Strategic Investment and Regeneration of Sites Bill: First Stage

Point of Order: Business Committee

Energy Bill: First Stage

Harbours Bill: Second Stage

Limited Liability Partnerships Bill: Further Consideration Stage

Open-Ended Investment Companies Bill: Further Consideration Stage

State Pension Credit Bill: Final Stage

Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill:
Committee Stage (Period Extension)

Marriage Bill: Committee Stage (Period Extension)

Family Law (Divorce Etc.) Bill: Committee Stage (Period Extension)

Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre

Oral Answers to Questions

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment

Department of Employment and Learning

Department of Social Development

Nursery Provision at Moorfields Primary School

TOP

Strategic Investment and Regeneration of Sites Bill: First Stage

The Junior Minister (Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister) (Mr Haughey):

I beg leave to lay before the Assembly a Bill [NIA 8/02] to establish and provide for the functions of the Strategic Investment Board for Northern Ireland; to make provision for certain sites made available under the reinvestment and reform initiative, including provision for their regeneration by development corporations; and for connected purposes.

The Bill will be put on the list of pending business until a date for its Second Stage has been determined.

TOP

Point of Order: Business Committee

Mr S Wilson:

On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. A motion, tabled by the DUP, calling for the dissolution of the Assembly and early elections has not been put on the Order Paper. It appears that due to political bias and fear, this motion has been blocked by the Business Committee. Is it in order for those parties that wish to save themselves from an early political skinning to be allowed to abuse the Business Committee in this way?

Mr Wilson, you know that any decision on what is on the Order Paper is made by the Business Committee, and it is for your party’s representative on that Committee to put his or her case.

TOP

Energy Bill: First Stage

The Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (Sir Reg Empey):

I beg leave to lay before the Assembly a Bill [NIA 9/02] to provide for the establishment and functions of the Northern Ireland Authority for Energy Regulation and an energy group of the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland; to amend the legislation regulating the electricity and gas industries; and for connected purposes.

The Bill will be put on the list of pending business until a date for its Second Stage has been determined.

TOP

Harbours Bill: Second Stage

The Minister for Regional Development (Mr P Robinson):

I beg to move

The need for this legislation arises from the growing interest of the general public and elected representatives in the activities and future development of the individual harbour authorities. In May 2001, the Department announced a series of measures aimed at improving the public accountability of trust ports in Northern Ireland and ensuring that the public interest can be fully safeguarded in relation to their operations. Many of the measures reflected the recommendations contained in the Committee for Regional Development’s report on its inquiry into the Titanic Quarter lease arrangements. Since then, my Department has advanced and set in place many of those measures.

The Department for Regional Development has developed and put in place memoranda of understanding in relation to each trust port. They provide for consultation with the Department prior to any disposal of harbour lands. Earlier this year, the Assembly debated and approved harbour Orders for Belfast, Londonderry and Warrenpoint. Among other things, the Orders provided for an increase in the number of elected representatives on each board. The various additional appointments have since been made, and the Department routinely receives copies of board papers and minutes. The Harbours Bill is the final element of the package of measures intended to improve the accountability of the trust ports. It is a short Bill, containing only seven clauses.

Clause 1 designates the Belfast Harbour Commissioners, the Coleraine Harbour Commissioners, the Harbour of Carlingford Lough Improvement Commissioners, the Londonderry Port and Harbour Commissioners and the Warrenpoint Harbour Authority. Thus, all the commercial public trust ports in Northern Ireland are covered by the legislation.

The provisions in clause 2 empower the Department to give directions of a general or specific character in relation to the functions of the harbour authorities. That will empower the Department to act, if necessary, to safeguard the public interest in relation to the activities of the trust ports. However, the Department envisages that such power would be used only after consultation with the harbour authorities. The provision will also be useful in further underpinning the memoranda of understanding between the respective harbour authorities and the Department. Naturally, the Bill also envisages that a duty would be imposed on a designated harbour authority to comply with any directions given by the Department.

