Mr Givan invites the minister to make a few comments on the impact of Covid-19 on the Department of Justice itself.

She says they are concentrating on ensuring that services are maintained and that staff and those in the department's care are protected.

Image source, Getty Images

The minister says that some areas of work have slowed or have stopped in order to ensure that essential work continues.

Mrs Long says planning for the period following the crisis has begun

"I expect that it will be not the normal," she says.

Image source, NI Assembly

The DUP's Gordon Dunne wants to put on record "our appreciation to the police for what they have done to date".

"I honestly do think they have made a genuine effort and are continuing to do it," he says.

Mrs Long says the number of fines and cautions have been "relatively low in terms of some other parts of the UK".

She adds, "we shouldn't lose fact that the public have been remarkably compliant" but says there are some who have ignored the restrictions.

She says it has been "clear there is a sense of public spiritedness".

Paul Givan asks about the reopening of cemeteries to the public.

He says a paper was presented to the executive by the health minister on graveyards "and it didn't get approval for a week".

"I know you didn't support that at that executive meeting," he adds.

Mrs Long says she has no "locus" on the opening or closing of graveyards.

Image source, Getty Images

She says Mr Givan has just told her how she voted in the executive.

"You didn't hear that from me and there is an issue of confidentiality because if we are to have these conversations they should be private conversations that should be held within the privacy of the executive," she says.

The chairperson says "it was well documented" through the media.

The minister says "it was your colleagues" who may have made it available to the media.

The DUP's Paul Frew asks the minister if she is "concerned about some of the stories you have heard" about police interaction with the public in terms of essential travel.

Mrs Long replies, "I can't answer for the operational issues around policing or to comment on individual examples".

"These are abnormal times and impositions on people’s freedoms," she says, adding she is "someone who believes in personal freedom and free choice".

But she says these are "not normal circumstances" but assures the committee the legislation will "lapse automatically in two years" and that there are "restrictions that it can only be used in this pandemic".

Image source, NI Assembly

She says there are "checks and balances to ensure" that there will not be a "power grab over individuals freedoms".

Mrs Long adds that the "ultimate personal freedom is freedom to be able to live" and that it is "reasonable and rational that the government has a duty to protect".

"It's not only about freedoms, but also about responsibilities," she says.

The Green Party's Rachel Woods asks the minister about the "potential reopening of churches, or household recycling centres, or gardening centres".

She says it's an "operational matter for the police" but asks if it "would come under the justice directorate".

Naomi Long replies, "the issue in this is there may need to be changes to the regulations in order to allow for travel".

She adds that there needs to be "clarity and consistency" and that the messaging should not become "muddled".

Image source, NI Assembly

"When the messaging was clear and concise and people were confident of what they were being asked to do," she says, "they were happy to do that".

She adds that "preparation of travel restrictions, they are health-led".

Paul Givan asks the minister about the PSNI's interpretation of regulations concerning exercise.

He says that "the police have discretion when the law has been breached but they don't have discretion to make up the law, and there would be a concern that they were going beyond the law when it came to the interpretation around the reasonable aspect".

The minister says it is currently the subject of a judicial review and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to comment.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Givan says he thinks the police are doing an excellent job.

"I was stopped by the police, questioned as to why I was coming to Stormont," he says.

The minister says she hopes he was able to convince them that he was on essential business.

She says there has been increasingly "a push back" from people and that shop workers and council staff are bearing the brunt.

Mrs Long says it's not the case that people are trying to be "fun sponges" and make everyone's life a misery

Committee chairperson Paul Givan of the DUP gets the meeting under way.

He runs through the by now familiar arrangements with some of the members taking part by audio link.

Mr Givan introduces the Justice Minister, Naomi Long, for her briefing and assures the session will only last 90 minutes.

In her opening statement she outlines some of the measures her department has taken in response to the virus outbreak.

She also reveals that five prison officers have tested positive for Covid-19 and says her thoughts are with those. She adds that no prisoners have tested positive for Covid-19.

Image source, NI Assembly

You can continue watching coverage of the Health Committee by the live stream on the NI Assembly website, external.

We're taking a short break and will be back at 12:30, when we'll be joining the Justice Committee.

It will receive a briefing from the Justice Minister Naomi Long

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, NI Assembly

The committee chair, Colm Gildernew, thanks the BSO witnesses for their contribution to the meeting.

But he raises concern that some of the issues raised could have been foreseen.

Mr McIvor replies that his organisation "seek to be better prepared going forward while we continue to respond to challenges we face now".

The BSO representatives leave the meeting before the committee takes a short break.

The UUP's Alan Chambers asks about Northern Ireland being "treated as a poor relation" regarding the share of equipment through the four-nation approach.

Peter Wilson says BSO have found themselves in a unique situation regarding the gowns they supplied to England.

Image source, Getty Images

He says BSO hasn't had any problems sourcing any stock nationally "other than the national availability of those stock lines ".

Mr Wilson says that when BSO has asked "if the have sufficient supply they have generally provided".

He says he doesn't think Northern Ireland has been treated any differently from the other nations.

Pat Sheehan of Sinn Féin asks the witnesses to outline what role they have in the recruitment of people to carry out contact tracing.

He also asks if they have "any experience of shortages of drugs coming from the EU, particular morphine".

