Speaker Alex Maskey adjourns the meeting of the Ad Hoc Covid-19 Committee, which concludes a rather action packed day at Stormont.

MLAs on the Health Committee started the day with a briefing on the latest Covid-19 related developments by the Chief Scientific Adviser, Prof Ian Young.

Then in the afternoon, the first and deputy first ministers, along with the education, health and justice ministers issued statements at the Ad Hoc Covid-19 Response Committee.

Image source, Reuters

Join us again tomorrow, when we'll be back with live coverage of the Agriculture Committee.

Members will be hearing from the NI Business Brexit Working Group about the practical implications of EU Exit.

Live coverage will start at 10:00.

Thanks for joining us today, enjoy the rest of your evening and stay safe.

Here’s a brief summary of what you need to know from today’s statement by the justice minister:

• New regulations will make it an offence for someone to leave the place that they normally live without a reasonable excuse

• Those who break restrictions could face a £200 Fixed Penalty Notice or a fine of up to £5,000 if their case goes to court

• Naomi Long tells MLAs there is “not a policing solution to the Covid problem”

• Those who need to escape harm or domestic abuse can and should do so, says the minister
• In-person prison visiting has stopped due to the increase in Covid transmission in the wider community

Image source, NI Assembly

Green Party MLA Clare Bailey asks the justice minister about enforcement.

“What explicit powers of enforcement do local government’s have within these regulations?”

“They have the same powers of enforcement as anyone else” says the minister.

The only thing they can’t do is issue fixed penalty notices, adds Naomi Long.

Image source, NI Assembly

Will in-person prison visits continue under the new restrictions, asks John O’Dowd.

Naomi Long, the justice minister, outlines some of the changes made to prison visits in the run up to Christmas.

She says they have currently had to be stopped due to the increase in Covid transmission within the community.

Martina Anderson of Sinn Féin asks if consideration has been given to who could or should be involved in "sharing the burden" of enforcing coronavirus regulations aside from the PSNI.

Naomi Long says "it has" and as the most visible law enforcement agency police "tend therefore to bear the brunt of any criticism" of enforcement.

However, the minister says councils are also involved in enforcement, as well as the health and safety executive.

"There aren't a huge number of other bodies available, I have to say, that would have the expertise to be able to do the work that both the PSNI and indeed the councils do," she adds.

She says the councils have a "wealth of experience" and "underlying relationships with people".

"What we need to look at is how we get more compliance."

Policing Board member Dolores Kelly asks if additional financial resources will be provided to the police to cover overtime payments in dealing with enforcement.

Naomi Long says she has been in contact with the finance minister and has a figure for this provided by the chief constable.

She says it will be assessed whether or not this can be met from within existing departmental budgets.

The minister continues that the PSNI has placed on record that community-based policing will not be withdrawn.

"That is hugely important", she says, and will help with getting the executive's health guidance out to the public in a "proactive way".

Sinn Féin’s Jemma Dolan asks the justice minister for clarification around the travel regulations and how they may affect those trying to escape domestic abuse.

Naomi Long confirms that those who need to escape harm or domestic abuse can and should do so.

Ms Dolan raises concerns about increased levels of domestic abuse during this lockdown, as happened last March.

Image source, NI Assembly

The minister outlines that there is a new domestic abuse media campaign under way, and that monitoring of domestic abuse reports is ongoing.

The figures of domestic abuse this year “are better than the previous Christmas” says the minister, but she emphasises that “like any figures” these statistics come with “some caveats”.

Paul Frew of the DUP says “equality is the essence of justice” but he questions whether it is being enforced across the board.

The MLA refers to a family in his constituency who received a fine of £200 each for attending a two-year-old’s birthday party.

Mr Frew then makes reference to the funeral of Bobby Storey which occurred in June 2020.

“There are people in this house, and even in this executive that you sit on, who have not received anything, for turning out in their thousands for a sham funeral oration and yet they have received no justice,” says the MLA.

Image source, NI Assembly

Naomi Long responds to the North Antrim MLA by saying the police undertake “complex work” and says it’s “not an easy job”.

“We do have to have some sympathy with officers,” she adds.

The minister continues that it would not be appropriate for her to comment on issues “which are currently under investigation”.

Sinéad Bradley of the SDLP asks how the justice minister intends to reach people who may be confused "regarding regulations versus guidance", especially if they do not use social media to receive updates.

Naomi Long says there is an onus on the Executive Office to publicise the rules, however, all ministers have a responsibility to "provide as much clarity as possible".

She concedes the changes in regulations can be "confusing" and "people will need to adapt".

The SDLP MLA also asks the minister if "in the interests of transparency" police data on fines should be published on a daily basis.

Mrs Long replies that the statistics are provided weekly so "people can drill down" into them and this periodic release may help with analysis.

Image source, NI Assembly

John Blair is the minister’s Alliance Party colleague.

He asks that whilst restrictions on movement are required, “we aren’t aiming necessarily for fixed penalty notices but for compliance?”

Naomi Long responds: “I would prefer no fixed penalty notices are required”.

Image source, NI Assembly

The justice minister says protests come under laws that limit the number of people who can gather outdoors

She's asked by Sinn Féin MLA Linda Dillon what has been taken from the reports into the policing of protests last year.

