Patsy McGlone
Mid Ulster · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“Limiting the power to dismiss charges involving the death of or serious physical harm to a vulnerable person will enhance the fairness and integrity of those criminal proceedings.”
“The SDLP welcomes the provisions for the long-overdue establishment of a statutory Commissioner for Victims and Witnesses of Crime. That is a significant step forward in the development of our justice system.”
“Putting the office on a statutory footing will ensure that the commissioner's role is legally recognised and accountable to the public and the justice system. The Minister outlined a number of the measures in the process of accountability.”
“OK. I thank my colleague — indeed, the Minister — for responding. It is, as the Minister said and my colleague highlighted, a sensitive area. People who are approached to give a reference should think long and hard about the implications of the references that they give: where they might wind up; the circumstances in which they give them;…”
“The SDLP welcomes the Victims and Witnesses of Crime Bill and the opportunity to debate it, alongside the Chairperson — or should I say, "Mr Amendment" — at its Second Stage.”
“I accept that the Minister's Department, as she has stated repeatedly, does not have the capacity or resources to develop those legislative provisions during this mandate.”
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“Some of the schools are on corners, twists and bends and the like; they are part of the community, and that is the way that it is. Those elements have to be taken into consideration too as we adopt a creative approach. There cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach by any means, manner or fashion, because measures that will work at some schools will not work at others. We have to bear that in mind. <BR /> <BR />The Minister recently announced part-time 20 mph speed limits for 103 schools at 90 sites across the North, including several in Mid Ulster and at my alma mater, St Trea's in Ballymaguigan, and I thank her for that. Such speed limits should be in place at every school.”
“I thank Mr Buchanan, if he is listening, but maybe he has gone, for introducing the Adjournment debate on road safety at schools in Mid Ulster. It is an issue that I have highlighted repeatedly during my time as a councillor and as an MLA working with other elected representatives, and we have successively lobbied different Ministers on behalf of many of the rural schools in the constituency to introduce measures to improve road safety. <BR /> <BR />One issue, and I thank Ms Dillon for touching on it, is the location of the schools. Many of them, with a few additions or renovations etc, have been in the exact same location for many years. When the roads that they are on were built, the only means of transport were horses. Those roads remain, by and large but with a lick of tar on them, the exact same.”
“Cainteoirí Gaeilge, Irish-language speakers, deserve official recognition, just as others do. I respect entirely people's right to differ. I also respect entirely people's right to have their culture and identity enshrined in law and recognised properly. That is what this society should be about: an cóimheas, joint respect for one another, respect being a two-way street. So, let us start in the Assembly, and let us see some more progress. Feicimis tuilleadh dul chun cinn. Go raibh míle maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Thank you.”
“An cóimheas, common respect, an t-iolrachas cultúir, and cultural diversity, rud an-saibhir é sin agus rud atá le baint amach, are very rich, and they are within our grasp. <BR /> <BR />Let us publish the commission's report and see the recommendations. Let us honour the commitments in 'New Decade, New Approach' and establish the Office of Identity and Cultural Expression without delay, gan mhoill. Let us see the First Minister and deputy First Minister taking actions towards reconciliation across the island of Ireland, rather than paying lip service to it. <BR /> <BR />I heard the reports on the radio this morning. I hope that they are just reports and that this is just loose talk from individuals seeking to undermine the years of hard work that has been done by many. The Irish language is not going away. We are here.”
“Again, that is a direct quote from 'New Decade, New Approach'. Such a language commissioner would not be unique. In fact, their role with regard to the Irish language is pivotal. Such commissioners are present in countries across the world, from Canada to Catalonia and from Wales to Kosovo. One already exists on the island of Ireland. The International Association of Language Commissioners, which has 11 members at present, is there to support regions that wish to create the position of a language commissioner. Let us be the twelfth. <BR /> <BR />There is no better time to promote cultural pluralism and respect for diversity than right now. There is no better place to start doing this than right here.”
