Trevor Clarke
South Antrim · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“For recruitment to the current Youth Assembly and on the basis of research on the youth demographic in Northern Ireland, a minimum of 10 young people with disabilities were sought in order to be representative of the data. Of the 90 young people appointed to the Youth Assembly, 18 have a disability.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Youth Assembly regularly uses social media to promote its work, and, when preparing for a new mandate, targeted multimedia recruitment campaigns are used to engage young people and encourage participation.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Assembly Commission also has an apprenticeship and placement framework that provides the opportunity for people with a disability to avail themselves of short-term supported placements.”
“In 2025, 770 tours were delivered and the number of events hosted in Parliament Buildings almost doubled to 583. <BR /> <BR />Our Education Service promotes its programmes to schools and colleges through an annual September mail-out, outlining provision for the relevant Key Stages, including a focus on inclusive engagement for children wi…”
“Mr Speaker, I may require an extra minute to answer the question. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Member for her question. The Assembly Commission's school work experience programme is facilitated through a partnership between our internal education services team and an organisation called Futures For All, a social mobility charity.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, with your permission, I may need an extra minute to answer the question, and I thank the Member for it. <BR /> <BR />The Assembly Commission's public engagement strategy 2025-27 aims to increase awareness, improve understanding and enable participation in the work of the Assembly.”
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“I thank the Member for the intervention and agree with what he said. <BR /> <BR />Of course, it would be fair to assume that, given the findings of failings of that office in the past, it could derail itself once again. I am unsure why all those Members — those very law-abiding Members — in the Chamber want to hold the Police Ombudsman in such high regard as to believe that she is outwith making mistakes or, rather, that the office, not the individual, is outwith making mistakes. As a scrutiny body and as an Assembly, it would be right and proper to look at it very carefully and make sure that those mistakes are not being made. <BR /> <BR />Much has been said about the balance of the debate. I do not see any reference in the motion to unionists, Protestants or RUC men in particular. It refers to the office and its conduct.”
“If he came to that conclusion as a Minister, I am unsure why the current Minister would not afford the House the same opportunity for scrutiny. Of course, when the Minister was on her feet, she said, quite rightly, that those concerns were addressed satisfactorily in 2013.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am unsure how anyone could suggest that it would be wrong for us, as a party or, indeed, an Assembly, to ask the Minister to commission a fully independent inspection of PONI, given that something similar was done in the past. Indeed, when he was the Minister, the Minister's former colleague stated in the foreword to the 2012 consultation paper:”
“As many other Members have, I put on record that I am a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. <BR /> <BR />I listened to many of the Members who spoke, particularly those across the Benches, and I looked up in amazement. It was as if we were asking for something that is outwith the control of the Assembly. You will correct me if I am wrong, Mr Speaker, but no amendments were tabled to the motion. If Members look very closely at the wording of the motion, particularly the last part of it, they will see that its whole purpose is to try to bring scrutiny to the Office of the Police Ombudsman. Indeed, as referenced many times today, that has been done before through previous reports.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. She referred to New Decade, New Approach. Has there been any firm budgetary commitment from the Finance Minister that the funding necessary to take the recommendations forward will be present for the baseline for 2022-23?”
“<BR /> <BR />The win will mean a lot to Mark, and it means a lot to the people of Antrim and further afield who have followed him throughout his career. I hope that this is the start of his winning days being back.”
“Given his victory at the weekend, however, I am glad that he has made it back to winning form. We often talk about professional snooker players, footballers and people in other professions, but Mark Allen has also given a lot of his time to charity; indeed, in the past, he has volunteered to help me with a coffee morning that I run every year for Macmillan Cancer Support. Mark Allen, like many people last year, gave up his time freely to help with the response to COVID. He was regularly seen around Antrim doing deliveries to people's homes, particularly to the vulnerable, giving them supplies that were necessities and which they otherwise would not have got. That shows the mark of the man who is famously known as "The Pistol" due to his sportsmanship on the table.”