Liam McIvor says he understands contact tracing is being "led by a team in PHA" but adds, "we have been involved in relation to provision of technology and possibly accommodation for these people".

He says there has been "mention made of environmental health people and students" but says he is "not at this stage sure of what the route is".

Image source, Getty Images

Peter Wilson responds to the drug shortage question.

"I can't give you an answer," he says.

He explains that the "supply chain for drugs is not managed by BSO," but rather "managed directly by individual trusts and the Department of Health".

The SDLP's Colin McGrath asks the BSO representatives about the ability of those working for the organisation to do their job from home.

Mr McIvor replies that he is "responsible for those in my organisation" which is about "1,400 personnel".

Image source, NI Assembly

"We dramatically increased the number of people working remotely," he says, adding that others are "social distancing in offices and other environments".

He says it is important to "protect staff and enable them to fulfil functions".

Mr McIvor pays tribute to the BSO info technology service which he says has increased the "band of capacity and equipment to enable people to work from home".

People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll says that "generally speaking the PPE approach has been worrying, and I think it's been a botched approach to it".

He says there are serious questions about whether there was enough PPE stockpiled before the crisis.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Carroll asks if advice to stockpile had been followed.

Liam McIvor says this is a policy matter for emergency planning branch.

He says BSO's role regarding the PPE stockpile "is to hold it for the department and rto manage its release".

Alex Easton of the DUP asks about the procurement process and mutual bids with other parts of the UK.

Peter Wilson of BSO says "none of us foresaw how bad Covid would be".

He says "all the goods we have been procuring have gone through some sort of technical assessment" by "folks with a clinical background".

The official adds that it's the "same process we would use if we were running a tender".

"We have obviously had to find ways to fast track that."

Image source, NI Assembly

He says there are five procurement points, that they have the "right goods, in the right place, at the right time, the right quality, and the right price".

"Our focus has been on securing the right quality of goods and available when they're absolutely needed and to do that at the best price".

Mr Wilson says "we have had a very close relationship with Scotland and Wales for many years and have worked with them on procurements, principally led by Wales".

"In terms of pricing being achieved," he says, "it’s not substantially different".

Deputy chairperson Pam Cameron of the DUP asks if BSO expects any support from the Army in the distribution of PPE in this or any subsequent outbreak of the virus.

Image source, Getty Images

Peter Wilson says that BSO has been able to cope with distribution within its existing arrangements so far using its own fleet of vehicles and a third party distribution company.

He says that at this point they don't envisage using military support - "that doesn't mean to say at some some point that mightn't change".

"Who knows what a second surge might bring?" he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Órlaithí Flynn of Sinn Féinn asks how the BSO "outlines the types of equipment" included in the 60m items of PPE Mr McIvor referred to earlier.

Mr McIvor says the 60m items "includes gloves" and says the BSO can "provide a breakdown of what we have procured".

Ms Flynn asks a supplementary question: "How are the gloves being counted, it sounds almost silly, but are they counted individually?"

Mr McIvor says "they are being counted individually".

He says "they are not sold as pairs" and often "are not used as pairs".

He says those who use them take either one or two "as you need".

He says they are "issued as a box of 100" and that it how they are counted.

"That's how gloves are used in the healthcare setting," he adds.

Alliance's Paula Bradshaw asks about a statement the health minister made in the assembly chamber on 24 March where "he said he had authorised, that day, 30% release of pandemic stock. What does that mean?" she asks.

Peter Wilson says the "pandemic stockpile is owned by the Department of Health".

"Whilst BSO looks after the housekeeping of it," he says, "we don't actually own it".

Image source, NI Assembly

"We have to seek approval to have it deployed and we do that in tandem of looking to our own stock levels in our warehouse, which obviously we have raised to try and cope with Covid."

He says the 30% of stockpile was released "into BSO stock and then pushed out to trusts based on need".

He adds it "didn't get pushed out immediately" as, in some areas it would have overwhelmed.

He says it was issued "based on need at a trust level".

Committee chairperson Colm Gildernew begins the questions.

He says he's been speaking with people across the health sector and that the situation around PPE seems to have improved in the last few days.

Mr Gildernew wants to know what modelling BSO is using to prepare for a second wave of Covid, to avoid the mistakes that were made and the lack of supply.

Liam McIvor says the PPE modelling is being done by a group that is aligning with a surge modelling group.

"We will then be advised of the number of activities that are taking place and from that we will extrapolate the requirement for the six items of PPE.

Mr Gildernew asks if BSO is confident that it has the access to the PPE required and the means of distribution.

Mr McIvor says BSO has been distributing through the trusts and on to the care sector.

In terms of supply, there are four sources - local, through "the four nations" and moves to source supplies internationally, he explains.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Gildernew asks if BSO has cancelled any local orders for scrubs.

BSO official Peter Wilson says he's unaware of any cancellations although there may have been reductions in some orders.

The chairperson asks if that is wise, given the possible need for stockpiles.

Mr Wilson says BSO normally carries four weeks stock but increased this to 12 weeks from January.

He says they have stocked up to meet the demands posed by Covid.

Mr Gildernew asks whether 250,000 gowns that were diverted to GB have been replaced.

Mr Wilson says they have not been replaced.

"We haven't run out of gowns yet, although stock is challenging in gowns," he says.

Liam McIvor says BSO is now in talks with a local supplier regarding a secure supply of gowns.