Clause 3 enables the Department to require a trust port to provide it with such information as may be necessary, such as details of a specific lease or contract or information about preferential user arrangements. That will apply only to information coming into the possession of the harbour authority after the legislation comes into effect.

The Bill also contains provisions for the imposition of fines and penalties, either for failure to comply with a notice requesting information or for knowingly, or recklessly, making a false statement or producing a false document. Although the Harbours Act (Northern Ireland) 1970 already contains provisions to enable the Department to obtain information, it is of a more specific character and relates to forecasts to allow it to regulate harbours, the compilation of statistics or information in relation to grants or loans made under the Act.

Clause 4 provides for the introduction by the Department of a code of practice for all Northern Ireland trust ports, following on from a similar initiative in Great Britain. The proposed legislation requires the Department to consult with such persons as it thinks fit in relation to its proposals before the issue or amendment of a code of practice. It is envisaged that such a code would address key aspects of conduct, accountability and openness by identifying the appropriate corporate and individual responsibilities expected from the trust ports. The Department is consulting the harbour authorities and the Committee for Regional Development on the detailed proposals for inclusion in such a code.

In developing the legislative proposals, the Department consulted extensively with the harbour authorities, port users in the regions, the Committee for Regional Development, district councils and other bodies. The views expressed during the consultation process have been considered and, where appropriate, taken on board. The Committee for Regional Development has made a considerable contribution to the development of the legislation, and will, with the Assembly’s support, have the opportunity to consider the detailed drafting of the Bill and report to the Assembly on it. I welcome the opportunity to hear Members’ views, and I encourage them to support this short, but useful, Bill.

The Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Regional Development (Mr McFarland): The Chairperson of the Committee for Regional Development has asked me to extend his apologies for being unable to attend today.

The Bill is, undoubtedly, important, and the Committee has campaigned for it for some time. I thank the Minister for introducing it.

The Committee’s interest in, and support for, the Bill results from a public inquiry that took place over a year ago into the circumstances surrounding the signing of the Titanic Quarter development agreement between Harland & Wolff and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. During that investigation, the Committee identified several areas in which the public accountability of trust ports could be improved. In particular, the Committee recognised that legislation was needed to give the Department for Regional Development the power of direction over trust ports and to introduce a code of practice similar to that in Great Britain.

When the Committee published its findings in September 2001, it recommended several steps. In brief, those were: that legislation be introduced to give the Department power of direction over the key business activities of the Port of Belfast and other trust ports; that the Department for Regional Development enter into a memorandum of understanding with each of the trust ports, pending the introduction of that legislation; that the number of locally elected representatives on each of the trust ports’ boards be increased; that a representative from the Department for Regional Development attend the board meetings of the trust ports; and that the Department consider drawing up a code of practice for all trust ports.

I am pleased to note that the Harbours Bill will ensure that all the Committee’s recommendations will be put in place, which demonstrates the professional and constructive manner in which the Committee and the Department can work together. It highlights the positive role that all Committees can play in helping to improve the governance of the country.

Some improvements to the public accountability of trust ports have already been made. The recently approved harbour Orders have provided for the number of locally elected representatives on the boards of trust ports to be increased, and several memoranda of understanding have been established. With the introduction of the Harbours Bill, the jigsaw is complete. A code of practice will be introduced, and the Department will be given the power of direction over trust ports.

The Committee for Regional Development is also pleased to note that the code of practice will require trust ports to brief the Committee formally at least once a year. That provision is welcome, and the Committee can play a positive role in helping to improve the public accountability of trust ports as a means of safeguarding the public interest. I welcome the introduction of the legislation on behalf of the Committee, which looks forward to conducting a careful scrutiny of the Bill during Committee Stage.

The Harbours Bill contains the main elements that the Committee for Regional Development considers to be important to safeguard and clarify the status and remit of the functions that trust ports enjoy. The Committee held a public inquiry last year into the issues surrounding the signing of the Titanic Quarter development agreement between Harland & Wolff and the Belfast Harbour Commissioners.

