Gregory Campbell
East Londonderry · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I begin my contribution by thanking all the staff in this Assembly and in previous Assemblies, whom I found to be extremely courteous, diligent and helpful at all times. <BR /> <BR />I spent yesterday morning in the Senate Chamber at an event for victims, and I sat beside one of our youngest councillors in Northern Ireland.”
“We took the right decisions when it would have been easier to take the wrong ones, and, for that, we make no apology. For our stance, our statements and our comments since then, we make no apology whatsoever — none. <BR /> <BR />Over the last five years, people yearned for delivery, which has begun under the guidance of the DUP.”
“The Minister referred to the £6·7 billion that would be required over 30 years. He, obviously, had an exceptionally difficult task when determining whether an increase would be due in Housing Executive rents.”
“If a large sporting arena is close to a residential development, it is paramount that the organisers of the events liaise closely with residents, if there is a formal residents' structure in the area, to make sure that access to and departure from an event are done promptly and in a manner that does not give rise to concerns among residen…”
“The 9.00 pm threshold, which has been alluded to several times, was the subject of some scrutiny by the Committee, particularly in respect of the games — quite a few games — at the Kingspan Stadium that commence around 7.00 pm or 7.30 pm and therefore run close to the 9.00 pm threshold.”
“I will start where the Chair left off and append my congratulations to Carl Frampton. It was certainly clear on Saturday night that the Ulster boys were making all the noise everywhere they went. We wish him every success for the future.”
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“— in response to the draft Budget, has he outlined or identified any areas of additional revenue that he may begin potentially to explore beyond that stage?”
“I obviously hit the bullseye again. <BR /> <BR />When the discussions and debates are going on —”
“It is refreshing to hear the Minister directly answering questions. It is refreshing when compared to his DCAL colleague last Monday, who refused to. Could I ask the Minister —”
“The Minister will be aware that there was a major decision taken by the Londonderry and Strabane council surrounding the name of the council that had ramifications going back 30 years and all the consequences in community division that flowed therefrom. Is he aware that there will inevitably be a call-in on those grounds? What will the outcome be once that call-in procedure has been activated?”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I seek your advice and guidance on the long-established procedure in the House regarding the Speaker's discretion, which obviously is ultimate and final, to call Members for supplementary questions. On question 1, during questions to the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, a number of Members stood up on one side of the House and were called, and one Member stood up on this side and was not called. The previous Speaker, and other Deputy Speakers, indicated that Members should constantly rise to their feet to have the possibility of being called. I seek your guidance and reassurance that that is still the case, and that people will be called, in so far as is possible, from across the Chamber if they continue to stand.”
“The junior Minister will be aware that, up until four or five years ago, there was a significant imbalance in the Civil Service, particularly at AA and AO level, which are by far the most numerous, that affected young Protestant males and young Protestant females. Given that the situation has improved somewhat in the past three or four years, will she undertake to keep that under review?”
“On a point of order, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. I received a letter from you last Tuesday about events in the Assembly on Monday. I am not in any way challenging your ruling. In fact, I have circulated the content of your letter to all MLAs so that they can see it. <BR /> <BR />Will you and the other Deputy Speakers examine the Hansard report from the Monday? I asked a question of the Sinn Féin Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister, and she refused to answer it.”
“Curry my yogurt can coca coal yer. The Minister has outlined what she is talking about with the Irish language strategy and an Ulster-Scots strategy. Would it not be more inclusive to have a minority languages strategy so that nobody would feel left out?”
“The Minister will be aware that there are considerable numbers of severely disadvantaged people in rural areas. She has had an opportunity to look at the draft Budget: how does she believe it will affect the framework as she has outlined it to date?”
“I thank the Minister for his very comprehensive statement. I knew that it would be comprehensive when Nelson Mandela and John F Kennedy were quoted in the same statement. In the very challenging environment that we are in, we have had a number of occasions when Ministers indicated that they did not have sufficient time to implement the reductions to their budget. Does the Minister believe that the statement he has delivered today, if adopted by the Assembly, will provide such time?”
