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 21 of 24.
“In my area, we lobbied DRD officials, and they succumbed to pressure from public representatives to put in traffic calming measures. Where evidence of a high rate of violations was gathered by officials, traffic calming measures were introduced, yet one car was detected as travelling at twice the speed limit after measures had been put in place. That is one of the things that surprised me most. Therefore, we can put in place traffic calming measures and 20 mph zones, but, if we do not change driver habits, none of it will have any effect. <BR /> <BR />I take the Member's point about going into schools. He will meet no opposition from me on that. It is disappointing that DRD, or else DOE, has reduced its road safety budget. That is ill-judged. The more education that goes into our schools, the better.”
“If enforcement were carried out in a proper manner at present, there would not be such a requirement to reduce speed limits to 20 mph. <BR /> <BR />Reference was made to how much it will cost to implement the Bill. Mr Ramsey has changed the face of what he is suggesting. Perhaps the Minister will see fit to give us an indication of the cost. It will be interesting to find that out. I agree wholeheartedly with the Member's comment that one death is one too many. However, 2014 has recently ended, a year that saw the highest number of road deaths in many years. There has been no change in different areas as a result of those figures, and that is not because of higher speed limits; rather, it comes down to driver habit, and that is what I am most afraid of.”
“<BR /> <BR />As elected representatives, we have all been involved in discussions in our various areas on speed ramps and in calling for better enforcement of speed limits by the PSNI. It is interesting that Mr Ramsey said that, with the police, he was "pushing an open door". However, where the PSNI is involved, it has been a revolving door, as whomever you speak to is here today and gone tomorrow. As a representative of South Antrim, where there have unfortunately been many incidents and many fatalities, I find that, when you speak to them, it is difficult to get the police to carry out enforcement. The Member is right. Whatever the speed limit, should it be 30 mph, 40 mph or, indeed, 20 mph, enforcement falls to the PSNI.”
“However, it will require a great deal of more detailed information on how that might successfully be achieved. <BR /> <BR />If you allow me, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker, I will now speak in my capacity as a DUP Member. I want to put it on record that Mr Ramsey afforded me the opportunity yesterday to meet him, but, unfortunately, time did not permit that. I would have been interested in meeting him because it would have been fair to do so. We had only a brief discussion in the corridor on the Bill. <BR /> <BR />I will not be opposing the passage of the Bill to Committee Stage. Hopefully, my colleagues on these Benches will also support it so that we can see what improvements can be made to the Bill.”
“Therefore, we need to have a wider consultation, and I hope that we will when the Bill gets to Committee Stage. <BR /> <BR />Among the other comments and concerns that the Committee will need to explore is the statement in the DOE's road safety strategy 2020 that, in 2007, 79% of fatalities caused by speeding happened in rural areas. The Bill as drafted does not cover any rural areas, so Members may wish to explore that particular aspect. <BR /> <BR />Of course, a number of references have been made to the enforcement of the schemes. Without the possibility of better enforcement, they will not succeed. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, the Committee feels that the principal objective of the Bill — reducing the number of fatalities — is a worthy one.”
“In briefing papers that it provided, Sustrans welcomed Edinburgh's approach to 20 mph speed limits in residential areas and acknowledged that that had been done zonally, rather than by default. Key to the success in Edinburgh was the garnering of public support for the pilot schemes. The Department's pilot schemes have shown that not everyone is in favour of the 20 mph zones. Three out of the four completed pilots run by the Department received objections — namely, Belfast city centre, Merville Garden Village and Ballymena — and cannot be progressed until the objections are resolved or set aside. In addition, there were only 44 responses to Mr McDevitt's consultation, and those are unlikely to be a representative geographic or demographic sample.”
“This has been integral to driving through 20 mph initiatives in the likes of Edinburgh, Portsmouth and Bristol and in the 500 or more 20 mph zones currently in Northern Ireland.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate in my capacity as Chair of the Committee for Regional Development. I will also speak in my own right. <BR /> <BR />I immediately place on record that the Committee for Regional Development agrees with the principal objective of the Bill, which is to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities. We had concerns that the Bill, as it stands, proposed a blanket approach to 20 mph, and I am pleased that the Member has said that he is amenable to amending that should it progress to Committee Stage. <BR /> <BR />The Department already has the power to reduce the speed limit to 20 mph, but that power is normally exercised on a zonal basis. One of the key elements of the zonal approach is the support of residents in the zonal area.”