The main issues concerning the Committee were the Department having the power of direction over trust ports, and a future code of practice for such ports. The Committee has been concerned for some time that trust ports have been operating under legislation which does not always seem foolproof. The clauses in the Bill address the Committee’s main concerns, and I welcome that. As a member of that Committee, I look forward to detailed scrutiny of the Bill.

I welcome the Bill. It has its origin in a major review that was conducted in 1998 by the then Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, when a similar review was going on in Great Britain. There is no doubt that the review raised a number of issues concerning trust ports here. Three of those issues were: examining extended powers for trust ports; easing financial controls to allow them to operate more commercially; and — one of the main issues — improved accountability for harbour authorities. We have certainly taken the route of moving public accountability on with more public representatives on the bodies running the trust ports. I see it as another piece in the jigsaw that is our work on trust ports in Northern Ireland.

We should all agree that, over the years, our trust ports have been very successful. I should even go as far as to say that trust ports have often been the engines which have driven economic development in their areas and across Northern Ireland. The Bill gives the Department power to ask for information and documents and to examine issues pertaining to trust ports.

The memorandum of understanding that all port authorities have now signed governs any disposal of land around trust ports. We in the Committee were all concerned about the disposal of land at Belfast harbour. It is to be hoped that, through this short Bill, the accountability of trust ports has moved on. I am sure that we all agree that trust ports are run for the benefit of all their stakeholders in Northern Ireland.

Will the Minister and his Department examine the question of introducing further regulations for trust ports? With regard to clause 3 of the Bill, which covers the procedures for obtaining papers and dealing with false documentation provided to the Minister and the Department, does the Minister or his Department have any view on the types of financial reimbursement, such as fines, that the harbour authorities should examine?

I welcome this short Bill and hope that it increases the accountability of Northern Ireland’s trust ports.

I welcome the Harbours Bill and, in particular, the additional powers that will be granted to the trust port authorities permitting them to purchase land for the betterment of their overall business. In Warrenpoint one can see the problems that arise from the non-availability of land. I hope that the Bill will allow the harbour to purchase or lease land which it might identify on the County Louth side of the port. It is only a few hundred yards across the harbour. I say that in the knowledge of the pressure for a new bridge at Narrow Water, near Warrenpoint. If the purchase of such land across from the harbour were permitted, and if the powers allowed, the harbour could get involved in a scheme to facilitate the crossing of vehicular traffic, possibly by means of a toll. I look forward to further debate on that. I come from Warrenpoint and know its geography. The only available land that could be purchased is on the County Louth side of the border, and I hope that such a purchase will be allowed.

I thank Members for their contributions, which make it clear that the legislation is not contentious. As the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Regional Development, Mr McFarland, said, the Committee played an important role in the production of the draft legislation. It has had consistent interest in the issue, and the legislation is an example of the Committee’s influence with the Department and demonstrates the positive role that it has played. That also underlines Mr Byrne’s remarks. The Committee will be studying the Bill thoroughly, and I look forward to its response. However, members of the Committee will not find any surprises in the legislation, given their background knowledge of the subject.

Both Mr Bradley and Mr Hay raised issues about where the Department will be moving with regard to further regulations or legislation. Mr Bradley mentioned the ability of ports to become more competitive and the need to look at what can be done to improve their position. In bringing the Bill forward, the Department is looking primarily at public accountability — a matter that Mr Hay addressed in detail.

The legislation does not in any way reflect a lack of trust in the board members of any of the trust ports in Northern Ireland. In recent years in all spheres of public life, there has been a move towards improved public accountability, and so it should be; that has also happened in the private sector. The legislation is a means of clarifying the respective roles of trust ports and the Department, and that will be beneficial to the relationship between the ports and the Department.

It is necessary to recognise that elected representatives and a devolved Assembly are better placed than the harbour commissioners to assess the public interest that may attach to any development proposals, and the legislation takes that into account. That leaves the harbour commissioners free to focus on the needs of the ports, and on their fiduciary responsibilities.

