Diane Dodds
West Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Minister, that is a brilliant segue into the question that I will ask. Just over 5% of women who are now seen within the 14-day target for a suspected breast cancer in Northern Ireland. That has happened since the list was regionalised. I get the fact that cancer cases are rising, but —”
“Minister, for Members and those who are listening to the debate, it is important that you tell us what "actively being considered" means on a day-to-day basis.”
“Thank you, Minister. The Muckamore inquiry report demonstrates a shameful period for our health service, and no one involved can, in any shape or form, come out of this with any kind of credibility.”
“Let me be clear: experimental treatment on children that can have lifelong implications is unconscionable. Children of 11 or 12 are in no position to give clear consent to the use of such drugs, especially when those administering the treatments had them banned because of the lack of evidence on their long-term impacts.”
“Once again, I will speak in the House about puberty blockers and the nationwide trial run by King's College. I now understand that the Government will issue new guidance that will allow such a trial to go ahead.”
“It is now anticipated that more than eight out of 10 couples in which the woman is under 40 will conceive naturally, but that leaves two out of 10 who will need additional interventions. Over a lifespan, that is a fairly substantial number of people.”
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“That is quite the description. What we have here is an attitude of burying your head in the sand. Of course, that is common in Brussels, because that is where the political project comes above everything else. We have seen that with vaccines. When it comes to the vaccine supply, the political project trumps people's lives. It trumps everything in relation to Northern Ireland. I do not believe that Brussels really cares about Northern Ireland. It has used it shamelessly as a bargaining chip for years.”
“We need to have clarity for our businesses, and, before we can move on, that interruption to the UK's internal market needs to be fixed.”
“Let me be absolutely clear: our biggest market is GB, and we sell more into the Great Britain market than we do to the Republic of Ireland, the rest of the EU and the rest of the world put together. It is absolutely imperative that we fix the fissure that has now developed in the United Kingdom's internal market so that we can help Northern Ireland to progress. This is an important point: many firms will not know what their future holds, because they may rely on supply chains that bring goods from the EU that then have to come to Northern Ireland as part of the manufacturing or retail process. Those goods, because they traverse GB, may be hit by tariffs if they are at risk of falling into the single market.”
“I assure the Member that my face is firmly turned towards the future. I am working on future interventions for the Northern Ireland economy, because I want a successful, stable, prosperous Northern Ireland, where all its citizens can live and feel valued. That is an important point of principle for me. However, I understand the pro-protocol parties making a song and dance about this. They have moved away from "rigorous implementation" to "a few teething problems" etc, and I understand the Member's point.”
“The mechanism for extending this ESF activity is being explored, and I hope to make a formal announcement in the coming weeks. <BR /> <BR />This welcome outcome provides my Department with additional time to develop appropriate succession programmes and secure the necessary funding for these valuable interventions.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I continue to work with the Finance Minister on the replacement of EU structural funds. The Department for the Economy has a clear interest in EU replacement funding, given that the European social fund (ESF) and the European regional development fund (ERDF) have historically funded substantial activity in our policy remit, such as economic development, energy, skills and apprenticeships. <BR /> <BR />A successful bid in the January monitoring round provided my Department with domestic funding for existing ESF projects in the current financial year. That effectively enables my Department to defer spending European Commission funds of about £26 million until 2022-23, when otherwise that funding would have run out.”
“The European commissioner reflects a denial that many in this House have, and that our own Government have in changing the consent mechanism to the protocol. That is the position that the European Union has long taken. It is disingenuous — that is the politest and mildest way that I can put it — to call for the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement in all its parts and then change the rules of the agreement on consent, because the European Union's pet project might not gain consent in this House. <BR /> <BR />It is time that nationalist politicians here, in Dublin, London and the European Union listened to the fact that the delicate balances created by the Belfast Agreement have been completely thrown out the window and that political unionism is united in opposing the impact of the protocol in Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Member should also reflect, when he cheerleads for the protocol, what the SDLP wants from it. They cheerlead for the protocol, yet the SDLP leader wrote to me, in my Department, asking whether I am going to design a scheme to provide financial assistance to businesses that are experiencing additional costs as a result of the protocol.”