“It was also interesting to note from your comments that you recognise that amendments are required. <BR /> <BR />The other thing that I want to put on record is that you referred to my colleague, who is not in the Chamber at the moment, and said that you spoke to another body about statistics. Maybe you will want to go back to the same folks in relation to 2020, because that does not address the Department for Transport figures that show that there has been an increase in accidents where a 20 mph speed limit has been introduced.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I was looking for an intervention before the Speaker called the business to a halt before lunch, and I know that the Member was minded to give me that intervention. <BR /> <BR />I want to put two things on record. First, your colleague John Dallat referred to the type of the debate and said that he was disappointed at how it was going. However, this is a debating Chamber and people can have different opinions. I do not think that the language from anyone from these Benches indicated that they did not support the Bill's going forward, although I think that there is work to be done. You will accept — sorry, through the Chair, the Member will accept that, when I had a private conversation with him, we said that we would support the Bill going to the next stage.”
“I want to address the previous contribution, when I was seen shaking my head. I do not make any apologies for shaking my head, because Mr Maginness's comparison with 20 mph zones is ridiculous. The ban on smoking in public places is easy to enforce. However, we have got 30- and 40-mph limits, and there is no evidence to suggest that reducing them will actually help. Indeed, the 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 mph zones are there, but the enforcement is not. The ban on smoking in a public place is, however, easy to enforce. The enforcement has to be right. Indeed, if the 30 mph limit was enforced, there would be no need to reduce it to 20 mph or lower.”
“It will undoubtedly be a tough journey, but it will at the very least be a shared one, and one that benefits Northern Ireland. The Committee is keen to take this path, and I hope the Department is too.”
“The Department will also need to get out the begging bowl to bail Translink and itself out of the mess it has made of budgeting for phase 2 of the Coleraine to Londonderry rail track. This is not the mature handling of a departmental budget, but a recipe for disaster, as evidenced by the release of value and the Coleraine rail track. <BR /> <BR />The Committee for Regional Development wants to, and has tried to, engage and debate with the Department on its budgets. We will continue to do so. However, the Minister and those who advise him must be willing to inform the Committee and bring options to the table. They must be willing to take the initiative and be innovative, not like the Department we have experienced with regard to its budgets, which is non-transparent, reliant on the begging bowl and resistant to change.”
“This advice continues to be given to the Minister for Regional Development, yet in its consultation paper on the draft Budget, the Department clearly stated that it:”
“He does not value the safety of the most vulnerable in our society, as he boasts in the press that tens of thousands of street lights across Northern Ireland will be lost. <BR /> <BR />The Department for Regional Development does not have the maturity to manage its budget, never mind debate it. Instead, it allowed and encouraged its Minister to indulge in begging-bowl politics. My colleague, the Minister of Finance, stated previously that it is unacceptable for Departments to manage their budgets in the expectation of additional funding through the Executive's in-year monitoring process, as the Minister attempted to do through the release of value of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, if we examine the budget that the Minister for Regional Development brought to the press and announced to the world, we will be in a position to gauge his values and those of the officials advising him. He does not value the social and economic well-being of Northern Ireland, as he slashes capital and structural investment in roads. He does not value the quality of our water or the treatment of our waste water, as he slashes Northern Ireland Water's budget, thereby increasing the risk of an EU infraction. He does not value those living in isolation, as he allows Translink to accumulate more cash with not one but two above-inflation increase to fares and to cherry-pick the most profitable routes.”
