Nelson McCausland
North Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Such an attack on a garage forecourt, where people are milling around — young people, elderly folk, people out and about their business, as well as the intended target — means that anyone could have been cut down and killed on the spot last night. It is reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s in Belfast.”
“The event that took place on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast last night was an appalling attempt to murder a police officer or police officers. It is a chilling and terrible reminder of those dark days — some of the darkest days — when such attacks were a regular occurrence in Belfast.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer and also for his answer to the earlier question regarding uncertainties with youth funding issues. I thank him for his clarification. What is his assessment of the value and benefits that flow from the work of those whom we are speaking about?”
“Fortunately, on the previous occasion of an attack on the Crumlin Road not so long ago, the intended victims were not killed. It is a stark reminder of the responsibility of all of us to make sure that those who are responsible for such attacks are brought before the courts.”
“On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. May I ask that the Speaker review Question Time today in Hansard? Some Members were permitted to preface and contextualise their question with a couple of sentences without interruption, some Members managed it with interruption and some of us were interrupted in the first sentence.”
“Some might argue that the Gaels were Planters as well. Would the Minister undertake to work with the relevant folk in the Department for Communities and the Minister there, who have responsibility for the Ulster-Scots Agency, to see if additional resources could be afforded to enable it to work up additional work in that context because o…”
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“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion and do so as Chairman of the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure. This is an issue that the Committee has been considering over a period of months. The Member who spoke previously made reference to that, as indeed did the proposer. I am sure that Members will have noted that some of the correspondence to the Committee and from the Committee on this issue is contained in the information pack that the Library has so helpfully put together. It is true to say that all the different political parties right across the Committee have taken a keen interest in this. There has been a unanimity of purpose and interest and strong support for the provision of defibrillators as widely as possible.”
“All primary-school teachers receive some element in their training that presumably equips them to teach religious education as part of their normal training. Can the Minister tell us what is contained in the preparation of the certificate in religious education that is additional? Is it purely preparation for the Roman Catholic sacrament of confirmation, or are there other elements involved?”
“Fit-for-purpose contracts are now in place, and there is better management of them. If people want to look at issues of political interference, maybe I will look at some of the issues around the stock transfer at Rinmore in Londonderry. They might be worth exploring. <BR /> <BR />As we look at the report and the evidence before us, we see that this is simply a witch-hunt. It was carried out by people who had their mind made up before they started. Frankly, 1,100 pages later, nothing is proven, because there is nothing to prove. It is purely supposition and innuendo, short on solid argument and short on evidence.”
“What I inherited from the two previous SDLP Ministers was Housing Executive tower blocks with mould growing thick on the walls. I inherited estates where issues had been ignored for a decade under the SDLP and where there were houses with no cavity walls or cavity wall insulation that condensation and dampness were penetrating. That is what the SDLP handed on. <BR /> <BR />I will deal with the issue of SDLP contracts. The fact is that we now know that the contracts drawn up by the Housing Executive were inappropriate. The monitoring of those contracts by the Housing Executive was inadequate. That was on the watch of the SDLP Ministers who were lauded and applauded by Mrs Kelly and under the chairmanship of Brian Rowntree. Thankfully, under the DUP, better contracts are now in place. New contracts are now in place.”
“The question I then asked was whether it was something that was endemic or systemic within the Housing Executive. I wanted to be sure that the Housing Executive was not transferring a contract from one company where there was a problem to another company where there might well also be a problem. That is why I asked the chairman whether he could give me an assurance that there were no problems in any other companies, and he gave me that assurance. The truth is that we knew that that was not right. We already knew that there was evidence that there was a problem in at least one other company. Indeed, I visited one housing estate where work that was clearly substandard was being undertaken by another company. <BR /> <BR />Mrs Kelly lauded the two previous SDLP Ministers.”
“So, whether it was your intention or not your intention, it does not matter; he had his mind made up already. There was a "possible motivation", said Alex Maskey. Possibilities. Whether it is true or not, it does not matter. This was a predetermined outcome. Members chose what they wanted to believe to reach that predetermined outcome. <BR /> <BR />The fact is that I did not ignore the issues with Red Sky, but nor did I ignore the issues and shortcomings in other companies. The fact is that there was not an issue with just one company. Whatever the spread geographically or in scale, the fact is that the issues were not restricted to one company or to one district of the Housing Executive. Those issues occurred in more than one company, and we knew that they occurred in more than one district.”
