Social Development

I wish to inform Members that questions 4 and 8, standing in the names of Mrs Carson and Ms Ramsey, have been withdrawn and will receive a written answer. Questions 5 and 12, standing in the names of Mr Malloy, Mr Fee and Mr Hilditch, have been withdrawn and will not require a written answer.

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1.

asked the Minister for Social Development what assistance he can give to the urban regeneration of Dromore.

(AQO 220/02)

The Minister for Social Development (Mr Dodds): My Department has prepared a strategy for town centre reinvigoration, which forms part of our new strategy for neighbourhood renewal in Northern Ireland. The town centre element has been drawn up after widespread consultation, including comments from district councils and other Government Departments. It will highlight a range of policies and incentives, which together will create the best climate within which regeneration of town centres can be accomplished. The Department for Social Development will offer advice on best practice for reinvigorating town centres and will continue to use existing policy instruments, such as environmental improvement and comprehensive development schemes, as appropriate.

Finally, and importantly, our policy will highlight the need for a unified approach by Government to ensure that all our policies complement each other with regard to promoting town centre reinvigoration. With that aim in mind, this morning I met Mr Nesbitt, the Minister of the Environment, to discuss how we could act jointly to promote regeneration in Dromore.

The Department for Social Development, which takes the lead on regeneration matters, will provide advice and general assistance to Banbridge District Council and to the local established groups in Dromore. The Department will also continue to work with the International Fund for Ireland, as agent for the urban development programme, and with the heritage lottery fund, which has appointed a project officer to run the townscape scheme in Dromore. Those practical measures will go a long way towards ensuring that Dromore is given the best opportunity to develop a town centre of which it can be truly proud.

Does the Minister's Department recognise the scale of dereliction in Dromore? Will the Minister visit the town to see the dereliction? Can his Department provide financial assistance to the Dromore area, in conjunction with the International Fund for Ireland and the heritage lottery fund, to ensure that the schemes that are being processed by the Dromore regeneration group come to fruition?

I am happy to visit Dromore in my official capacity as Minister. My officials are well aware of the extent of the problems there and of the need to work with the local community, the local council and other interested groups to regenerate the town centre.

It is essential to have a proper plan from which to work. It will be difficult to commit a figure for funding until such a plan is in place. However, when it is formulated, potential sources of funding will be approached, and I shall decide what funding can be made available from the Department's budget.

As a result of this morning's meeting, I expect that a senior official will meet a representative of the local council. It is essential that the Department speak to the various interest groups in Dromore to develop a co-ordinated approach, so that the opportunities that will exist when the new town centre reinvigoration policy is published can be grasped.

Will the Minister update the House on the measure for town centre regeneration under Peace II?

Further to my Department undertaking a review of town centre regeneration and reinvigoration policy as part of the neighbourhood renewal strategy, it has also been examining the possibilities of funding town centre regeneration under Peace II. That measure has specific qualification criteria, and the majority of local councils across Northern Ireland have bid for assistance. As only £1·75 million is available, I anticipate that approximately only one third of the applicants will be successful. I hope to be able to announce the successful bids soon.

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2.

asked the Minister for Social Development what action he has taken, in the past 3 months, to assist socially deprived communities, address the legacy of conflict and encourage reconciliation.

(AQO 184/02)

I have recently announced several programmes and measures that are aimed specifically at assisting the most socially deprived communities in Northern Ireland. For example, in July, my Department announced a £12 million European Union Peace II funding package, which will benefit 12 communities in Northern Ireland that suffer high levels of multiple deprivation and the worst effects of recent troubles.

That funding is in addition to the £11 million URBAN II funding package for inner north Belfast that was announced earlier this year. Moreover, under the auspices of the North Belfast Community Action Project, my Department has been contributing to developing a plan of short-, medium- and long-term actions to address social and community issues there, particularly actions that are aimed at building and strengthening community capacity. Specific housing strategies are being developed to provide decent homes for those living in the worst areas of conflict. Furthermore, £1·5 million was allocated recently to projects in the most deprived areas of Londonderry, two of which aim to address the legacy of conflict and encourage reconciliation.

Thank you, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Will the Minister meet representatives of the voluntary and community sector in Omagh, the county town of Tyrone? Will he listen to the experiences of groups, such as Focus (Forum in Omagh Community Understanding and Support) and Omagh Community Support Forum - amalgams of town-based and rural community groups - and the Omagh Women's Area Network, about funding difficulties and discuss measures aimed at building their capacity?

