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.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,151 lines we hold for Trevor Clarke, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 13 of 24.
“Eighteen months ago, it would have been unheard of, and if all the stuff had been sitting there, we would be talking about wastage in the system. There is a balance to be struck between what should be done, what could have been done and what was not done. <BR /> <BR />On that point, I welcome the recommendations. They all make common sense, but we all, as Members, have to reflect that, 18 months ago, we would never have foreseen something as tragic as this hitting us. We were all shocked beyond belief at some of the suggestions that came forward. We took our reliance on care homes as a matter of fact; they were there, and they were there to look after our loved ones. No one predicted what was going to happen.”
“Whilst I was gathering my thoughts about the motion, I noted that it is a very sombre topic, as we are talking about those who have lost their life. Like others, I offer my thoughts and prayers to the families. <BR /> <BR />When Mr Chambers spoke, it struck a chord with me. It was disappointing that he brought political point-scoring into the debate while criticising others. Today is not a day for political point-scoring or for talking about devolution or the three years of the suspension of Stormont. The other Member whose contribution struck me was Cara. She talked about lessons being learned. <BR /> <BR />I welcome every one of the recommendations and look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say about them, but, if we look at them, we could also be critical of being too prepared for the pandemic.”
“First Minister, you said that this is an important day for those who were in the homes, and I think that we all concur with that. Following on from your response to the Committee Chair, what will the support look like for the many survivors of the homes, in particular those who we are talking about today?”
“I appreciate the Member's enthusiasm for the subject. While Her Majesty's Government were extremely generous to this place to the tune of £3 billion, maybe he could encourage the Finance Minister to get the £300 million to some of the company directors who were offered only £1,000.”
“Minister, you outlined that your preference would have been a two-islands approach to travel. However, given that the R number is doubling at a much higher rate in Southern Ireland, what is your message to us now about movement between the South of Ireland and here? We are 12 months in to COVID-19; unfortunately, it has been horrific for most people in terms of deaths and illness. Will you give us an indication of what COVID-19 recovery looks like?”
“The Member makes an interesting point about drawing down funding. Does he agree that it would be useful to see how the labour expended doing that is converted into money that comes to Northern Ireland?”
“The Member for Foyle is leaving Europe kicking and screaming. That kicking and screaming about Brexit still continues every week, but the fact is that we are leaving. We are not going back, Martina. We are leaving on 1 January, and it will be a new dawn for Northern Ireland.”
“The councils were very clear, like most of us on these Benches, that the funding window that we have is for a limited time. It is not guaranteed. If we had stayed in Europe —.”
“Yes: the chief executive might have said that. What I am saying is that she has a good working relationship and is getting the clarity and answers that she requires. Both she and the mayor of the borough said that at our meeting. <BR /> <BR />Therefore, unlike the Member opposite, I do not see this as a disaster. If I want to feel sorry for anyone, it is the Chairperson of the Committee for his representation of all this. The councils have come at it with a much better approach. <BR /> <BR />Indeed, I spoke to a senior officer of another council who said that she was disappointed with the Committee's approach on that day. They had put an awful lot of preparation into it, but they thought that the Committee's focus was entirely wrong, particularly Martina Anderson's continual barraging of the councils on the funding issue.”
“Hers is the pragmatic view that Brexit has happened and that we have to get on with it and do what is best for Northern Ireland.”
“It has not gone unnoticed that, without fail, my colleague would refer to his council. Indeed it was useful to listen to some of the councils. I represent South Antrim. Both councils from my area, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, were very balanced. I listened to the representatives of Mid and East Antrim, who actually have a port in their council area. They were very proactive. They said that they have good relationships and are working daily to get clarity on those issues. <BR /> <BR />Broadly speaking, with regard to the motion and the report, no one could disagree that clarity would be useful. However, the chief executive of Mid and East Antrim struck the best tone of them all, because her approach is not the negative doom and gloom of the Committee Chairman.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I agree with the point that my good friend has made. <BR /> <BR />Even after listening to the councils — I interacted with only a few because the pattern was the same — we had questions from Members on the Benches opposite continually barraging the witnesses on funding. However, let us be clear: the funding was never guaranteed if we had stayed in Europe. I am sure that the Member for Foyle will rant again about funding, as she has done here tonight, and put her own spin on it. I will remind her when I am on my feet that there may be different conditions for Northern Ireland, but the UK did it as a bloc, and the UK was a net contributor.”