“I congratulate the Minister and First Minister on negotiating a loan that is interest-free, which sometimes people have forgotten. To summarise the Minister, he indicated that SDLP, UUP and Alliance Ministers voted against the package and were critical of it, without coming up with an alternative to it, but are still going to accept it. Is that a fair summary? Additionally, there appears to be criticism that a more comprehensive deal was not negotiated. Will he explain and elaborate on that?”
“I thank the Minister for his response and his visit on that occasion. It is a picturesque beauty spot, as the Minister knows, given that he has visited the site. Will he ensure that, even with the amended drawings, the capacity for whatever number of dwellings the revised drawings indicate will be looked at in the context of the existing properties that are there and will not run counter to them?”
“Thank you, Principal Speaker — Deputy Speaker. That was nearly a Freudian slip there.”
“That would give a greater signal to the wider community that we are determined not to allow the deadlock to continue, because, let us be absolutely clear, there are many in our wider community who congratulated the republican movement when it was forced to cease its violence. There are some in our community who refused to recognise that it did it. We acknowledged that it did it. It does not get congratulated for doing it, but neither is it continuing to do it. We acknowledged that they had moved, but we need to have a consensus on how we move on from here. <BR /> <BR />The issue can, should and must be resolved in the context of the discussions that are about to be held. It is only in that context that we believe that the impasse and deadlock can be broken.”
“There is no doubt whatever that the House and the Assembly as a whole have made considerable efforts in recent years in terms of job creation and a whole raft of issues that it has not got the credit for achieving. <BR /> <BR />What it has got is criticism for the growing deadlock that has emerged. Does anybody here think that the election of a Speaker today will do anything to unlock that deadlock? No one believes that; no one is of that opinion. Unfortunately, the deadlock has grown and is growing. <BR /> <BR />That is why my party believes that the issues as a whole, including agreements reached between my party and Sinn Féin, whether on welfare reform or the election of a Speaker, should be resolved in the discussions that are about to be held.”
“We hope that he will continue to make significant and substantial contributions there. This House will be at a loss with his departure, but another House will gain.”
“I was with him in hospital a few weeks ago, and, of course, he was his own self. He was still cracking jokes at anybody who crossed his path, and there was a joke to be had at the expense of anybody who came into the ward, who passed him or who said anything. <BR /> <BR />On his taking the role of Speaker, I knew that he would set aside whatever distinctions he may have had and that he would adopt and adapt to the role with relish. He did that, as many found to their cost. He adopted his position as the Speaker, and, as we have heard in the tributes thus far and as, I am sure, the concluding tributes will attest, he was and is a remarkable man. <BR /> <BR />We look forward to him making further progress with his health. We also look forward to the progress that he will make into the House of Lords, hopefully in the next few months.”
“I am very conscious that this is not an obituary piece, because people keep talking in the past tense. I have probably known William Hay personally for longer than anybody in this Chamber. He was my election agent on a number of occasions, and he and I were both elected to the City Council in Londonderry in 1981. In fact, his mother was also a councillor at that stage and, within a year of our being elected, on the weekend before I was to propose his mother for Mayor of Londonderry, she passed away suddenly. Politics may well have been different otherwise, as, a short time after that, Mrs Hay may well have been proposed as a Member in the 1982 Assembly. As it turned out, I was proposed because of her unforeseen death. <BR /> <BR />William Hay and I were close colleagues for a very long time and continue to be so.”
“I appreciate the Minister’s support for the proposals and the intention behind them, but will he examine, where practicable, the possibility of coordinating cycleways with newly placed 20 mph traffic zones, particularly in urban areas, to minimise traffic accidents and their impact on pedestrians?”
“The Minister has been down at Rossmar School. I welcome the fact that by this time next year we should be well on our way to a new school being finished there. Has account been taken in the preparation of the capital programme required there of any likely change in the first year or two in the number applying to be accommodated in the school?”
“Are people going to stand on ceremony in the Chamber and say, "We would like a little more accountability, please"? Is that what they are going to say as mothers, fathers and grandparents say, "What about the future of our children being put in jeopardy because some people are standing on ceremony over the implementation of an agency that can help to fight this criminal activity?" It is time for people to call a spade a spade. It is time to step up to the mark, to implement this agency and to engage in real terms with the fight against those who deal in death with our children and our vulnerable sections of our community.”