I am aware of the contribution that the voluntary and community sector makes in delivering vital services to some of the most socially and economically deprived communities in Northern Ireland.

I recently met representatives of the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland - formerly the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust - and I have met the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action and other community organisations that provide advice and assistance throughout Northern Ireland. I am always happy to talk to representatives of the community sector.

One of the messages that people from Omagh would undoubtedly bring to a meeting would be similar to the message that such groups could bring from other parts of the Province - namely, that the community and voluntary sector is currently under some pressure. However, we are working as hard as possible to try to alleviate that through long-term strategies and also by making a bid for Executive programme funds to secure extra funding for the sector. We will continue to work on that, and I shall be very happy to meet community and voluntary sector representatives from Omagh or elsewhere.

Does the Minister agree that the most efficient weapon to deal with conflict is the existence of democratic institutions? Does he agree that those who wish to pull them down are the best friends of paramilitaries who want anything but reconciliation?

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Member's question goes somewhat beyond the subject before us. However, with your permission, I will nevertheless be very happy to answer it. Before I come to the more political aspects, I would like to put on record in the Assembly that, in the coming months, as well as the measures which I outlined previously, I expect to publish a new urban regeneration strategy for Northern Ireland generally, which will provide a new framework for targeting resources at neighbourhoods suffering high levels of deprivation and social exclusion. I expect to announce shortly the Peace II funding package that I referred to earlier. We have also secured funding for a new community outreach programme. Those are practical measures which demonstrate our commitment to helping those who are most socially deprived in Northern Ireland.

As for the Member's rather silly comments, he would be better spending his time concentrating on those sorts of issues and trying to develop truly democratic institutions in Northern Ireland. If he believes for one minute that what is unacceptable in the Irish Republic - where the Government and the leading parties have said that they are not prepared to have representatives of an armed terrorist group in government - should be forced on us here, he should talk to some more of his friends down South and see what the difference is.

The Minister has confirmed the contribution of voluntary and community groups in socially deprived communities, not only in west Tyrone but all over the Province. What moneys are available for such voluntary and community groups to assist the point of view which the Minister has put forward?

My Department utilises various funding programmes to support the regional and local community infrastructure in Northern Ireland. There is support for regional voluntary and community bodies such as the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, the Northern Ireland Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and the Association of Independent Advice Centres.

There is also, of course, the district councils' community support programme, of which, as a local councillor, the Member will be aware. That in turn funds local voluntary and community groups, advice centres and resource centres. We have increased funding to that programme to allow local councils to make the decisions on where the resources should go. I believe in local democracy, and that is what local democracy really means - letting people have the decision on where such funding should go.

We also have programmes in place to support active citizenship and volunteering. The active community initiative was launched by the Prime Minister in January 1999, and its aim is to help rebuild a sense of community throughout the United Kingdom by encouraging and supporting all forms of community involvement. We also have EU measures under the programme for building sustainable prosperity. In addition, my Department has secured funding of £3 million for a new outreach programme which has been developed in conjunction with other Departments; eligible activities will include one-stop shops for advice on such issues as funding, exchanges and secondments. Priority will be given to those areas of highest social and economic need.

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6.

asked the Minister for Social Development to give an update on the uptake of the warm homes scheme.

(AQO 211/02)

The warm homes scheme is demand-led. Since it began in July 2001, more than 12,000 referrals from eligible applicants across Northern Ireland have been processed, and more than 8,300 clients have received energy efficiency or heating measures. To date, spending on the warm homes scheme exceeds £9·6 million, and we are on course to assist 6,250 households this year.

Does the Minister agree that more than 170,000 households are classed as living with fuel poverty, and that the warm homes scheme, although a positive initiative, will not go far enough to eradicate fuel poverty?

I agree that the warm homes scheme, on its own, will not eradicate fuel poverty. However, it is a major leap forward from where we were two or three years ago, and I am sure the Member will agree with that.

Since it began operation on 2 July 2001, over 6,500 insulations have been fitted, over 1,700 heating systems have been installed, and £9·5 million has been spent. The allocation of funds for this year is £7·98 million, and that will be supported by a contribution from the NIE customer levy. Therefore, much is being done on that front, which is very welcome. The Member will know, as I do from dealing with constituents, the valuable and important improvement it makes to people's lives.

The recent study in Beechmount, which was one of the pilot areas selected by my Department, the Housing Executive and others, showed that people are saving an average of £10 a week as a result of those measures. If we were to eradicate fuel poverty in Northern Ireland, it would save the Health Service £30 million a year - and that is year on year. We talk about dealing with the crux of the problems; that shows the importance of putting money into that scheme, as it will solve a range of problems.

