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Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

I apologise for not being in the Chamber for the whole debate, Madam Deputy Speaker; as you know, the Northern Ireland Grand Committee met this afternoon at 4.30. In the limited time available, it is difficult to highlight the most important aspects of the speech I had prepared. Many thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost in my constituency, but I want to flag up the serious situation of the multimillion pound fishing industry. Northern Ireland fishermen have been told that they will receive no moneys for the 11-week closure of fishing in the Irish sea, pursuant to the cod recovery scheme, which is now in its seventh year and runs from mid-February until the end of April. As the House will appreciate, that announcement caused much alarm to fishermen, processors and their families and to local communities that rely on the fishing industry. Council regulation (EC) No. 2792/1999 governs the payment of compensation, and aid was paid under it in 2004 and 2005. This year, we pressed for the renewal of aid to fishermen in Northern Ireland, and on 31 January 2006 my colleague Jim Allister, MEP, received from the Minister with responsibility for agriculture and rural development a letter indicating that payments beyond two years were prohibited by EU regulation. My colleague disputed that and invited Commissioner Borg to give the Commission’s view about the regulation. On 8 March 2006, Dr. Borg wrote to our MEP saying that although the regulation capped compensation at a cumulative total of 12 months, in Northern Ireland payments had been made only for five months so seven months’ compensation was still payable by the national Government, and could be spread over several years. Will the Government consider the modest request that £800,000 be allocated to allow suffering Northern Ireland fishermen to survive? The hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood) referred to the home computer initiative. I received a letter from a constituent, Philip Norton of Ballygowan, who said:"““By scrapping the Home Computing Initiative—a tax incentive introduced in 1999 and further clarified and enhanced in 2003 to enable greater take-up of PCs in the home—the Chancellor has removed one of the most popular and successful initiatives he has created in his time in power, and one that is still running in several countries throughout Europe.””" He pointed out that only 10 days were left to sort out the matter, and he would appreciate it if the decision could be reconsidered and, if possible, reversed, as it will have a huge impact throughout the United Kingdom. I welcome the planned reduction in the number of health trusts and boards in Northern Ireland under the public administration review. I hope that will result in the release of moneys that can be ploughed into front-line services. I have some real concerns about whether the changes can be rolled out without too much upheaval for staff and patients, but time alone will tell. For a change, I want to record my delight about recent announcements about additional moneys for Herceptin for women suffering from breast cancer and the additional £2 million for beta interferon for multiple sclerosis sufferers, to end the postcode lottery among the Province’s health boards. The latest announcement about anti-TNF drugs is a life-saving decision for many sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis, which is a crippling disease. We need ring-fenced funding for those drugs, so that no one who needs them loses out in future. In the past, people have been denied them simply because of where they happened to live. With nine other MPs from across the UK, I had the pleasure of participating in a meeting with rheumatoid arthritis sufferers to help to compile a book highlighting their experiences with and without anti-TNF drugs. I met a young woman, Hazel Mark, who started showing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 11. She is now in her late 20s or early 30s and has been on Remicade for approximately one year. The transformation in her life has been miraculous. The things that we all take for granted, such as opening cans, lifting a baby and just being able to get out of bed, are now possible for Hazel. On behalf of people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, I thank Ministers for the welcome news about anti-TNF drugs. I also want to place on record my thanks for the additional £14.6 million, which the Minister for social development in Northern Ireland has made available for community funding. I had a meeting with him yesterday in my constituency. The news is welcome to the various women’s groups throughout Northern Ireland, which will now be in a position, at last, to try to draw down that much-needed funding. The women’s centres have been the sticking plaster of local communities throughout the years of the troubles. They do an amazing job in relation to education, preparing women to go back into the workplace, providing crèche facilities and so on. I pay particular tribute to the Ballybeen women’s centre, which has done such sterling work over 20-odd years. I am glad that it will not have to go cap in hand looking for funding from various sources, but can avail itself of that much needed money to secure the work that it does in my constituency and throughout the Province.