“It might be imprudent, in that someone might make mischief with it. On reflection, in retrospect, that is what happened. There are those who sought to make mischief of it, but the Housing Executive was well aware that the meeting was taking place. <BR /> <BR />Alex Maskey — I noted his words — said:”
“I totally reject the report. The reason why I did not reply to it in writing was that I did not want to give it any credence unnecessarily. It is high on innuendo and supposition but short on solid argument and evidence. Quite frankly, it is 1,100 pages long but not worth the paper that it is written on. In fact, it is a waste of good paper. The process lasted two years, and it was a waste of good time. I do not think any Committee has spent so much time to so little effect. The truth is that many Committee members had their mind made up before they started and were not going to let the evidence or lack of evidence get in the way of a predetermined outcome. <BR /> <BR />I noticed that Alban Maginness referred to the meeting on 27 June and to advice. The advice that I got was that the meeting was not inappropriate.”
“This is an attempt to change for ever the legal definition of marriage for all of society: for not just those who believe in the introduction of same-sex marriage but all of us. Of course, some people argue that we are out of step with the rest of the United Kingdom and that what has happened in Great Britain should also happen here. However, there are times when it is right to be different. <BR /> <BR />For all those reasons, I oppose the motion. I support the retention of the traditional understanding and definition of marriage and the current legal understanding of marriage here in Northern Ireland.”
“Consider the impact on Churches in Northern Ireland: Protestant Churches and the Roman Catholic Church have reaffirmed their commitment to traditional marriage. Apart from a tiny handful of exceptions, that is the position across not only Christian Churches but other religious faiths as well. Across the religious spectrum, there is a consensus that marriage is the union of a man and woman. Yes, there are promises of protection, but, so often, such assurances seem to evaporate over time. If our society alters the meaning of marriage, that is what will happen. <BR /> <BR />Consider the impact, too, on those who work in registry offices and that on many other businesses. That issue has been highlighted in recent days. Consider the wider impact on society.”
“I speak, I believe, in love, but I also want to speak the truth. Whatever we say on either side of the debate should be spoken in love, and no one on either side should be subjected to harassment or mistreatment. Whenever we uphold the traditional and biblical definition of marriage in our society, we do so out of a genuine belief that traditional marriage is important, that marriage is good and that it is beneficial to society. <BR /> <BR />The campaign to redefine marriage is an attempt to change one of the fundamental institutions in our society, and to change it for ever. We have been told that there could be protection for Churches that might refuse to perform same-sex ceremonies, but that is only one point, as this is a much wider issue.”
“It is an attempt to change the definition of marriage, change the understanding of marriage, abandon the traditional view of marriage and introduce a new one. <BR /> <BR />I believe that the traditional understanding of marriage, which is also the biblical understanding, is the right one. A marriage is a loving union between a man and a woman, and it is foundational in the sense that so much else in society depends upon it. It is also universal in that it has existed throughout history, across human cultures, across religions and around the world. Marriage is also beneficial to individuals and society, and it is beneficial to wider society in a variety of ways. <BR /> <BR />In this debate, and in the wider public discourse, we should, to borrow a biblical phrase, speak the truth in love.”
“Mr Speaker, this is the fourth time that what is sometimes referred to as "same-sex marriage" has been debated here in the Northern Ireland Assembly. All the issues were analysed and debated at length during those previous three debates, and, on each and every occasion, the Assembly voted to retain the traditional definition of marriage. <BR /> <BR />This is not an equality issue, although some people try to present it in that way. Neither is it a human rights issue, although some people attempt to present it in that way. The European Convention on Human Rights does not recognise what is called "same-sex marriage" as a right, and member states have the right and, indeed, the freedom not to redefine marriage in that way. It is really about the nature, understanding and purpose of marriage.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. In rural areas, there are a number of mission halls and gospel halls that fall slightly under the 100-seat capacity; they tend to have seating for around 80. Will the Minister consider reviewing the minimum seating capacity?”
“Teachers elsewhere are learning those things for the primary teaching of RE. Therefore, in my view, there is a need for a more informed debate, and for answers to some of those questions so that we can have that informed debate.”
