next year to begin to fund that. My spending review bids for primary care development amount to more than £11 million, and will rise to some £36 million in 2005-06. Mr Savage: Does the Minister agree that departmental administration costs, which amounted to some £34 million last year, are too high when compared with only £27 million for primary health and community care? Administration costs account for more than one third of the total cost of running the GP service in Northern Ireland. How will the Minister make the service more acceptable to the community? Ms de Brún: I have explained clearly and in detail how I shall spend the considerable amount of money that I wish to invest in the service in the future, should I receive it. Mr Shannon: Does the Minister agree that, to address the matter of expenditure on primary and acute care, she should first attend to the matter of getting the local health and social care groups up and running? The problem is that there has been a delay in doing that. The Department should respond to that issue as it concerns many in the Chamber. Ms de Brún: I am not sure whether the question is connected to this matter, rather than to later questions. However, candidates have been identified to fill almost half of the 270 management board positions across the 15 groups. Efforts continue to fill the remaining vacancies, and work is ongoing to ensure that the new groups become operational as soon as possible. Those who have been appointed have already begun work, and I see no reason why the groups should not become fully functional in a few weeks' time. Strategy for Carers 8. Mrs Nelis asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, following the publication of the strategy for carers, to detail the timetable within which she expects health and social services boards and trusts to review their service provision for carers with carers. Ms de Brún: D'aontaigh mé gur chóir cúramóirí a ainmniú mar ghrúpa tosaíochta i gclár an Choiste Feidhmiúcháin le haghaidh cur chun cinn cuimsitheachta sóisialta. Cuirfidh grúpa oibre idir-rannach, a bheidh ag obair sa chlár um chur chun cinn cuimsitheachta sóisialta, moltaí uilig na straitéise cúramóirí i bhfeidhm. Tá mé ag súil go gcuirfear tús leis an obair seo faoi cheann na chéad chúpla seachtain eile. I have agreed that carers should be designated as a priority group in the Executive's promoting social inclusion programme. An interdepartmental working group, working within the context of the promoting social inclusion programme, will implement all the recommendations of the carers' strategy. I expect work on that to begin in the next few weeks. Mrs Nelis: Go raibh míle maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I am sure that all carers will welcome that news. Will the Minister assure the House that adequate funds will be forthcoming to ensure the successful implementation of this strategy to address service provision for carers? Ms de Brún: I have already said that I am determined to make the carers' strategy a reality. I have said on many occasions that some of the additional £19 million allocated to community care services this year should be spent on putting in place breaks for carers, and we shall be working towards implementing the recommendations in the carers' strategy. A working group made up of departmental officials, representatives from boards and trusts, carers and representatives from an organisation that represents carers drew up the strategy. Therefore, as I said in my opening answer, it will be vital that we consider how we can ensure that all the recommendations of the carers' strategy are implemented. GP Applications 9. Mr Ford asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety how many new GP applications have been received by each trust in the last year. Ms de Brún: Ní sheoltar na hiarratais seo chuig iontaobhais. Nuair a thairgeann cleachtas páirtíocht do dhochtúir cuireann an cleachtas iarratas chuig Coiste Liachta na Lár-Ghníomhaireachta Seirbhísí le moladh a fháil do cheadú. Tugann an bord sláinte agus seirbhísí sóisialta cuí ceadú don cheapachán. I ndiaidh an dochtúir a ghlacadh - agus cuimsíonn sin clárú a dheimhniú ag Comhairle na Liachta Ginearálta agus a dheimhniú fosta gur coimhlíonadh riachtanais oiliúna gairmiúla - cuirtear an dochtúir ar liosta liachta an bhoird sláinte agus seirbhísí sóisialta cuí. Those applications are not sent to the trusts. When a practice offers a partnership to a doctor, an application is submitted to the medical committee of the Central Services Agency for recommendation of approval. The relevant health and social services board then approves the appointment. After the admission process, which includes verification of registration with the General Medical Council and verification that vocational training requirements have been fulfilled, the doctor is admitted to the medical list of the relevant health and social services board. I apologise to the Member; I am a little hoarse from too much canvassing in the past couple of weeks, but - [Interruption]. Mr Ford: As long as it was not in Antrim town. Ms de Brún: It was not in Antrim town. Between 1 April 2001 and 31 March 2002, the Eastern Health and Social Services Board admitted 25 new GPs. The Northern Health and Social Services Board admitted 16, the Southern Health and Social Services Board admitted 14, and the Western Health and Social Services Board