“What happens if there are thousands, millions or maybe tens of millions of pounds of illegal drugs on board a vessel off the coast of our shores and we are told, "We've got sufficient resources in place to deal with some things, but that's an operation that will require the NCA"?”
“When drug trafficking, fuel laundering and all the other issues that need some form of input from the NCA come back to haunt Members, it will be those who have prevented the full implementation of the National Crime Agency who will have to carry the can. <BR /> <BR />Much mention was made of the case within the past fortnight of the yacht that was seized off the coast of the Irish Republic. With the assistance of the National Crime Agency, the Government of the Irish Republic were able to apprehend the yacht and, as a result, save thousands of people's lives. What happens if the next yacht is identified off the coast of Londonderry, Ballycastle or Larne? What happens then?”
“However, it is absolutely clear to the Policing Board, the Chief Constable, the Justice Minister and most Members that failure to implement the National Crime Agency will certainly mean that those criminal elements — those well-organised criminal gangs — will be better prepared to carry out their illegal activities. There are people on the Benches opposite who can help stop them but are deliberately choosing not to do so. When constituents bring to us complaints about online child abuse and its being manipulated from overseas, we will, unfortunately, know where the buck stops. It will be with those who are prepared to say, "We haven't got our mechanisms in place as yet to stop it".”
“I want to move to my own comments in summary, but the "we will not allow" comment from Sinn Féin means that we will all be faced with the quite horrific bill that the Justice Minister talked about. <BR /> <BR />That is one thing; the implications and cost implications, severe as they are, need to be taken account of. In addition to that and on a separate magnitude, we have outlined, right across the debate, the extent of the problem. I think that everyone accepts that full implementation of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland will not be a panacea. It will not mean that, within a few weeks or a few months, all the criminal gangs and international gangs that have connections here will be wiped off the face of the earth.”
“In an intervention, after he had said that we would have to fill the gaps, as he put it, if we did not proceed to fully implement the NCA, I asked him what the costs of that would be. He said that they would be "quite horrific". Those costs are in addition to welfare reform, the penalties and the IT system, and we are being told by the Justice Minister that costs that will be incurred by those who object to the NCA will be "quite horrific". He also said that SOCA was less accountable than the NCA. <BR /> <BR />Mr McCartney, who made the winding-up speech on Sinn Féin's amendment, used an ominous term. I took a very close note of his terminology. He said, "We will not allow" the NCA to be implemented without the same accountability measures as the Police Service here.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Attwood mentioned the maintenance that the SDLP needed to have of further accountability mechanisms. Mr Nesbitt said that the Home Secretary had overall responsibility for national security, and, again, he mentioned the HIU, which was and is unaccountable in the way that the Police Service here is accountable to the Assembly, yet it does not garner the same opposition that, for some reason, the NCA does. <BR /> <BR />In responding to the debate, the Minister mentioned a number of issues, one of which was human trafficking. Another was online child abuse, which, hopefully, will concentrate the minds of Members when they come to vote on the issue. He also talked about the targeting of criminals' assets.”
“Mr Paul Givan raised another issue that was also mentioned several times, which was that, previously, the Serious Organised Crime Agency did not appear to instil the same ire, opposition or total objection on the part of the SDLP and Sinn Féin, yet it had less accountability than the National Crime Agency, which I would have thought was a fairly relevant point. <BR /> <BR />Mr Lynch talked about budget queries and, without irony, about the drugs haul off the coast of the Republic of Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I presume that Mr Poots was talking, maybe not tongue-in-cheek but certainly he was using irony overload, when he said that the inability to fully implement the National Crime Agency was a good news day for criminals. Of course, he was absolutely right to do that.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Alban Maginness stated the SDLP's position of total opposition to criminality, and he mentioned Kincora. He did not relate how that was in keeping with the debate, but I am sure that he will come round to that at some point. Mr Elliott talked about the name of the National Crime Agency and said that the SDLP and Sinn Féin's response might, in part, be because of the term "National". <BR /> <BR />Mr Stewart Dickson outlined some of the evidence that the failure to fully implement the NCA was limiting the ability to counter crime. He also mentioned an issue that was referred to several times in the debate, which was the failure now to be able to proceed around asset recovery.”