“If that is the case, what is different, what is unique and why is there a need for that particular certificate? People who are listening to the debate and who have a general interest in education may well ask who validates the certificate, who is authorised to deliver it and who authorises them to deliver it. If somebody else were to create a certificate in religious education, who would decide whether that is acceptable or not? That is why I say that I think that we need to have a debate about it, but it needs to be an informed debate. <BR /> <BR />Seán Rogers got very close to the point when he referred to the issue of sacramental education, because the earlier part of his justification for a certificate did not really stand up strongly, in that, as I have said already —”
“<BR /> <BR />When I said earlier that it is not good enough just to have a debate and that it needs to be an informed debate, I would certainly want to be better informed as to why there has to be a certificate in religious education. What is there in it that is not in any other primary education training for teachers? Other teachers at primary level are taught and equipped to teach religious education with a syllabus which, apart from the sacramental element, is the same across all schools.”
“The fact that such strong views have been expressed today in favour of retaining it suggests that I am right in that assumption and that, contrary to what was said by Mr Sheehan, there is something unique and different in that it is something that is particular to one sector and for one sector alone. That is why it is not the same as every other qualification. It is unique, peculiar and distinctive to one sector; in this case, the Roman Catholic sector. The comment was also made that some of the observations, critiques and comments were aimed solely at the Roman Catholic sector, but that is the very nature of the thing because it is a certificate for teaching religious education in a Roman Catholic ethos.”
“We have a substantial number of sectors and a system that was there for 40 years from the creation of the education and library boards. We are all very familiar with the difficulties that there were in reshaping and reconfiguring the architecture of education to create an Education Authority. Once the whole issue started to be unpacked, suddenly a whole range of other things started to open up. I am, however, keen to see that inequalities are addressed wherever they can be. It is incumbent on us all to ensure that we commit ourselves to that. <BR /> <BR />I was interested in Mr Sheehan's comment that the certificate is the same as every other qualification. I would suggest that it is not quite the same as every other qualification.”
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue. As I will say later on, it is important that we have not only debate about the issue but informed debate. I come at it at a slight disadvantage as a member of the Education Committee in that these are issues that were discussed by the Committee at some length some time ago before I joined the Committee, so I am not privy to all the discussions that took place at that time. However, I want to pick up on the fact that in the motion there is a word that is important for education: the word "inequality". <BR /> <BR />One of the things that is very distinctive about our education provision in Northern Ireland is the range of sectors, the complex architecture that was developed over the years and some of its inbuilt inequalities.”
“The American car manufacturer Henry Ford said that you could have any colour of car that you wanted as long as it was black. When the Minister's Department abandons a programme that offered three languages — Spanish, Polish and Irish — and, at the same time, another part of his Department is seeking to initiate a new programme to bring Irish into schools, is it not a case of "You can have any language that you want as long as it is Irish"?”
“Does the Minister agree that there is some uncertainty, or lack of transparency, about the funding issues that led Queen's University to make the decision that it did, in that there was a reference to a deficit in one year but there seems to have been a surplus in other years? Would she agree to meet the festival organisers to get to the bottom of the facts so that we are clear on the situation?”
“Committee Stage will be hugely important.”
“It is that absence of detail that makes the current situation somewhat difficult for us in the Assembly today and somewhat unsatisfactory for the Committee. Although I totally support the general principle of the Bill, principle has to be followed by detail. <BR /> <BR />There is another point that I want to acknowledge. Postcode lotteries and inconsistencies across the five boards have been mentioned. The creation of a single authority should address and improve that situation in part, but the pre-existing inconsistencies have certainly caused a degree of confusion among parents. <BR /> <BR />As I said, I support the general principle of the Bill. It is good, and it is moving in the right direction, but the detail that needs to follow is hugely important. We need to know exactly what is proposed and what the implications are.”
“An informal mediation system of the sort that we currently have is helpful, but it is clearly desirable that that be put on a more formal, independent footing. <BR /> <BR />We also have to keep in mind the balance between the primary legislation that we are looking at today and the anticipated secondary legislation. Beyond that, there will be a consequent impact on the statutory SEN code of practice. I know that the Committee will get briefings on the secondary legislation and so on after Easter and will have a better understanding then of where that is going. There is a concern that we are seeing only part of the picture at this stage: we really need to see the bigger picture. I hope that what is presented to the Committee after Easter will help provide that better understanding and better picture.”