admitted nine. Mr Ford: We have already discussed the money spent on primary care. Indeed, I have in the past asked the Minister about the amount of resources going to primary care. Given the ageing profile of GPs and the size of GP lists in Northern Ireland, is she satisfied that enough doctors are being recruited into general practice in every part of Northern Ireland? Ms de Brún: I am satisfied that there are enough trained GPs to meet service requirements. I am advised that enough are in training and that there are sufficient numbers available to take up any vacancies that arise. Mr C Murphy: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Perhaps the Minister is hoarse as a result of cheering so much over the weekend as opposed to canvassing. Mr Ford's question concerned recruitment, but does the Minister think that enough doctors are being trained as GPs to ensure that the family doctor service has enough recruits to continue efficiently? Ms de Brún: Yes, I do. Mrs I Robinson: Does the Minister accept that, because of the confusion surrounding the commencement of the local health and social care groups, many GPs have decided to opt out of the National Health Service and to start up in private practice? Will she comment on that? Ms de Brún: I am not aware of any adverse impact on services, or of confusion surrounding the local health and social care groups. Services previously provided through the GP fundholding scheme continue as normal, and GPs and other primary care professionals continue to carry out their core function of providing health and social services. The management board posts continue to be filled, and there is no reason why the groups should not become functional within a few weeks. Mr Speaker: Question 12, in the name of Mr Maskey, has been withdrawn and will receive a written answer. Health Risk from Telecommunications Masts: 10. Mr Bradley asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what assessment she has made of the health risk to the residents of the Sheepbridge/Corgary/Jerretspass area north of Newry as a result of the above-average number of telecommunications masts that are located in, and proposed for, that specific area. Ms de Brún: Caithfidh oibritheoirí atá ag cur suas crann teileachumarsáide in aon cheantar deimhniú a thaispeáint a léiríonn go mbeidh an fhorbairt bheartaithe ag cloí le treoirlínte Choimisiún Idirnáisiúnta ar Chosaint ar Radaíocht Neamhianach faoi nochtadh do radaíocht RF. Is léir don Roinn Sláinte, Seirbhísí Sóisialta agus Sábháilteachta Poiblí gur gá le tuilleadh taighde, agus táimid ag soláthar breis airgid i leith an taighde sin, ach tá sí den bharúil go bhfuil treoirlínte Choimisiún Idirnáisiúnta ar Chosaint ar Radaíocht Neamhianach faoi nochtadh an phobail do raonta leictreamaighnéadacha bunaithe ar an fhianaise is fearr dá bhfuil ann go dtí seo - fianaise a bhfuil glacadh uirthi ag an Eagraíocht Dhomhanda Sláinte. Operators that wish to erect a mast must produce a certificate to prove that the proposed development will comply with the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) on exposure to radio frequency radiation. The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is conscious of the need for further research, and it contributes financially towards such work. However, it considers that the guidelines of ICNIRP for public exposure to electromagnetic fields, as accepted by the World Health Organisation, are based on the best evidence available to date. Accordingly, where concern is raised about the health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields, it is my Department's view that if the proposed telecommunications development meets fully the ICNIRP guidelines, it should not be necessary for the Department to consider that aspect further. Mr Bradley: I tabled the question as a result of the concerns expressed by residents in the Newry area. Does the Minister appreciate those concerns, particularly of parents, and would she agree to meet a group of residents, if requested? Ms de Brún: My position on meeting the residents involved has not changed since my letter to the Member last year. My Department's role as regards telecommunications development is to offer strategic policy advice on general health issues, having regard to the expert opinion of the National Radiological Protection Board and others, including the ICNIRP. My Department has no part to play in dealing with individual applications. Reinvestment and Reform Initiative 11. Mrs Courtney asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, given the funding needs and shortfall of the Health Service, what plans she has to seek additional funds from the recently announced reinvestment and reform initiative. Ms de Brún: Is deis shuntasach í a bhfuil géarghá léi an tionscnamh athinfheistíochta agus athchóirithe le cur lenár mbuiséad caipitil. De dheasca na mblianta de thearcmhaoiniú, tá riaráiste mór d'obair riachtanach athchóirithe agus cothbhála sna seirbhísí sláinte; tá gá ann fosta áiseanna nua a thógáil agus trealamh nua-aimseartha a sholáthar a bheas inchurtha le caighdeáin chóireála agus chúraim na haonú aoise is fiche. I mo chéad tairiscint ar airgead faoin tionscnamh seo, beidh mé ag lorg maoiniú don dá chineál oibre seo. 3.30 pm The reinvestment and reform initiative represents a significant and much-needed opportunity to increase our capital budget. Due to years of underfunding, health