“The Member is well aware that the Swiss-type arrangement that he talks about requires the whole of the UK slavishly to follow EU rules in every respect. In the European Parliament, I used to hear it said that, if the Swiss wanted to turn right, they had to ask for permission from Brussels. <BR /> <BR />As someone who voted for Brexit and believes in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, I will always want the United Kingdom to act as one. I regret that our Prime Minister imposed the protocol, cheered on by many in this House, to the detriment of Northern Ireland. It is now up to the Prime Minister to fix the problem that he created, to take up his duty to United Kingdom citizens in Northern Ireland and remove barriers to trade, particularly for SPS agreements.”
“I remind the Member that I, in my former role as a Member of the European Parliament and as a Minister, have consistently warned of the dangers of the protocol. All parties in this House that want the rigorous implementation of the protocol want it at the expense of families and businesses in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I am not in the business of carrying out stunts. If I were, I need only look at the party opposite and its breaking of walls at an imaginary border and all the other stunts that have happened. If there are stunts in this House, that party has the monopoly on them.”
“We are very clear that there are significant challenges and difficulties.”
“The e-commerce market in the United Kingdom is broken, with parcels not arriving. It is easy to make snide remarks on Twitter about parcels, but the real impact is on families and businesses across Northern Ireland. My Department has been following the e-commerce issue very closely and tracking what has happened to over 100 businesses that previously sent parcels to Northern Ireland. Six weeks into the operation of the protocol, only 143 of those businesses have made any changes.”
“I assure the House that that will be my position. In no way do I want to negatively impact on Northern Ireland, the stability of its people, its political process or, importantly for me in my role, its economy. However, on many occasions, I have explained and gone through the difficulties that the protocol represents for Northern Ireland and the rupture to the UK's internal market that it has brought about. I find it somewhat disconcerting that nationalist politicians and cheerleaders from the Republic of Ireland simply refuse to acknowledge the folly of the protocol for North/South relations, east-west trade and communities, individuals and families. <BR /> <BR />Let me tell you about some of the issues that I have been dealing with over the last number of weeks. These very real issues are impacting on families across Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />We cannot and will not continue to act as though relationships have not been impacted on by their actions. We will consider each matter on its merits, not doing anything that negatively impacts on Northern Ireland. However, it cannot be business as usual for North/South relations because of the issues that flow from the protocol.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I have made clear that, at all times, I will act in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland and our local economy, in accordance with my ministerial responsibilities, the code and the statement of 2 February by our party leader, which I know the honourable Member fully supports, as do I. We have indicated to our Government that they need to act, but we also need to send a message to the Government of the Irish Republic that North/South relationships are impacted on by the implementation of a protocol for which they are cheerleaders and which does real damage to the agreements that they purport to uphold, along with the real damage that it does to our businesses, consumers and communities in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Member for his question; he makes a very important point. I point out to him, and for the information for the House, that, in West Tyrone alone, 9,591 premises will be impacted by Project Stratum and will have the superfast broadband that they need if we are to build the regionally balanced economy that we all seek. <BR /> <BR />When tenders and contracts were done, it was made clear that we had to roll out Project Stratum in a way that made the best use of the moneys to include as many houses as we could. Hence, the construct of the programme so far. I look forward to the first 19,000 houses being connected by the end of this year, and, in the spring, the first live connection. That will be quite a moment for the largest-ever infrastructure project for Northern Ireland.”
“Those who continue to support the protocol blindly will be turning their eyes away from the impact on businesses, families, jobs and the potential for the economy in Northern Ireland to grow.”
“However, I advise the Member that, even though all of these things are hugely important and are connected with the service economy, which, of course, is not subject to the rigours of the protocol, we must fix the impact of the protocol on Northern Ireland. To be disconnected from our biggest market is a huge disadvantage to Northern Ireland.”
“The Member makes a very important point — one that we use many times when we are talking to investors who are thinking about coming to Northern Ireland. It is an absolute delight to be able to say that the tech and digital companies that are already in Northern Ireland find Northern Ireland to be innovative, hard-working and solution driven, and that many of them, while completely operating for the past year at home, have been winning contracts for their larger home markets in North America, and productivity has increased. The workforce is a credit to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />This is one of the spaces where we think we can grow the economy further. For Belfast and the greater Belfast region to be recognised as one of the most exciting digital hubs in the United Kingdom is extremely important.”