“It would also, naturally in my view, include the appointment of a commissioner to recognise, support, protect and enhance the development of the Irish language in Northern Ireland, and to provide official recognition of the status of the Irish language within the North. Sin stádas oifigiúil a bhaint amach don Ghaeilge. It, too, is a commitment in 'New Decade, New Approach'. The commissioner would:”
“That would seem to be the ideal body to take forward and oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition.”
“Certainly, everyone understands that the issue is politically sensitive, but it is also essential for reconciliation on this island that the issue is addressed comprehensively and collectively and in a spirit of magnanimity and respect. That is why the commission was set up in the first place. It has done its bit of the work, and it is time for the First Minister and the deputy First Minister to take action. <BR /> <BR />One area where they can take action immediately is to honour their commitments in 'New Decade, New Approach'. They have committed to establishing an Office of Identity and Cultural Expression to promote cultural pluralism and respect for diversity, to build social cohesion and reconciliation and to celebrate and support all aspects of Northern Ireland's rich cultural heritage.”
“The fact that the Executive collapsed in no small part because of the lack of respect shown to the Irish language and to those of us with an Irish identity is highly relevant to the debate. <BR /> <BR />The First Minister and the deputy First Minister have apparently been considering what to do about the commission's final report since July last year, including whether to publish it. Unless and until the report is published and people get to see it and start to take action on its recommendations, it will have been a waste of money. The public deserve to see the commission's recommendations and to see what it is that the First Minister and the deputy First Minister find so difficult about them. The First Minister and the deputy First Minister and their advisers have had ample time to consider the report.”
“Go raibh míle maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle agus a Aire. Mar dhuine a chaith cuid mhór ama leis an ábhar seo, go háirithe le cúrsaí Gaeilge, is onóir liom labhairt agus tacú leis an leasú ar an rún. As someone who has spent quite a bit of time on the issue, especially its Irish language aspects, I am happy to speak in favour of the motion and, obviously, the amendment. <BR /> <BR />The SDLP welcomes the debate. We believe that the original motion has merit, but, at this late stage, it is time that the public saw action from Ministers and the Executive on the matter. The Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition has experienced many delays since it was first announced in December 2014. Significantly, its work was put on hold between 2018 and 2020 because there was no one to give a report to.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Yes, additional resources appear to be there, but resources in this instance are not matched by the number of people on the ground to fulfil the care packages and make sure that disabled, isolated and often elderly people in poor health are getting the support that they require. Is there any mechanism by which the Minister can ascertain information about delivery on the ground of extra personnel to support people living in isolation?”
“Thank you, but the Minister has covered both of the questions that I was going to ask. Well done. Thank you.”
“I very much thank the Minister for that. When will payments commence under the large tourism and hospitality business support scheme?”
“<BR /> <BR />Gabhaim buíochas leat, a Cheann Comhairle as ucht an ama agus gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an tacaíocht, tá súil agam, don na hiascairí ar Loch nEathach. Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your time. I thank the Minister for his support, I hope, for the fishermen on Lough Neagh.”
“Many of those fishing families are on relatively low incomes, and they need that support. We have been critical of the slowness of other Departments in getting out support, but they do not match this Department, which moves not even at a snail's pace. A snail's pace is fast compared with how it has moved. It is abysmal and awful that people cannot get the money that is due to them and which was promised to them. I have made enquiries about whether the Department of Finance has authorised DAERA to make those payments and sanctioned their being sent out. Will the Minister clarify that that is the case? It would be helpful in pursuing where the delay is. We are duty-bound to deliver to those families and to help to support them through the difficult times that they have been trying to work their way through.”