“Before I make my statement, I associate myself with all the remarks made today about Sir David Amess's wife and family on his death at the weekend. <BR /> <BR />I wish to speak about the victory at the Northern Ireland Open Championship last night, where a local Antrim man rose to fame once again. Mark Allen, a 35-year-old who grew up in Antrim and is well known in Antrim circles, rose to prominence as an amateur in 2004, became a champion in 2005 and has won various titles. In 2016, he reached only the quarter-finals — I say "only", but that is an achievement in its own right — of the competition that he went on to win last night. <BR /> <BR />This is a man who, a number of months ago, had considered stepping back from snooker for personal reasons.”
“On Executive business, some in the Chamber are, "Do as we say, not as we do". In the media, we hear reports of a scheduled meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council. What actually constitutes such a meeting?”
“I thank the Member for giving way on that point. I listened to the Member who spoke previously pontificate about everyone else and what they are not doing. However, her Minister, who is responsible for driving tests, whether they are lorry or trailer tests, has been very slow in bringing in a relaxation. The UK recognised that there is a shortage of drivers and is embarking on a journey to make the test procedure easier. However, her Minister dismissed the need for that and, indeed, gave no examples of shortages of drivers and said there is no requirement for such a measure here.”
“Deputy First Minister, in your statement, you referred to the PEACE PLUS finance and how it could be signed off or otherwise, given the actions that this party has taken to try to prevent the most rigorous implementation of the protocol. I am not sure that I will get an answer to this, given that you seem to be suffering from political amnesia, but how was that dealt with during the three-year hiatus that your party caused?”
“I listened carefully to the Member as he gave his example. Does the Member agree that some of those places are unscrupulous in their practices? On one occasion on the north coast, I witnessed the punters, as the Member described them, playing two machines. The owners were so excited by their attendance that they brought them sandwiches so that they would not leave the machines. That shows how unscrupulous some of those people are in preying on the vulnerable when they see weakness. <BR /> <BR />The Member described the 2p or copper machines, but we all know that those copper machines lead to the bigger stuff. Does the Member agree that many of those people are unscrupulous in their practices?”
“Minister, I extend an invitation to you to come to South Antrim. I know that you have been there recently, because I have seen you in the village visiting some of the improvement work that has been done. We thank you for that, but I would love you to spend some time with all the representatives of South Antrim. Take some time to come and see the condition of the roads that we drive on. Maybe, when you get back to the office, you will decide that we are more deserving than some of the schemes in Belfast and that the rural constituencies deserve bigger input from your budget.”
“<BR /> <BR />This is no reflection on the constituency that the Minister represents, because it is something that I say to my colleagues — indeed, I say it to you, Mr Principal Speaker — but there is life outside Belfast.”
“The amount of money that they have got to carry out those repairs means that many other streets and roads will go unrepaired. We are beyond the point of picking and choosing. Much more money needs to be ploughed into repairing our roads. <BR /> <BR />Also from that visit on Friday, I learned — I put on record that I welcome it — that the spreader is in Randalstown again, in Neillsbrook, another social housing development that has suffered. The potholes were so bad that they were repairing the pothole repairs rather than the road. I am glad to say that I got word yesterday that the spreader is in Neillsbrook carrying out those essential repairs, but, again, it took 18 months. It takes people to get their cars damaged before these things are actioned.”