“It is a good news story for Northern Ireland. As we have seen during the pandemic, connectivity is key for all communities, particularly rural communities. It is key to the objectives of growing the economy in Northern Ireland — the regionally balanced economy that we all seek. Currently, about 3% of premises that should have been within the targeted intervention area are out of the scope of Project Stratum. We have had discussions with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Fibrus Networks, and we are working to identify the solutions and costs to bringing those premises into the intervention area. I will update the House as soon as I have further information on that.”
“Project Stratum continues to be rolled out. We will be looking at the premises, for example, that are not within the scope of Project Stratum, but, currently, there are no threats to its roll out.”
“This is a good news story for Northern Ireland and building the connectivity of the future for the economy.”
“Fibrus Networks has planted in excess of 374 poles, installed 8·2 kilometres of duct and completed 63 kilometres of fibre cable. <BR /> <BR />The fact that those build activities have already commenced, at this stage of the project, is a significant achievement, given that network providers typically use the first six to nine months for planning. Therefore, while we had anticipated that that period would be required for network design, it is now expected that the first premises will be live in the first quarter of 2021 and that over 19,000 of the 76,000 will have been passed by the end of this year. <BR /> <BR />Fibrus Networks has advised my Department that the COVID-19 restrictions have caused some delay due to additional paperwork and the challenges that it presented.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Project Stratum will utilise public funding that was gained through the DUP confidence and supply agreement, together with investment from Fibrus Networks, to deliver gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure to more than 76,000 primarily rural premises across Northern Ireland, including 4,236 premises in the Member's constituency. It is the biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken in Northern Ireland, and, for the Member's further information, work is already under way in Killyleagh to provide that important connectivity. <BR /> <BR />Following contract award in November 2020, the deployment of infrastructure commenced immediately. Work is under way in the first five deployment areas: Coalisland; Killyleagh; Ballycastle; Kilkeel; and Castlewellan.”
“The telecommunications part of my Department is continuously in contact with mobile providers, particularly as we move to the roll-out of 5G, which is very important for connectivity across Northern Ireland. I do not have to hand the detail on masts, but I will, of course, be happy to write to the Member.”
“No matter how good that is, the loneliness and remoteness of that has been difficult for young people.”
“I thank the Member for her question. As I indicated in my previous answer, part of the £1·7 million allocation will be used to help young students to buy access to further data. That, alongside the additional iPads or computers that are required for young people, should help with digital poverty. In addition, throughout the pandemic an additional £4·8 million of funding was provided to colleges earlier in the financial year to buy IT equipment. Some colleges have obtained data SIM cards for students to access broadband, and, to date, 1,197 of those cards have been made available to further education students. <BR /> <BR />I hope that that alleviates the Member's concern, because I understand that this has been a very difficult time for young students, who have missed out on the college experience and have had to rely on online teaching.”
“My Department is working closely with further education (FE) colleges on the provision and distribution of that funding to full-time enrolled learners throughout Northern Ireland. Full-time further education students who have been marked present at least once on an e-register during January 2021 will receive a one-off cash payment of £60 into their bank account in order to offset data costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within that allocation, 500 iPads or similar devices have also been put on order and will be loaned to further education students who require online access.”
“<BR /> <BR />Very briefly, we should acknowledge the real difficulties that the economy has suffered over the last period of months. This will have a lasting impact on our economy, which means a lasting impact on families, jobs and incomes and the real impact that the economy has on our everyday life. We are planning for economic recovery, and that will require a dedicated economic recovery budget from the Executive and a dedicated skills budget because the two things will be vitally linked as we go forward. If we want to plan for economic recovery, we also need to plan for the skills that people will need to take the community into a recovery position. <BR /> <BR />I thank the House and the Committee in particular for their support of the statutory rules.”
