n Medical Treatment: Older Members of the Community - Mr Attwood asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what steps he is taking to ensure that older members of the community (i) receive fair and equal treatment in hospitals; and (ii) are not disqualified from required treatment as a result of their age.

Mr McGimpsey: Decisions to admit someone to hospital, and his or her subsequent treatment, are determined by clinical factors that take account of the individual patient’s condition and circumstances, and consideration of the risks and benefits of particular treatments. A patient’s chronological age will not disqualify him or her from receiving the necessary healthcare.

Mr Attwood: Has the Minister’s Department undertaken any review of hospital discharge arrangements for vulnerable older people since he came to office, bearing in mind that there appears to be evidence that different arrangements are in place — depending on which trust area a person is in — that govern the discharge of vulnerable older people. That may result in some of those older people being put in jeopardy.

Mr McGimpsey: I concur entirely with what the Member said about the discharge arrangements for older people. They should be discharged when it is safe and proper for hospitals to do so. The Member asked whether I have undertaken a review of the discharge process. I would be concerned if inequities existed across Northern Ireland, and procedures and guidance on the matter should be followed. I am not aware of my Department’s having conducted such a review since I came to office. However, I will be in touch with the Member on that issue. He is aware that we are developing a range of service frameworks, and although they will automatically cover older people, there is an argument to be made for a specific framework for older people, and I am looking into that. However, any framework will not simply relate to discharges. The issue must be dealt with, not least because, by 2015, around 500,000 people in Northern Ireland will be aged 65 and over. We are looking at the demographics, and that is why the Health Service is skewing.

Mr K Robinson: Given that we are striving for parity on health provision across the UK, will the Minister tell us why standards in the national service framework for older people in Great Britain do not apply in Northern Ireland? Will the Minister consider introducing those standards here in the near future?

Mr McGimpsey: I refer Mr Robinson to my previous answer. We are looking at service frameworks. This is the way in which the Health Service in Northern Ireland proceeds with service frameworks: it sets out levels of standards that patients and users should expect. There is an argument that there should be a service framework for older people, and I am considering that, bearing in mind that service frameworks in any area should automatically cover all patients. There is an argument for a special service framework, which would correspond with the work that has been undertaken by the Health Service in England.

n Unclaimed Pension Credit - Mr Brady asked the Minister for Social Development, in light of the current level of unclaimed pension credit benefit, to detail her plans to ensure that as many people as possible who are entitled to this benefit, receive it.

Ms Ritchie: I am committed to ensuring that everyone in Northern Ireland receives the benefits to which they are entitled. I assure Mr Brady that there is good news about pension credits. When pension credit was introduced in October 2003 to replace the minimum income guarantee, 78,000 households received the benefit. Since 2003, the number of households that receive pension credit has increased by more than 17,000 to 95,000, and almost 117,000 individuals now benefit from pension credit. The most recent figures available from the Northern Ireland income-related survey for 2004-06 show that 83% of those who are eligible receive pension credit.

Mr Brady will undoubtedly agree that that is a notable increase from 2003-05, when only 67% of eligible people claimed pension credit, and provides further evidence of increasing levels of successful benefit uptake. Although those figures are encouraging, I am not complacent. In May 2007, I launched the Social Security Agency’s 2007-08 benefit uptake programme, the aim of which is to ensure that over 150,000 older people receive their full benefit entitlement, including pension credit. The current programme builds on those undertaken in previous years, which generated over £7 million of additional benefits to some of society’s most vulnerable people. I will soon launch a further uptake programme for the next financial year.

Mr Brady: Will the Minister explain how she can continue to deliver on pension credit — or, indeed, any issue — if she does not have the support of her own party, as witnessed by its refusal to support her on the Budget and the Programme for Government?