“In winding up I will quickly go over some of the issues raised by a succession of Members. It was a comprehensive debate, which was moved by my colleague, Mr Irwin, who outlined the extent of areas where full implementation of the agency would be of considerable assistance. <BR /> <BR />Mr Kelly of Sinn Féin proposed the amendment, and he mentioned, as did a number of Members, the tens of millions of pounds' worth of drugs — the Minister of Justice said that that figure seemed to vary depending on which report you read — that were seized off the coast of the Republic of Ireland. However, the irony seemed to be lost on Mr Kelly that that was done with the assistance of the National Crime Agency, the full implementation of which his party resists here.”
“The deputy First Minister indicated a series of discussions that he has held, but has he given any indication, given that there will be cuts whether welfare reform is introduced or not, whether through him or his counterpart in Dublin, as to what the extent of those cuts will be whichever way the cookie crumbles?”
“I appreciate the need for entirely innocent victims not to be subjected to unnecessary questioning. However, given that there are those who are not so innocent, such as the deputy First Minister himself in the distant past, how does he feel about owning up to the atrocities that he engaged in as part of a truth recovery process to try to help bring others forward into 2014 with an understanding that people with blood on their hands are prepared to own up and accept the part that they played in the past?”
“The Minister talked about taking steps to fill the gaps. Has he any idea of the cost implications of those measures?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I am glad that he is outlining the degree of accountability that exists. It is just unfortunate that the mover of the amendment has absented himself from the Chamber. He outlined the exact opposite and said that there is no accountability.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. He is outlining the concerns. He says that progress is being made and that helpful meetings have been held. Does he understand, however, that, while all those meetings are taking place, international criminal gangs are operating here in Northern Ireland, some of which could be prevented from doing so if we had the full implementation of the NCA? Does he accept and understand that?”
“The Member is outlining what Mr Swann outlined, which is that some of the other projects were also put on hold pending the audit. Is he aware of any campaigns or accusations or banners being put up at any of the other locations, all of which require sporting provision as well? I am not aware of that; perhaps the Member could outline it if he is aware of it.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I thought that Mr McQuillan's question was fairly straightforward: whether Mr Dallat thought that the audit was a good thing or a bad thing. I posed that question to Mr Ó hOisín, but I did not get a response either. I thought that Mr Dallat might have responded about whether he thought that it was a good thing.”
“<BR /> <BR />Hopefully, we can get to an end where we do have that consensus and there is a determination to reach a position across the constituency and the Causeway Coast and Glens District Council area where that audit is carried out and completed and that the end result of that is equality of provision right across the council area for everyone irrespective of their religious or political belief.”
“You could conclude from his response that the anger of local people in Dungiven was directed against what is a nationalist council in Limavady for not providing what it is they are now trying to get through the new super-council. I was seeking to establish where the anger was directed. Was it at the decision to have an audit? It does not appear to be. Yet, he said that it was directed at those whose delivery previously had been some sort of historical underachievement. Of course, the people who deliver in local government are Limavady Borough Council. The largest party in Limavady Borough Council is Sinn Féin. Therefore, I do not know whether we have today a Sinn Féin MLA criticising Sinn Féin councillors for not providing sporting provision in Dungiven, but that is what it sounds like.”
“I hope that, at the conclusion of the debate, there will be consensus that sporting provision should be made across the district, irrespective of who the people are, as has been the case in the past. I noted what Mr Ó hOisín said in relation to my intervention about where the anger is directed.”
“I am not much clearer now on whether there has been a change of mind on the use of the S-word. I thought that I was giving way for the Member to establish that, but I am afraid that he went off on a tangent. <BR /> <BR />The bottom line here is that every public representative wants to ensure that there is sporting provision across his or her constituency. As regards this Adjournment debate, that applies across East Londonderry. No one wants to see any sporting discipline, group of people, village or town denied sporting facilities. One would imagine that the audit will show what has been provided and where it has been provided. Hopefully, it will show that there are other locations that equally need provision.”
