Speeches by Robinson.

“The suggestion was that, whenever a deal was reached back in December 2023, which then culminated in the interim fiscal framework, the Executive was in the same position as it would have been had need been backdated to the start of the CSR period. My understanding is that that is incorrect. While he is looking at and t…”

“Thank you. With no notice, that was helpful and, for the purposes of this inquiry, it would be useful if you could write to us, as I asked Mr Hayes to write to us as well.”

“Good morning, Minster. Morning, gentlemen. Minister, what is your personal involvement in negotiating the new fiscal framework?”

“You are not personally involved in the negotiations overall, but you have personal responsibility for some aspects. Is this a recurring feature in your workload on a weekly basis? Are you engaging regularly on issues around fiscal sustainability in Northern Ireland?”

“When you do that, and you engage with Ministers of Health and Education here in Whitehall who have no departmental responsibility for Northern Ireland, are you doing that in conjunction with devolved elected representatives in Northern Ireland, or are you doing that on your own?”

“When do you think the negotiations on the fiscal framework will conclude?”

“This process was commenced and concluded in the first draft phase by the previous Government. At that time, there was criticism of the previous Government because they were not going back to the start of the CSR period. They were not ensuring that the financial losses, when need was not met in Northern Ireland, were me…”

“It is a political question, Ciarán. Yes, you have an official answer to give, but it is a political question. Labour criticised the lack of backdating within the three-year CSR period and recognised that because the fiscal arrangements did not go back within that three-year period, the Executive were hamstrung. The Exe…”

“If the Secretary of State is responsible, it would have been good to hear from him, I would say, respectfully. If the Cabinet Minister in the Treasury, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has overarching responsibility for this, it would have been good to hear from him too. Thank you, Minister.”

“You are saying that the Executive were told, “We will write off the debt that you should not have in the first place, as long as you provide us savings of £113 million or £115 million per year”.”

“You would accept that the overspends were less than the sum that would have been delivered to the Executive if need had been met. There is a loss to the Executive in that calculation. You would accept that.”

“You fairly outlined some of the budgetary challenges earlier, and you suggested that over a significant period of time your budget has increased by 3%. The Health Department’s budget in the last 10 years has more than doubled. It has increased by almost 150%. The education budget has more than doubled; it went from £1.…”

“The Secretary of State will know that the facility would not be there had it not been for Government investment and support. Guarantees were given not just to the people of Belfast, but to the staff directly employed at Spirit AeroSystems. The Government have also engaged in discussions about Harland and Wolff and Nava…”

“It is welcome that the Secretary of State has visited the Spirit AeroSystems site a number of times. He will know of its importance to advanced manufacturing, and of its aeronautical history in Northern Ireland—it originated in 1908 as Short Brothers—and he will also know that at this stage there is a purchaser for abo…”

“1. What steps he is taking to support the aerospace sector in Northern Ireland.”

“Good morning to you all. Ann, I want to ask you this question and it is around assessed levels of need. You will know that, as with all things in life, not least public services, there is a big difference between want and need. Over the last three or four years, it has taken quite some time and a lot of effort, in this…”

“Good morning, all. You will find that, over the next series of questions, each of us is going to direct our questions to one individual, so I am not ignoring you, Alan or Graham. Pamela, you had mentioned the impact of lack of resource for policing. You had suggested that you are having to take drastic decisions around…”

“You fairly outlined some of the budgetary challenges earlier, and you suggested that over a significant period of time your budget has increased by 3%. The Health Department’s budget in the last 10 years has more than doubled. It has increased by almost 150%. The education budget has more than doubled; it went from £1.…”

“No other part of the justice family has had to do that. Are you getting the support you require from the Justice Minister? There was an issue a few months back with correspondence, and it was quite unseemly from the Department. Are you getting the support you require, or does there need to be a greater way in which you…”

“Is there enough political awareness about some of the issues that you are going to face down the line on the McCloud judgment, holiday pay and legacy liability? Do you have a global sum that needs to be publicly aired as to what that may mean to future policing budgets?”