Naomi Long says the review was generally "positive" but there had been "some concern" around the policing of protests, adding "policing of protests is not specifically dealt with in the changes we're announcing today, it's already covered by the regulations that say no more than 15 people should meet outdoors for any purpose."

Image source, NI Assembly

UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt asks about “house parties” and what piece of legislation police will use to “clamp down” on these.

That’s a matter for the minister for health, says Naomi Long, but she explains that she understands it’s “on the basis that people are gathering in greater numbers than is permitted under regulations in one’s home”.

Paul Givan is the chairman of the Justice Committee.

He’s first to ask the minister a question about her statement to the Ad Hoc Covid-19 Response Committee.

“In a general sense, the public are concerned about measures that have been taken,” he says and refers to the “contradictions” seen in “parks, supermarkets and schools”.

The DUP MLA asks if the minister believes public confidence in the police is being eroded due to the “difficulties they face” in enforcement.

Image source, NI Assembly

Naomi Long responds that “these are decisions that are made at speed”, adding “we need to make sure they are not made in haste or are inaccurate”.

The minister adds that “there is not a policing solution to the Covid problem, there is not a regulatory solution to the Covid problem”.

It is up to individuals to “minimise the amount of time we spend in the contact of others” and “maintaining social distancing”, says Mrs Long.

Minister Long says “it is also important that there are consequences where people choose to disregard the restrictions”.

As a result, she says the regulations are “being brought forward will make it an offence to be away from home without a reasonable excuse”.

“That will be subject to a £200 Fixed Penalty Notice or a fine of up to £5,000 if your case goes to court,” adds Naomi Long.

“In addition, the PSNI will have power to direct people to return to their home as was the case in the week starting Boxing Day for the ‘curfew’ period and, additionally, to have the power to remove a person to where they are living,” says the minister.

Mrs Long stresses to MLAs “that these measures are not taken lightly” and will “not be kept in force for any longer than is needed”.

The next, and final ministerial statement of the day comes from Justice Minister Naomi Long.

She tells MLAs that “freedom of movement is one of the essential human rights we all have” and that “it is a sign of the unprecedented times that we are in that those freedoms are being reduced”.

Mrs Long says the executive “took a careful account of the balance that needed to be struck”.

“The new restriction on movement regulations will make it an offence for someone to leave the place that they normally live without a reasonable excuse,” says the minister.

Image source, NI Assembly

She says that there is a “list of exceptions which would constitute a reasonable excuse”, adding that it is a “long one” but includes “necessary attendance at work, accessing goods from businesses which can legitimately open, accessing medical care and taking exercise”.

Turning to “exercise”, the minister says an individual can exercise as “many times as they wish, to do so alone, with their household or with their linked household where they have one, or to exercise with one individual from another household with whom they are not linked”.

Here’s a brief summary of what you need to know from today’s statement by the health minister:

• The next Covid-19 surge is “firmly under way and we should be under no illusions as to how serious it will be,” Robin Swann tells MLAs

• The R rate - the rate of transmission - is at 1.8

• As of Tuesday, more than 50,000 people had received their first doses of the vaccine in NI

• Robin Swann says he hopes the debate around doses does not undermine confidence in the vaccination programme.

• The health service is working to retain as many non-Covid related services as possible

Jim Allister of the TUV asks the minister where the latest restrictions will leave “a lot of industry", which he says is seeking "clarity" around the latest regulations.

Robin Swann says The Executive Office is working through that detail around the "description of those industries".

He also encourages employers to "undertake a risk assessment".

"If work allows you, or permits you, or you're able to carry out your work from your home," then you should work there, says the minister.

DUP MLA Paul Givan asks the minister what "critical assessments" are made of previous lockdown measures in the implementation of new restrictions.

Robin Swann says the initial lockdown at the start of the pandemic in 2020 reduced the R-rate of transmission to about 0.6, resulting in a fall in case numbers.

The two-week lockdown in November/December, however, Mr Swann adds, did not achieve the desired outcome as by the end of the first week people were behaving "as if the lockdown had already been lifted".

He says this was also witnessed by health authorities in Wales.

National and international comparisons are used, the minister continues, to assess restrictions.

The current six-week lockdown "gives us two phases of incubation of the virus, which it takes really to break the large numbers of chains of infection".

The R-rate is now about 1.8, Mr Swann says, which needs a "drastic and draconian" response.

Earlier today we highlighted a scam text doing the rounds, claiming to be from the NHS and saying you are eligible for a vaccine.

It then asks you to click on a link which takes you to a fake NHS website and asks for bank details.

When asked about it in the chamber, the health minister reiterated that the health service would never charge and is "free at the point of use".

"There is not and never will be any charge for the Covid vaccine in Northern Ireland.

"Nor will anybody be able to jump queues by buying a Covid vaccine."

Jim Wells MLA says his wife, who has been in a nursing home for five years, received her first vaccine two weeks ago and had expected to receive a second dose next week.

This would have enabled her "to enjoy some form of outdoor life after being trapped in the nursing home for 289 days", the South Down representative told MLAs.

He says it is "bitterly disappointing" to his family and to other residents that "it could be three months" rather than three weeks.

Health Minister Robin Swann says the vaccination schedule for care home residents or staff has not changed.

He asks Mr Wells to contact him if he has heard otherwise from the individual care home and says he will discuss the matter after today's session.

Mr Wells says he is "relieved" and "delighted" if that is the case.