Ms Ritchie: Mr Brady must be unaware of the fact that the Treasury in London deals with benefits, and payments come directly to me through annually managed expenditure. Benefits are neither part of the comprehensive spending review nor the Budget. My party has no problem. It has always supported the need for benefit uptake, the need to address social disadvantage and deprivation, and the need to ensure that the people who are in greatest need of benefits receive them.

Mr Cobain: The problem of unclaimed benefits is growing, mainly because of the complexity of the benefits system. Does the Minister agree that that problem will not be fully resolved, and will continue to raise its head time and time again, until we have a properly maintained and funded service that supplies free advice to the relevant areas of the community?

Ms Ritchie: Mr Cobain represents the constituency of North Belfast, where he deals with people who are suffering and disadvantaged, and he sees, at the coalface, the needs of those individuals. The Department for Social Development and the Social Security Agency have commissioned the establishment of various advice agencies to help with the benefit uptake campaign, and, as a result of 2007’s Positive Steps consultation, I will soon announce news about regional hubs for advice services throughout Northern Ireland. Therefore, I hope that Mr Cobain will be able to factor some of the responses from his constituency into the new consultation period later this year. I will take his comments on board.

Mr Shannon: I thank the Minister for her positive response, which shows that benefit uptake is increasing. Does the Minister agree that a major advantage of the present system is that pension advisers from local Social Security Agency offices have gone out into the community? Does she agree that that is one of the main reasons for such an uptake? Does the Minister have any plans to increase and enhance the role of pension advisers to ensure that even more people take advantage of pension credit, thereby increasing current numbers?

Ms Ritchie: I agree with the Member for Strangford Mr Shannon that the pension advisers have done an excellent job. Not only have they assisted people with pension advice but they have been able to direct people to other areas for advice — namely, social services, social workers and the Housing Executive. In many instances, those advisers have been the only point of contact in any one week for pensioners who live in isolated rural communities. The Social Security Agency held a review of its outreach service for older people in 2007. Although the report recommended 15 staff, based on the workload information, the agency increased that to 20 pension advisers to ensure the continued successful delivery of outreach services. I assure the Member that I will seek a working report from my officials on how effective that has been in recent months, because the most important thing is that we target our money where it is most required.

Mr Speaker: The Further Consideration Stage is intended to enable the Assembly to debate any further amendments to a Bill. As no amendments to the Budget Bill have been tabled, there will be no opportunity today to discuss the Bill. Members will be able to have a full debate during the Bill’s Final Stage.

The Further Consideration Stage of the Budget Bill [NIA 10/07] is, therefore, concluded. The Bill stands referred to the Speaker.

Mr Speaker: I wish to inform Members that the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has received Royal Assent. The Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 became law on 25 February 2008.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I wish to inform the Assembly that today I wrote to the First Minister, informing the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) of my resignation from the Government. I want to place on record that I have been honoured to serve this country and, indeed, honoured to serve under the leadership of the First Minister in particular. I leave with high hopes, in good spirit, with deep humility and with gratefulness in my heart. Thank you.

Mr Speaker: This afternoon, I received notification of the resignation of the Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP from the position of Chairperson of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee. I have also been informed by the First Minister and deputy First Minister that, with immediate effect, they have appointed Mr Donaldson as a junior Minister in the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. Mr Donaldson has affirmed the terms of the Pledge of Office, as set out in schedule 4 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. That affirmation was witnessed by me and Mrs Carol Devon, the Interim Clerk/Director General of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Mr Donaldson is now a junior Minister.

The Minister of Finance and Personnel (Mr P Robinson): I thank the Chairperson and the members of the Committee for Finance and Personnel for agreeing to the accelerated passage of the Budget Bill. The debates on the Bill have, at times, been interesting, robust and — for the most part — constructive. I thank Members for their contributions and interest.

