Peacelines must remain, says Paisley

Peacelines and current public spending on law and order should remain for the foreseeable future, Ian Paisley said today.

The North's First Minister told the Northern Assembly it was too soon to introduce a cut of up to two thirds in spending on security.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader was discussing the report 'The cost of Division - A Shared Future Strategy' published recently by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister which addressed policing needs.

"The reality is that the police need money and they need it to do successful police work and it would be wrong for any member of this house to suggest that we slice the police budget," he said.

"We don't want barriers built across various parts of our city and land but I must tell him (Alban Maginness) that divisions must be dealt with in order that we can take down these particular barriers."

He was responding to a question from the SDLP's Mr Maginness about peacelines seen across north and west Belfast separating Catholic and Protestant communities.

The government-commissioned dossier, highlighted last month, said division and conflict in the North costs the taxpayer an extra £1.5bn (€2.2bn) every year.

It estimated the bill for policing and security, as well as the provision of separate housing and schools for Catholics and Protestants.

The Deloitte report found segregated housing has increased costs by £24m (€35.3m).

It said greater collaboration between schools could lead to savings of between £16m (€23.5m) and nearly £80m (€117.6m).

The report's authors acknowledge that it is difficult to disentangle the costs of public services, to isolate those areas in which social division and conflict has led to extra cost.