“I have to say that the first seven minutes of the Chairman's remarks were probably quite useful; the last three, however, were quite disappointing. The first number of minutes reflected broadly what some of the councils would have to say. <BR /> <BR />When we set out on this journey, we did so because we wanted to have a round-table discussion. However, because of conditions, that was not allowed. I have to say with regard to the rant that we have just heard from the Member opposite on his perspective of the issue that the same could be said with regard to some of the councils, depending on where they came from. That is what I feared when we set out on this journey and took evidence from those councils.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I have no opinion, one way or the other, and I accept what the Member is saying. However, when scientists came out at the start of the pandemic questioning their use, that made people sceptical. Now, we are trying to change that message to encourage their use. I comply. I carry my mask with me and use it on every occasion. The confusion came when scientists gave out a different message at the start of the pandemic and encouraged people not to use them.”
“For the record, I do not believe that he is away seeking marriage guidance counselling; I think that he is chairing the Justice Committee.”
“I thank the Member for giving way, with the Principal Deputy Speaker's indulgence. Given that there has been a lot of interest in this subject and, indeed, in the Minister's own words about how we have arrived at this situation, it would be good if the Minister would put on record today what her actual position is on all of that.”
“I note what the Member said about where we are today, but had the Member the same concerns when most of his colleagues on the Benches around him attended a funeral in breach of the same regulations?”
“The latter part of the answer answered my question in the sense that no discussions have yet taken place. It is important for many in the House that the financial burden is laid on the institutions that were responsible for the hurt caused to those people. Minister, I urge you to update the House on your commitments to make sure that those institutions pay for the damage that they did to individuals who were supposed to be in their care.”
“The Member will note that, when the previous Member who spoke was on his feet, he was not tripping over himself to defend Belfast International Airport. Until last week, his Minister had not made any intervention there but had rushed to get money to the City of Derry Airport.”
“Like others, I welcome the Minister's honesty in his statement and the detail in it. The Member opposite talked about a culture, but there is another culture among consultants, which is for private as well as public work. While the clinical side is referenced, the bit of the statement that worries me is where it states that two out of 10 patients were not on the patient administration system. At this stage, does the Minister know whether that has anything to do with the relationship between private work and trust work, or is there something wrong with the trust's administration itself? Will that be included in that inquiry's scope?”
“If nothing else, it will give you the benefit of an extra minute. Whilst you are on your feet bashing this party, would you like to bash your own party in relation to the lack of funding that Belfast International Airport has got from your party? Five thousand people are employed there, and I am sure that for many of them their mental health is affected greatly by knowing that that airport is the only one that has had to have closures over the COVID-19 period. Ask your Minister what she has done to support them and their mental health.”
“I thank the Member for giving way on that point. It is interesting to note that he refers to a GP from north Antrim. Regardless of where the GP is from, recent reports in the media suggest that some GPs and hospital doctors are concerned about coming forward and giving their opinion because of a fear of being disciplined.”
“Like others, I welcome the Minister's announcement. Those who are on low incomes will welcome it. It is a very worthy statement for the Minister to make. Given that some of those people are on low incomes and will return to work after the two-week period, is any protection afforded to them through their employer, as I am sure that there are cases of employers who do not want to release them? Whilst money is one thing, they are probably looking for job security as well. Is the Department doing anything on that to give them the guarantees that employers cannot move towards them during their periods of isolation?”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for the way in which she outlined her concerns for the businesses that have been affected so dramatically by the virus. Given the very difficult position that the Minister found herself in last week, and the counter view on what the Executive should do — I believe that the right thing was done — did any of the other parties that are now concerned about how an extended lockdown will affect those businesses express the same concerns as she has expressed all along about such businesses?”
“I follow on from other questions about your honesty, deputy First Minister. You referred to advice from Mr Young: we heard Mr Young on the radio this morning, and he said that the excess deaths would occur whether we opened or otherwise. My colleague asked you about your change of opinion. Of course, at the start of this lockdown, all of the parties agreed that this would be for four weeks and four weeks only. The circumstances that brought of us out of the first lockdown were to get the R number under 1: last week, we were told that the R number was 0·7. What changed? What advice has the Minister got, and will she publish that advice on what changed between 0·7 and the previous advice, where it was under 1?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Does he attribute any of that to remote working in the education setting? Can he give an assessment of how many people are continuing to work remotely and when he anticipates those people being back in work as normal?”
“Minister, in response to my party colleague who asked you about the high-speed railway and the lessons from England, you said that it was at a very high level. Given previous difficulties in your Department, where, on the railway from Coleraine to Londonderry, they could not even get the platform size right, how confident are you that you have the expertise in your Department to move this project forward?”