We are also funding an extensive programme of heating upgrades by the Housing Executive and registered housing associations. Through the social security system, a winter fuel payment of £200 a year is made available to pensioners, and a cold weather payment is also available in severe conditions. Housing unfitness, which is a major contributory factor, is being tackled through a regime of grants. We are dealing with that in the Housing Bill by introducing a more flexible regime and targeting the areas most in need, particularly rural areas where there is much unfit housing in the private sector.

I agree that fuel poverty is a multifaceted problem. It requires a cross-departmental approach, and that is why I intend to issue a fuel poverty strategy for consultation by the end of the year.

The Minister has pre-empted my question. During the Committee for Social Development's energy inquiry, we discussed fuel poverty, and I understand that the Minister's Department is setting up a fuel poverty task force. I wanted to ask when that would begin, and when the result is likely to come out.

I know of the Member's interest in that area. As I have said, we intend to issue the fuel poverty strategy for consultation by the end of the year. I mentioned the benefits of dealing with the issue comprehensively, and the tremendous benefits that accrue for householders lifted out of fuel poverty and for the general budget, due to the knock-on effects in health, education and other areas. I intend to move on that as speedily as possible.

I will ensure that there is proper consultation with everyone who is interested, not least the Members and Committees, who have a relevant input in the Assembly. I will continue to press the Eaga Partnership in delivering that on the ground, although they have done an impressive job. We will continue to closely monitor where the uptake is coming from. As it is demand-led, there is a need to ensure that those areas that may not be making full use of the scheme make as much use of it as they can. That must be done through publicity and highlighting the benefits of the scheme. Given the benefits that I have outlined, it is important that we continue to make progress, and the strategy to which the Member referred is an important aspect of that.

Does the Department have any further plans to enhance public awareness of the warm homes scheme? The scheme has been greatly appreciated across the Province. However, not everyone is aware of it.

The demand-led nature of the scheme means that there will be variations in uptake from one area to the next. As I have said, the Eaga Partnership has developed an effective promotional campaign, which involves general local media advertising and the use of mailshots in co-operation with the Housing Executive and the Rate Collection Agency.

It also involves the employment of a network liaison manager to develop referral mechanisms, which includes the constituency offices of Assembly Members. I am aware that Members from all sides come across the problem when dealing with constituents on a daily basis. It is important that they have a point of reference through which to channel enquiries and get them dealt with as quickly as possible.

Those mechanisms are in place. However, Eaga and the Department continue to monitor the situation closely so that marketing activities are targeted at areas where people are in need. By and large, the uptake across the Province is good. Some areas could certainly benefit from greater uptake; others are above average. However, every part of the Province is benefiting.

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7.

asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, for each of the last 4 years, the grant aid awarded to housing associations for the provision of social housing.

(AQO 218/02)

Housing association grants paid to registered housing associations for the provision of new-build social housing over the past four years were £55·9 million in 1998-99; £58·2 million in 1999-2000; £54·8 million in 2000-01 and £54·8 million in 2001-02.

In addition, housing associations attracted private finance of £25·1 million in 1998-99; £35·5 million in 1999-2000; £30 million in 2000-01, and £30 million in 2001-02 into the programme. Had that private finance - around £121 million - not been available, then the equivalent of around 1,800 new houses would not have been provided at no cost to the public purse.

Notwithstanding the pivotal role that housing associations play in providing social housing, does the Minister agree that the massive increase of around 58% in the building costs of housing associations needs to be examined? Is there a connection between that and the amount of private finance initiative money that they are getting?

The general cost of public housing has been measured against the comparative rise in England. Figures were taken from a needs and effectiveness evaluation that was leaked and misinterpreted by members of the press and some Members of the House. There has, indeed, been misplaced and misguided comment on those figures.

Comparisons with the cost of providing new social housing in England are misleading for several reasons. Land costs, especially around Belfast, have risen sharply in recent years. Northern Ireland's social housing is built to higher standards and lower density.

Of course, my Department is always acutely aware of the need to deliver value for money. It has commissioned detailed research into several issues that have arisen from the evaluation - including the reason why house prices have risen so dramatically - so as to ensure that it gets the best possible value for investment in the housing programmes, as it has done in the past. The review of needs and effectiveness on housing concluded that public spending on housing in Northern Ireland has generally been effective in meeting its objectives and has delivered acceptable value for money. The suggestion that the housing budget is somehow overfunded is completely spurious. I am glad that many people in the Province share that view.