“Without fail, every person who turned up at the surgery in Randalstown that day complained about being awakened by lorries from 5.30 am, not because of the noise of the lorries per se but, again, because of the condition of the road. There have been so many repairs over the years that there are so many trenches or divots, if we want to call them that, that those lorries bounce along the road. <BR /> <BR />I was with an official on Friday — I will not name him; I know that I am not permitted to — and I was glad to hear that he intends to bring that work forward. He was aware of that scheme and intends to bring it forward for an improvement. Having had that conversation, I feel — I will choose my words carefully — sorry for the individual staff members.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will be very parochial, with an example from outside my house. I remember awakening one morning — I live on the Portglenone Road — to see four cars at the end of my drive in a similar scenario: pothole marked, yellow lines, contractor had not come. The pothole was so deep that four cars, one after another, had smashed their wheels and could not carry on. Again, that is a main carriageway that carries thousands of cars a day, and it is an example of the disrepair. <BR /> <BR />I will cite another example. I had the pleasure of attending a recent surgery that was carried out by our MP. On that day, it was stark. As many of the other representatives here will know, quite frequently, where you have surgeries, not many members of the public turn up, but on that occasion they did.”
“<BR /> <BR />I can give examples of many different issues in my constituency. On a Saturday night on the A26, the main road between Ballymena and Antrim town — a dual carriageway — five cars, one after the other, burst their tyres, and immediate repairs had to be done to the road that night. I congratulate the officials for bringing someone out on a Saturday night to carry out those repairs. I feel very sorry for the five individuals whose cars were damaged and who could not continue their journeys. That example poses the question of why we have to wait for a road — a dual carriageway — to get into such disrepair that it takes five cars to be damaged before DFI Roads will do something about it. It is an indictment of the underinvestment in the maintenance of our roads.”
“With the amount of money that they have spent on potholes over the last 50 years, they could have resurfaced this street." In Newpark, she said, her street has not been resurfaced in the whole time that she has lived there. That is an unfortunate indictment of DFI Roads. <BR /> <BR />I am not blaming the Minister, because there have been many Ministers in the past 50 years, and I am sure that the current Minister is not even 50 years of age, so I will afford her the privilege that the mistakes of all the previous Ministers are not her responsibility, but it is high time that we got to the position where people can see delivery on the ground. It is awful that a woman in her later life — I was much younger than she was — can tell me that the amount of money that was spent over those years would have resurfaced that street many times.”
“With so many people unemployed now, there are opportunities there. Roads needs to provide an evidence base to show that it has gone out to actively recruit people to carry out those roles. <BR /> <BR />A former Roads Service employee told me that, in many instances, the contractors much prefer to come to where there is a good road, drop their spreader and drop as much tar as possible; they are not interested in the smaller-scale schemes. As you will appreciate, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker, for your constituents and my constituents who live in more confined areas, that is not the key issue. In the past few weeks, I spoke to a lovely lady in Newpark. She said to me, "I have lived on this street for 50 years.”
“I am sure that the Minister will agree that it is unacceptable given that we are tying to improve road safety and decrease the number of people who lose their life in road accidents. From many of the conversations that I have had, even with staff from the old Roads Service, it seems that that is merely down to contractors. The work is passed to contractors that are on a list, but it does not seem to go anywhere. My perception is that the contractors decide what is a priority for them, rather than what is a priority for the people of the areas that we represent. That should not be the case. <BR /> <BR />Indeed, we have heard anecdotal evidence that contractors have lost staff because of COVID. Unfortunately, some have returned home; they have left this island to go off to different places and never returned. That is not acceptable.”
“Some time ago, after a review of the policy, less serious potholes were not fixed and the focus was put on those that were more severe. It is time that we got back to fixing all potholes, given the damage that they cause to vehicles on the roads. The condition of roads is visible. Daily, many people who use the roads will witness and suffer an experience that is caused by those conditions. <BR /> <BR />Road safety features are another issue that have come to my attention through my office. I can cite one example from outside Randalstown in my area, where we waited almost 12 months — again, I am not referring to DFI Roads staff, because this is down to contractors — to get safety lines and signage on site. That is unacceptable, given where we are now.”
“That adds to the problems and frustration that we, as elected representatives, face when we contact them to raise issues on behalf of our constituents. I am sure that, if that happened in other areas, Members for those areas would express the same frustration. We want to hear from the Minister about what she will do to bring the staff complement back up to where it should be, so that the service that was previously delivered in those areas can be delivered. <BR /> <BR />That leads me on to the delay in repairs. In many areas, we see yellow circles or lines drawn around the potholes that need to be repaired. However, those repairs remain undone for so long that, in many instances, the lines need to be redrawn. Many of us are aware of legislation on the depth of potholes.”
