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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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 2 of 24.
“I thank the Member for his question. I can confirm that the specialist cleaning of the tomb that was scheduled for this week has already taken place. In managing a heritage asset of such significance, it is essential that maintenance interventions are proportionate, conservation-led and compliant with best practice. Portland stone is a natural and comparatively porous material. Overly frequent cleaning can accelerate surface erosion and, ultimately, shorten the lifespan of the stone. Cleaning is scheduled to balance the need to maintain the asset against the risk of damaging it.”
“All Members will be aware of the works carried out in 2015, which the Member mentioned. All Members will also be aware of the legal issues surrounding the failure of the previous contract. That legal battle was concluded last year. The Assembly and the Commission wish to move on from that. We want to restore the Building to its former glory and make sure that there is no continuing damage to it.”
“To allow the Building to function, it was less disruptive to allow the scaffolding to remain in place.”
“There are a couple of points in that question. First, erecting the scaffolding in the first place to allow investigative works to be carried out cost approximately £74,000. There was concern that, if the scaffolding were removed and later reinstalled, there would be criticism of that. The length of time that it has taken for the contract to be awarded has also been factored in. The Commission and those responsible therefore decided that it was best to keep the scaffolding in place for the foreseeable future until the work is done. <BR /> <BR />Members will be aware that there was disruption to Committees in the Building during the scaffolding's construction phase. We would have had to endure that disruption to Committees and to normal business again while it was removed, and it then would have had to be put back in place.”
“Given the contractual nature of the business, I am not in a position to give out that figure at this stage. Reference has been made previously to the scaffolding costs, however, and they were published at £407,000.”
“A full plan of the works will be developed by the end of March. It is anticipated that the work will be completed over the next six months and that scaffolding in those areas will be removed as soon as the work is completed. <BR /> <BR />The Department of Finance's construction division is commencing the process to appoint an integrated consultancy team to undertake investigatory works and to develop proposals to address all sources of water ingress to the roof of Parliament Buildings and the remedial repairs not included in the first phase.”
“With your permission, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, I will group questions 2 and 9 for answer. I thank the Members for their questions. <BR /> <BR />The remedial works to the roof of Parliament Buildings have been split into two phases to prioritise the works to the areas that were deemed to be the most critical and for the areas that require ongoing access, including the slope entrance, the boiler room and the kitchen. The first phase will address the defects at the rear of the Building in addition to courtyards 1, 2 and 3. The second phase will address the remaining areas. <BR /> <BR />A tender exercise for the first phase was undertaken by the Department of Finance's property services division and concluded in January 2026. A preferred bidder for the works has now been identified, and a contract is expected to be signed this month.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. I do not know what happened with the Mitchell case in Ballymena, but I was glad to see that there was some movement from those involved. However, that leaves many others behind. Minister, I am not blaming you in any way for that. However, if the review fails to get the answers that they wish for, what other opportunities will be open to you as Minister to try to move things forward to restore the public's confidence in the justice system?”
“<BR /> <BR />Often forgotten are the first responders from the police, the fire service and the Ambulance Service and the hospital staff who witnessed some of those horrific scenes. I know one of the first responders who was there that night and of the effect that that has had on that individual ever since. There is stuff that those people can never unsee and can never recover from, and I hope that, some day, everyone can have peace without those constant reminders.”
“I do not care whether it was the Real IRA, the Continuity IRA or just the IRA; they are all pigs of the one sow. I am sure that that term is familiar to some in the Chamber. It may be offensive to some, but suck it up. That is what they were, and it was brutal, barbaric, unnecessary and evil murder carried out in the name of Irish republicanism. <BR /> <BR />It is great that we were fit to stand in prayerful peace yesterday to mark that occasion, to remember those young men and to stand with former colleagues of theirs and former and serving soldiers from different regiments who had made their way across from England to mark the occasion. Bikers from the Legion were also there to mark the occasion. Whatever history has taught us, many of us will never forget what happened to the people in our Province.”