The Minister and his Department have spent substantial sums of money on social housing. However, in areas such as Greater West Belfast, hundreds of people have been waiting for meaningful consideration of housing, many since March 2000. Has the Minister any plans to increase funding for housing in west Belfast?

I can only operate within the budget available to me. Dr Hendron and other Members will have a critical role in that when voting on the Budget in the coming months. I have made pleas before, in the House, outside the House and elsewhere, for increased funding for housing.

With more funding, more houses can be built, not only in west Belfast, but in other areas of housing need. That is why I was so alarmed - indeed, annoyed - at the misreporting and nonsense in the papers recently about the needs and effectiveness evaluation. It made no sense at all. It is simply nonsense to suggest that we are somehow overspending because more has been spent in Northern Ireland than in England on maintenance and housing, especially when billions of pounds are now being invested in England to catch up on the investment that we have made over the years - a tacit admission that we got it right all along.

We must accept that, just as I said in answer to Mr Armstrong that warm homes can have effects on the health budget and educational standards, decent, fit and quality housing can have a wide range of knock-on effects for people's educational status, health, environmental improvement and so on. It is essential that extra resources be put into housing generally - in west Belfast and other areas of the Province. I will commit myself to doing everything that I possibly can to do that, and I look for the support of Members on that issue.

Has the Minister any evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, to suggest that one reason why building costs are so high in Northern Ireland is the awful extortion, by members of the Provisional IRA and other paramilitaries, from companies that are trying to provide the social housing that he mentioned?

Rising land costs are an issue, especially around Belfast. In other areas of the Province, the scarcity of land at the right price has a knock-on effect on the ability of housing associations to acquire land for new social housing. We compete for that land with the private sector and others. Anything that contributes to higher costs is an additional problem, be it extortion demands by paramilitary groups or whatever.

Our ability to deal with homelessness, longer waiting lists, severe housing need and severe social and economic deprivation is hampered, hindered and set back when, for instance, funding that should be used to tackle those issues must be diverted into buying homes under the special purchase of evacuated dwellings scheme to transfer people threatened out of their homes by paramilitary groups. We are now looking at an underspend of well over £15 million in this year's budget as a direct result of the Castlereagh break-in, and we know where the responsibility for that lies.

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9.

asked the Minister for Social Development what steps are being taken to ensure that claimants who do not wish to open a bank/building society account in order to receive pension and benefit payments, will, after April 2003, retain the option of receiving such payments directly from a Post Office.

(AQO 182/02)

Payment by credit transfer is being introduced to modernise the way benefits are paid, to reduce social and financial exclusion by giving access to basic bank accounts, and to reduce the fraud and abuse associated with the current paper methods of payment.

Negotiations are proceeding between the banks and the Post Office to ensure that people who open basic bank accounts will be able to access those through the Post Office. Thus it is my clear policy that people in Northern Ireland will be able to continue to collect their benefits at post offices.

Will the Minister give an assurance that any switchover will not be compulsory?

I assure the Member that people can collect their benefits in cash from the Post Office if they so wish. The purpose of the reforms is to tackle social and financial exclusion and to reduce fraud and abuse. Clearly, provision must be made for those who cannot or do not wish to avail of that system. There is no question of people being forced to use it, and people will still be able to receive their money weekly. They will not have to make different financial arrangements for their own accounting purposes.

Has the Minister had discussions with Consignia, or has he plans to meet the company regarding the retention of services in rural areas to ensure that residents in those areas continue to have a service equal to that available to urban residents?

Time is up.

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Nursery Provision at Moorfields Primary School

During the summer, I received correspondence from the board of governors of Moorfields Primary School outlining the battle in which the school has been engaged with the North Eastern Education and Library Board. That battle concerns the provision of a nursery unit in that locality and has been ongoing for several years. It began as a result of the complete absence of statutory and voluntary provision for children of nursery age in that area.

Glenwherry is a large rural ward outside Ballymena. Its vastness is one of the reasons that dedicated nursery provision is required at Moorfields Primary School. Members who are unfamiliar with the area may find the following statistics helpful. Moorfields Primary School is more than five miles from nursery provision in Ballymena and 10 miles from provision in Ballyclare, and both facilities are oversubscribed. Provision in Larne is 13 miles away. Assuming space were available at any of those locations, the distances involved make it unlikely that parents would seriously consider provision offered there. Imagine the frustration felt by the school and the residents at being denied nursery provision despite the obvious need in the area, when smaller areas and the maintained and integrated sector are catered for and receive preference in funding and provision. At best, that is discrimination; at worst, it is a sectarian policy that deprives parents and children of their rights.