“Whilst the topic may be roads in South Antrim, it could refer to any roads across Northern Ireland, where we are seeing a lack of repair, with roads falling very much into disrepair. Indeed, it is causing much frustration to many people. Many of us believe that there has been a lack of investment in roads. <BR /> <BR />I want to say at the outset that none of my comments is directed at individual staff. Staff in each of the offices have worked extremely well with us, as elected representatives, and have always shown professionalism. That having been said, there is an issue with replacing staff when they leave. In the local section office, a good gentleman who left in the past number of months has never been replaced.”
“I can say that I am proud of the work that the security forces did to protect everyone in this country. I wish that others could do the same.”
“The deputy First Minister's conduct in her contribution fell far short of the guidance that you gave at the outset. If anybody is morally bankrupt, she is. She is absolutely morally bankrupt. She was an affront to the innocent victims. My brother-in-law was murdered with seven of his colleagues. He was an innocent member of the public and not part of an armed gang or a militia or whatever the Provos wanted to call themselves. He was an innocent man doing a day's work. Having to come here today to listen to the hypocrisy of Sinn Féin is nothing short of a disgrace. <BR /> <BR />The security forces are the target of much Sinn Féin's contribution today. It targeted them before with the bullet and the bomb; today, it targets them in the Chamber.”
“This is all about a call today in relation to the Members and the community, but, indeed, the Member forgot that.”
“Placing them on the same footing as terrorists ultimately risks giving succour to those who continue to try to rewrite history and our past and to glorify the actions of terrorists. <BR /> <BR />Much has been said today, and I listened to Ms Mallon moving the motion. I take no pride in saying that I lost a family member, unlike the Member and unlike my colleague. I can speak on behalf of victims, who are genuinely disappointed by this and were genuinely disappointed in 1998, when prisoners were released, because that was an affront. Of course, the Members opposite did not make a song and dance about that; indeed, the previous contributor forgot to mention that, I believe, he was in receipt of an on-the-run letter. Where was the justice in that for victims?”
“My colleague from North Antrim outlined how the motion is not ideal. The DUP will continue to lead demands for alternative measures that are victim-centred and grounded in law and adherence to human rights. That said, an amnesty is no way to address the legitimate concerns raised by the vexatious pursuit of ageing veterans who served in Northern Ireland. For the Government, first, to evade and, now, to mask the specific duty to servicemen and women is an act of political cowardice. Once again, expediency trumps the Government's responsibility to the people of Northern Ireland. The vast majority of servicemen and women acted within the law in the service of everyone in our community. They do not need nor do they seek an amnesty from prosecution.”
“Given that some of the reports date back to 2019, what assurances can you give those who received a letter that whatever review has to be done will be carried out in a timely manner in order to take away the concerns of some of the patients and that those who require additional treatment because of errors will see that treatment expedited, given the time that has already passed?”
“Unlike others, I am not terribly perturbed about your absence earlier, Minister, but I am glad that you are here now. I am thankful that there are systems in place to catch incidents such as this. We would have been in a much worse place if this had not come to light and your Department had no system in place to find out about errors made. <BR /> <BR />That having been said, over 9,000 people got letters, whether vague or otherwise. According to some media reports today, although the number of scans reviewed may be small now, there are still 9,000 people who are very anxious tonight.”
“I thank the Minister for her detailed answer. Does she accept that, whilst houses are being built, they do not necessarily meet the needs of the elderly? On many occasions, the houses designed for the elderly or for those who are 55-plus are eventually allocated to others because of the design and the type of housing that it is. The elderly population do not want to live in flats or apartments; they want to live in quality build properties that have a front door and a back door and that are more akin to the earlier schemes that the Fold Housing Association embarked on. Will the Minister work on the needs of the elderly? This is not unique to South Antrim. Across the Province, there is a real need for quality housing for our elderly population. If that were provided, some of the housing stock would be freed up for general housing needs.”