All Members recognise the critical role that is to be played by the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. He deserves the support of the House in the difficult task that he faces. He must administer a budget of £4 billion, which is a significant amount of money. We have been able to secure flexibility for his budget, which will make it much simpler for him to do his task, and I am sure that he will use that flexibility. On top of that, he has the advantage of being able to use any additional savings that he can gain in the Department. However, I recognise that those savings will not take place in the early part of the CSR period. I have no doubt that, if the Minister experiences difficulties, he will bring those to the Executive. If one examines the allocations to health over previous years, one will see that this is the largest health budget that has been available to any Minister. It represents a larger chunk of the overall Northern Ireland block grant than any Health Minister has had before. This is a good Budget for Northern Ireland. The Executive and the Assembly have a responsibility to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland. The Budget, the Programme for Government and the investment strategy give us the tools with which we can create a better standard of living for the people of Northern Ireland and improve and grow our economy. I hope that the Committees will play a full role in ensuring that Departments deliver in each of their areas of responsibility. It is the responsibility of Ministers to deliver, and it is the responsibility of the Committees to ensure that they do so.

Resolved (with cross-community support): That the Budget Bill [NIA 10/07] do now pass.

The Minister for Social Development (Ms Ritchie): The legislative consent motion deals with the extension to Northern Ireland of the provisions of the Pensions Bill, as introduced to the House of Commons on 5 December 2007. The Bill includes measures to progress proposals set out in the White Paper, ‘Personal accounts: a new way to save’, which was published in December 2006.

The Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for Social Development (Mr Hilditch): The Bill is part of an overall pension reform package. An integral part of the reform package is the aim to introduce a simple low-cost system of personal accounts for those who currently do not save for retirement or do not have access to an occupational pension scheme. The Bill deals with the setting up of the personal accounts scheme as regards its design, governance and funding. The establishment of a separate scheme for Northern Ireland would bring all sorts of financial implications, and, as the Minister has rightly said, because a Northern Ireland scheme would operate on a smaller scale, there would be a question mark over its sustainability. Furthermore, the investment power of a separate Northern Ireland scheme would be significantly less than that of one which operates on a UK-wide basis.

The Pensions Act 2007 established the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority to act in an advisory capacity on the detailed design of personal accounts. The authority already operates on a UK-wide basis, and the Bill will extend its remit in relation to its functions and how it operates. The scheme is being extended so that members will be guaranteed, as the Minister said, 90% of their accrued pension at the date on which the scheme began to wind up; payment of assistance derived from pension accrued post-1997; and payment of assistance from each scheme’s normal retirement age. Furthermore, people who are unable to work because of ill health will be able to apply for early access to payments; members will be able to draw on a tax-free lump sum if their share of the funds allows it; and assistance will be paid to members of schemes that wound up underfunded, where the employer is still solvent. The extension has been seen as a real victory for those who campaigned for it. Not only does it mean security for individuals, but it also means security in retirement for their families.

Resolved: That this Assembly endorses the principle of the extension to Northern Ireland of provisions of the Pensions Bill as introduced in the House of Commons dealing with the Pensions Regulator Tribunal, information relating to private pensions policy and retirement planning, the power to establish a pension scheme, the remit of the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority, the Pension Protection Fund and the Fraud Compensation Fund; and of amendments to that Bill introducing new provisions to the Financial Assistance Scheme.

That this Assembly notes the special circumstances of Share Fishermen in relation to the Benefits system and calls upon the Minister for Social Development to implement changes to the legislation and benefits procedures as a matter of urgency.

n Code of Practice on Consultation - Mr K McCarthy asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister whether or not it has published advice to Northern Ireland Departments in relation to public consultation documents, corresponding to the code of practice on consultation issued by the Cabinet Office, in January 2004.

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: In June 2007, OFMDFM issued a ‘Policy Toolkit’ designed to provide a practical overview of the key steps in the policy development process. Within the toolkit, a best practice template is provided for a consultation document developed from the Cabinet Office guidance. The Toolkit is available on OFMDFM’s website: www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/policylink.

n Public Consultation Documents - Mr K McCarthy asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the number of public consultation documents issued by Northern Ireland departments in the last 6 months; and to detail the number of these that contained executive summaries.