The Harbours Bill deals primarily with public accountability. The Department remains committed to further extending the commercial powers of trust ports to enable them to compete better with their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, and to amending and updating our harbours legislation generally. For example, further legislation might make provision for the harbour authorities to promote a company or enter into a joint venture in relation to business activity beyond the scope of the port undertaking. Indeed, it might make provision for the harbour authorities to promote leisure activities and tourism, or to carry out the activities of shipping agents, for example, to promote new routes. It might make provision to empower the harbour authorities to acquire a business or undertaking not directly related to the management or maintenance of the harbours, but which would be of benefit to the port. The Department is looking at all of those issues, but the policy basis for such a Bill is not yet in place. Given the lengthy consultation process necessary, it is likely to be some time before the Department will be in a position to present the next harbours Bill to the Assembly.

Mr Hay mentioned the issue of fines, which is dealt with in clause 3 of the Bill. The clause refers to a fine on summary conviction that does not exceed level 4 on the standard scale. Over the weekend, I may have had cause to examine what the potential fines might be. I have been told that level 4 brings the fine up to around £2,000. In that instance, the Office of the Legislative Counsel has given new advice to the Department. During the Committee Stage of the Bill, the Department will discuss with the Committee making a change to that and, perhaps, bringing forward an amendment that will allow the Department more flexibility.

As I said at the start of the debate, the need for the legislation arises from the growing interest of the general public and elected representatives in the activities and future development plans of the individual harbour authorities. The passage of the legislation will better equip the Department to safeguard the public interest with regard to such matters in future. I am grateful to the Committee for Regional Development for the support that it has given to the Department, to date, in the development of the legislation. I commend the Bill to the Assembly.

The Bill stands referred to the Committee for Regional Development.

TOP

Limited Liability Partnerships Bill:
 Further Consideration Stage

Mr Deputy Speaker:

No amendments to the Bill have been tabled. The Further Consideration Stage of the Limited Liability Partnerships Bill is, therefore, concluded. The Bill stands referred to the Speaker.

TOP

Open-Ended Investment Companies Bill: 
Further Consideration Stage

Mr Deputy Speaker:

No amendments to the Bill have been tabled. The Further Consideration Stage of the Open-Ended Investment Companies Bill is, therefore, concluded. The Bill stands referred to the Speaker.

TOP

State Pension Credit Bill: Final Stage

The Minister for Social Development (Mr Dodds):

I beg to move

The State Pension Credit Bill is, essentially, good news. It is a vital element of the strategy to ensure that both present and future pensioners in Northern Ireland can avoid poverty. It will add £50 million to the money that pensioners at the lower end of the income distribution are entitled to receive. Half of all pensioners stand to gain. The average gain is about £400 a year. In addition, the Bill removes the unfairness of the present capital rules and reduces the intrusion into pensioners’ affairs by making five-year awards to those who are over 65 years of age, thus abolishing the weekly means test. All in all, the Bill contains good news for pensioners in Northern Ireland.

TOP

Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill:
Committee Stage (Period Extension)

The Chairperson of the Committee of the Centre (Mr Poots):

I beg to move

The Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill, which passed its Second Stage in July 2002, stands referred to the Committee of the Centre. The Bill is one of the most significant pieces of legislation to be introduced in the Assembly. Its main purpose is to provide for the appointment and remit of a children’s commissioner for Northern Ireland.

Last year, the Committee of the Centre undertook a major inquiry into the role and remit of a children’s commissioner, and the Bill, as drafted, reflects many of the Committee report’s recommendations. The Committee of the Centre, as part of its rigorous scrutiny of the Bill, sought views and comments from organisations that had a direct interest in the work of a commissioner. The Committee has received detailed written submissions from a wide range of organisations and individuals. The Committee has also taken oral evidence from several of those organisations, including the Commissioner for Children in Wales.

