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Budget (No. 2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006

I thank the Minister for laying the order before us so clearly. I agree that we are not well equipped to debate the details of the order in this Committee. Would that it were being debated in Stormont. I, too, have today read the Hansard debate, and noted a number of the issues raised there. I also noted that that debate did not go into a great deal of detail. Considering the huge amount of money—£13.3 billion—being spent in Northern Ireland, the amount of democratic examination of it is tragic. It is just not right. However, that is where we are today, and let us hope that by this time next year it will have changed. From this side of the Committee, I have a duty to challenge the Government on how it managed that money over the past year, and look to the Minister to reassure me that things are improving. In particular, the Department of Education was reported for overspend and incompetence by the national audit committee. I may have come on too strong in saying ““incompetence””—certainly, it wasted significant amounts of money. We had, and have, a wonderful education system for some. I accept that, and always have. Our education system has failed in what used to be the ghetto areas. They are no longer ghetto areas; they are nice houses, sometimes, sadly, with ghetto-type people—paramilitaries and so on—controlling and managing them. It has been extremely difficult trying to ensure that people in places such as north Shankill—I see the noble Baroness, Lady Blood, in her place—get a fair crack of the whip. We will have another debate on that at some stage, but destroying what is in place is not the way forward. That must be to spend the education budget wisely: capital spend, new and improved curriculum systems and supporting those who work with children in difficult areas to live in—whether they be Armagh, parts of Derry or east, west or north Belfast. That must be part of the Government’s supervisory role when looking after this Budget. On the administration of Northern Ireland, the Minister and I agree, by and large, on where we should be going. I am a bit disappointed at the pace, however. I would like some reassurance that cuts in administration services will lead not to a loss of benefits but to more efficiency. I hope that we will see the reorganisation of local government and education processes, and that the fact that the Minister is no longer part of the Northern Ireland team does not mean that impetus will have drifted away. I have great faith in his ability to drive that on at the necessary speed, so I hope that is going ahead. Once upon a time, in my young days, Northern Ireland probably had the best part of the National Health Service. Now, according to the Secretary of State, it appears to be the worst. Not long ago, he said it was even worse than Wales. I know we are spending extra money, but what action is being taken to carve out the waste? How is the structure to be changed to make better use of this money? I want to make a point about refuse, particularly technical refuse. I took part, as I think the Minister did, wearing a different hat in a different debate about the Department of the Environment and the WEEE directive, which has come to bite Northern Ireland administrators quite severely once again. It has cost a lot of money, and I would like to know that the necessary systems are in place to manage the meeting of the WEEE directive requirements on refrigerators, radios, batteries and all the other things that have to be disposed of under the directive. I am afraid that we on this side of the Committee are not comfortable with the Government’s ability to organise and govern this country by direct rule. I am sure that the money is spent wisely—I do not challenge many of the decisions—but I would like to see it managed more tightly, more fiercely and more aggressively in a business sense and producing better results in all the key services. I welcome in some ways the rates and water rates increases. I know that they are unpopular and that they would be difficult to bring through local government in Stormont, but we do have very low rates and we do need more money to be spent on the national infrastructure, and I very much welcome the huge capital expenditure on the Northern Ireland infrastructure today. With those few rather uneducated comments, overall I support the order.