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: Details of all public consultation documents issued by Northern Ireland Departments are recorded on the OFMDFM’s consultation register which is accessible through OFMDFM’s website (http://www.consultationni.gov.uk). Details of each consultation document for the last 6 months are accessible from this source. Information on how many of these have an executive summary is not currently available.

n Legal Fees - Miss M McIlveen asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the amount spent on legal fees by the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People in bringing the failed application for judicial review in relation to Article 2 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 2006.

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: The Judicial Review took place over the years 2006/2007; the final hearing took place between 19^th and 26^th November 2007. Costs paid to date total £25,475.43, whilst outstanding legal fees are estimated to be £11,167. The total costs of the Judicial Review, therefore, are expected to amount to £36,642.43.

n Child Poverty - Mrs C McGill asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail (i) the scale of child poverty in (a) Omagh District Council area; and (b) Strabane District Council area; and (ii) the particular characteristics of child poverty in West Tyrone; and to outline its strategies that are aimed at eradicating child poverty in West Tyrone.

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: Together with our Executive colleagues, we are committed to tackling child poverty in Northern Ireland. This is clearly outlined in our Programme for Government document (PSA 7) which includes commitments to:

The rate of child poverty in Omagh and Strabane District Council areas combined is 25% (Before Housing Costs) and 29% (After Housing Costs) the same as the average figures for Northern Ireland as a whole. The data in relation to the scale of child poverty in Omagh and Strabane District Council is only available as a combined figure due to sample size requirements. A range of known characteristics such as worklessness, being in receipt of benefits, lone parenthood and large families with four or more children increase the risk of child poverty regardless of geographical location. The Executive Committee will shortly consider the possible adoption of ‘Lifetime Opportunities’, as the Executive’s Anti-Poverty and Social Inclusion Strategy, a statutory obligation under Article 16 of the St Andrews Agreement. This consideration will include an assessment on how the strategy will be implemented and monitored to ensure it is targeted towards those individual, groups and areas in greatest objective need. It is expected that the OFMDFM Committee, which is currently carrying out an inquiry into child poverty here, will be invited to comment on the adoption proposals in advance of the Executive Committee’s consideration.

n People with Disabilities - Mrs M O'Neill asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister what action it is taking to improve the lives of people with a disability.

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: Since devolution a raft of legislation has been introduced which is aimed at improving the quality of life for people with a disability:

n Older Person's Commissioner - Mr M Brady asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the interim arrangements to be put in place, prior to the appointment of an Older Person's Commissioner, in order to ensure that work in this area is not neglected.

Rt Hon I Paisley and Mr M McGuinness: On 18^th December 2007 we announced our decision to establish an Older People’s Commissioner for Northern Ireland. Consultants were appointed to undertake a review of the case for an Older People’s Commissioner and will be undertaking three consultation events which will examine the possible role and remit of a Commissioner. It is inevitable that the process will be lengthy due to the statutory processes involved which include the preparation of necessary legislation.The appointment of an Older People’s Commissioner is a key priority for OFMDFM and officials will endeavour to ‘fast track’ the process where possible.

n Migrant Workers - Mr A Ross asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of Agency staff currently working in Northern Ireland who are migrant workers.

Sir Reg Empey: There are no official figures available on the number of agency staff who are migrant workers. It is not possible to obtain an accurate picture of the number of agency workers in Northern Ireland because of the way in which labour market statistics are gathered. My Department will shortly commence detailed research into the private recruitment sector in Northern Ireland. This will include an assessment of the number of agency staff, including the number of migrant workers employed by agencies. My Department’s employment agency inspector is collecting information from employment agencies during inspections on the number of migrant workers for whom work-finding services have been provided, but this work is at an early stage.

n Migrant Workers - Mr A Ross asked the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail the number of migrant workers currently employed in Northern Ireland.