“Given the substantial amount of money that is being spent on compensation, has your Department done any work to find out about the recurring costs of damage in the same areas, as opposed to just providing that global figure of £13 million? Many of us will know that there are accident black spots and particular defects on roads that still go unchecked even after compensation has been paid.”
“The Member makes a good point about that and about religion. Is the Member aware that, in terms of the recruitment processes, people in one community in particular — the community that some Members on the other side want to be better represented — do not actually apply to join the police?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Much has been said about money. My constituency colleague Mr Blair talked about how the Chief Constable controls his budget. However, if he had more officers and could reduce overtime costs, he would have more control of his budget and would be able to make better use of the money.”
“It is also vital that the Justice Minister work with the Department of Finance and the joint board set up under NDNA to oversee the public transformation of policing, and they must work with both Governments to seek funding support to allow policing capacity to become fully operational. I commend the motion.”
“Spiralling overtime costs are now soaring. If those costs could be reduced, there would be clear benefits. A way in which to reduce overtime would be to increase the size of the service. We are mindful that, without a corresponding increase in training provision and recruitment processes, the commitment to 7,500 will take longer to materialise. Indeed, it will take even longer if we do not start the process. <BR /> <BR />The figure is not only part of the Patten proposals but part of the 2005 recommendation on the part-time reserve. That seems to have been airbrushed by some, but it is vital that it be pursued as quickly as possible.”
“In Northern Ireland, the police force loses approximately 5% of officers through retirement and resignation annually. In Northern Ireland, the PSNI has a particularly ageing workforce, with 20% of officers eligible for retirement within the next three years. The most recent resilience review by Her Majesty's Inspectorate in 2017 cited a review that took place in 2013, which stated that if efficiencies were made elsewhere, the savings could be redirected to meeting police demand, but that has not happened. <BR /> <BR />The demands on the PSNI are more wide-ranging than those faced by most forces in England and Wales. The PSNI faces an ongoing threat from dissident terrorist activity in Northern Ireland. To put that into perspective, dealing with the dissident threat alone accounts for 20% of MI5's budget.”
“That puts into sharp focus the difficulties that we will have with the limited numbers that the police have today. <BR /> <BR />The Sinn Féin amendment suggests that a funding package is needed from the British Government to deliver the 7,500 officers. I wonder whether Sinn Féin will come forward with the same suggestion when bringing forward the Irish language Bill and the other language Bills? Will those Bills be predicated on money or go ahead regardless of what money comes forward? We will therefore not be supporting the amendment. The workforce deserves to be increased to 7,500, as outlined in New Decade, New Approach. <BR /> <BR />From 2009 to 2019, police force numbers dropped from 7,300 to 6,700. Even with numerous recruitment processes, numbers, as of today, stand at a little over 6,900.”
“It is made even more unsustainable by the fact that there are so few officers on the ground. <BR /> <BR />In my constituency, the Antrim town police station was closed for almost a week because officers had contracted COVID-19. At the weekend, we heard that the Strand Road police station had to be closed for a number of hours as more officers were infected with COVID-19. I put on record that I wish the officers well, a speedy recovery and a return to duty as soon as is humanly possible. Those events all highlight the difficulty of having a force that has insufficient numbers. Indeed, the Chief Constable said at a Policing Board briefing that, based on stats, predictions and some of the evidence, at one stage during the first wave, it was predicted that the police could lose up to a third of its workforce.”
“Again, that shows that there is no meat in the service that could make the police more resilient to those demands. <BR /> <BR />In these exceptional times, there is an expectation that the police will be at every corner. In the Chamber, we all know that that will not necessarily be the case. I commend them for the work that they did during the first wave of the pandemic. They had a very difficult task. Expectations were high. Expectations of enforcement were extremely high. The police did a good job on that. <BR /> <BR />This is not said to minimise the effects of COVID-19, but, as we move into the second wave, the expectation that the police will be on every corner to make sure that people are wearing face masks is unsustainable, to say the least.”
“It is sad that we have never got to that stage. Indeed, one other emerging problem, which Simon Byrne has noted, as have many in the Chamber, is the fearmongering about Brexit and concerns about how that will be policed. Yet, we have not been concerned to address those numbers. I hope that the Minister will address that issue today. <BR /> <BR />In these unprecedented times of change in everyone's life during the past months, the police have not been immune. A number of months before COVID-19, Simon Byrne had reintroduced neighbourhood officers. Then, COVID-19 came along. The first place where he could strip back the service in order to help to make the police more resilient was to remove those officers and change their roles.”