“The weekend marked the 17th anniversary of the brutal murder of two soldiers at Massereene Barracks: Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar. As it did then, the community stood in solidarity at the weekend, both on Saturday at an event to mark the anniversary and again yesterday at the site of the brutal murders that took place 17 years ago. I was reminded yesterday, when the clergyman spoke at the rededication of the memorial, of how the community came together 17 years ago and has done since over the barbaric nature of the brutal murder of those two young men that night. It was a solemn occasion then, and it is a solemn occasion now. All of us in the area who drive past that site daily are reminded of it. Two young men at the prime of their lives were cut down and brutally murdered, claimed by the then Real IRA.”
“I appreciate that it is difficult to have the data for everything, and I appreciate that the Minister does not have all those figures to hand today. However, Minister, what would you say to a constituent of mine who is 82 years of age and has been told that he will wait a minimum of 104 weeks for his first appointment before he goes onto a list for surgery? He is 82 years of age. He said to us last week, "They want me to die before I get this". What would you say to him?”
“It is interesting to listen to the comments about the bursary scheme. This is a career in which many people can go on to make —.”
“She told me that she was annoyed and ashamed that her son had had to leave the community in which he grew up, not because he wanted to but because he was forced to after he decided to join the police and represent his community in that area. However, because he was a Catholic who had joined the police, they did not want him in that area and did not want him to represent them. <BR /> <BR />I call on the Members opposite to do more in their own communities and call out the scourge and the threats against all officers and in particular those from the Roman Catholic community who are targeted. Until we resolve that issue, we will not fix the problem for people who want to join the PSNI.”
“<BR /> <BR />Until the leaders from the nationalist community do otherwise and encourage people to join the police, I do not believe that things will change. The belated call for 50:50 recruitment will change nothing. We have been there, done that and got the T-shirt, yet the numbers are declining. The numbers are declining simply because the same Members opposite do not speak out when officers are attacked in their communities. A few weeks ago, I met a lady who initially told me that she was from Dunmurry. When she found out that I was a DUP representative, she was slightly more comfortable and said that a family member had joined the police. Then she admitted that she was from Ligoniel.”
“However, I do not believe that things will change in this country until we stop the fixation on one's community background. <BR /> <BR />During 'Nolan Live' on TV last week, I heard a young man, who described himself as being from Crossmaglen, say that police officers do not look like or sound like him. I am sorry, but I do not look at police officers and try to define their community background, and I am sure that they would never wish to look like me, with my size. I am not concerned about what they look like, where they come from, where they worship or anything else. My concern is that they will be impartial and that they will come into our communities and police them in an impartial manner. From what I have seen of them, police officers whom I perceive to be from the Roman Catholic community do just that.”
“There is no excuse whatsoever for "nationalist leaders", as they describe themselves, not being aware that events are taking place and not showing leadership by going amongst their communities to encourage them, if they are so concerned that nationalists are not joining the police.”
“My statement is timely in following the previous contribution: Sinn Féin finds itself able to encourage people to apply for a bursary for studying the Irish language but not to encourage members of its community to apply to join the PSNI. <BR /> <BR />In the past few weeks, much has been made of the low proportion of applications in response to the PSNI's most recent recruitment campaign that came from members of the Roman Catholic community: 26%. That is disappointing; it is disappointing because the nationalist leaders have failed their communities. I have heard feeble excuses that people were not invited to recruitment events or were not aware that the events were on, but those people are on the Policing Board, so they were well aware that the events were taking place.”
“I appreciate the Minister's giving way on that point. I am not trying to make a point — well, I am trying to make a point. I hear what you are saying about all the things that were being done, and we appreciate that the staff were all busy. However, there was a protocol in place, and there were to be pumps in place. For your own benefit, I will tell you that, on the night of the meeting, officials said that the pump was somewhere on the east coast. That is no comfort to residents in Antrim. We want to hear from you that those things have been resolved. We appreciate that the officials were all very busy, but if there is supposed to be a dedicated pump in Antrim, we need a dedicated pump in Antrim.”
“Reference has been made to the old houses and old parts of Antrim. They are old, but they were new at one time. They are family homes and mean a lot to the individuals who own them. Every time that there is new development further upstream, there is real concern about the impact that it will have. We need to find a resolution. However, at the same time, we cannot end the development of new homes for young families.”
