Arlene Foster
Fermanagh and South Tyrone · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Yet, like too many projects, it has been tied up in legal wrangles. Too many infrastructure projects are being swallowed up in the courts. We need to improve the expertise in infrastructure delivery. We need better infrastructure for the next generation, but key projects being delayed by 10-plus years is unsustainable.”
“Any agreement involves compromises but NDNA had two central pillars that, I believe, remain important: ambition for devolution and a new cultural deal. The breadth and depth of issues that NDNA set us all to deliver on would have been enough to fill an entire term or perhaps more, let alone two years of government.”
“That confidence-and-supply agreement will leave a legacy but also highlights our challenges. Some £150 million has been rolled out via Project Stratum to bring broadband to rural areas and leave Northern Ireland as the best-connected region in Europe. When it is completed, the project will be transformational to our economy.”
“However, such short-term advantage comes at the cost of long-term harm to relationships. It is not a real partnership. Imbalance and instability are built in that will fester and deteriorate. If Brussels continues to think that the protocol is enough, it is in denial.”
“Colleagues inside and outside the House know very well that all periods of leadership must come to an end. That is why, when we are privileged and, indeed, honoured to hold such a position, we must not waste a moment in frivolous brinkmanship but forge ahead on behalf of those whom we represent.”
“The recommendations of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition (FICT) are to be taken forward as well. I encourage all of you to do all of it, to take it forward in its totality and to speak of and implement it as one complete, independent package: a new cultural deal for Northern Ireland's new century.”
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“I have talked all week about trying to take proportionate action and achieve a balanced way forward. That is what we tried do last evening.”
“If we — all of us, personally — do not take action, the rise of COVID will stop all those other things from happening. Sometimes people say that we are not doing enough about surgery, heart disease and all those other things. That is because of the rise of COVID. It is because people are not taking personal responsibility for their own behaviour. <BR /> <BR />So, if today amounts to anything, it will be getting out the message that people need to take personal responsibility for their actions. That would be a very positive thing to come out of the Assembly today. I hope that we all want to protect the health service, minimise the number of deaths that occur and protect our economy and the well-being of society here in Northern Ireland. It is about that balance.”
“I thank the Member for his commentary. I am sure that Executive colleagues will thank him for his position in relation to our decision last night. The Health Minister has been very clear with us about the capacity of the health service. If we had not taken the interventions last night that I am communicating to you today, our health service would not have been able to deal with what was coming down the line. That was very concerning for all of us. <BR /> <BR />These are very difficult decisions. As all of us know, we are being asked about elective surgery, cancer care and all those things. People need to understand that, because we have to spend so much time dealing with the rise in COVID, we have to turn off elective surgery and all those things. The two things are intertwined in that way.”
“We felt that it was important to come to the House today to outline the issues with the restrictions, but we will have much more to say tomorrow about the supports that will be in place to try to assist people, whether they have to self-isolate or whether they are people whose businesses have to close across those four weeks to try to help us to get the COVID virus under control.”
“At present, we are managing the ICU beds and hospital capacity but we need to make these interventions so that we can continue to deal with ICU capacity and all the other problems. <BR /> <BR />He is right to mention that there are different elements of test, trace, protect and isolate. It was good to hear from the Communities Minister last night that, with our discretionary payment system, we were ahead of the game in supporting people who had to isolate. Tomorrow, when we look at the range of supports that we have in place, we will say more about those issues.”
“The Member raises an important point about the capacity of our health service. That is something that we will have to revisit over the next number of weeks. The health service and the test, trace and protect system are fundamentally, in the first instance, a matter for the Health Minister, and I am sure that he will make his own comments today in relation to all those matters. We know that the health service was under pressure before we came back in January but we need to scale it up in the coming days. It needs to be fit for purpose and it needs to have capacity. It is reforming, although I accept that it is difficult to reform when we are in this crisis situation. If we need to have mutual aid and assistance from the rest of the United Kingdom, we should not stop ourselves from asking for it.”
“It is right that we minimise that as much as we possibly can for our young people, recognising that, at the same time, we are trying to get the COVID transmission rate under control. That is why the break is starting now, so that we can have the maximum impact. I hope that we will be able to see that. This is a two-week break: children will return to school on 2 November. It is hugely important that I say that today.”
