Other News In Brief

Minister's New Health Plan 'Must Be Deliverable'

The Health Minister's newly announced three-year-health plan "must be deliverable', SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath MLA has said.

Speaking after the plan was unveiled by the Health Minister in the Assembly o

South Down MLA Mr McGrath said: "Many of the measures announced by the Health Minister in the Assembly today are to be welcomed and at first glance we would be happy to give them our broad support. However, my concern is that this plan is no more than a wish list that we are unlikely to see delivered given the current trajectory of this Executive and the funding available to the Department of Health.

"I questioned the Health Minister in the Assembly today whether this plan was concrete, tangible, fully funded, time-bound and if it would have the support of the entire Executive. His answer brought little comfort that we would see many of these policies introduced within the next three years and if that’s the case how can we have any confidence in this announcement today?

"The only concrete response the Minister could give was that he would ask under pressure staff to see more patients. Asking staff who are close to burnout to do more simply isn’t realistic. The Minister would be better off turning his attention to giving these staff the pay parity they deserve and bringing forward a proper plan for long overdue transformation to the Assembly that will allow us to address the litany of issues facing our health service and start to introduce some of these positive proposals."

Alliance Introduce New Animal Welfare Proposals

The Alliance Party's Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs Minister, Andrew Muir, has announced a range of policies aimed at strengthening animal welfare in Northern Ireland.

These include introducing Lucy's Law to ban third party sale of puppies and kittens, outlawing the use of adverse training devices such as shock collars, and mandating microchipping of cats, all of which are among the top priorities for proposed animal welfare reforms.

Minister Muir has said: "Animal welfare is one of my top priorities. I want to ensure that we focus on the right initiatives and that our resources are focused in the areas most in need of reform.

"I intend to bring forward a suite of secondary legislation to address a wide range of issues, including, for example, the mandatory microchipping of cats and strengthening microchipping requirements, including making it an offence not to update records, and the prohibition of the use of aversive training devices such as shock collars. "While my department is currently making preparations to bring forward a version of Lucy's Law for Northern Ireland and consult on mandatory CCTV in slaughterhouses, it is also my ambition to commission a comprehensive expert review of dog breeding licensing, which would consider the need for regulation of canine fertility services.

"While I want to give an indication of what the priorities will be, the detail of those reforms will be open to public consultation and ongoing dialogue with experts. I believe that by working together we can ensure our efforts are focused on addressing the right issues and collectively, we can go further to achieve the best possible outcomes.

"With Christmas approaching, I also want to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone considering buying a pet as a present this Christmas to think carefully before doing so. Once you are sure you can commit to the responsibility of owning a pet, please consider giving a home to one of the many animals living in rehoming centres."

DUP Question Lack Of Traffic Easing Legislation

The DUP's Infrastructure Spokesperson, Deborah Erskine, has questioned why the consultation on legislation to permit a pilot scheme to temporarily allow taxis to temporarily use bus lanes in Belfast city centre hasn't commenced.

A response to Mrs Erskine issued on 10th December stated the Minister would announce the commencement of the consultation 'in the near future'.

The Fermanagh & South Tyrone MLA said: "On 11th October the Minister announced this pilot scheme that would permit Class A and Class C taxis to use certain bus lanes in Belfast city centre whilst roadworks associated with the Grand Central Station are carried out. The headline on the statement trumpeted that the pilot would 'help ease traffic and support the taxi industry'.

"Two months on and the only thing moving more slowly than traffic in Belfast city centre is progress on this pilot. Not only is the legislation to enable it not in place but a consultation on that legislation hasn't even commenced.

"The public realm works around Grand Central Station will be in place for around twelve months. Indeed, the Minister's statement was timed to coincide with the full road closure of Durham Street.

"We shouldn't pretend that allowing some taxis to use bus lanes would be the solution to traffic problems facing Belfast. However, neither should the Minister pretend that there's nothing he could have done. His own statement points out that there was an awareness of the potential for traffic problems back in October yet we still don't even have a date for the launch of the consultation process, never mind the legislation or the actual pilot scheme itself.

"No-one expects the Minister to have a magic wand at his disposal, but alongside the failure to communicate properly with the business sector and the Strategic Oversight Group moving from daily to weekly meetings, it starts to look like there is a lack of will to even attempt to tackle the traffic issues facing people in Belfast."