“Likewise, one of the early results at Riverside was that drains could not empty out into the river and they filled up. That has already been recognised. There was a protocol in place, and it failed. I am sure that anybody who watched television will have seen the residents talking about making calls from 9.00 am. The pumps did not arrive until the afternoon. <BR /> <BR />Look, that has all been taken on board. It was good to see that the agencies got together after the meeting to try to get a plan in place. It is welcome to hear that in the debate, even before the Minister speaks. Certainly, as her party colleague said it, I can take it that it is an agreed line from the Minister that that is now in place. Moreover, there needs to be something wider, such as a moratorium on planning, until we get a resolution.”
“I would go further and say that anywhere in the catchment area could be affected. I am known to be pro-development. I will always be pro-development because people need homes to live in. We need to build homes, but we also need to provide the infrastructure in such a way —”
“I turned on to Jubilee Road, and, where new houses are approved to be built within a few months, it was completely flooded — it was part of the river. That is concerning for me, and I am sure that it will be concerning for those who want to invest in those properties. As sure as day follows night, when those houses are built, there will be a further impact. <BR /> <BR />As has rightly been identified, the residents of Riverside, Meadowside and Massereene Street, who were most affected by the recent flooding, are concerned every time they hear about a development being built close to the Sixmilewater.”
“The SuDS was then put in retrospectively. People in Antrim were very disappointed that you visited on that occasion to see a retrospective system, given the impact that there has been on their houses, but I am sure that they were pleased to see you when you came the day after the floods. That is not whataboutery: we have to say these things. What are we going to do? What will be the long-term effect on those people? <BR /> <BR />On that morning, I went to Ballyclare to lift my party colleague. I thought that talk of how bad the weather was was an exaggeration. I drove on the Templepatrick Road, which was almost impassable because of the volume of water on it. The fields the whole way from Templepatrick to Ballyclare were like a sea. I had never seen that before.”
“Indeed, at that event a couple weeks ago following the most recent flooding events, a lady was fit to tell us how many metres the river was at at certain times of the day. It is concerning that that is how those people live their lives. I acknowledge that the Minister was there, albeit belatedly. <BR /> <BR />There has been reference to other developments, and the previous contributor talked about failure to comply with planning conditions. Minister, you were in the constituency a number of months ago looking at a retrospective sustainable drainage system (SuDS). That SuDS was not put in place when the development was occupied initially. People were moved into those houses, and it was only after some time that there was a recognition that the developer had failed to do what he should have done, subject to planning.”
“It was a very useful and cordial event, and I put on record my thanks to all the officials from all the different agencies who were there. They broke into various groups to try to understand what happened. It was clear that evening — it has been recognised this afternoon — that there was a breakdown in the protocols that had been set in place since the previous floods. <BR /> <BR />Indeed, I, as a representative for the area, was in the unfortunate position of being involved in the flooding in 2008; I had an office at the end of Massereene Street. I saw the effects of the flooding on people then, and I have seen the effects ever since. As was said during a previous debate, those people are living on rain watch or river watch. On every occasion when there is rain, they are out checking the height of the rivers.”
“I thank my colleague from South Antrim for securing this debate. I concur with lots of the remarks that have been made about the issues that we witnessed that day, albeit, when I came into the Chamber, I thought that there was a party political broadcast for the Ulster Unionist Party and had to ask my colleague what was going on. I thought that we were here to talk about the Six Mile river. <BR /> <BR />The events of that day and the effects of the flooding have, rightly, been highlighted by my colleague opposite. Hearing about those effects comes as no surprise to any of us who attended the meeting that was organised — it has, rightly, been identified — by the RAMS residents' group. Like my colleague opposite, I commend the organisers of that event.”
“In your response to my colleague's question for urgent oral answer, you talked about your Department's responsibilities and about whether it removes an advertisement or asks others to remove it. You talked about the reasons that you would consider, including sight lines and the danger to the public. Why is that policy not consistent across Northern Ireland? Your section offices routinely take down other billboards, signage and advertising at roundabouts and public highways. There is no issue with sight lines or road traffic, but they routinely take them down. Is it because you are the Minister and they are concerned about embarrassing you by taking down one that belongs to Sinn Féin?”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I apologise to the House for a phrase that I used in Question Time to the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. I realised that it was inappropriate after I had said it. I am passionate about the subject, however. There has been no decision taken on the incinerator for years, and it does seem as though there is a delay in one being taken. I therefore apologise for the term that I used, but I would like to see the Department take action to resolve the issue.”