“As I have indicated, the Education Minister was very clear that we did not want to inflict any more damage on our young people. We realise that they were off school for a considerable length of time because of the lockdown in March. We had to look at the impact that that would have on peer socialisation and the whole culture of going to school and having that school experience. Of course, the loss of learning time is critical as well. Young people need to be able to take their exams at the end of the year so that their life chances are there for them. <BR /> <BR />Obviously, we had to consider the impact on vulnerable children and children with special educational needs (SEN) to make sure that they were covered as well. That is why we are only taking the route of the Halloween break as was, plus a number of extra days.”
“It is important to say that we will be putting supports in place. Last night's discussion was about the interventions that we need to make. Tomorrow, the Executive will discuss the support systems that will be in place, and I hope that we will be able to sign off on those support systems. The Member is right to say that we need to support our businesses and their employees as they go through this most difficult of times. I hope that Member after Member, when they speak today, will not try to make trite political points. This is not the time for trite political points; this is a time for trying to find solutions for every one of our citizens as we face into this terrible situation together. I hope that we will have that cooperation across the House today.”
“Nevertheless, they are for four weeks, and we are very determined that this will be a time-limited intervention. The restrictions will not continue beyond those four weeks and the Executive will have to revisit them at that time.”
“Fundamentally, the education of our young people is a right and their life chances absolutely need to be protected, and I am content that, with what he has proposed, the Education Minister thought long and hard about how he can help to reduce the incidences of COVID while protecting young people. <BR /> <BR />Yesterday, the leader of the SDLP told the Executive to get on with putting the restrictions in place. We had a very long and thoughtful Executive meeting last night and very difficult decisions were taken. I do not shy away from that or from the fact that many of the decisions will have a huge impact on people's lives.”
“I thank the Chairman for his intervention. There was never going to be a situation in which we would announce overnight that people had to do something the next day. That was never going to happen. That is why the restrictions will come into force on Friday to give people time to plan. <BR /> <BR />Most schools were planning to take a week off for the Halloween break. Some were taking four days and some were taking six days, but, in the main, they were going to take around a week. The Education Minister has proposed a way forward to minimise the loss of learning for our young people and that is hugely important. Others wanted to close the schools for a longer period.”
“They will be put in place during Friday of this week and will remain in place for four weeks. Any extension or amendment to them will require a decision by the Executive. We must reach a different place on the numbers and on getting back to the basics of social distancing, and I know that everyone in the Chamber will want to work with us on that. Small acts can make large and important contributions to managing COVID-19. Wash your hands, practise social distancing and wear face coverings. Those are small acts, but they are vital. Thank you.”
“First, on the COVID transmission rates, which must be turned down now or we will be in a very difficult place very soon indeed. Secondly, we believe that it marks a point at which everyone, each and every one of us, can take stock and go back to the vital social-distancing messaging. <BR /> <BR />We will, of course, engage with sectors and work on supports as a matter of priority. <BR /> <BR />We ask all children, young people and their parents to help us in a very particular way during the next few weeks. Please make sure that your children and young people follow the social-distancing arrangements during this time, limit socialising as much as possible and use the time in as positive a way as you can. <BR /> <BR />We will need to exit these arrangements most carefully.”
“<BR /> <BR />In education, the half-term holiday break will be extended from 19 to 30 October, with schools reopening on Monday 2 November. To permit that, the Department of Education will allocate schools two optional days, with the remainder of the additional time being taken through exceptional closure days. As is the case in other jurisdictions, the Executive will keep the issue of schools, along with other considerations, under continuous review in the weeks and months ahead. <BR /> <BR />We fully appreciate that this will be difficult and worrying news for many people. The Executive have taken this decision because it is necessary, and we discussed the impacts in great detail. We do not take this step lightly. <BR /> <BR />We want the measures to have two impacts.”
“<BR /> <BR />Wedding ceremonies and civil partnerships are to be limited to 25 people with no receptions. That will be implemented on Monday 19 October. Venues providing the post-ceremony or partnership celebration may remain open for this purpose this weekend but may not provide other services for people who are not part of the wedding or partnership, and this will be limited to 25. Funerals and committals are to be limited to 25 people, with no pre- or post-funeral gathering. In guidance, no unnecessary travel will be advised. Off-licences and supermarkets will not be permitted to sell alcohol after 8.00 pm. <BR /> <BR />We believe that the above restrictions should apply for four weeks, and the continuation or amendment of any element will require Executive approval.”