and personal social services has a large backlog of essential maintenance and refurbishment work together with a need for new facilities and modern equipment for twenty-first century standards of care. I seek funding for both types of work in my initial bid under the initiative, and the Member will support me in that. (Mr Deputy Speaker [Mr J Wilson] in the Chair) Mrs Courtney: I understand that there has been a lack of funding in the Health Service for several years. If the money is not forthcoming, does the Minister plan to use the borrowing power contained in the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister's package? If necessary, would she support an increase in the rates to pay for the lack of investment in much-needed services? Ms de Brún: To start, we will have an extra £200 million of investment over the next two years. That is not at all connected with a rates increase. The money comprises a £125 million loan from the Treasury, repayable from the existing regional rate income, and £75 million from the Executive's own resources, including that derived from the Department's underspending. We should also include £70 million from the infrastructure Executive programme funds. In total, therefore, there will be a £270 million investment programme over the next two years on top of the Department's basic capital budget. I fully expect that, as a priority spending programme in urgent need of capital investment, health and personal social services will receive a substantial share of this money. Finance and PersonnelMr Deputy Speaker: Question 3, standing in the name of Ivan Davis, has been transferred to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and will receive a written answer. Questions 6 and 10, standing in the names of Eamonn ONeill and Eugene McMenamin, have been withdrawn and will receive written answers. Water and Sewerage and Regional Transportation Strategy 1. Mr Bradley asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel what discussions he has had with the Minister for Regional Development regarding the financial requirements of (a) the water and sewerage system and (b) the regional transportation strategy. The Minister of Finance and Personnel (Dr Farren): Both matters were discussed with the Minister for Regional Development as part of the initial 2002 spending review bilateral meeting. A meeting specifically to discuss the implications of the regional transport strategy will be held shortly and will involve the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister. I have also received a detailed paper from the Minister for Regional Development setting out the future needs of the water and sewerage system. The Executive will undoubtedly wish to discuss the matter in the near future. Mr Bradley: The Minister for Regional Development said recently that savings from administration costs could be used to service borrowings to pay for required improvements. Will the Minister comment on that? Dr Farren: The Minister for Regional Development has written to me in those terms, and I have heard him say the same thing publicly. In reply, I have agreed strongly that we must look hard at our administration costs as a means of addressing the deficiencies in our public services. The review of public administration, under the auspices of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, will also look at that. This must be an important element of the reinvestment and reform initiative. I have also made it clear that I do not accept that any Good Friday Agreement institutions can, or should, be dismantled. I have also pointed out that the Treasury has laid down clear principles under which the new borrowing power will operate. If expenditure funded by borrowing is to be treated as outside our departmental expenditure limit, there must be a clear relationship between the activity concerned and a revenue stream, so that borrowing is wholly self-financing. Therefore, any borrowing under the proposed new powers will have to be paid from additional income through local revenues. I emphasise that it will be up to the Executive and the Assembly to decide whether to borrow and, if so, how much. We will not be able to use our departmental expenditure limit to clear debt, as that would fundamentally undermine the Chancellor's fiscal strategy. Members will appreciate that that does not rule out the need to root out waste and inefficiency in order to improve public services. Mr S Wilson: Many who face the prospect of huge rates increases over the next few years as a result of the Chancellor's initiative - to which the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister recently agreed - will be dismayed at the Minister's reply that the institutions that were set up under the Good Friday Agreement are sacrosanct and will not be part of a review of administration. Does the Minister not accept that one of the heaviest burdens on the Administration in Northern Ireland has been that, for political reasons, we have 11 Departments instead of six; we have expensive cross-border bodies that soak up tens of millions of pounds each year; and we have peripheral institutions that increase their budgets in some cases by 50% each year? Dr Farren: I do not accept that there is a proposal for a future major hike in rates. The Member will have no memory of such a proposal being put before the House, and that would have to happen