“That rural support and pillar of funding, provided through DAERA, was pivotal in helping many of those smaller businesses to grow and provide employment in their parishes, which was not available previously. <BR /> <BR />I conclude with just one item for the Minister, which I have already raised today: COVID-19 support for our Lough Neagh fishermen. This issue has been elongated, torn out and dragged out through the Department for a long number of months. There is no justification for it. People were promised that this support would come last summer; they anticipated that it would definitely be there in the autumn; some thought that at least they would be given something for Christmas; but no. It never arrived.”
“The Budget does little to alleviate the prospects of the months and years ahead, and provides scant hope for the funding shortages for the Department. It will be for this Assembly and future Assemblies to seek to minimise the impact of those cuts in funding and farming, the environment, support and rural development. <BR /> <BR />Many of us from rural communities know that development is underpinned by rural development programmes. They initiate and support many of our microbusinesses. Those of us from rural communities understand that those microbusinesses often grow from subsidiaries of a family farming business. Many of the businesses that I know, which are extremely successful in my area, have been grown by people who worked in farming and saw an opportunity, and that broadened out. They now employ many of their neighbours.”
“That direct funding is short; it was always going to be short and will continue to be short of what is required. The gaps will continue to grow in negotiations with the British Government on future agricultural funding. Perhaps the Agriculture Minister's party can finally admit that promises from that source should have been taken with a big pinch of salt. <BR /> <BR />That said, the Budget presented to the Assembly fails to meet the needs of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and the responsibility for that lies with the Finance Minister and the wider Executive. There is probably no other Department that faces as much change and uncertainty as a consequence of Brexit than DAERA.”
“<BR /> <BR />We also share the Department's concern about the overall resource shortfall in the Budget of £33·9 million. The implications of the New Decade, New Approach commitment for the establishment of an independent environmental protection agency has not been considered in the Budget either, which presumably means that the commitment will be delayed even further. <BR /> <BR />As the first post-Brexit Budget, there is little sign of the benefits for the agriculture sector that were promised by some of the hardline Brexit advocates. Their reliance on direct UK Treasury funding to cover the gaps created by that process demonstrates the foolishness of that position. We already knew that relying on the British Government to match EU funding was not really going to work.”
“Some £15·3 million over the next three years has been lost from the funding to support the bovine TB programme, and it is projected that £34 million has been lost from the previously available funding for rural development over the next three years. That amounts to a shortfall of some £19·5 million for next year alone, all as a consequence and an outworking of Brexit. <BR /> <BR />That funding has not been replaced in the Budget. Any additional funding that has been secured from the UK Treasury will instead be used against the cost of the sanitary and phytosanitary process, which has not been considered as part of the Budget, as well as wider policy work that includes Brexit, staffing costs and environment programmes. Again, a shortfall is predicted for those areas of some £3·3 million.”
“Tá mé ag dul a bheith measartha achomair, a Cheann Comhairle. I will be relatively brief, Mr Speaker. We have taken quite a considerable time. I appreciate the forbearance of Members. <BR /> <BR />The SDLP has a number of concerns about the Budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, many of which I have raised previously. In particular, we are concerned about the failure of the Budget to address the impact of Brexit on the funding available for agriculture and especially for rural development. It has been known for some time that funding previously available to the Department and through the Department to farmers would be affected by Brexit.”
“We have had numerous updates to the Committee regarding COVID support for Lough Neagh fishermen, the most recent of which was that it had been cleared by the Departmental Solicitor's Office (DSO), and the Department of Finance had been consulted and had come back to give it the green light. Can the Minister provide an update on when those payments will be approved? It seems to be an interminable time since they were first mooted by the Department.”
“The Minister will be aware of contractual liabilities and commitments in relation to the project and, indeed, others. Has the project been cancelled, or has it been delayed? Has the Minister taken any advice on the legal or financial liabilities associated with cancellation or delay of the project? There is a contract, and the Department is bound by it.”
“I thank the Minister very much for his answer. Given that the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has published evidence confirming that over 36% of those who died with coronavirus from March to September also had dementia, are you in a position to commit to making dementia a stand-alone priority in the Department's ongoing reform of adult social care as we look forward to building a better health service?”