“There will be closure of close-contact services apart from those meeting essential health needs, which will be defined in the regulations to ensure continuation of essential health interventions and therapeutics. That will not include complementary treatments. <BR /> <BR />There will be no indoor sport of any kind or organised contact sport involving household mixing other than at elite level. There will be no mass events involving more than 15 people, except for allowed outdoor sporting events, where the relevant number for that will continue to apply. Gyms may remain open but for individual training only, with local enforcement in place. Places of worship are to remain open, with a mandatory requirement to wear face coverings when entering and exiting. That will not apply to parties to a marriage or civil partnership.”
“In guidance, we will advise universities and further education to deliver distance learning to the maximum extent possible, with essential face-to-face learning only where that is a necessary and unavoidable part of the course. <BR /> <BR />There will be a closure of the hospitality sector apart from deliveries and takeaway food, with the existing closing time of 11.00 pm remaining. Other takeaway premises will then be brought in line with hospitality with a closing time of 11.00 pm. Retail will stay open. However, there will be urgent engagement with the sector to ensure that retail is doing everything that it can to help suppress the virus.”
“This means a continuation of the restriction on meeting indoors and a limit on the number who can meet in a garden. There are existing exemptions for childcare, maintenance and other matters, and they will stay in place. However, as close-contact economy is proposed for closure, it would be consistent with that to prohibit the provision of those services — for example, hairdressing — in a domestic setting. <BR /> <BR />Bubbling is to be limited to a maximum of 10 people from two households. There should be no overnight stays in a private home unless in a bubble. People should work from home unless they are unable to do so.”
“People pass COVID onto each other, and that happens in a variety of settings. Limiting our social contacts will play a role in breaking the chain. We have already asked everyone to assist us with this by not gathering in domestic settings, and that has been taken forward in regulations. We also have local restrictions in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area. <BR /> <BR />However, the numbers have continued to rise. The doubling rate is of grave concern, and hospitalisations are on the increase. That is deeply troubling, and more steps are now urgently needed. The Executive have discussed this and we have concluded that we must put the following measures in place. The first is maintenance of current household restrictions.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. Before I make my statement, I wish to associate myself with your comments about the staff and say that we deeply appreciate the work that they did late last night and early this morning to facilitate today's sitting. I just wanted to make that comment. <BR /> <BR />We wish to provide Members with an update on decisions that the Executive have taken in relation to essential actions needed to reduce COVID-19 transmission rates. There has been much coverage in the press about variations in restrictions, and it is with that in mind, along with the very worrying increase in numbers of cases and hospitalisations, that we have looked at the various levels of restrictions that we need now. <BR /> <BR />We all have a role to play to break this chain, and it is important that we all understand that.”
“That is the only fair way that we can take it forward.”
“That is a challenging question. 'NDNA' was a political document. It was the basis on which we all came back into the Assembly after three years outside government. It is a realistic question, because we know that there are huge challenges. As I have said before, because it is a political agreement across five parties, we cannot upset or skew it. We have to do it in a balanced way. The five parties need to decide together what the priorities are.”
“I do not have the exact figure for the UK Government's commitments on NDNA, but there have been significant moves on NDNA. For example, the Veterans Commissioner has been appointed. We have extended welfare mitigations, which is a big figure. I am happy to write to the Member about that. We have progressed the Hart report on historical institutional abuse, set up a panel on tackling educational underachievement and set up the Centenary Forum and the historical reference group. The joint board from the Northern Ireland Office and the Northern Ireland Executive has been set up and has met. So, a lot has happened on NDNA progress. We accept that, had it not been for COVID-19, there would have been more progress on NDNA. I will write to the Member with the UK spend to date when I have that figure.”
“The Executive Office has been given a marker bid for the budget. We have not yet fully costed the commitments on Irish language, Ulster-Scots/British identity and the office of culture and identity. Political agreements are required to move forward on those issues. It is important, of course, that we deal with them in the most appropriate way, given the current restrictions on our financial capability. However, we recognise that they are political commitments and that, therefore, we need to take them forward in the appropriate way.”