if any such suggestion were to be implemented. I do not accept that political institutions cannot be reviewed; there is a review provision in the Good Friday Agreement. The review of other aspects of public administration will take place under the terms of reference that are being set out by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister. The review will address many of the Member's concerns. There is a clear responsibility on the Executive and the Assembly to be concerned about efficiencies - and inefficiencies - in our public institutions and to take all advisable and necessary steps to address such shortcomings. The Member may be assured that this Administration will be resolute in addressing public administration. The Good Friday Agreement is clear, and a review of its operation will take place in due course in accordance with its terms. Ground Rent (Mews Lane) 2. Mrs Nelis asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel whether he has any plans to abolish ground rent payments in respect of Mews Lane. Dr Farren: The Member has already raised the subject of ground rents with my Department. I am not sure what this question refers to, and the Member may wish to ask a supplementary question. The Ground Rents Act (Northern Ireland) 2001 provides a scheme for redeeming ground rents on residential property, and thereby acquiring the freehold title. The first phase is voluntary and will come into effect in July of this year. The second phase requires compulsory redemption of the ground rent, and it will be introduced late in 2003 when the necessary computerisation of Land Registry services has been completed. Therefore it is not accurate to say that the payment of grounds rents will be abolished. Mrs Nelis: I assure the Minister that I am not too sure of my ground either - no pun intended. This matter arises, as the Minister is aware, because local councils pick up the tab for the maintenance of mews lanes, while residents whose property is adjacent to those mews lanes are expected to pay ground rent if they have not availed of the redemption powers. Do the redemption powers in relation to ground rent on property extend to land, in this case mews lanes, which are not really private property? Dr Farren: I thank the Member for her clarification with respect to mews lanes. The issue is not a clear-cut one, although there may be greater clarity when the focus is on those mews lanes that are the responsibility of local authorities. Freehold in relation to mews lanes can vary, depending on the terms and conditions associated with the acquisition of the land. It may be that the occupiers of the residential property adjacent to the mews lanes have responsibility for that part of the land that is in the lane adjacent to their property. The question needs to be examined with regard to the particular conditions associated with the freehold of a particular lane. In that respect, it is not easy to give a general answer. If the Member has questions about particular mews lanes, I shall undertake to provide specific answers. Public-Private Partnerships and 4. Mr O'Connor asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel how the recent reform and reinvestment package will impact on the review of the use of public-private partnerships in Northern Ireland. 7. Mr Byrne asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to give an update of the Executive's review into the use of (a) public-private partnerships and (b) private finance initiatives. Dr Farren: With the Deputy Speaker's permission, I shall take questions 4 and 7 together. In the Programme for Government, the Executive undertook to review the opportunities for public-private partnerships across all programmes. That work has been taken forward under the supervision of a public-private partnership working group, with membership drawn from the public and private sectors, the voluntary and community sectors and the trade union movement. The working group adopted a wide definition of public-private partnership, which also covers the private finance initiative but not privatisation. I am pleased to say that the Executive have received the final report of the working group. A statement on their response to the report will be made to the Assembly. The working group report will be published for wider consultation. The reinvestment and reform initiative, announced on 2 May during the visit by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, provides for new short-term and long-term borrowing facilities for the Executive, a new strategic investment body and the transfer of certain military and security assets to the Executive. The initiative offers the Assembly a further means of addressing our investment requirement in public infrastructure. The use of public-private partnerships is, in suitable circumstances, another option. The reinvestment and reform initiative thus provides a new and wider financial and administrative framework in which the report of the working group set up to review the use of public-private partnerships can be considered. Mr O'Connor: I welcome the fact that the report is going to be published and that there will be consultation. Will the Minister give the House details of the time frame involved? Dr Farren: The public-private partnership working group has produced a final report for the Executive. The document will be published tomorrow, when a statement will be made to the Assembly on the Executive's initial response to the report. The Executive have decided to seek a public consultation on financing future public investment, which includes the proposals contained in the public-private partnership working group's report. Further details will be made available tomorrow. 