“Resource is also needed to help to address paramilitarism and the threat of that activity. As we know, Northern Ireland sits at the highest level of threat, as it has for a number of years. One of Patten's recommendations was that:”
“Local communities want to see more officers in front-line roles to give everyone more confidence in their everyday life. It would also help to promote grassroots support for the police in each and every community. We know that the PSNI has many communities to police, some more difficult than others. In some communities, it is nigh on impossible. We know that, in areas where they have to travel in heavily armoured vehicles, it makes their role much more difficult, as opposed to other areas where they can take a much lighter approach. Indeed, in some areas, they can enjoy the use of a bicycle. The sooner we see that, the better. We are a long way off that. I commend the officers who do their job in those difficult circumstances. <BR /> <BR />Support in other communities needs to be built upon. The numbers would help to address that.”
“Indeed, we do not have to look at reports to see that. Many of us have been on PCSPs and to public meetings where the police is a topic and have heard many members of the public express concerns about the lack of visibility of policing. I put on record my thanks to Simon Byrne, because he recognises the importance of neighbourhood policing, and, when he came to Northern Ireland, one of the first things that he suggested was to put neighbourhood officers back on the streets, unlike his predecessor. <BR /> <BR />The PSNI has invested in 400 new neighbourhood officers, with at least one in each electoral ward. I am sure that you will agree, Mr Deputy Speaker, that that is insufficient and cannot deliver on public expectations. Indeed, it will never deliver any good outcomes.”
“The annual budget cycle has precluded strategic thinking. The Chief Constable has struggled to maintain current officer and staff numbers let alone increase them. Indeed, if we look as far back as the Patten proposals, we see that they made it clear that the figure of 7,500 should form the basis of the budget that is given to the Chief Constable. It is important to note that the delivery of enhanced numbers should, therefore, go in tandem with ensuring that budget arrangements are strategic, sustainable and meet the recurring costs of additional manpower. <BR /> <BR />None of us would suggest that we did not want better resourced neighbourhood and local policing teams. The local policing review indicated a desire in local communities for more visible and effective neighbourhood policing.”
“On 21 May, the Justice Minister stated in response to a question from my party colleague Mervyn Storey that that commitment was not a priority. I must say that it gives me great concern that that would be suggested in that letter at that time. It, therefore, seems as though the Minister has failed to accept the importance of that measure to address an ageing and overburdened police force, to meet the dangerous gaps in investigative expertise and to relieve the pressure on specialist departments, including the teams that deal with rape crime, child abuse and cybercrime, to name but a few. It may not be her priority today, but, sadly, the reality is that it will be society's problem tomorrow if that is not addressed. <BR /> <BR />In recent years, the general trend has been for fewer police officers and reduced police budgets.”
“At a time when other obligations, which may be worthy, are being met in what seems to be an accelerated fashion — one example of that is the medical school at Magee — we have to be sure that all provisions are handled fairly and evenly, including this one on the police.”
“I declare an interest as a member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board. <BR /> <BR />Today, my colleagues and I call on the Justice Minister to implement the commitment that all five parties signed up to under 'New Decade, New Approach' to take the strength of our police force in Northern Ireland to 7,500. In 'NDNA', reference was made to the figure 7,500 and to how:”
“Minister, in your response, you referred to some of the restrictions on visits and such like because of COVID. With regard to visits and protestors outside, has the Prison Service done enough to bring that to an end, as opposed to putting additional burden on the service?”
“Like others, I welcome the fact that we have got to this stage. I am sure that many thought the day would never come when there would be an appointment. We all welcome the fact that Fiona has been appointed to the post. However, given the difficulties around the interim advocate, does the deputy First Minister believe that Fiona is the right person for the job and that she will have the confidence of victims and survivors?”
“I thank the Minister for coming to the House today with the statement. We have heard much about people complying and some not complying, but what is very much in people's minds is this: who will enforce the regulations?”
“Will the deputy First Minister give her assessment of the action taken by the Taoiseach and the Irish Government in response to some of the Ministers and their colleagues breaking health guidelines?”
“I thank the First Minister for her answer. Further to previous questions, do you believe that all the parties recognise the potential impact to the Northern Ireland economy if there is an unsatisfactory conclusion to the talks?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. For a point of clarification, I think that it was before the Member came to the House a number of years ago that his party colleague spoke on the matter and in support of the very point that he is making, as did I and as did the Minister at the time. The point that I was making was that, when there was resettlement of some of those people in the community and when the planning applications were going through the system, some political representatives put up opposition to prevent them from coming into the community, but his party colleague at the time David Ford spoke in favour of it.”