“We are operating live schemes for those who have been impacted by the regulations — the self-employed, company directors, large hotels, bed and breakfasts and traditional pubs — and we announced schemes last week for students. That is a record of reaching out to support the community and the business community in Northern Ireland that is probably second to none. <BR /> <BR />To my colleague from South Belfast, I acknowledge the importance of the credit union movement to Northern Ireland, the way in which it extends help to many who otherwise would find it very difficult to engage with the more traditional forms of finance and the flexibility that it offers to its members in times of difficultly. I put on record my thanks to them for the work that they do in our communities.”
“I thank the House for its support for the extension of the statutory rules. As I said in my opening remarks, it is very important that we extend flexibility and some certainty to business on the issue. <BR /> <BR />I assure the Chair of the Economy Committee that we have written to the mutual societies, and we will continue to work with them so that they can continue to operate within the rules. We will continue to offer flexibility to all businesses in the current situation and will adapt as we need to as we progress. On the Chair's remarks about support for businesses, I remind the House that my Department has administered over £370 million of support to tens of thousands of businesses across Northern Ireland.”
“It is important that we continue to deliver certainty to businesses throughout this challenging time, which is why we are extending these important and necessary measures to help provide continuing support and assistance to local businesses and protect them from insolvency.”
“That measure has been reviewed, and it has been considered that it should be reintroduced to assist companies to trade through the crisis by removing the threat to directors but ensuring that directors can fulfill all their other legal obligations. <BR /> <BR />The extension of these modifications and the dates to which they are extended again corresponds with what is being done in the rest of the United Kingdom. Both sets of regulations that the House is being asked to approve have been agreed by the Economy Committee, and the Executive were advised prior to the debate. <BR /> <BR />The pandemic has had a longer and deeper impact on the economy than was predicted when the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act was passed in June last year.”
“The first set of regulations is to keep in place, until 31 March this year, temporary provisions that forbid the making of winding-up orders on foot of statutory demands before that date. The regulations also restrict the presentation of winding-up petitions and the making of winding-up orders where coronavirus has had an effect on the company's finances. The second set of regulations is to reactivate elapsed temporary provision in the Act. That provision removed the threat of directors being personally held liable for wrongful trading if they allowed their company to continue to trade with the knowledge that it was insolvent.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am also seeking the Assembly's approval of two further statutory rules that are being made under powers that are contained in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. The regulations are designed to provide continued support and assistance to companies that are suffering financial hardship as a result of the coronavirus crisis.”
“It is imperative that mutual societies in Northern Ireland can avail themselves of the same easing requirements as their counterparts in GB. There is one note of caution that I raise, however; this is the final time that we can extend those measures as the Act currently stands. That having been said, a period of almost 10 months has been created to give mutuals the time to amend their rules and internal procedures so that they can hold meetings in a non-physical manner. I hope that most will have taken advantage of that by now. My officials have written to mutuals here and will work with any that still need support in that way. The regulations that you are being asked to approve have the agreement of the Economy Committee, and the Executive have been advised.”
“Trade representatives detailed how corporate governance and oversight is likely to be affected if flexibility in how they hold their statutory meetings cannot be extended. Credit union representatives specifically explained how annual general meetings must be held in the coming months so that decisions can be taken on dividends. Many of their members are financially excluded and rely on annual dividends and interest rebate payments as part of their financial planning. <BR /> <BR />The extension of the temporary measure until 29 March 2021 will help mutual organisations that are struggling as a direct result of the pandemic to continue to meet the needs of their members. The extension corresponds with what is being done in the rest of the United Kingdom.”
“<BR /> <BR />The coronavirus pandemic has continued to have long-term impacts on the economy of Northern Ireland and the businesses operating here. As public health restrictions remain in place, I consider it prudent to extend the measure to provide continued support to local businesses. The statutory rule extends the temporary period until 29 March 2021. The main purpose will be to lift the requirement for mutual societies to hold their meetings in physical locations until 29 March. The measure allows flexibility in how a meeting can be held. For example, technology could be used to hold meetings virtually, and postal votes could be used instead of the usual show of hands at a meeting.”