“I hope that the Minister, while he is here, will demonstrate both those qualities in the time ahead, and, for the best of good reasons, I hope that that will be for a short time.”
“There is a need for a clear and explicit purpose for future agriculture funding that contributes to the delivery of wider strategic objectives for sustainable farming and land use within a sustainable environmental approach. When or if that will be forthcoming is not clear. <BR /> <BR />Even before circumstances dictated that the current Minister would be in place today, there had been significant slippage in the target dates for legislation and improved environmental strategies that should have been before the Assembly. I hope that we will see movement on those soon. The opportunity is there to use new and existing mechanisms of funding and regulation to combat the global crisis of climate change and ever-decreasing biodiversity. What is needed is imagination and the political will to do that.”
“<BR /> <BR />The current level of funding has some guarantee attached, but, beyond the term of the current UK Parliament, there is no certainty over what will follow for the funding available for direct payments. Farmers, like most businesses, ask for certainty, and, rolling forward, we must make sure that there is a degree of certainty for the finance and funding that underpins the viability of their businesses. That is important for the food-producing and agri-food sector. <BR /> <BR />Farmers are also concerned that statutory rules are going through in the absence of a broader strategic framework for future agriculture support specifically for Northern Ireland. I have touched on some of them already.”
“In Committee, I raised the issue of three unsuccessful applications to the young farmers' scheme. It might be helpful if the Minister looked at that. I ask for some clarity on it. Granted, it is understandable if there are three unsuccessful attempts and circumstances have not changed, but circumstances can and do change: the business may have additional farm acquisitions or whatever. What provision is there to allow for a change-of-circumstances application from the same individual or business party? It is important to clarify that. I am not talking about multiple repetitive applications to the same scheme with the same circumstances. It is, obviously, allowing for cases where circumstances do and can change.”
“The fixed ceiling on payments, however, represents a decrease in income in real terms on a yearly basis due to inflation. This is a point for the Minister: we hear the Minister of Finance repeatedly request that Departments put forward bids. Is there any potential in the regulations for the Minister to add a supplementary bid for the funding that may be available? It might be helpful if the Minister would clarify that, as it could assist our rural communities.”
“Simultaneously, we have the situation where £15·3 million over the next three years has been lost from the funding to support the bovine TB programme, which is crucial and underpins the functionality of rural communities, particularly farming communities and their ability move on. <BR /> <BR />The payments that we are talking about today are worth £293 million, as others have said, and have been the main income support schemes for farmers for many years. If they were to end suddenly, it would be a significant shock to the farming industry.”
“I thank the Minister for introducing the direct payment statutory rules today. The SDLP is content to accept both statutory rules on direct payments to farmers but with some qualifications and reservations. <BR /> <BR />The statutory rules are necessary as a direct consequence of Brexit, and, without the rules, the legislation would not be in place to allow the operation of the existing direct payment scheme for farmers beyond the end of the 2020 scheme. However, to contextualise it, particularly with regard to the rural development funds, which have an impact on the wider rural community, as a result of Brexit, £34 million has been lost from previous available funding for rural development over the next three years.”
“I thank the Minister for his comprehensive answer. Will he clarify whether the support that he has outlined is additional resource and support, financial or otherwise, that is being provided to the schools?”
“I am sure that the Minister will more than appreciate that, for people who are trying to get by on statutory sick pay of £95·85 per week in difficult circumstances, both health-wise and family-wise, the discretionary support mechanism is elongated, lengthy and difficult to get through. In order to obviate all that, has she given any consideration to a particular SSP top-up scheme tailored specially to needs in Northern Ireland? She will appreciate that, in the circumstances, people who are off work because they have tested positive are least able to go through an elongated computerised or telephone application mechanism for discretionary support.”