“Indeed, in the canteen in this place, we sit almost 3 metres apart, at single tables, but you can now eat out quite freely in a restaurant at weekends or on any night during the week. I wonder why the Commission is working at such a slow pace, given the relaxations introduced by the Executive.”
“I thank the Member for his answer. Notwithstanding what he said about the factors that it has to take into account, should the Commission not also take into account the pace, albeit it has been slow, at which the changes the Executive have allowed other places to open and get back to business?”
“Following on from the last question, I support alley-gating. Minister, whilst you refer to the councils' responsibility, has your Department not a responsibility, given that it has adopted alleyways? Whilst this discussion may be about unadopted alleyways, many of the areas that we are talking about are adopted alleyways that need gates. Therefore, there is a responsibility on your Department. What, specifically, is your Department doing about antisocial behaviour in those areas?”
“I thank the Member who asked the question, because I agree that the issue has been a main concern for many people, particularly young drivers. <BR /> <BR />Minister, your Department has responsibility for taxis. What impact is the backlog having on the taxi industry, given that it is having difficulty getting people to come into the industry?”
“Is any work being done on that specifically, to make sure that those people are not moved from one development to another?”
“My question follows from the Minister's last response on the housing selection scheme, which, she said, would be reviewed. There is no doubt about the need for houses in North Down, South Antrim, West Belfast or other constituencies. However, during this past number of years, housing associations have been building those developments. In my constituency, I can think of one development, Neillsbrook View, where nearly everybody who has moved into it has arrived under the shadow of darkness, because they had been put out of other estates. However, the police visit those new developments at least twice a week, and the fire and ambulance service do likewise. Most of those new developments, particularly in my constituency, have been dogged with problems.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. I accept that there has always been a concern about underinvestment in roads. Now, however, repairers seem to be repairing potholes that were repaired previously. There are safety concerns. There are arbitrary figures for the depth of potholes. On main roads, we now witness people swerving to try to avoid potholes because the roads are in such a bad state. The danger that comes with drivers having to do that feeds into road safety. <BR /> <BR />Of course, people can put in claims to DFI Roads. In particular areas of our constituencies, we see multiple cases of damage to vehicles, the cost of which, in essence, will be passed on to your Department. Until additional investment is found, what work can you do in the short term to find out where the biggest problem areas are and address those?”
“Is the Member suggesting that, if there is strong opposition to something, it should be refused? Would the Member have adopted the same position on Casement Park in Belfast?”
“That suggests to me that recycling is a fraud, it is a front, and it does not work. Why, if it is such a strong, valuable commodity, would it have finished at an incinerator as opposed to being recycled as a commodity, or, indeed, going on a boat to Europe? Forty per cent of our recyclables go across the world, where they are being found in hedges, on roads and in incinerators. <BR /> <BR />I suggest that we are fooling ourselves. There is a degree of protectionism. The incinerator would be in my constituency. I do not like the fact that it would be in my constituency. However, it is a solution to deal with waste rather than shipping it across the world. <BR /> <BR />I oppose the sentiment of the Adjournment topic.”
“How does that feed into the debate about CO2, or does CO2 only matter when it is in Northern Ireland? <BR /> <BR />I am sure that Members are aware of residents' concerns about the stench at Mullaghglass landfill site. I would say that, if one went up around that area and canvassed those people, they would prefer to have an incinerator than to continue to smell methane gas and all the other toxins that come off the Mullaghglass site. <BR /> <BR />I suggest that the Minister makes a decision on the issue, ends that nonsense and gets us a solution. Indeed, the campaigners used another example of why it is not a good idea. A piece of research was done that followed recyclables in bins in the streets of London. These are the so-called recycling people. Where did the trackers track the waste? It was taken to an incinerator.”
