Other News In Brief

Man Convicted Of Benefit Fraud

A man has been convicted for claiming benefits he was not entitled to at Belfast Magistrates' Court.

Denis Reid was fined £250 and ordered to pay £66 court costs for wrongful encashment of Jobseeker's Allowance totalling £83.

Mr Reid has repaid in full the money wrongfully obtained to the Department for Communities.

Work On New Omagh Hospital And Primary Care Complex Complete

Construction work on the new Omagh Hospital and Primary Care complex has been completed.

West Tyrone MLA Declan McAleer toured the new hospital along with Michaela Boyle MLA and other local representatives, including Councillor Sean Clarke and Councillor Frankie Donnelly.

Mr McAleer said: "This is a state-of-the-art healthcare facility right at the heart of the Omagh community. With a range of co-located services under the one roof, this represents the vision outlined by Professor Bengoa.

"With services such as GPs, urgent care, cardiac assessment, renal, a children's department and 40 individual ensuite, wards this new facility will cater for the vast majority of health needs for generations to come.

"There are 17 different specialties in the new complex and the introduction of the new shuttle bus service (384e) every 30 minutes from Omagh bus station starting at 7.40am until 6pm, then hourly until 9pm, makes the new facility accessible for everyone."

Concerns Raised Over Govt's Approach To Workers' Rights

SDLP South Belfast MLA Claire Hanna has raised significant concerns about the British Government's approach to workers' rights in Brexit talks.

The SDLP Finance Spokesperson said that the firm human rights floor provided by the European Union is at risk of collapse if the British Government does not change strategy.

She said: "One of Europe's most significant achievements is raising human rights and workers' rights standards across our continent.

"Shared parental leave, the working time directive, equal pay for agency and part-time workers – Europe has created a higher floor of rights for people across this island.

"The British Government's approach to Brexit, however, threatens a full scale subsidence on that floor of minimum rights.

"Using foreign nationals as bargaining chips, threatening to row back on human rights standards and the creeping advancement of the Great Repeal Bill are all a serious risk to our rights framework.

"By refusing to enshrine workers' rights in bespoke new laws, and instead leaving it to secondary legislation through the Great Repeal Bill, any British Government could begin to erode those standards without consulting the devolved administrations or even their own parliament through the use of statutory instruments. We cannot allow the stealth erosion of fundamental rights."

(CD)