“I welcome you, Minister. I wish Edwin well and hope that he makes a speedy recovery and, indeed, that he will be back at his desk. <BR /> <BR />On the overall finances, we know that Westminster has refused to step in to replace the £15·3 million of ring-fenced EU TB eradication moneys. There is also the reduction of £34 million in rural development funds over the next three years. Those moneys are pivotal and crucial to many of the rural areas that we represent. Can the Minister advise what efforts are being made by the Department to replace those moneys?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Thanks very much, Minster, for that and for mentioning those specific cases. Can the Minister confirm from that limited stakeholder review, which has been mentioned previously in the Assembly and which, I presume, has been carried out, what the subsequent steps will be?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. Is she concerned that the spurious allegations that were flung about in relation to a security risk at the port would, in any way, damage its commercial viability?”
“The duty of all of us is to bring it down, calm the situation, identify the issues and address them collectively and calmly, to pave the way forward for the society that we are here to represent and to bring about a spirit of accommodation and reconciliation, not a spirit of division. <BR /> <BR />To conclude, I will use the occasion to send my best wishes to a good friend of many years, Edwin Poots. I wish him well in his post-operative recovery. I hope that it will not be too long before he is back holding the reins at the Department.”
“We need to go about the business that we are elected to do: to be there for the betterment of society and the community. <BR /> <BR />With specific regard to the threat at Larne, those young women — they mostly are young women — have been left there in that dilemma. I have been contacted by some of the families, and it is despicable and disgraceful. The council has a duty of care to its employees, along with the PSNI and us, as elected Members, to work collectively to bring calm to the situation and address those issues. If people are engaging in illegal behaviour by collecting car registration numbers, spraying threatening graffiti and that type of stuff, they have to be identified and brought before the courts.”
“Like others, I condemn the threats against staff at Larne port. I just heard William Irwin mention a threat against him: William, that is reprehensible as well and is to be roundly condemned, as is the attack on Stephen Farry's office that we have just heard about. This behaviour is despicable; it is disgraceful. We all have a duty to calm things down. Today is not particularly a day for politics. The type of politics that today is about is paving the way ahead. <BR /> <BR />We know what the problems are. The problems are there, and they will be there for the foreseeable future if we continue to crank it up. The politics that we are about today and should be about is calming down the atmosphere, looking at the individual problems and seeing how we can resolve them one by one.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. I am sure that he will join with the rest of us in welcoming Minister McConalogue's announcement today that he will open extra ports in the rest of the country for access to fisheries, particularly at Greencastle, Rathmullen, Burtonport, Ros a Mhíl and Howth. That is a useful bit of progress, and I am sure that he will thank the Minister for that. <BR /> <BR />What kind of scoping exercise has been done, particularly with the agri-food sector, to establish that free movement of goods and services, North and South, that is so crucial in the agri-food sector continues to go ahead unimpeded and without any difficulties?”
“I will just give the Minister a short reminder that, had there been no Brexit, there would have been no protocol; it is as simple as that. Anyway, to get back to the here and now and to where we are, I want to ask him about the Trader Support Service. His departmental officials have been very helpful to businesses, but that cannot be said of the Trader Support Service, where there seems to be varying degrees of experience. What liaison has there been between DAERA and the Trader Support Service to establish a more experienced wealth of information?”
“<BR /> <BR />The regulations will ensure that the legislation is compatible with the withdrawal agreement and the Ireland protocol, and will continue to operate effectively after the end of the transition period. Tightening the restrictions on the movement of locally absent species onto the island of Ireland from GB will help to protect aquaculture businesses and the environment, which is crucial. <BR /> <BR />On a wider note, the Justice Minister has approved widening the offence that relates to the amendment, and it will be up to the Department — indeed, it will be cross-departmental — to ensure that the necessary checks are in place and that the regulations are enforced after the transition period. The SDLP supports the SR.”