Sir Reg Empey: There is no direct source for the information requested. An approximation can be derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) based on place of birth. The LFS estimates that in September – November 2007 there were 58,000 people aged 16 and over in employment in Northern Ireland who were born outside the UK. An estimated 46,000 of these were born outside both the UK and the Republic of Ireland. These figures are subject to sampling error, as detailed in the table below. Sampling Error of Estimates of People Born outside the UK/Ireland

Source: Labour Force Survey, September-November 2007. Lower and Upper Estimates based on 95% confidence limits

n Regional Suicide Prevention Helpline - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the criteria used to select the provider of the new Regional Suicide Prevention Helpline.

Mr M McGimpsey: The Tender for the provision of the new Regional 24/7 Crisis Response Helpline for Northern Ireland was managed by the Central Procurement Directorate’s Supplies and Services Division, in accordance with the standard public service procurement procedures. The criteria used to evaluate the tenders were as follows: -

n Care Packages - Mr R Beggs asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the number of people awaiting care packages, broken down by Health Trust Area.

Mr M McGimpsey: At 30 September 2007, 655 people were awaiting community care packages in Northern Ireland, of which 427 were waiting in the community and 228 in an acute setting.

Source: DHSSPS Information returns CC5b & DD1.¹ Information is currently provisional and subject to change.

n Regional Suicide Prevention Scheme - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the criteria used to evaluate the new Regional Suicide Prevention Scheme.

Mr M McGimpsey: The Suicide Prevention Strategy "Protect Life – A Shared Vision", which was launched on 30 October 2006 contains over 60 actions which aim to reduce the high rate of suicide in N Ireland. Criteria for evaluation have yet to be determined. An overarching draft evaluation framework for the Strategy has been developed for discussion at the Suicide Strategy Implementation Body. The framework, when agreed, will provide for a comprehensive evaluation to be undertaken. In implementing the evaluation framework the findings of the Health Committee Enquiry into Suicide Prevention will be taken into account.

n Victims' Mental Health - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the plans he has to work in a joined up approach with the Victims' Commissioners, to ensure that there is a provision of evidenced based treatment for the mental health needs of victims.

Mr M McGimpsey: I have not yet been approached for a meeting by the Victims’ Commissioners. However, I look forward to meeting them and to providing whatever assistance I can to improve the mental wellbeing of victims.

n Assessment of Dementia - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what is his assessment of the projections pertaining to the incidence for all types of dementia in over 65 year olds, in each of the Health and Social Care Trust areas.

Mr M McGimpsey: The incidence of dementia in the over 65 year olds is recognised to increase significantly with further aging. Although such long term projections of morbidity are always tentative, given the general increase in life expectancy in Northern Ireland I would expect that we must be prepared for substantial increases in the numbers of people likely to be affected over the coming years.

n Patients with Dementia - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the policies in place to prevent and manage elder abuse, particularly community-dwelling patients with dementia, within each Health and Social Care Trust area.

Mr M McGimpsey: A range of legislative and procedural measures are in place to protect vulnerable adults, regardless of their physical and mental health or where they live. These include the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (NI) Order 2003; the Regional Adult Protection Policy and Procedural Guidelines; and the Joint Protocol for the Investigation of Alleged Incidents of Abuse. These arrangements apply across Northern Ireland. In addition, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (NI) Order 2007 will introduce a new registration scheme in Northern Ireland for those individuals working with children or vulnerable adults.

n Regional Suicide Prevention Helpline - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the evidence used to demonstrate the success of the pilot project for the suicide prevention helpline in North and West Belfast, upon which the new Regional Suicide Prevention Helpline is based.