“Your preference may be to recycle and reuse, or whatever other analogy you wish to use. However, the people of Warrenpoint and those who live beside landfill sites have no option but to endure the stink, because none of those options actually works. You are the Minister for Environment and Rural Affairs. Can you not grow a set and make it very clear that you support a solution in Northern Ireland by way of an incineration project in my constituency?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. I welcome the news about the 98%, but, given that he was able to achieve 98%, why did he set a target of 95% for this year?”
“Minister, you have referred in your responses to pressure on finances. How can you then justify the amount of money that you spend on consultants for the likes of active travel, when people just want basic things such as pothole repairs. I will give you an example. In my constituency, they are building a footpath from Crumlin to Glenavy, which is costing tens of thousands of pounds and no one in the area wants: people just want good roads.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. However, it did not really answer my question about value for money. It is not good enough to suggest that CPD is in full cost recovery. I have been a member of the Commission in this Building for some time, and I am not speaking on behalf of the Commission. My concern is that, between that and other public procurement, we can clearly evidence that we are not getting value for money in how those projects are costed. Indeed, a number of years ago, the PAC published a report criticising the CPD. What I am really trying to get from you, Minister, is this: will you carry out a review of CPD to determine whether it offers value for money to the taxpayer or to itself?”
“CPD operates on a full cost-recovery basis for its procurement and project delivery services under an agreed memorandum of understanding with its clients. The hourly charges for its services are published on the website and are in line with 'Managing Public Money'. CPD's clients are provided with estimates of fees at the initiation of a project, and the estimates are monitored throughout the project. It operates under a range of published key performance indicators, and its performance against those is published annually. It is also subject to internal and external scrutiny to ensure that its functions are efficient and cost-effective. CPD meets Departments biannually to review service delivery and charges over the previous six months.”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for her answer. Will she agree that, as America is the largest economy in the world, as she has indicated, it is most important to amplify Northern Ireland at every opportunity, regardless of who presides in the White House?”
“I follow on from my colleague's comments about failure: the Infrastructure Minister has failed to take action and get her Department to do what it should be doing to allow those people to look forward and have confidence. When the next rain event happens — one thing that we can be sure of in this country is that there will be plenty of rain — those people do not want to look out and see rising river levels and water entering their property. I will tell you what else they do not want to see: the Minister coming for tea and sympathy after they have mopped up. They want action.”
“It was too little, too late. <BR /> <BR />Of course, we then had the ministerial visit after the flood waters had dissipated. I am sure that there were hollow words, promises and tea and sympathy, but the people in Antrim are fed up with tea and sympathy. They want solutions. They have been promised solutions for years. Every time that there is rain, those people are on rain watch: watching the river levels to see whether their homes will be flooded again. Some of those people face extraordinarily high insurance premiums, and some cannot even get insurance for their properties.”
“Quite often, people look back at past events. I am glad that the Infrastructure Minister is in the Chamber, because I want to talk about past events for the people of Massereene Street and the Riverside area in Antrim who had their houses flooded last week. <BR /> <BR />Since I came to office in 2007, those houses have been flooded on numerous occasions. What did the residents get? Hollow words and hollow promises. Indeed, they were promised that once the rivers rose to a certain level, DFI Rivers, in conjunction with DFI Roads, would bring in pumps to prevent flooding. However, that did not happen last week. On one day last week, one of the residents rang the helpline several times after 9.00 am, requesting that the pump be put into action. However, the pump did not arrive until 4.00 pm, by which time the water had entered their house.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. Like many Members, my office is inundated with people who require houses. Indeed, every night, on my journey home, I pass six ex-council houses, two or three of which are now privately owned and three of which have been vacant for more than two years. People come into my office about that daily. I think of one family in particular: a husband, wife and child who live in a crowded bedroom and have been on the waiting list for some time. What is your Department doing to press the Housing Executive to get those houses back into circulation?”