3.45 pm Mr Byrne: Will the Minister give a commitment that the consultation process on how private funds can be utilised for public capital investment will not be used as a delaying tactic? Given that we are three years into public-private partnerships, it is important that we quickly realise upfront capital investment in our public infrastructure, where there is a great need. Dr Farren: I assure the Member that there will not be any delay. Members will appreciate that we are still in the early phases of recourse to public-private partnerships, and several Departments have successfully implemented some. The working group was established to review progress and the experience that we have gained of public-private partnerships so that we can put our imprint on how we might introduce public-private partnerships for future infrastructural investment needs. Setting the recourse to public-private partnerships alongside the reinvestment and reform initiative, which has given us the borrowing capacity that we may also wish to use, as well as the finance available to us through our normal public expenditure resources in the departmental expenditure limit, the Executive and the Assembly have three major sources from which to draw the required finance for the major infrastructural projects that we deem necessary. Members will have heard Ministers highlighting the critical pressure for investment in our infrastructural needs. A range of resources is now available to us with which we can be more strategic in planning how we address those needs. Mr Deputy Speaker: As I do not see Mr Beggs in his seat, I call Mr Ford. Low-Cost Airlines 8. Mr Ford asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail his policy on the use of low-cost airlines for civil servants flying between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Dr Farren: The policy that covers civil servants who fly between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is contained in the Northern Ireland Civil Service staff handbook. In determining best value arrangements for travel to meet business needs, Departments are free to use the services of low-cost airlines. However, best value must be assessed by considering all the costs associated with a business trip. It is not simply the cost of the airline ticket that must be considered but the cost of land travel by road or rail, the travel time and ancillary costs, which include parking fees, meals and overnight accommodation. The flight times to and from Britain are often the determining factor as to which carrier represents best value for a specific trip. My officials are undertaking a strategic review of this changing market to ensure that procurement arrangements continue to provide best value for Departments. Mr Ford: Many low-cost services to Great Britain came into operation some years ago, but the Department is only reviewing it now, which would suggest that movement has been a little tardy. I wonder whether the Minister saw a recent advertisement placed by a not necessarily impartial organisation - Ryanair - about the amount of money that Government Departments in Dublin could save on travel costs. Has the Minister considered accepting that there may be many cases in which flexibility is required? Those who travel for routine meetings and conferences could save him considerable sums by travelling with low-cost airlines, as many private businesses and individuals tend to do. Dr Farren: The Member did not listen carefully to my answer. I said that, in determining best value arrangements for travel to meet business needs, Departments may use low-cost airlines. They are already obliged to consider the use of such airlines, and how to achieve best value is clearly outlined in the Civil Service staff handbook. However, many considerations must be borne in mind. We will use the airline that provides best value. When making their pitch, airlines highlight cost; however, other factors should be borne in mind when trips are being planned in Departments. I assure the Member that the review is being undertaken to ensure that we maintain commitment to best value. It is not new - it simply happens to be taking place now. There have been reviews in the past, and there will be reviews in the future. Mr A Maginness: When senior civil servants and Ministers fly, air miles can be accumulated on some routes with some airlines. Can the Administration use such accumulated air miles to make economies or perhaps to make donations to charities in Northern Ireland? Dr Farren: That is an interesting suggestion and one that we should examine. I will ask those who are conducting the review of best value on travel to take on board Mr Maginness's suggestions and to respond to him when the review has been completed. Cancer Centre 9. Mrs Courtney asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel whether he will recommend to the Executive that money be allocated to building a cancer centre in Northern Ireland. Dr Farren: My Department has already approved an outline business case for a regional cancer centre and is awaiting a full business