Mr M McGimpsey: The pilot telephone helpline in North and West Belfast was developed as part of the implementation of the Northern Ireland Suicide Prevention Strategy, and latterly it was receiving in the region of a 100 calls per day (approx 50% of the calls came from outside the N&W Belfast area). I decided to establish a regional 24/7 crisis response helpline because of the high volume of calls and because there was clear demand emerging from elsewhere in Northern Ireland. In coming to this decision, I took into account that it can take a long time for any service to be fully evaluated in terms of its impact on the suicide figures and also that, internationally, there is relatively sparse evidence available on what interventions are most effective in terms of suicide reduction. This new region-wide service, providing support to young people and adults, will be evaluated during the first year. The findings from the ongoing audit of the pilot scheme will also be fed into the future operation of the regional helpline. The new 24/7 regional crisis response helpline is supported by relevant counselling and peer mentoring support services and, while we continue the modernisation of our local mental health provision, it will provide immediate and much needed help for vulnerable people across Northern Ireland at times of crisis in their lives.

n Suicide Prevention - Mr A Easton asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to detail the funding available for joint training sessions in suicide prevention, for health staff, community workers and churches.

Mr M McGimpsey: As part of the implementation of the NI suicide prevention strategy my Department allocated £1.8m, to support local communities with the development of initiatives to tackle the high rates of suicide and self harm across NI. The Health Boards were tasked with using this funding to develop local action plans which include the role out of additional training and development needs for community gate keepers. Initial discussions with the four main churches regarding their training needs have also taken place, and I look forward to receiving their proposals in due course. In addition a further £200k has been allocated in 2007/08 to the Health Promotion Agency to roll out a GP Depression Awareness Training Programme across Northern Ireland.

n Incidences of Dementia - Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety what assessment he has made in relation to projected incidences of all types of dementia, in people under the age of 65, across all Health and Social Care Trust areas.

Mr M McGimpsey: There are a number of types of dementia which can occur in people under 65, the causes of which vary from inherited disorders to acute trauma. Projections of future incidences of early onset dementia are therefore uncertain. Some causes of early onset dementia are better known, such as those arising from excessive alcohol intake. If the consumption of alcohol by younger people were to continue to increase I would expect larger numbers of younger people to present with the condition, and at an increasingly earlier age. This is one of the major concerns that the Department’s strategy on alcohol misuse is designed to address. For those who already have or do develop early onset dementia, of whatever variety, I would expect to see care provision and support which is geared directly to the particular problems and circumstances of the individuals concerned, and for services to be planned and commissioned to meet future emerging needs.

n Disabled Facilities Grant - Mr S Hamilton asked the Minister for Social Development to provide an update on the findings of a report by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on the effect of allowing the first £5,000 of a disabled facilities grant to be free of means testing.

Ms M Ritchie: My Department asked the Housing Executive to take part in a review of the Disabled Facilities Grants Scheme and commissioned a report on possible options including changes to the means test. The Department has not yet proceeded with the review as no changes have been made to the means test regulation in England and Wales which are normally reflected in the Northern Ireland scheme.

n Social Security Agency - Mrs C McGill asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the alternative investment plans that are in place to ensure that (i) the Social Security Agency and (ii) the Job Centre, in Strabane, can co-locate in a 'one stop shop' facility.

Ms M Ritchie: The Social Security Agency remains committed to the roll-out of a Jobs and Benefits service in Strabane to ensure that clients benefit from the same enhanced work focused service which is available elsewhere in the province. Following the withdrawal of the planning application, the Agency is currently exploring how best to address concerns raised by Roads Service with regards to the number of car parking spaces available on the existing site at Urney Road, Strabane. In addition, revised plans are currently being prepared and it is anticipated that a further planning application will be submitted for the new office in the near future.

n Benefit System - Mr J Shannon asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people receiving (i) Disability Living Allowance; and (ii) Incapacity Benefit, broken down by parliamentary constituency, in 2006 and 2007.

Ms M Ritchie: The information requested is set out in the tables below. The figures in table 1 show the number of claims where Disability Living Allowance was in payment at the date of extract and table 2 shows the number of claims where Incapacity Benefit was in payment at the date of extract. The date of extract was 14 October 2006 and 20 October 2007 for both benefits.