“I thank the Minister for his response. You said that that was part of your first-day brief. From your response to a previous question, it seems that it is only now that you are setting up a system to track the length of time that the process takes. Do you believe that that is good enough, given that that was in your first-day brief? It is holding back the development of some farms in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. You are giving advice to other Ministers today: will you give similar advice to your Minister for Infrastructure in relation to the A5? Is it true that she held the money from July, given the court case, and did not ask for reallocation until December?”
“In previous years, grit piles were provided for unapproved or ungritted routes; this year, there is nothing. There was no preparedness at the start of January. We have had to tell people who have contacted us that the Department is not on top of even the main routes, let alone the side roads on which some of us live. That is an indictment of the Minister for Infrastructure. They need to get their act together. We have had a mild winter, but it is possible that this will continue for another few months, and I would like assurance from the Minister that action will be taken to prevent it from happening again.”
“We had had a relatively mild winter up to then, so why on earth are grit boxes empty at this stage of January? Why are there not stockpiles of grit and salt for the gritters to use on our roads? Those are reasonable questions, which the Department for Infrastructure needs to answer. There was no preparedness whatsoever. It is a shameful indictment of the Department that school principals had to make such a decision, not because of the state of the schools but because of the road conditions that the Department for Infrastructure allowed. <BR /> <BR />I was contacted during the early part of last week, as I am sure that many others were, about roads that are not part of the gritting route. Those roads have been forgotten about and abandoned entirely.”
“The past weekend stood in stark contrast to the previous weekend. The rain took away the final remnants of the snow that we woke up to last week. That snow must have come as a shock to the Department for Infrastructure, because the roads ground to a halt last week. The lack of organisation in DFI, with traffic coming to a halt, is shameful. The consequence was that schools had to close, not because they were cold but because it was unsafe to travel to them. That was particularly the case in the east of the Province: I am sure that others in the Chamber did not suffer from last week's snow as properties in the east did. <BR /> <BR />It is disappointing that the Department for Infrastructure had not planned for that event, which had, clearly, been forecast.”
“I was going to thank the Minister for her answers thus far, but I do not want to go as far as that because you have not actually answered any questions, Minister. Why did you mislead the House when there was a confidence issue around the conduct of the ombudsman?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I am sure that he will agree that many people who face financial difficulties tune into Martin Lewis's programme, which, I think, is on a Tuesday night. Many people watch his programme for ideas. They scammed Martin Lewis. How much more authentic can they get when they can do that on the internet and social media? Does the Member agree that the social media platforms are not doing enough to stamp that out?”
“It sounds good, Minister, that we will have an intelligent system, but that implies that some of the current engineers are not intelligent. <BR /> <BR />That said, I can think of one example in my constituency about which I have asked officials for a meeting a number of times, but they say that they are working on the basis of defects and actionable defects. In most constituencies, the actionable defects are so bad that, after staff have marked the defects, by the time that they come round to fix them, the defect markings are part of the potholes. The problem there is either management in Roads Service or the management of contractors. When, Minister, will your Department get a grasp and manage the contracts appropriately so that the roads do not get into the state that they are in?”
“Like others, I welcome the statement and the recovery plan for the PSNI and the pay awards, which have been discussed. Minister, an opportunity that was not addressed in the statement is money for the data breach. Lots of officers are concerned about pay rises and data breach money. Do you foresee that being delivered before the end of the financial year? While I am on my feet, I will ask this: do you anticipate today's pay award being in their December pay packets?”
“First, I commend the Minister for the programme. It has clearly been successful, given the high number of applications. As I am sure that the Minister knows, a high number of those will be from rural locations. Will the Minister give an update on Mr Muir's commitment to providing additional funding, given that he has responsibility for rural areas? Also, now that the application window is open, will the Minister look to move the requirement for building control certificates to a later stage so that the process is not front-loaded? Otherwise, that could make it difficult for some applicants.”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for that answer. During the question for urgent oral answer last week, the First Minister — or the Sinn Féin vice president; I am not sure which she was on the day — was at pains to talk about the invitation. Can the deputy First Minister confirm or otherwise whether there was an invitation issued to others or whether tickets were available for the event?”