Speeches by Scott Pearman, MP

14 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

6 words

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

14 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

53 words

I think the Minister might be inadvertently misleading the House. He may not have been present in the Chamber during the debate when his colleague on those benches, who was chairing the Road Safety Council, was commended by me for do-ing so. That debate occurred only two days ago. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

150 words

Thank you, Madam Chairman, and good afternoon to you and to the listening public. Let me start by thanking the Honourable Junior Minister for his presentation. And, in particular, let me thank him for his speed reading, because he has very kindly left me with considerably more time than I have ever experienced, I think, in Legal Affairs to date …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

101 words

Okay. Excellent. Oh, and I am being offered a podium for the [Budget] Book. Madam Chairman, I will try my very best to assist both the Honourable Junior Minister and the members of the Ministry by maintaining each of the heads and trying to put all of my questions on a particular head and also to go through the h …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

658 words

And the first head, the Ministry of Justice Headquarters, as a whole appears (for those who are following along in their Budget Books) at page B -78. And that is where we have the overview of the budget for the Ministry of Justice including all of the heads and all of the departments. And, again, for the benefit of the …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

45 words

I will be very happy . . . I don’t have them numbered, I just have them in my notes. But I will certainly pause at the end of this head and welcome any responses coming my way, if that’s okay with you, Madam Chairman.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

2 words

Of course.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

51 words

And I know in respect of certain heads that there are colleagues on my side who do have additional questions. I am certainly not the only speaker on this side. A nd particularly so given that we have been told that we have about an hour and 45 minutes for questions.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

1,151 words

So, that is a little bit more flesh on the bones, if we could, about the personnel increases and the cost increases for salaries. The second topic, still on this head, and this arises on page B -80, line item 97100, and this is in relation to the Financial Intelligence Unit. Excuse me, that is the wrong line item, it …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

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8 words

Exactly. I am back to the Headquarters page.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

3 words

Yes. Thank you.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

843 words

And I am dealing with the issue of Legal Aid. And I was dealing with the statement made by the Honourable Junior Minister in his brief that in relation to Legal Aid one of the largest costs to the Government in Legal Aid was external counsel. And he had said that that was more than expected. Now, the plan in …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

837 words

I see the Honourable Member Michael Fahy, who is a lawyer, say, Never. But there we are. But the reality is that there are a number of lawyers on this Island, probably more statistically and percentagewise than in some other jurisdictions, given that we are an international financial centre. And I will put it in the bucket of Wouldn’t it …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

524 words

But Professional Services. So, the actuals were $1.28 million in 2023. They are going up. They are going up quite considerably, $1.9 [million] is the estimate, $1.94 million in the grey box there for Professional Services at [page] B -80. That is almost $1 million up. And so, I guess the question I have is, Why is it that such …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

7 words

Yes. Let me just clarify one —

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

124 words

Thank you, Madam Chairman. Sorry. Let me just clarify one point, and I apologise. I think the note was in error. The 43 per cent was in relation to the DPP [Department of Public Prosecutions] conflict and not in relation to the HQ Legal Affairs. So, apologies for my misstatement there. The 43 per cent, Madam [Chairman] , was in …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

2,283 words

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The next of our six heads, the second of our six heads, is the Judicial Department. And that commences on page B -84 for those following along in the Budget Book. And if we keep sort of a finger at [page] B-84, we turn back to the overarching page for the Ministry of Justice at [page] …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

2 words

Mr. Chairman.

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

233 words

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the Junior Minister and to the Attorney General for those fulsome answers. Just three quick follow -ups from the answers given. One in relation to the probate. My understanding of the answer is that we have caught up 2025. We are now going back to 2024. I do not know if that …

12 May 2025 House of Assembly

Official Hansard Report - House of Assembly

42 words

So, the third head is Attorney General’s Chambers, Head 4. And I would be grateful, Mr. Chairman. I think I have got about 30 –35 minutes left in the debate. Does that sound about right? Or is it a little bit longer?