“As the Member knows, these are New Decade, New Approach commitments, as well as the third commitment on the office for culture and identity. It is important that all those issues move forward together. The Executive Office is looking at all those issues and hopes to give an indicative time frame in due course to the Committee that scrutinises the Executive Office. We would have hoped to be further on in some of our New Decade, New Approach commitments, but it should be recognised that we have had to deal with the pandemic in the meantime.”
“I hope that we can come together, find the restrictions and put them in place, so that the community reacts to those restrictions and we can stop the spread of the virus.”
“We need to recognise, as I have said, that the characterisation of "Health against wealth" is an absolutely false characterisation. If people lose their jobs or find themselves in poverty or unemployed, that can lead to really bad health outcomes. I think that Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for the UK, said yesterday that, if we harm the economy, we harm the long-term health of our people. People need to acknowledge that. <BR /> <BR />We sometimes get very focused on the numbers. The numbers are not good, and I am not suggesting that they are. However, when we look at the big job of work in front of us today, we have to take a balanced and proportionate approach; indeed, the legislation says that we should make a proportionate response in this difficult time in our history.”
“We were pleased to have a call with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on Friday, when he announced a job support package. We recognise that it is not as generous as the furlough scheme in assisting employers to keep people in work. That scheme was 80% of their salary paid by government; this is two thirds, and it will not come on-stream until 1 November. We also welcome the £200 million of Barnett consequentials that will allow us to put together our own schemes to help industries that will need assistance and support. However, whatever the assistance and support that we can put in place, it will not be as good as people running their businesses in the normal run of things. We can only mitigate damage, and we will do our best with the funding available to us and, of course, the funding that comes from HMG.”
“As regards our relationship with Dublin, we recognise that the Republic of Ireland is a member state of the European Union and, therefore, the negotiations continue between the EU and the UK in that respect. However, there are many things on which we have common cause — access to the GB market is one of those — in making sure that we are able to work together in the future. The Republic of Ireland being the nearest neighbour of the UK, it is important that we work together on all those issues. We will continue to do our best to get the proper and right outcome in all these matters, and we are happy to work with colleagues in Dublin as well as, of course, our sovereign Government.”
“The cooperation and conversations continue apace across the devolved Administrations in relation to that. We have many meetings with the Paymaster General — the junior Ministers attend some of those — and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who leads on a lot of Brexit issues. <BR /> <BR />The formal negotiation round — the ninth — is completed. We wait to see whether any more progress can be made between the UK and the European Union. We stand ready at all times to work with our colleagues in HMG around the issues concerning Northern Ireland, and they have been very accessible in dealing with those.”
“Of course, one always waits for the invitation to attend such events, and I look forward to that invitation, if and when it comes. Fermanagh may well be back in the final by that stage, and we look forward to that day very much.”
“I accept that it is a stage that a lot of people have been looking forward to, and it is good to hear that the Member is back in line with the rest of his party.”
“It is good to hear the Member welcoming a decision by the Minister for Infrastructure. He was not as fulsome in his praise of the last announcement that the Minister made, but it is good to see that that has been healed by the announcement today on Casement Park. <BR /> <BR />As Members will know, Casement Park was to proceed on the same basis as Ulster Rugby's Kingspan Stadium and Windsor Park for the Irish Football Association. It has taken a long time to get the planning permission in place for Casement Park. Unfortunately, it now seems that the cost has risen. Therefore, there will have to be discussions with Ulster GAA in relation to that. At the time that this was agreed, it was at a level that showed parity across the three sporting codes. We look forward to discussions with the Department for Communities around that issue.”
“Back in May, our Chief Medical Officer made the point that poverty kills and unemployment kills as well. Therefore, it is a balancing act between making sure that we deal with COVID-19 and trying to protect our economy, our society and family life as we know it. Those are huge decisions, and none of it is easy. We will come together to make those decisions later this afternoon.”
“I thank the Member for his question. We are collectively very concerned about the rise in transmission across Northern Ireland and the consequent daily increase in the number of hospital inpatients. I understand that, today, 150 inpatients are suffering from COVID-19 and that, as the Member rightly pointed out, 23 ICU beds are now being taken up. We are concerned about that, and we will have an Executive meeting later this afternoon to discuss the issue and what we can do as an Executive to halt the rise of COVID-19. <BR /> <BR />We have to be clear that, whilst, of course, we have to halt the rise of COVID-19 — that is something that we are all concerned about — it is important that we take a proportionate and balanced approach. Some people have said that it is about health versus wealth, but that is a completely false analysis.”