“<BR /> <BR />The first statutory rule relates to a temporary relaxation of requirements relating to the manner in which meetings of companies and mutual organisations can be held. The Act set aside requirements to hold physical meetings so that those organisations could continue to operate through the period of public health restrictions. That temporary measure to relax requirements relating to the nature of meetings was originally to expire on 30 September 2020. However, the Act allows for my Department to extend the temporary measures for mutuals if it is considered necessary. My Department made regulations last year to extend the temporary period until 30 December 2020. Those regulations were made with the full support of my Executive colleagues, the Economy Committee and the Chamber on 3 November 2020.”
“I am seeking the Assembly's approval of three statutory rules under powers contained in the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. The regulations have been made under powers set out in the Act, which was made at Westminster on 25 June 2020. That Act was a piece of emergency legislation that extends to the whole of the UK following a legislative consent motion that was passed by the Assembly on 2 June 2020. The Act contains provisions to help companies and mutual societies, cooperatives and community benefit societies and credit unions to deal with the serious economic consequences resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes corporate insolvency and governance measures.”
“Invest Northern Ireland has a dedicated helpline, and I know that it is working with businesses that have applied for that grant. I hope that those payments will go out very soon. In the meantime, I remind the House that that grant, which is not as large as the local restrictions grant that is run by the Finance Department, has already paid out £17·5 million to individual businesses in Northern Ireland to help them through the pandemic. Just this morning, I signed off on a bid for further funding for that so that we can continue to make the payments right up to the end of 5 March.”
“I fear that the Member has not quite been listening to the whole conversation in the Chamber today, given that I said that I have already committed to bringing forward a package to address the issue.”
“As I have reiterated on a number of occasions today in answer to questions, I have been in touch with the Student Loans Company to see whether it can facilitate any of these issues. I must say that I was disappointed in its response, but I will continue to pursue that conversation with the company. In the meantime, I have spoken to the vice chancellors of Queen's University and Ulster University to see what more universities can do to help students at a difficult and harrowing time in their education.”
“I will come back to the Member with the precise details on that issue and will write to her about them. In general, this is a priority for me in my Department, and we intend to work through it.”
“— and the start of March for the national ones.”
“As I said earlier, around 68,000 people in Northern Ireland remain in the job retention scheme run by our national Government. <BR /> <BR />The challenge fund is currently working its way through those proposals and will have an outcome reasonably soon. We hope to continue to work with employers, in a most difficult environment, on how we can create new opportunities for apprentices, because they are hugely important. <BR /> <BR />Many of those young apprentices will take vocational exams and are worried about them. I took the step, last week, of making sure that vocational exams were cancelled. I have asked our own exam regulator to bring forward proposals for the Northern Ireland-based exams by the end of February —”
“I thank the Member for asking the question because it is hugely important for young people and for the future of the Northern Ireland economy. I would like to see us place value in our apprenticeship system and to see increases in, for example, all-age apprenticeships. Over the next year, I will bring forward measures to set the pathway for all those things. Apprenticeships offer real opportunities for young people. <BR /> <BR />Our apprenticeship fund was designed to do three things. One was to retain the apprentices who were in the system on furlough but in danger of not returning to work. The extension of the furlough scheme has somewhat clouded the ambition on that issue, because many of those young apprentices remain on furlough.”
“Yes, we need to look at how more people can access the hardship fund and at how more students can get to know about it and about how to apply. I will work with the universities over the next short period on those issues and with student representatives to hear their views.”
“I thank the Member for her question. As I have said previously, I have been speaking with the vice chancellors of Queen's and Ulster University. I want to ensure that what we do for universities is appropriate for students and meets their needs. Therefore, we need to look at the hardship fund, how it is administered and whether there are relaxations that we can bring to bear on it. This morning, I also spoke with the universities on issues relating to mental health and how we can continue to support students who, sadly, report increased need in that area. Something that has not received a lot of conversation in Question Time is the provision of data for students who have to conduct much of their course online. We are looking at all of those issues and will bring forward a package in due course.”
“Crucial to all of that and something for which I will bid for funding will be a dedicated skills fund for Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that spends less on skills now than it did in 2012. We need to rebalance that equation and understand that, for us to have economic recovery, we need the skills to match such a recovery, and we need to be flexible and urgent in bringing forward those skills and the relevant schemes. I look forward to the Member's support when I ask for funding for a dedicated skills fund for Northern Ireland.”