“It is clear to us all from those experiences that the current situation is complex and that parents can often find it confusing, difficult and bureaucratic. There is a recognition across the Assembly that there is a need for change. Of course, the question then is what the nature of that change might be. Our desire is that there should be a reduction in statementing timescales and that the process should be simpler and quicker than it is currently. I hope therefore that what is eventually brought into law is not overly and unnecessarily bureaucratic. <BR /> <BR />In that regard, the changes to the appeal mechanism are welcome. The proposal of an independent mediation service is a good development that will help to resolve disagreements more effectively.”
“There are many things that we might want to do and that might seem desirable, but there are certain things that should be seen as priorities, and this is certainly one of them. Yet the growth in the demand for SEN support services has undoubtedly placed a considerable burden on budgets for the education and library boards, and it will do so in the future for the Education Authority. <BR /> <BR />The need to improve the special educational needs situation is, I think, in the mind of most Members. We all have constituents come into our office with concerns about problems that they have encountered in obtaining a statement of special educational needs for a child or, thereafter, in ensuring that the child receives the appropriate provision.”
“When you look at those figures and the scale represented by them — 73,000 children with special educational needs — it leads on to this question: is that simply a reflection or result of better identification of children with special educational needs, or are there other issues here underlying it? The careful analysis and examination of the background is important. How does it compare with other areas of the United Kingdom and with other countries? What are the comparisons across the Province? <BR /> <BR />The issue of budget has already been mentioned. Of course, that has to be very much in our minds. It is therefore important that, in the thinking of the Department, there is recognition of the importance of money being allocated in regard to SEN.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the discussion on the Special Educational Needs and Disability Bill. It is important that we identify children with special needs at an early stage and that the needs of those children are addressed. That is good for the child, for the parents, for the family from which they come and for society as a whole. <BR /> <BR />The figures that have been presented to us this morning by the Chair of the Committee and have been referenced by others in regard to the scale of the situation are indeed stark. From a situation 10 years ago where 16% of the school population had special educational needs — one in six — we are now, 10 years later, at a figure of 22%, which is one in five and not far short of one in four.”
“We have already heard from a younger generation today, and some in that younger generation will say. "If it was all right for them to do it, why can we not do it?". In my constituency, we have the case of a plaque for Thomas Begley being put up in Ardoyne. <BR /> <BR />I was at a debate not so long ago with Declan Kearney. He talked about national reconciliation. Actions speak louder than words. That is not the way to get national reconciliation.”
“It turned out that one of them, Brendan Burns, had also had a connection, it seems, with the Narrow Water massacre, where 18 soldiers were murdered by the IRA, the worst single atrocity directed against the British Army in the Troubles. That is the sort of person who was eulogised and glorified by Gerry Adams on Sunday. <BR /> <BR />Castlederg is another example. We seem to have week after week after week after week of the Sinn Féin leadership keeping faith with the past, bound to the past and bound into that republican philosophy that, somehow or other, in certain circumstances, it is all right to kill. They seem to be unable to break free from the past and move forward, and the danger with all of this is that those who look and those who listen are from a younger generation.”
“He was guilty of conspiracy to murder and possession of weapons, and there is the link to the Kingsmills massacre. He knew what he was doing and wanted to do it. Sinn Féin needed and wanted martyrs, and, therefore, the leadership of Sinn Féin provided the hunger strike. <BR /> <BR />Mark Durkan, as Minister of the Environment, said that we need to move on. How do we do it? We can move on, first, by renaming McCreesh park. We can also move on by not maintaining a liturgical calendar of murderous republicanism. Last Sunday, Gerry Adams was in south Armagh, the same area, glorifying Brendan Burns and Brendan Moley, two IRA terrorists who managed to blow themselves up when they were handling a bomb and putting it into a car.”
“No, I will not. I am running out of time. <BR /> <BR />Tom Elliott referred to the Equality Commission and said that Newry and Mourne District Council had failed to comply with its own equality scheme. That was the decision of the Equality Commission, yet Newry and Mourne councillors threw the Equality Commission recommendation aside. When I thought about it, it occurred to me that, when it comes to Ashers bakery, the Equality Commission behaves like a salivating Rottweiler, and, when it comes to McCreesh park in Newry and Mourne, it is tentative at best and behaves more like a little lapdog. Tom Elliott also reminded us that Raymond McCreesh had a choice; his victims had none. <BR /> <BR />Jim Allister said that Raymond McCreesh chose to be a terrorist.”