“I hope they have, and if so I would welcome it, because I fail to see how trying to establish an audit of sporting provision across the new council area — to establish what is required, where it is required and the best way to deliver it — could be regarded as a sectarian decision. The Member wants to intervene.”
“As I said to the proposer of the Adjournment debate in my intervention, it is difficult to establish where the anger is directed. I drive past an exhibition of it every day I pass through the town of Dungiven, where a huge banner says, "Dungiven says Yes, but the Causeway Coast and Glens Super Council says No". Of course, there have been a number of very unfortunate comments made by a Sinn Féin councillor, amongst others. They were referred to by Mr Swann. That councillor indicated that, in his view, this was a sectarian decision. I noticed that in the 10 minutes and 30 seconds that Mr Ó hOisín took to propose the debate he did not, on any occasion, mention the S-word. I just wonder whether Sinn Féin has had a rethink.”
“The Member says that there is a lot of anger. If there have been campaigns for sporting provision, one can understand that people want them to be delivered, but is the anger directed against an audit of provision per se to try to ensure equitable treatment across the new council, or is the anger directed in some other way?”
“Hopefully, those of us or whoever is here in the next few years after the Olympic Games and, in four years' time, after the next Commonwealth Games will be able to report an even better performance than that which took place in Scotland in 2014. Hopefully, we can also report that obesity among children is on the decline as a result of a targeted strategy by the Department and the contribution that we all make towards achieving that very worthwhile objective.”
“However, in addition to the athletes playing at home, the Scottish Government and Parliament deployed sufficient resources over the previous four-year period to ensure that they were better placed to succeed in Scotland in 2014. So, that is what we need to see. <BR /> <BR />We need to target obesity and diabetes amongst the young. All those issues can be tackled with a greater, more significant participation level at primary-school level and post-primary-school level, as young people move into preparation for the sporting activities that they would like to participate in. Then, those who are regarded as excellent prospects can be nurtured, and the tremendous facility that we have at Jordanstown can be fully utilised in order to get the cream of the crop for Australia in four years' time.”
“For example, the news about the tremendous success of our boxing team went across not just the UK and the Commonwealth but the wider world. They did — to use a pun — punch well above their weight. For a country the size of ours, the boxers were outstanding — absolutely outstanding. Yet, there are a lot of other sporting disciplines in which we can improve significantly and reach the boxing equivalent. Again, we need resources and a strategy, and we need to see the design that will put that in place over an incremental period of the next few years. <BR /> <BR />We saw the Scots athletes excel in Scotland. Of course, you would expect them to excel, given that they were on home soil.”
“those participating at the top end in the likes of the Commonwealth Games and even the next Olympic Games. It should not be forgotten that, prior to the Commonwealth Games, our rowing fraternity, particularly those from my constituency of East Londonderry, had fantastic success at the Olympic Games. As a result of that, we saw a significant increase in the numbers of young people taking up rowing. So, this has an effect; success breeds success. We find that people take up a sport that they perhaps thought was not the sport for them as a result of online and TV coverage during which they see someone whom they know is good at that sport. <BR /> <BR />So, we want to hear from the Minister about the Department's strategic plan to build on the success demonstrated at the Commonwealth Games this time.”
“<BR /> <BR />On a personal note, I enjoy walking, and I find that, when I am out walking in the summer, quite a few people are also out walking, but between now and April, unfortunately, the numbers who engage in such physical activity will decline considerably, until the lighter evenings and the better weather return. So, we have to ensure — I hope that the Minister will respond to this — that, right across the board, we get greater participation levels across society as a whole, but particularly amongst our young people. <BR /> <BR />In addition to that — this is why, towards the end of the motion, we inserted:”
“We are looking ahead because, while everyone participated well — there were personal bests even amongst those who did not win medals — we always aspire to do even better. That is in the context of improved participation in sporting activity amongst young people, but, at the same time as that improvement in sporting activity, we have what amounts to a veritable explosion in obesity rates amongst our young. So, we almost have this dichotomy between having an excellent performance at the games and increasing participation rates in sporting activity amongst young people and, at the same time, young people generally becoming more obese, with a sedentary lifestyle becoming more and more prevalent. So, we have to try not only to improve our athletes at the top but to ensure that, right across the spectrum, people become more active.”