Speeches by Swann.

“Thank you, Sir Robert. I recall one specific piece of work that you, the Fiscal Council, did looking at the health budget. In an earlier comment you mentioned that the Department of Health is working round its current budget in year 3, as was. Health is doing something and other Departments not quite so much. Why do yo…”

“This is a phrase you used earlier on. All those reports talked about a recurrent Budget and the golden egg of the three-year budget. Sir Robert, in an earlier comment you seemed to indicate that you thought that the Executive, if they agreed a Budget, would not be fit to get to a three-year Budget. That was an inferenc…”

“In regards to the work that has been done, you mentioned Treasury. What is your assessment of the accuracy of the figures that were calculated by the Treasury in its recent open book exercise? It seemed to me quite a thin document.”

“You said in a previous comment that Northern Ireland is funded at need. In regard to the current talks process and the current engagements, are you considering a further funding package for Northern Ireland, as the Executive has been calling for, to support Budget agreement? If so, are you considering any conditions to…”

“Secretary of State, you went down a list of things there and said, “No, no, no”, if the Executive say no to all these steps. Do you step in at that point if they continue to say no?”

“In his first answer, the Secretary of State said that the recent disorder was a problem that needed to be solved. A fortnight ago, I arranged a roundtable in my constituency that included the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the police, the Executive Office, the Department for Communities and many other organisation…”

“But it hasn’t actually—”

“Four years in.”

“Has the relationship improved or has data sharing improved?”

“You said you worked with the Irish authorities in Cork. Do you have a physical presence in Cork?”

“Sorry, Davy—in regards to immigration?”

“Do you have any operational challenges in working with the Irish authorities on enforcement activity that you think we could help resolve?”

“Could it improve further?”

“How big a difference would that make if it was completed?”

“Thank you for what you have said so far, folks. Can I just ask about the bigger picture that was picked up by other questions? How strong is the cross-border co-operation between you and similar Irish authorities, especially regarding irregular or illegal migration?”

“Meetings, visits and strategies—what is the output? How many arrests and prosecutions have there been from the cross-border work with your colleagues in the Republic?”

“At what point geographically?”

“Mr Capps and Mr Beck both referred to increased ferries—I think it was mentioned that on the route from Boulogne to Cork they had increased by a third. What are you doing additionally to work with the Irish authorities regarding that increased ferry travel?”

“Data sharing was covered earlier on. Is there adequate data sharing between your authorities and the Irish authorities in regards to the numbers, routes, travel and numbers of people coming in?”

“So 500 for the first answer—”