Scrutiny of the clauses is now under way. Several issues have already emerged, and those will require full and careful examination. Therefore the Committee requests an extension until 22 November to provide adequate time to consider all the measures covered in the Bill and to produce a report to the Assembly. I assure the House that the Committee has given priority to the Committee Stage of the Bill and will complete its work as quickly as possible. To ensure that there is no delay, several further meetings, in addition to normal Committee meetings, have been held.

TOP

Marriage Bill: 
Committee Stage (Period Extension)

The Chairperson of the Committee for Finance and Personnel (Mr Molloy):

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. The Committee Stage of the Marriage Bill is due to conclude formally on 10 October 2002, by which time the Committee is required to report its findings to the Assembly. The Committee has completed its deliberations on the Bill, and a draft report is being prepared.

The Committee is dealing with two other Bills, the Budget and two inquiries. The motion to extend Committee Stage until 4 November 2002 is a precautionary measure to ensure that the Committee is able to approve and publish the report on the Bill. The Committee is content that it will be able to report its findings to the Assembly by the new deadline. I ask Members to support the motion.

TOP

Family Law (Divorce Etc.) Bill: Committee Stage (Period Extension)

The Chairperson of the Committee for Finance and Personnel (Mr Molloy):

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. The Committee Stage of the Family Law (Divorce etc.) Bill is due to conclude formally on 8 November 2002, by which time the Committee is required to report its findings to the Assembly.

At Second Stage, several Members raised concerns about the Bill and mentioned the need to strengthen the institution of marriage. The Committee has written to many interest groups inviting them to submit evidence and will need time to consider the responses and hear oral evidence within its already overloaded programme. The Committee wishes to consider this important Bill carefully and ensure that the Assembly receives a well-balanced, informed report. As a precautionary measure, the Committee is asking Members to agree to an extension of the Committee Stage to 9 December 2002. The Committee will make every effort to complete the Committee Stage as soon as possible to ensure that there is no delay in the passage of the Bill. I ask Members to support the motion.

TOP

Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre

I beg to move

I am grateful for the opportunity to move the motion standing in my name and that of my Colleagues, Rev Robert Coulter and Mrs Carson. I apologise on their behalf for their absence — they have been unavoidably detained. Rape crisis and associated sexual abuse is a serious problem and, as we are all sadly aware, an increasing one. The purpose of the motion is to highlight the response of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and, to a degree, that of the Northern Ireland Office to the inadequate financial support for the Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre.

It is worth emphasising the value of the centre and the positive contribution that it has made, and continues to make, despite its fragile financial basis. It provides a wide range of services free of charge. It deals with adults, children, males and females and provides a free phone service for enquiries. The centre has been in operation for 20 years.

The centre receives £32,000 per annum from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and up to £7,000 from Belfast City Council. Because of such limited financial support, the centre has a £20,000 deficit. Arguably, it is not enough simply to clear the deficit; money is also needed to provide an adequate foundation for future work. The centre has only just been able to survive by paying low wages to its two full-time workers and by the extensive use of volunteers. It receives 3,000 new contacts every year — and it helps up to 3,000 people every year. That will give Members some measure of the scale of the problem that the centre is attempting to tackle.

We tabled the motion because we believe that the centre is underfunded and has been since it was set up in the early 1980s. Recently, members of my party and I met representatives from the centre to discuss why support from the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and other Government agencies has been so consistently low. This is an especially pressing question, given that it is the only agency in Northern Ireland providing a full range of free support services to victims of rape and serious sexual abuse.

There has been controversy and confusion about the state of play as regards the recent funding application made to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety: undoubtedly, that issue will be raised again today. The centre’s staff believe that they submitted the application on time. Even if it was not received by the deadline, why did the Department not find the situation strange, given that it has had a 20-year relationship with the centre? At that time, departmental officials were meeting representatives of the centre more or less weekly. Surely, the alleged failure to submit an application by the deadline should have been raised in time for something to be done about it.

In any case, the issue of when and if the application was lodged is a bit of a technical distraction, given the crucial point that this important area of support for public health has been underfunded for most of the last two decades. That should have been obvious to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and to the associated Government bodies some time ago.

