DUP PARTY PRIORITIES
Transforming our Economy
Transforming our economy is of paramount importance if Northern Ireland is to have the prosperous future which we all hope for. The DUP have put it at the very core of the NI Executive Programme for Government.
The DUP believes that there are several structural weaknesses in the Northern Ireland economy that must be overcome. These include:
- Over dependence on the public sector
- A higher proportion of economically inactive people
- Low levels of investment in research and development
- A shortage of many appropriate skills
DUP Assembly Members have been working hard in the Assembly to improve our economic fortunes.
We have prioritized:
- Fiscal incentives to encourage, for example, enhanced research and development
- Massive investment in our roads, rail, water, sewerage, energy and telecommunications
infrastructure
- A radical reform of the planning process so strategically important developments
can be fast tracked
- Investment in our skills base so our schools and colleges are producing
people with skills to suit our economy
- Exploiting fully our excellent tourism potential
- Freeze on business rates, introduction of small business rates relief
scheme and cap on industrial rates
- Attracting inward investment
Efficient Government
The Democratic Unionist Party secured fundamental changes to the 1998 Belfast Agreement to permit the establishment of stable devolved institutions in Northern Ireland in 2007. It is in unionism’s interest for locally elected representatives to be in charge of their own affairs. Some of the early benefits already resulting from devolution include:
- Regional Rates frozen
- Direct Rule plans to force us to pay twice for water blocked
- £1.4 billion of infrastructure projects this year to aid our construction
industry
- Swift action to assist households affected by flooding
- Assisting needy pensioners and those on low incomes with fuel bills
- Irish Language Act prevented
- Divisive 7 Super-Council model overturned
- Grammar schools and academic selection preserved
- Accountability for North-South contact
- Greater emphasis on East-West relationships
- Control over devolution of policing and justice powers and any future
Justice Minister
The Democratic Unionist Party does not consider the Fair Deal we achieved to represent our Final Destination and we believe there is further progress to be made. We have outlined how we intend to make further improvements in our Driving Forward a Reform Agenda document.
Read more in our policy proposals: DRIVING FORWARD A REFORM AGENDA
Education
A good education system is essential to ensuring Northern Ireland’s future success. The province needs a well-educated highly-skilled work force. Our local system has consistently produced excellent outcomes but we still believe improvements can be made.
As a result of DUP negotiations at St Andrews a grammar school education will still be available in Northern Ireland. Had the retention of academic selection not been secured by the DUP, Northern Ireland would now be on an irreversible path towards a wholly comprehensive system. Pupils should be matched to the most appropriate school to meet their individual needs.
We believe education in Northern Ireland should:
- Value every child and every school
- Stimulate every child and provide the opportunity to reach his or her
potential
- Have adequate resources from early years right through to further and
higher education
- Address the requirements of those working in education
- Meet the needs of a changing society and workforce
- Make the best use of resources available
Health
The DUP wants to improve the ‘patient experience’. We demand enhanced facilities that can help improve the overall health of the population.
We have argued consistently for reduced bureaucracy and streamlined decision making. Staff morale must be improved. We need to train, recruit and retain more staff including professions allied to medicine. Rather than cut front line services, such as nurses, we must cut the waste that is smothering our health service.
DUP commitment to our health service was evidenced by the DUP Minister for Finance, who gave the Health Department its greatest share of the budget ever. This investment must be directed towards health promotion, early intervention and prevention of illness at community level.
Poor diet, a lack of exercise, binge drinking, smoking and illicit drug use all contribute significantly to ill health in the province.
We cannot afford our focus to be directed too much towards acute services. The needs of those with chronic conditions and disability must not be overlooked.
The DUP is concerned at the increased level of suicide in recent years. After heart disease and cancer, suicide is the third largest cause of life years lost in the province. Addressing mental health, learning disability and providing for the needs of an ageing population are key priorities for the DUP.
Read more in our policy proposals: IMPROVING
NORTHERN IRELAND’S MENTAL HEALTH
Senior Citizens
The DUP has a strong record of placing the needs of older people at the top of our agenda, and has been at the forefront in protecting senior citizens.
The DUP has delivered for older people through:
- Pioneering the Warm Homes Scheme
- Introducing a Free Fares Scheme on public transport
- Appointment of an Older Person’s Advocate
- Rates capping for the elderly
We believe older people should be allowed to continue to enjoy an active and full life in comfort and security. To enable this, we want to see the eradication of pensioner poverty. We are concerned at the increasing number of robberies and attacks against vulnerable older people. We support stiffer sentences to serve as a deterrent. Older people should feel secure within their own homes, free from the fear of crime.
Health and social care for older people must improve. Patients must be afforded the best care in an appropriate environment, with independence encouraged. More domiciliary, residential and nursing home places are required, as well as better respite provision.
Victims
The DUP has placed the needs of innocent victims at the forefront of the political process.
Since the restoration of devolution, the DUP has ensured delivery for innocent victims. We have ensured that victims have an independent advocate in the Victims Commission to stand up for their interests and hold Government to account. To support their work, the victims’ budget has more than doubled under a DUP driven Executive. The issue of funding still remains a key priority for victims and the groups which represent them. There must be long-term sustainable funding which allows victims groups to plan for the future.
The efforts of the DUP ensured that the disgraceful Eames-Bradley proposal for a £12,000 payment that would equate murdering criminals with innocent victims was thrown out by the Government.
It is vital that Government makes sufficient funds available to deliver professional services provided by victims groups for both physical and psychological needs.
The DUP is bringing forward legislation to seek to amend the unsatisfactory definition of a victim.
The needs of innocent victims can never be forgotten and providing for the needs of victims is vital as Northern Ireland seeks to move beyond decades of terrorism and violence.
Agriculture and the Rural Community
The DUP is working to improve the fortunes of our agriculture sector in Northern Ireland.
The DUP has lobbied the Government for additional funds to help the milk sector reduce its reliance on milk powders. Current price levels are unsustainable for many producers and the DUP want to see more support provided for this sector.
The DUP is critical of the amount of red tape and bureaucracy forced on the agricultural industry. The amount of paper work and number of inspections farmers are subjected to must be reduced.
DUP Executive Ministers have helped the farming community in many ways since the restoration of devolution:
- Slurry spreading season extended
- Finance for Farm Nutrient Management scheme
- Funding for research into development of the dairy sector
- Resisting pressure for a costly bureaucratic Environmental Protection
Agency
- PPS14 replaced with a policy allowing controlled development in the countryside.
- Continued lobbying for increased level of export refunds
The DUP supports Northern Ireland becoming a centre of excellence for renewable energy and believes that this can provide an alternative land use for farmers.
Read more in our policy proposals: PRIORITIES FOR THE AGRI-FOOD SECTOR
Cost of Living
Under Direct Rule, householders in Northern Ireland faced unprecedented increases in the level of local taxes. The planned introduction of water charges, the new rating system and an increase in the amount raised from rates taken together meant many people faced local tax bills two or three times the levels they were paying just a few years earlier.
The DUP has demonstrated at every level of Government that we are a low tax party committed to obtaining for Northern Ireland taxpayers the best value for money.
While our local Executive and Assembly can take decisions on a range of issues facing Northern Ireland, it still does so, constrained within a financial framework set by the Treasury. Many steps have been taken by the Executive and particularly through DUP Finance Ministers to help reduce the burden on householders including:
- Regional rates frozen
- Assistance with fuel bills for pensioners and low income households
- Deferring of water charges