The outworking of Government policy has discriminated against children in that area and deprived them of the opportunity to avail of nursery education, which the Government claim should be available to every child.

Furthermore, it makes a nonsense of this Government's intention to target social need. Women and children from rural areas are being disadvantaged by the outworking of that policy. A policy that does not target those in real need is not a policy at all. Immediate action must be taken to address that obvious need. The Government's pledge that there will be a place for every child rings hollow at Moorfields Primary School. Immediate action is required.

The facts make for stark reading. Despite the greater number of pupils and new places in the controlled sector of the North Eastern Education and Library Board over the past four years, most Pre-school Education Advisory Group (PEAG) programme places have gone to the maintained and integrated sectors. In real terms, that is 598 places as opposed to 520. That has an obvious funding implication and can affect the future of primary provision in certain areas. Departmental statistics alone prove that no part of Glenwherry's need is met. The calculations used by the board are in error, so the Department should open afresh the allocation procedure.

Let me explain. The board estimates the shortfall at Glenwherry to be 40 places. That number results from subtracting the total pre-school provision - 44 places - from the number of P1 children, which is 84. Accordingly, it is assumed that existing provision, to some extent, meets local need. The fallacy of that approach is revealed by an analysis of the two wards served by the pre-school providers, the Country Playgroup and the Tiny Tots Community Playgroup. It emerges that Glenwherry is served by neither of those two excellent providers. Glenwherry, therefore, is not catered for and should be near the top of the list of areas requiring assistance. However, it is fifth on the list and unlikely to receive assistance.

The plain truth is that the North Eastern Education and Library Board (NEELB) and the Department of Education make no provision for pre-school children from the Moorfields area. When will that provision be made? In November 2000, Gordon Topping, the chief executive of the board wrote to the board of governors of Moorfields Primary School admitting that there is

It is now 2002, and no identified resources have come to Moorfields to address its obvious need.

Will the Minister put his money where the board's mouth is? A unit at Moorfields Primary School is urgently required and will go some way towards meeting local need. My questions demand serious answers, and I hope that the Minister can provide them. What resources will be allocated to Moorfields in the current financial year for a nursery unit? Secondly, what is the total provision in respect of money and the number of places for pre-school children in the Glenwherry ward? Thirdly, with no provision in the Glenwherry ward, how does the Department of Education intend to meet the Government's promise of a place for every child whose parents want it? Fourthly, does the Minister accept that there are flaws in the PEAG process report, given how provision has been calculated for Moorfields? Fifthly, will the Minister amend the PEAG programme to accommodate need at Moorfields?

The need at Moorfields is real and will affect the opportunities that its children will have in later life. The sooner they are in nursery school, the better rewarded they will be. Depriving them of that opportunity deprives a massive rural hinterland of rights which can be expected in other parts of Northern Ireland. Depriving those children, rather than those in the minority whose parents choose other sectors, is woefully wrong. The Minister should provide the necessary funds for Moorfields to enable it to keep up with the opportunities offered to children elsewhere.

I support the subject of this Adjournment debate. The Member who has brought this matter to the attention of the House has made it known that a parent in the Moorfields area who asks for accommodation for children in a nursery school is told to go to Ballymena, three or four miles away. In Ballymena every place has been taken, and the parent is told to go to Ballyclare, 10 miles away. Again, in Ballyclare, every place has been taken. The nearest place in which there is a likelihood, and only a likelihood, of a child's receiving nursery care is 13 miles away in Larne. There must be something frightfully wrong if children in the Moorfields Primary School catchment area are discriminated against and cannot participate in that which was promised to them by the Executive.

It is discrimination because, if money is not given, nursery places cannot be provided. Money must be given. Although other education sectors receive funding, this sector does not receive enough funding to supply adequate nursery places and fulfil the promise that was made. It is surely the duty of the Minister to ensure that that matter is rectified.

Anyone who knows the religious breakdown of the population of the Glenwherry area knows that it is largely Protestant. Why are children from that large Protestant population not given the opportunity that is afforded to other children of another faith who are provided for by a different system of education? Of course, all children are legally entitled to provision under the scheme. However, the Protestant people there are not getting their entitlement, and, because it is such a vital issue, it is only right that the House is informed and the Minister pressed on the matter.