It might be asked why there is a reference to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) in the motion in addition to the challenge to the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. Natural justice requires that the NIO should also provide some support, notwithstanding the distinction between transferred and non-transferred matters. There are two reasons for that. First, the NIO already gives support to various victims of violence: by extension, why should it not provide support for the victims of sexual violence? Secondly, the NIO provides generous support to rehabilitate ex-prisoners. The interests of natural justice require us to ask why the NIO should not similarly support those who have had tremendous trauma imposed upon them through no fault of their own.

I am pleased to move the motion.

I support the motion. The Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre (NI) is associated with the Network of Rape Crisis Centres Ireland. As was mentioned earlier, a helpline is provided free of charge for victims of sexual violence. Some time ago, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety passed an application for research funding to the Minister. Disappointingly, there has been no response to date.

The centre has been in existence for over 20 years and deals with more than 3,000 cases a year. It receives £32,000 per annum. Other organisations deal with similar issues but do not act in conjunction with the centre.

Sexual violence against women, children and men is not decreasing. All the evidence suggests that it is a growing problem. Since the centre’s establishment, it has played a vital role in dealing with the problem. Over the years, it has built up an unequalled body of expertise and skills in helping victims of sexual violence through their ordeal, both during police investigations and during subsequent criminal trials. The centre also plays a critical role in counselling victims in the aftermath of criminal proceedings.

The centre has never been adequately funded. In the past, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety provided some funding, and some district councils made contributions; for example, Belfast City Council allocates approximately £7,000 a year. However, the centre has limped along for years on a shoestring budget, which is not good enough. Its recent financial crisis was so serious that its telephones were cut off temporarily; Members may have watched a programme about that on television.

It is unacceptable for such an essential organisation to be constantly in that position. Society could not cope with the problem of sexual violence without the expert help that the centre provides. Given that, the burden of its funding should not fall on the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety alone. This is a human rights issue and has implications for all Ministers who are responsible for children’s policies, policies on women’s issues and the criminal justice system, so I call on all Ministers and officials in the Northern Ireland Office to consider their responsibilities and produce a funding formula to enable the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre to continue its essential work.

Rape and sexual abuse are major issues, not only in Belfast but across the Province. People in my constituency who counsel the victims of sexual abuse and rape help about 60 people a week and, because their service is seriously underfunded, there is a serious backlog.

Rape and sexual abuse here are increasing. The proposer of the motion, Dr Birnie, should remember that the funding crisis extends to other centres in Northern Ireland, which employ staff who are equally dedicated to their work. The work, effort and time put in by those people, often in difficult circumstances during which they must listen to people who have been raped or abused, cannot be quantified. Some of the stories are horrifying, and it is a tragedy that none of the centres receives adequate funds to deal with the many problems that result from sexual abuse.

I remind the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety that the problem must be tackled, not only in Belfast but across the Province. I would like her to formulate a strategic plan for all the centres. That is not to take anything away from the comments of Dr Birnie and the Member for Foyle, Mrs Courtney, who made a good case for the centre in Belfast. I urge the Minister to begin a strategic review of all the centres in Northern Ireland.

Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Like other Members, I wish to commend the work that is being done in many rape crisis centres in the North, sometimes voluntarily. The Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre does crucial work with survivors of abuse. Such groups ensure that survivors’ voices are heard in places such as the Assembly.

I agree with Mr Hay that that work is going on throughout the North and that many of the organisations carrying out that work are underfunded. However, more crucially, the voluntary and community sectors are also underfunded. I had a meeting in my constituency recently with a funder of a local centre in which great work is being done. Groups such as those are living from hand to mouth because they cannot get long-term funding and do not know where they are going. We must realise the impact that that underfunding has and have a fundamental review of the good work that the voluntary and community sectors carry out.

