Treasury and Work and Pensions

Although, as I have said, the current administration has many advantages, unfortunately waiting lists to see a doctor in Northern Ireland are much longer than those in any other part of the United Kingdom. That forces many people to seek private care rather than waiting for treatment from the national health service. I am concerned about Northern Ireland’s huge infrastructure deficit, which—as was pointed out earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson)—is a legacy of years of the troubles. As a result of the IRA bombing campaign, resources were diverted to either security provision or compensation to undo the damage done by terrorists. It is significant that the very people who caused that damage are those who now complain most about the effects it has had on the Northern Ireland economy. I am particularly interested in some of the proposals in the Queen's Speech. First, there are the proposed changes in the planning system. I believe that one of the factors that have had an impact on economic growth in Northern Ireland is the slowness of that system. The simplest planning application takes an average of six months to go through the system; in some council areas it takes a year, and a major application can take up to two or three years. When Tesco began to come to Northern Ireland after the ceasefires, it described its experience of the system as ““like wading through treacle””, because the process of obtaining planning permission was so difficult and slow. I shall be interested to see what measures will be introduced to improve the planning system in that part of the United Kingdom, and I hope that some of them will be mirrored in our own economy. Secondly, there is the proposed reform of welfare. I welcome the Government’s earlier legislation, especially the measures to take people off incapacity benefit and put them into work. I think it important for us to give people opportunities to contribute to society. Let me say in deference to some of the Members sitting on my right that when it comes to welfare I am of the Churchill rather than the Polly Toynbee school. I believe in safety nets, not in cosy blankets, and I think it important for welfare reform to be part of the restructuring of the economy. Thirdly, I am very interested in the legislation on serious and organised crime. As the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has pointed out, organised crime is a massive drain on the economy in Northern Ireland. It deters investment, undermines existing industries and, of course, is used to swell the coffers of terrorist organisations. Although much work has been done, the proceeds of organised crime are still very difficult to seize. We must find a way of conveying the message that crime does not pay. We hope that many of the measures that will have an impact on economic growth in Northern Ireland will find their way to a devolved Assembly. Indeed, part of what the Queen's Speech promised for Northern Ireland has already been delivered. We may not approve of the way in which that Bill completed its passage last week, the rapidity of its progress or the lack of scrutiny, but we believe that it will make any future devolved Assembly a safer Assembly, with safeguards that were not in the Belfast agreement and are likely to make the Assembly more stable. Now it is up to Sinn Fein to deliver on the other side, and give a commitment to supporting the police and law and order. We hope that, having provided the legislative framework within which we believe devolved government can work, this Government will put pressure on those who wish to be part of government in Northern Ireland to support the police and create the right conditions for confidence and stability in any devolved Administration. However, regardless of what might be done and what powers might be vested in Northern Ireland, the huge macro-economic decisions that will affect our economy will be made in this place. One of my reasons for wanting to speak tonight was my belief that it is important for the right economic policies to be established nationally, because they have an impact on the regions of the United Kingdom—an impact that is sometimes exaggerated and magnified. I believe that the Government have got some things right and some things wrong. For those that they have got right, we will praise and support them; for those that they have got wrong, we will oppose and condemn them.