Members know how difficult it is to rear families in Northern Ireland, which is largely due to unemployment. Sometimes it is mothers who are employed and earn the money necessary to keep the home. However, a mother can do that only if nursery provision is available for her children. It is wrong to expect a mother to travel 52 miles a day - 13 miles from Glenwherry to Larne to leave her child at a nursery school and then back again to work and the same again to collect her child when she has finished her work - to avail of the nursery place to which her child is legally entitled. That must be remedied immediately, which means that money must be made available and planning started straight away.

I am speaking on behalf of those children who deserve, are entitled to, and ought to have nursery provision, and the House is where such matters should be raised. The Department of Education must ensure that it fulfils its promises and meets its legal requirements. Therefore I urge it to consider the situation carefully to ensure that the discrimination ceases and the matter is remedied so that there is equal opportunity for all children, no matter what faith they may be of or to which school system their parents want to send them.

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on such an important subject, and I congratulate Ian Paisley Jnr for raising this at the Adjournment. I apologise for the absence of my Colleague, Rev Robert Coulter, who is on important Assembly business elsewhere. He has made representations to me, as Chairperson of the Committee for Education, on this important matter. It might be useful to Mr Paisley Jnr and other Members to know that I have written to the chief executive of the North Eastern Education and Library Board expressing concern and asking for details of the situation at Moorfields Primary School. When a reply is made, I shall copy it to interested Members. I do not want to spend a great deal of time outlining the case; obviously local Members are in a much better position to do that. However, the matter has been raised with the Committee for Education, and it will pursue the issues involved. It is to be hoped that the Committee can come to a more satisfactory conclusion than that which pertains at the moment.

The Minister of Education (Mr M McGuinness): The Department of Education is responsible for the implementation of the pre-school education expansion programme, which has been one of the most significant educational developments here in recent years. It has been planned at local level by each education and library board's pre-school education advisory group, or PEAGs, as they are known. I am grateful to these groups for their expertise and extensive local knowledge, and for the vital role that they play in implementing the programme. I wish to pay tribute to them for their hard work.

Throughout the programme, the PEAGs have been responsible for identifying those areas that have a shortfall in funded pre-school provision and for determining whether that shortfall should be addressed by creating new places in the statutory or voluntary sectors. I emphasise that the resources that are available under the programme allowed only for a specific level of capital investment, and the PEAGs carefully assessed areas for which capital resources should be used.

That assessment took into account factors such as the existence of providers in the voluntary and private sectors, as well as future viability. The expansion programme is an integral part of the Department of Education's new targeting social need action plan, so levels of social disadvantage were also taken into account.

I mentioned the voluntary and private sectors to emphasise that provision of the programme is not confined to the statutory sector; indeed, the programme has established a partnership between the two. The Education and Training Inspectorate's report 'Begin with Quality', which I launched 10 days ago, reported favourably on the quality of the non-statutory centres. The North Eastern Education and Library Board's PEAG decided that, taking all relevant factors into consideration, and within the capital funding that was available to it, the provision of a nursery unit at Moorfields Primary School was not a priority. Therefore it was not included in the PEAG's development plans. Additional funded pre-school provision in the Glenwherry and Kells ward cluster was created instead, by the allocation of 60 funded places for two playgroups in the area. Inspections by the Education and Training Inspectorate have shown that parents with children in those playgroups are being provided with high-quality places.

I am aware that there has been correspondence between the North Eastern Board's PEAG and the school about the establishment of a nursery unit. My Department has asked that PEAG to consider the need for a statutory nursery unit at the school and to give its view of the matter.

I do not accept for one minute that the controlled sector has been inequitably treated by the PEAG or by the board. I refute any allegations of discrimination by the PEAG or the board against any section of our community. The maintained and integrated sectors have, historically, had less nursery provision than the controlled sector. However, all sectors have benefited from the creation of new provision under the expansion programme. The PEAG continues to deal with the matters that the school raised, and the North Eastern Education and Library Board and my Department will receive their advice in due course.

The expansion programme has been successful, and I anticipate that provision will rise to approximately 95% during the school year. That is over the estimated provision of approximately 90%. Therefore I am confident that the target of a place for every child whose parents wish it will be met.

We must also recognise that local issues remain in any large-scale programme. Those will usually have local causes and will need local solutions. The PEAGs and my Department will continue to work together to find those solutions.

Adjourned at 4.20 pm.