“I wonder: did Raymond McCreesh and other hunger strikers really die so that Sinn Féin Members could administer British rule in a devolved Assembly under a sovereign Parliament at Westminster where they have to send every Bill for the Royal Assent of Her Majesty the Queen? We are still in the United Kingdom, so I wonder whether that is really what those folk died for. <BR /> <BR />Dominic Bradley, in a wide-ranging speech, gave us a little bit about Mickey Brady's history and then spoke about a shared future. He said that it is time to move on and that no public space should be named after someone who has been guilty of unlawful violence. It is good that he is there; there is just therefore the difficulty that it took the SDLP 14 years to get there.”
“He drew the parallel with the actions of the three teenage girls from England who have gone to join Islamic State. Outside Northern Ireland, he said, people will look on in horror, and he described Newry and Mourne as a political cesspit. The SDLP is belatedly allowing itself to be dragged on, and he referred to the fact that one SDLP councillor said that it was a "healing process" to name the park after a terrorist. <BR /> <BR />Raymond McCartney expressed solidarity with Raymond McCreesh's family; he had known them, and he said that republicans were unbowed and unbroken.”
“My colleague William Humphrey referred to a number of issues. He highlighted the weakness of the SDLP and the comments of one of its councillors Kate Loughran who previously backed the name "McCreesh". It was an odious decision, he said, and he said that the party had lost its moral compass. Actions speak louder than words, and, hopefully now, the moral compass is starting maybe to come back. <BR /> <BR />Mickey Brady told us that Raymond McCreesh is not, was not and never will be a terrorist. However, I think that most people will take the view that, if someone acts like a terrorist and if someone murders like a terrorist, he probably is a terrorist. <BR /> <BR />Sammy Wilson referred to the youngest Member of the Assembly, and asked, "Is this what our society has come to?".”
“It took the SDLP 14 years to do the right thing, but, like Trevor Lunn, I welcome the fact that it is now in a better place.”
“The story of Nazi collaboration and the IRA's collaboration with Adolf Hitler is well known. <BR /> <BR />Danny Kennedy reminded us how, as a councillor, he had long opposed this in Newry and Mourne and said, quite rightly, that it is just plain wrong and deeply offensive, and it is deeply offensive to decent people. IRA actions were murder and terrorism. There is nothing there to celebrate, and all true democrats will endorse those words. <BR /> <BR />Trevor Lunn referred to Kingsmills. In 1976, 10 innocent Protestant people were murdered there by the IRA, and there was linkage to Raymond McCreesh and the weapon that he was carrying. There was also criticism of the Equality Commission, which he described as being worse than lethargic, its inactivity on a grand scale.”
“<BR /> <BR />Danny Kennedy spoke as a former councillor and said that he had long opposed —”
“I welcome the fact that there seems to have been a change of heart by the SDLP, but I would have preferred him to say, "We regret the pain that we — the SDLP — have caused". <BR /> <BR />I was also interested in Megan Fearon's references to the names of people. She talked about John Martin and various places in Newry that are named after earlier republicans of the 19th century: John Martin; John Mitchel; and others. This year, the republican movement will be celebrating the bicentenary of John Mitchel, who was not only an Irish republican but an advocate of slavery. Although, since Sinn Féin can manage to celebrate, eulogise and glorify a Nazi collaborator in Dublin, dealing with somebody who was an advocate of slavery should not be too much of a problem for them.”
“Interestingly enough, the points that she makes are obviously part of a narrative that has been worked out by Sinn Féin, as they try to rewrite history and excuse and explain away what they have done. <BR /> <BR />Alasdair McDonnell said that "pain has no politics". As we have been reminded, this name was put up under an SDLP-dominated council. He said:”
“The first time I heard that was from a civil servant from Dublin, but I heard it today from Megan Fearon. It was not true when the Dublin civil servant said it, and it is no more true when Megan Fearon says it. It is as though, somehow or other, the Irish Republican Brotherhood and its murderous campaigns in the 19th century, long before Sir James Craig was even born, can be simply written out of history. Not only did it bring the gun into Irish politics, it certainly also brought the bomb into Irish politics big style, when it organised its dynamite campaign on the British mainland and murdered quite a number of people in the course of it. So it was disappointing — very disappointing — and alarming to hear those words from Megan Fearon and this attempt to rewrite history.”