case from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. I share the widespread desire to see the construction of the centre to replace the outdated facilities at Belvoir Park Hospital. Although I recognise that there are other competing priorities, I am happy to recommend to Executive Colleagues that we look favourably upon such a worthwhile project. However, this depends on receiving a full business case and consideration of all feasible options. Mrs Courtney: I thank the Minister for his positive response, which we all welcome. Will he assure us that the extra money from the Chancellor's Budget is immediately allocated to health? Dr Farren: The Chancellor's Budget provides an additional £96 billion from 2003-04 for the Health Service in the United Kingdom over the next five years. Our share of that is £2·7 billion. We are not obliged to make use of money received via the Barnett formula for the same purpose as in England. That is central to the concept of devolution. However, I have already recommended to Executive Colleagues that, as health is a clear spending priority, Northern Ireland's share of the full allocation from the Chancellor's action on the National Health Service should be allocated to health here. The Executive's proposals on spending allocations for 2003-04 onwards will be set in a draft Budget in September, which will need to take account of all priorities, pressures and opportunities across the full range of public services here. National Insurance: 11. Mr Close asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel to detail the cost consequence on the Northern Ireland block of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's increase in employers' National Insurance contributions of 1%. Dr Farren: The 1% increase in employers' National Insurance contributions will add 1% to the public sector pay bill, which will result in a pressure of some £30 million on the Northern Ireland departmental expenditure limit. The Executive will address that pressure in the 2002 Budget process. Mr Close: Does the Minister agree that the fanfare of trumpets that followed the Chancellor of the Exchequer's announcement of some £72 million additional to Northern Ireland was somewhat misplaced, and that Gordon Brown was giving with one hand and taking away with the other? Dr Farren: There will be no major increases in local revenue until full public consultation has concluded and a fairer system for revenue-raising has been developed to replace the present system. The pace of change is subject to the approval of the Assembly. Suspension of Rural Rate Relief Scheme 12. Mr McCarthy asked the Minister of Finance and Personnel why the rural rate relief scheme has been suspended. Dr Farren: The Executive decided to suspend the implementation of the scheme as framed under the existing legislation because an impact analysis revealed serious flaws. Many properties would not benefit, as they were outside designated small, rural settlements. Also, the scheme did not address TSN considerations and was unlikely to sustain rural services effectively. I have asked my officials to work with officials in the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to consider more effective alternatives to the existing scheme to enable me to bring proposals to the Executive by the end of June. Any new scheme may require primary legislation, which could have implications for the timing of its introduction. Mr McCarthy: I am disappointed with the Minister's reply. I suggest that it is a sign of the Department's incompetence. The scheme was initiated over a year ago for several properties, and the Minister's response will cause much disappointment. Dr Farren: I accept that some time has passed since it was indicated that such a scheme might be introduced. However, several major interruptions and delays occurred at a political level. The transfer to Northern Ireland of a scheme developed for use in England necessitated careful consideration of its equality impact. The equality impact assessment flashed red lights to warn us of the difficulties inherent in direct transfer. We recognised the effectiveness with which the equality impact assessment had been conducted, and, unfortunately, that caused us to stall adoption of the scheme. It would have been foolhardy to implement a scheme that could not achieve its intended objectives. We were therefore obliged to examine alternatives. As I have indicated, alternatives are under active consideration and will be brought before the Executive and the Assembly in the near future. 4.00 pm Mr Paisley Jnr: Has the Minister been able, with his Executive Colleagues, to reach a collective definition of rural proofing to assist the rural community with rural rate relief and other policies that directly affect its income and earning capacity? Dr Farren: The Executive and, in particular, the Department of Finance and Personnel, have been in close contact with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop practical ways of translating the concept of rural proofing and to put it into effect. My Department has liaised closely with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, particularly on the rural rating scheme, and I hope that they will soon be able to report to the Executive and the Assembly on what action should be taken. Warrenpoint Harbour Authority Order
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