However, I am concerned about some issues that other Members have mentioned. According to recent media reports, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety received no funding application from the Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre. I have had no contact with the centre, but Dr Birnie said that it believes that it submitted an application. I welcome the Minister’s presence in the Chamber. Will she tell the House if that funding application was submitted? Will she outline how it is progressing, and will she let us know when it will be resolved so that Members can get a clear picture of what is going on?

As former Deputy Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, I and other members of that Committee were critical of the previous practice of applications being made willy-nilly with no follow-up mechanism. In fact, the Committee wrote a report on that, so its concerns are on record. I am concerned — and I do not take away from the good work being done in those centres — that we do not go down that road. If criteria are in place, we must implement them.

I ask the Minister again to explain to the House what is happening with that application. Dr Birnie says one thing, media speculation says another, and I have just received a press release from the centre. Again, like other Members, I wish to commend the work, which is occasionally voluntary, that is done sometimes 24 hours a day, seven days a week in many of these centres, and I should like to reiterate Mr Hay’s point that this is not just in Belfast; groups throughout the North are doing such work.

I speak on behalf of my Colleague Mrs Eileen Bell, who is elsewhere on Assembly business and cannot attend the debate.

Mrs Bell has actively supported the work of the Belfast Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre for some time. The suffering of rape victims remains unacknowledged by most people. Their trauma and stress is virtually ignored by the public and is certainly not best served by current legislation. The staff of the rape crisis centre have been working with commitment, loyalty and great experience with neither salaries nor, indeed, acceptable working conditions.

Mrs Bell has been in touch with the Office of the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister and with the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, who we are glad to see in the Chamber. Those Ministers seem to ignore the urgency of the situation. I understand that no wages have been paid to staff in the centre for several months, and it is ludicrous to say that no payment can be made, even pro tem, because the Department has allegedly not received a revised application. The centre has received core funding for more than 20 years, and is evidently still being used. Therefore why has no money been given in lieu of the arrival of an application for funding?

The Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre's mission statement says that it exists to

The centre's annual report shows that it provides face-to-face counselling in 79% of cases and that the remainder are dealt with by telephone. Survivors tell stories of nightmares, flashbacks and suicidal feelings. The centre provides the only available practical help and support, along with services that are vital to the survivors' encouragement and continued survival.

The low rate of reporting incidents of rape and sexual assault to the police means that, although the PSNI has greatly improved its approach to dealing with such crimes, victims still fear interviews and court appearances. Moreover, the sentences that are usually handed down do not reflect the damage that has been done to the victim. The way in which victims are treated and the lack of sensitive ways in which they can give evidence mean that the legal system for such crimes is utterly horrendous and must be attended to immediately. The Alliance Party supports the recommendations that if the Bar Council is not prepared to implement a code of practice, one must be imposed upon it by statute, and that judges must also use their powers to curb the worst excesses of the legal vultures.

It is accepted that sexual offenders against women and children enjoy a high acquittal rate. If a sentence is imposed, it rarely reflects the gravity of the crime. We must bring such sentences into line with the deep trauma that is inflicted by the guilty on the innocent victim. Some judges must completely change their mindset, and instances of plea-bargaining should be greatly reduced, if not eradicated.

The issue of rape and sexual abuse has been overlooked. Organisations such as the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre have had to deal with it on a totally inadequate budget, with little public recognition or acknowledgement. The Assembly must support the centre's efforts to draw up an effective business plan to provide a clear vision for the future in this sensitive area. Core funding must be made available and be commensurate with the centre's many activities so that it will be able to contribute to the welfare and support of some of our most disadvantaged women and children.

On behalf of my party, I thank the management, staff and counsellors of the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre for their efforts, which have been carried out effectively, in spite of an uncertain future and a lack of funding.

The Alliance Party wholeheartedly supports the motion.

I, like others, support the motion. With rape and sexual abuse on the increase in Northern Ireland, and with the Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Centre doing, as we have heard, such valuable work, it is almost impossible to believe that its representatives must come to the Assembly with a begging bowl.

Given the seriousness of the debate, it is depressing to look around the Chamber and see the number of Members who are involved in private conversations and are not listening.

TOP

Next >>