“Therefore, when the case was heard in 2018, there could have been a positive outcome that was based on the expert advice of planning officials, environmental officials and everyone else who fed into the planning system. <BR /> <BR />I have also heard about the residents of Mallusk. Not all the residents of Mallusk are against it; many are in favour. Many are also in fear of the rumoured extension of Cottonmount landfill site. Why, when we have all those other solutions, would we need to extend Cottonmount? In the past few weeks, we have heard in the press of the hundreds of thousands of tons of waste that is, allegedly, being recycled, but is actually being put on a boat and shipped to the other side of the world, to America, to be incinerated.”
“I take exception to the proposer of the Adjournment topic, because he cannot say, on the one hand, that the beneficiary is a private company, and then, on the other hand, suggest that we take it to another private company on the Belfast harbour estate, when that has not gone through a procurement process or anything else. To be fair to the current proposal, it has gone through a lengthy process. The company put its money where its mouth was, brought forward a proposal, went through the processes and put in an application. <BR /> <BR />Much has been made of the court case. The court did not refuse it on the basis of the technology, location or anything else, but on the basis that the permanent secretary did not have the legal power to make that decision.”
“<BR /> <BR />Obviously, personalities change, people get nervous, and so on and so forth. However, they made that decision in the full understanding that location was not part of the consideration; it was based on technology. All of a sudden, today, I am hearing that the technology is outdated, and all those other things. When the decision was made, it was made on the basis that there was a 35-year contract. That is not to take away from what Mr Aiken said about the business case and everything else. <BR /> <BR />Reference has been made to private operators.”
“I am taken back to what Declan said, and I agree with him; it has been controversial. No one can take that away. Albeit I am coming with a different opinion on the proposal — I do support it — I agree with what Declan said about its controversial nature. That controversial application has been in the whole government system for too long. There is no doubt about that. <BR /> <BR />I listened to what Dr Aiken said about business cases. As a way forward and solution for councils, those matters were put in the hands of a single operator at that time. Arc21 came forward with a proposal. At the time, each and every council supported bringing forward that solution, based on the technology, as the way in which to deal with waste. Whilst I accept that it was many years ago, that was the proposal at the time, and it has not changed.”
“I declare an interest as a member of Antrim Borough Council, way back when this was first mooted, as one of the sponsors of the Arc21 project.”
“I do not know how the police can recover from this. To spin it as some sort of bias between one community and another adds salt to the wound. It is not about religion or people's background; it is about the fact that there were rules and the deputy First Minister of this Government was there in clear breach of those rules. She broke the rules, and nothing has been done. It has been nothing but a whitewash. The only thing to come out of the report, for me, is that I have agreed, for the first time, with Mrs Kelly.”
“He has pontificated on the television, all the time, on the approach, but only three Es — not four — were used at that funeral. There was intelligence gathering, and reference was made to the distance from which they had to do the intelligence gathering. Why? The fear of violence. As has been said, the silver commander asked for the helicopter to be in the sky, but the gold commander refused. Why did he refuse? The fear of violence. I do not go to many funerals at which I witness violence. Why should there have been violence at that funeral? Who was going to create the violence? It was not going to be the ministers of religion or the undertakers. I can only presume that it was the people in the white shirts and the cavalcade that followed the funeral. <BR /> <BR />It has been highly disappointing.”
“I do not know what part of the regulations was confusing, given that the deputy First Minister stood on a podium, on many occasions, and referred to the regulations and even to the changes. Mr Allister referred to the changes to the regulations that were made on the night before. I asked that question yesterday. I felt that Mr Parr was unclear about what difference the regulations from the day before would have made, because he is hanging his hat on the fact that they were "confusing". They were not confusing for the undertakers, the ministers of religion or the families who had to make conscious decisions about which family members they could choose to go to their loved one's funeral. <BR /> <BR />The whitewash is simple. There is the four Es approach, which the gold commander has always talked about.”