“<BR /> <BR />Megan Fearon from Sinn Féin eulogised Raymond McCreesh and, as was pointed out by another Member, it was quite appalling to find the youngest Member of this Assembly, someone from a younger generation, pouring out the same poison that has been passed down from generation to generation by murderous militant republicanism. Someone asked who had written her speech. I do not know who wrote it, but I will say this much: she certainly managed to regurgitate quite a bit of what Conor Murphy said on 'The Stephen Nolan Show' this morning. It was almost word-for-word perfect. She referred to Sir James Craig and said that he was:”
“We had an initial proposal this afternoon from Willie Irwin, who reminded us that this matter had been raised with the Equality Commission back in December 2012. He reflected on the fact that, whilst the Equality Commission had pursued a bakery with the speed of light, it had been somewhat ineffective in regard to its dealings with Newry and Mourne District Council. He also pointed out that there was a lack of respect shown by those who supported the name McCreesh park, and that the weapon that was identified with McCreesh was one that had also been used in that appalling murder of 10 Protestant workmen at Kingsmills. We were also reminded that this name was put up in 2001 under a Newry and Mourne District Council that was dominated by the SDLP. That was referred to by a number of other Members.”
“I am sure that Mr Hazzard will want to take that to heart. <BR /> <BR />I support the motion and hope that the Minister will take it to heart.”
“We might also refer to Sir Samuel Davidson and the Sirocco Works. He was a pre-eminent engineer with so many different and diverse inventions to his name. He was also the proprietor of a major engineering works that not only produced goods in Belfast but exported them around the world. Belfast was very much a centre of engineering and of invention and innovation. We might also think of Harry Ferguson, the engineer who made such a significant contribution in the agricultural field. For the benefit of Mr Hazzard, who is no longer with us, the common theme across Sir Samuel Davidson, Harry Ferguson and Lord Kelvin is not simply their engineering expertise but the fact that they were staunch unionists and very much in support of Ulster and the union —”
“<BR /> <BR />It was touched on, maybe a little bit humorously, earlier that there is an opportunity to say to young people in Northern Ireland that there are good examples that can be an encouragement and perhaps even an inspiration to them. The IT link across the Atlantic with America is referred to as Project Kelvin. One of the great things about Lord Kelvin was that, not only was he a theoretical scientist, he was a very practical scientist who created many different inventions and so on. We should also keep it in mind that there is a value in making children in schools more aware of the scientific, technical, engineering and mathematical heritage of Ulster, which has produced so many significant figures in those areas. <BR /> <BR />It would be remiss of me to simply leave it with Lord Kelvin.”
“We should be in a position where young people here are available with the skills to take up the jobs that are being created and to help to create more jobs in what is clearly a key driver for the economy and a growth area. <BR /> <BR />STEM subjects tend to be focused on at secondary level. However, as the motion implies, they also have a relevance in primary schools. The Royal Society of Chemistry, along with other scientific organisations, have stressed the importance of that subject in primary as well as secondary schools. The Committee sincerely hopes that the Minister will throw his full weight, his full support and his full resources behind STEM subjects to ensure that they are taught at primary and secondary level and that all aspects of the reports and the evaluations by the inspectorate are taken into account in so doing.”
“We know that the Minister will have a number of priorities and things that he wants to happen and be done during his tenure in office. I sincerely hope that that is one of them and that he will make the teaching of STEM subjects one of his priorities. <BR /> <BR />The motion also states that STEM subjects are a "key driver of the economy". They are a growth area for the economy. If that is the case, and if we want to address issues of unemployment, particularly among younger people, surely we do not want to put ourselves in a situation where we have to bring into Northern Ireland young people with the requisite skills in those areas to fill the opportunities that there are in a range of businesses in the STEM areas.”
“The inspectorate has said that STEM subjects are important, the sector has said that they are important and the Committee and common sense would say that they are important as well. The motion calls on the Minister to support the schools and the system to:”