Speeches by Robinson.

“Is that a structural problem within Northern Ireland, or is it a consequence of enforced multi-party coalition Government?”

“Very briefly, on the stabilisation money, Sir Robert, you are right to say that there was an allocation within that £3.3 billion of £1.1 billion for stabilisation money. There was also circa £658 million for immediate pay pressures to meet pay awards. As you know, that is a one-off allocation for pay awards and it is n…”

“Good morning to you all. My first question is a general one: which public services are most in need of improvement? Can you even quantify that or narrow it down? Dorinnia, maybe from your experience you might be able to talk to us about where, in the past, you have seen the greatest deficit in the ability to deliver pu…”

“My hon. Friend mentions information that should be shared, and accountability. What about transparency in commissioning? He has raised this issue on a number of occasions over the years. Is he satisfied that there is transparency in the commissioning process? Is there opportunity and fairness in the process, or is ther…”

“The last time you and I were on a farm, it was a limited company. How prevalent would that be in Northern Ireland agriculture?”

“Just on succession, Richard, how hard is it to get the older generations to pass their holding to the younger generation?”

“This change has encouraged a discussion around tax planning, tax shielding, passing things and getting tapered relief over seven years. Very often, you hear farmers come back and say that they are concerned about who the son is in a relationship with and where that is going to go. There is a reluctance there. There jus…”

“You had a reader in east Belfast at the weekend. That is good going. I hope that this is not an unfair question, but we have talked about the threats, the dangers, the lack of data, and maybe the misunderstanding of Northern Ireland’s perspective over England, Scotland and Wales. Have any of you, over the last number o…”

“Peter, you talked about some changes that would not be embarrassing for Government and would allow them to limit the impact. Have you had a chance to think, because you think about these issues and write about them quite extensively, whether that would have a material detriment to what the Government have planned to ra…”

“What you are suggesting is that, if you were to cash out, you would get clobbered.”

“That would be useful. Thank you. William, you said at the agriculture committee last week that, from the Ulster Farmers Union perspective, there is an urgency for specific data. Since then, we have had the letter from the DAERA Minister, and we have talked about some of the other sources available. Is that picture gett…”

“William, you made a good point about Jeremy Moody’s information not being available. You will send that through. It would also be worthwhile if he were able to review the Hansard transcript and perhaps comment on all of the issues today.”

“If you say that we are getting a more complete picture, although it is bleak, what is absent and yet would be required to give a complete picture? What dataset would it be important to have that we just do not have the ability to review at this stage?”

“That is very helpful. I appreciate it. What is the make-up of Northern Ireland’s farming sector in terms of land value, farm size and ownership?”

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. Peter, you write for the Irish Farmers Journal. You had an article on Saturday the 7th, which I found fascinating. I am going to invite you to explain to Members for the evidence session today. You indicated that HMRC had released clarification on the agricultural property relief, which contr…”

“Peter, your figure there of an average cost per acre for sale for Northern Ireland contrasts with some other figures that we have seen of around £21,000 an acre in Northern Ireland. What is your sense of the reason for the variance even within the average figure?”

“That is helpful, thank you. The DAERA analysis states, “The traditional practice in Northern Ireland is that land on a farm tends to be owned by a single person”. Is there data available to back up that claim?”

“Our judiciary are independent from the Government as well, as she knows. At first instance, in the High Court in Northern Ireland, citizens can draw upon legal jurisprudence within the European system without needing to go to the final arbitrary appeal of a third party. She knows that. The hon. Lady and I have parsed t…”

“I regard the hon. Lady as well, as she knows. She has made that point now on two occasions, and she is free to do so. I want to come back to the SPS point that has been raised on a number of occasions. Here I stand as a Unionist Member of Parliament from Northern Ireland, having engaged on these issues for the past eig…”

“This Bill does not take us back. If we are interested in building trust and resetting our relationship with the European Union, why is it not conceivable that we could get to a place where we respect one another, acknowledge one another’s purity of legal services and legal systems, and recognise the importance of the r…”