Table 1- Disability Living Allowance Benefit Claimants by Parliamentary Constituency at 2006 and 2007

Table 2 - Incapacity Benefit Claimants by Parliamentary Constituency at 2006 and 2007

Parliamentary Constituency	2006	2007
Belfast East	2,944	2,835
Belfast North	4,421	4,351
Belfast South	2,796	2,725
Belfast West	4,686	4,570
East Antrim	3,178	3,075
East Londonderry	3,449	3,364
Fermanagh And South Tyrone	3,448	3,287
Foyle	5,388	5,256
Lagan Valley	3,374	3,359
Mid Ulster	4,026	3,974
Newry And Armagh	4,564	4,324
North Antrim	3,912	3,907
North Down	2,480	2,426
South Antrim	3,418	3,395
South Down	4,402	4,296
Strangford	3,605	3,510
Upper Bann	5,426	5,240
West Tyrone	4,638	4,447
Unallocated Postcode*	434	580
Total	70,589	68,921

* In producing these analysis, individual records were attributed to Electoral Wards and Council areas on the basis of their postcode. Not all records can be correctly allocated to a ward or council using this method, and some cannot be allocated at all.

n Benefit Fraud - Mr D Simpson asked the Minister for Social Development, pursuant to her answer to AQW 3151/08, what is her assessment of the levels of benefit fraud in Northern Ireland, as a result of her department's rolling programme of annual benefit review exercises.

Ms M Ritchie: The latest estimate of the level of fraud in benefits administered by the Social Security Agency is £18.1m which equates to 0.5% of benefit expenditure during the survey period January to December 2006. The estimated cost of Housing Benefit Fraud during the same period is £3.3m (0.8% of expenditure).

n Inter-ministerial Subcommittee on Suicide Prevention - Ms McCann asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail its role in the inter-ministerial subcommittee on suicide prevention.

The deputy First Minister: Suicide is a devastating event for all involved. It is clear that prevention requires intervention that goes beyond the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. It needs an innovative, comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach right across the public service. The inter-ministerial subcommittee, which has met on three occasions, is chaired by the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. Ministerial membership includes the Minister of Education and the junior Ministers. The junior Ministers have particular responsibility for children and young people, a group often affected by suicide, and it is important that those Ministers are part of the subcommittee. Like all members of the subcommittee, the role of the junior Ministers is to enhance cross-departmental co-ordination.

Ms J McCann: Will the Minister join with me in extending our sympathies to the community of Bridgend in Wales? Recent experiences there illustrate the impact that suicide can have on a local community. Will the Minister say what role the inter-ministerial subcommittee will have in overseeing the targets for reducing suicide that have been incorporated in the Programme for Government?

The deputy First Minister: I saw the recent news report, although I am not sure whether it was on Channel 4 or BBC Two. It was a shocking and very sad story. Recently, around 16 young people in Bridgend in Wales have lost their lives. One of the functions of the inter-ministerial subcommittee is to identify and agree a draft action plan for the suicide prevention strategy. The draft action plan will contribute to the achievement of two of the high-level outcomes in the 10-year strategy for children and young people around health, living in safety and with stability.

Mr T Clarke: Does the deputy First Minister accept that, because of the role of his party’s military wing and other paramilitary organisations, many people have turned to suicide in Northern Ireland?

Mrs Hanna: Will the deputy First Minister detail any sharing of best practice with neighbouring jurisdictions on suicide prevention?

The deputy First Minister: The First Minister raised the issue of suicide at the recent British-Irish Council meeting in Dublin. I have no doubt that that issue e

Assembly updates 2008

n Older Person's Commissioner - Mr M Brady asked the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister to outline the interim arrangements to be put in place, prior to the appointment of an Older Person's Commissioner, in order to ensure that work in this area is not neglected.