“The SDLP agrees to the Alien and Locally Absent Species (Aquaculture) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020. The junior Minister outlined the importance of the regulations and the relevance of aquaculture legislation. The amendment regulations constitute more of the many legislative changes required by Brexit that the Assembly has had to scrutinise in a very short time. Indeed, to be frank, on some occasions, scrutiny has not been possible in a short time because the material has not been available. Information has not come from Westminster, so it has gone down to the wire on many things and is a bit lastminute.com. Indeed, when it went to a Division in Committee, I was in the Building using the WiFi, which went down at just that point, I do not know whether that was deliberate or some sort of alien infiltration.”
“<BR /> <BR />As a result, the Department will also be able to make legislation to prevent the introduction of pests as required by obligations arising under the Ireland protocol. The protocol is an important safeguard, whether a trade deal emerges from the ongoing negotiations between the British Government and the EU. It is essential that the Assembly is able to meet its responsibilities in maintaining the protocol. The SDLP will hold the Minister and the Executive accountable for meeting those responsibilities.”
“Again, that is one of the fallouts from Brexit, and we do not need to rehearse those matters because they are being rehearsed elsewhere today, I hope. <BR /> <BR />The regulations align legislation with the terms of the Ireland protocol of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. They will allow for investigations into alleged breaches of obligations under either retained EU law or the protocol. I specifically welcome that, as the Minister outlined, the regulations will allow inspectors to retain the ability and the legal wherewithal to enter premises and examine not only animal health issues but animal welfare issues, which are crucial to us all. We have had motions in the Assembly about that, so it is vital that that power is retained and, indeed, built on.”
“The SDLP accepts the amendment to the regulations on plant health and diseases of animals. The amendment regulations are some of the many that are required by Brexit that the Assembly has had to scrutinise in a limited period. The Chairperson outlined the detail of that. <BR /> <BR />I, too, place on record my thanks to the departmental officials for their endurance, as they had to put up with all that on this side. They have been placed in a really awful position because of the lack of flow of information from DEFRA. Indeed, in some circumstances, as we found out in the Committee, there was no flow of information from DEFRA, which led to statutory instruments not being discussed as scheduled at the Committee given the limited information that was provided to us from the other side.”
“The regulations will transfer functions to the Department to allow for legislation in those areas after the end of the transition period. As the amendments are largely technical, we do not see a problem with agreeing to them; in fact, they are practically necessary. However, those powers should not be left in limbo or surrendered to Westminster at any stage. It will be for the Assembly to scrutinise any future legislation that the Department chooses to bring forward as a result of these and future amendments.”
“The SDLP accepts the amendments to the regulations on the marketing of plant and propagating material. The Chairperson has gone into the processes at the Committee in quite a bit of detail. The amendments are some of the many required by Brexit that the Assembly has had to scrutinise in a limited period. Indeed, there is a limited period for some of this stuff. The pace at which we were expected to scrutinise the statutory instruments, with the limited detail that we had, and return them to Westminster was, frankly, a disgrace. Those who think that Brexit was a good idea in allowing us time to scrutinise should reflect on that.”
“I ask the Minister about the importance of updating tenants on their responsibilities to have proper insurance cover for contents and the like. We are coming into really cold weather. We have had a wee sample of it. We do not want people being left literally wet and caught with no cover at all, and their house possibly ruined through flooding or another circumstance that has occurred in their home as a result of poor weather.”
“I join others in wishing Edwin all the very best for a speedy and full recovery. It is a tricky enough situation that he found himself in over the weekend. <BR /> <BR />Minister, I do not necessarily expect you to know the answer to my question because it is a bit complicated. However, I was contacted this morning by a sheep farmer who has bought hundreds of sheep that are in the UK. Before the sheep can be brought over here, they have to be a year old and that year will take them into the new year. With everything that is going on at the moment, he finds himself in a new year limbo as to whether he may bring them over. He has invested hundreds of thousands of pounds in that stock. We spoke earlier about productivity, but we need the product in order to be productive. Perhaps the Minster could get back to me with some clarity on that.”