“We attended the COBRA meeting this week on behalf of the Executive. The deputy First Minister, the Minister of Health, the Chief Medical Officer and I were all in attendance. At the meeting, we were given an update on the current state of play by the Joint Biosecurity Centre. It is important that we hear what is going on from an epidemiology point of view across the United Kingdom, and, of course, the Prime Minister updated us on his three-tiered approach from an English point of view hoping that, across the United Kingdom, we would have similar approaches to allow us to access funding to assist people when we may have to close down businesses or sectors. It was an important meeting, and we have to follow up on some of the issues that were raised.”
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, junior Minister Lyons will answer question 8.”
“People really need to get back to basics on this and try to help us work together as partners to move beyond the virus and get to a place where we can suppress its curve and make sure that we have space in our hospitals for those people who are unwell and who may need to go into intensive care.”
“I ask them to go back to basics and to adhere, please, to all the things that we talk about day and daily, such as washing your hands, keeping your distance, making sure that you wear a mask in the appropriate places and having good respiratory hygiene. All those things need to repeated by all of us on an ongoing basis, because, at the moment, we have a very high level of COVID transmission and are in the unenviable position of part of Northern Ireland having the highest rate of transmission in the whole of the United Kingdom. That is a hugely disappointing place to be in, given our very good record during the first wave of COVID-19.”
“I agree with the Member that it is a solemn commitment, and we should all think about that, given that we took the pledge when we were elected to this place and reaffirmed it when the Assembly reconvened. <BR /> <BR />On the commentary about the deputy First Minister, as the Member knows, there is a police investigation into that event, and there is also an investigation in this place. We should wait for the outcome of those investigations. <BR /> <BR />Undoubtedly, damage has been done to the messaging on COVID-19. I regret that people are not complying in the way in which we need them to comply in order to stop the transmission of this terrible virus.”
“I am not aware of the comments of the Member she refers to. I am blissfully unaware, Mr Speaker, because I do not do Twitter. I may post on Twitter, but I do not look at it. I advise Members right across the Chamber that that is a good thing to do.”
“All of us in the Chamber, who have the huge privilege of representing people from our constituencies, need to remember that we have made that Pledge of Office and we should stick by it.”
“The Member is right to make a distinction between Ministers and MLAs, because the Pledge of Office does not apply to MLAs who are not Ministers or junior Ministers. However, MLAs are governed by the Assembly code of conduct and must also give an undertaking, under section 40A of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, which includes the requirement to:”
“required by the pledge informs at all times how we should discharge our duties as a joint office.”
“The deputy First Minister and I have both affirmed the terms of the Pledge of Office as a condition of our appointments. The:”
“Mr Speaker, with your permission, junior Minister Lyons will answer this question.”
“As somebody who is from the south-west of the Province, I very much want to see regional balance in our investment strategy. If the deputy First Minister were here, she would say the same about mid-Ulster. Part of the advantage of devolution is that you have elected representatives in the Executive from right across Northern Ireland. Therefore, there is a desire to make sure that the investment strategy works for everyone in Northern Ireland. For us, that will mean better outcomes in the Programme for Government for everyone who lives here, not just those who live in urban locations or in the east or the west of the Province. Everybody needs to be taken into account, and because the investment strategy is being looked at alongside our Programme for Government, those two things will work hand in hand.”
“Those are the sorts of things that were not involved in the investment strategy when it was first drafted, but, since then, climate change in particular has become a huge issue for those of us who are involved in procurement. We in Northern Ireland spend a lot of government money, and it is important that climate change is part of that. I know that the Minister for Infrastructure now has a body looking at infrastructure and advising her. Hopefully, that will dovetail with the investment strategy and we will be able to take this forward. Climate change is very much part of the strategy.”
“In this way, we can help young people to get work experience so that they have something to talk about when they apply for future jobs. <BR /> <BR />In February of this year, we expanded the scope of the scheme to include ICT contracts in Buy Social. We have not had formal approval from the Procurement Board for that expansion, but it is another way in which we can involve Buy Social in our contracts and investment strategy. We can help in a number of ways, and the Strategic Investment Board is well aware of the Executive's desire to see this make a difference to some of our young people's lives.”