“What we got was a Minister who was more interested in the sound bite than in sound financial scrutiny; a Minister more interested in getting his own picture on TV and in the papers than in providing the citizens of Northern Ireland with a picture of how to deal with these financial pressures. The current vice-president of America, Joe Biden said:”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I do not think there was anyone in this House who expected that the budgets for 2015-16 would not be tight, even though some of the pressure was released by the Stormont House settlement. What we in the Committee for Regional Development did expect, however, was a mature and detailed debate about the options available to the Department with a view to identifying the best solutions to the financial constraints placed on the Northern Ireland block grant. Instead, we got what the Committee described in its response to the Finance and Personnel Committee on the draft Budget as a sensationalist approach from the Minister and his Department. <BR /> <BR />What we got was a Minister who chose not to debate his budget but to run to the press to bemoan his lot.”
“Given that there have been no other contributors, I see no need to wind on the debate.”
“We will, however, continue to be effective in our scrutiny of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies to ensure that the public purse is protected and that the objectives and actions listed in the Supplementary Estimates are achieved.”
“The Department has been very successful in accessing European funding for a number of transport schemes, and the Committee continues to encourage this as an avenue for matching its limited budgets. Likewise, the Committee is very supportive of joined-up initiatives for cycling that can be used to offset costs to the wider Northern Ireland plc block through increased health and environmental savings, for example. <BR /> <BR />It is time for the Department to take the initiative within the confines of governance arrangements and use its budgets in new and innovative ways. I can assure the House that the Committee for Regional Development will continue to work with the Department to achieve the most effective and efficient use of its budgets.”
“Although it is probably more appropriate to discuss this in detail during the Budget debate next week, I would like to put on record our concern on this matter. The Department needs to ensure that it balances its decision to cut NI Water budgets with the increased potential and the very significant cost to the block of infraction proceedings in respect of the Ballycastle treatment plant and Belfast lough. <BR /> <BR />We have come through some very difficult times, not necessarily unscathed, and we are facing further difficult times ahead. It is imperative, therefore, that constrained budgets are utilised in the most efficient and effective way.”
“It has been spent on additional tendering processes and needs to be spent on an inflated project cost that has increased from £22 million to £40 million. The Minister has identified this as a priority, and the Committee is fully supportive of the rail track as a priority, but he needs to recognise his Department’s failings in this process. He must recognise that actions need to be taken to ensure that budgets for major capital projects are on time and he needs to ensure that the appropriate governance and accountability processes are applied correctly in future. <BR /> <BR />I note that table 1, column 2(b), shows an allocation of £5 million with regard to high-quality water and this has to be welcomed. It is, however, worrying that the Department advised the Committee on 4 February that:”
“This is evidenced in the debacle over phase 2 of the Coleraine to Londonderry train line, which has doubled in cost because of what the Minister himself described as "guesstimates" of budgets. Although the Committee inquiry is ongoing, there is an evident belief that the Minister and his Department cannot dissolve or dilute their responsibilities in this matter, both in accountability and in overall governance of the project. <BR /> <BR />They have failed to learn lessons from the past and have chosen to bury their heads in the sand when claiming that no additional money has been spent. Additional money has been spent on consultancy firms estimating a 25% increase in passenger numbers on the route when the reality is that they have increased by 185%.”
“They allowed over 20,000 street lights to sit darkened before the Executive stepped in and provided additional funding for repairing those lights as part of the Budget settlement that the Minister for Regional Development delights in saying that he voted against. <BR /> <BR />They supported concessionary fares, again provided for through a Budget settlement that the Minister voted against, and they purchased buses for a company that is sitting with over £56 million in the bank. They talk in the Estimates of supporting regional planning and visioning when the reality is that they sought to switch lights off across Northern Ireland and attack the isolated and most vulnerable in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />The Committee, unfortunately, does not have the greatest confidence in how the Department controls its budgets.”
“It is disturbing and stressful that the Minister and his officials deliberately chose to target the most vulnerable of our citizens when they made these reductions. These were not, and are not, as the Minister and his officials continue to chant at every opportunity, Executive cuts. They were, and will continue to be, the responsibility of the Minister, his officials and the Department. <BR /> <BR />Page 226 of the 'Northern Ireland Spring Supplementary Estimates 2014-2015' sets out the actions that the Department will spend its budget on. It says that its budget will be used for the maintenance of roads, footpaths, street lighting and rural transport. Have the Minister and his officials achieved this? Most definitely not. <BR /> <BR />They cut budgets for the maintenance of roads, footpaths and rural transport.”
“Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate in my capacity as Chair of the Committee for Regional Development. <BR /> <BR />It is important that we take the time to consider the implications and impact of the Estimates and, later today, the Vote on Account. Table 1, column 2(b) shows a reduction of just under £20 million in the departmental resources. We have had the departmental officials appear before the Committee to explain where the Minister and his officials have sought to apply that reduction. It is important to stress that it is the Minister and his officials who identify the Department’s priorities. I stress again that it is the Minister for Regional Development and his officials who decide on which areas within the portfolio will face reductions.”
“I am sure, Minister, that you understand why people would take the time to be anonymous. Given the history of the individuals on the site, the person who made the complaint would want to remain anonymous in case of retribution.”
“The site may not be ideal, but it also not in north Belfast, so I am wondering how the Irish Travellers settled in Antrim.”
“The Member raises the point that they are free to travel, and I do not think that anyone should be against their right to travel. However, I am sure that the Member finds it as strange as the rest of us do that this is not actually a Travellers' site as such. These are static caravans that you would find in a holiday village and not the type that you will see pulling into a lay-by. Do you not find it particularly strange that these are not caravans that we would see being towed by vehicles?”
“I am sure that the Member will agree that the failure extends to that. I know, from some of my questions, that the cost of accommodating them is running into thousands of pounds. However, there are permanent residents with Housing Executive houses who are still waiting on repairs that will run into thousands as well.”
“The Member talks about how the Housing Executive has failed the residents. Maybe the Member would like to draw out how it has failed them. I am sure that the Minister, in his response, will talk — I hope he will — about how much has been spent on the site. There are people in the Antrim area who have been waiting for Housing Executive repairs to bring their house up to a good standard.”
“That brings something to mind. You will be familiar with other areas in Antrim where the Housing Executive contacted community representatives before it would consider housing developments. Maybe the Minister could explain, through his officials, why this is different. As an elected Member, I know that my colleagues had no correspondence whatever. However, in the case of other permanent sites, the Housing Executive always consulted and tried to bring them on board.”
“<BR /> <BR />As I said in my opening remarks there has been trouble there in the past. The residents of Rathenraw have seen that come and go, have got on with their lives, have stayed the course and want just to live in and enjoy the Rathenraw area without looking out at what can only be deemed as — Well, I had better not say on the public record what type of camp this is. How is it that the animals roam all day tethered by a chain or piece of rope, doing circles on the grass while they eat, whereas the other residents in the area are allowed only one domestic animal each?”
“It is widely known that there was trouble created where they were in the past. The trouble should have been dealt with. Antisocial behaviour should be treated the same as when committed by other residents, instead of bringing them to Antrim to a perfectly good site, where people have enjoyed looking out at green fields for many years and which, as I say, has a historic monument. I am absolutely bewildered that the Planning Service has seen fit to do as it has done. <BR /> <BR />I would like assurances from the Minister that, however this debacle has unfolded, he will use his good offices to liaise with the Housing Executive to try to bring about a conclusion that is favourable to the people who have lived there for many years and who want to continue to live there.”
“There are not two or three objections to this, but hundreds; there is a petition to the Planning Service in relation to this site. One would say they have to be housed — I have no issue with that — but they arrived at this site from somewhere in the Belfast area. I hope that they do want to fit in with society and get involved, but if they were previously housed in the greater Belfast area, and if they have been educated, how has the Housing Executive seen fit to bring them to Antrim, dispersing them from where they were originally? Are they continuing within the education programme or, indeed, are they treated differently in that? <BR /> <BR />Certainly, lots of questions have to be asked. If they did need a site such as this, why did the Housing Executive not see fit to keep them in Belfast?”
“Everyone is allowed a black bin, which is emptied once a fortnight; however, if you come from the Travelling community, you can have a skip. It will be emptied at will, and it will be paid for out of the public purse. Could we ascertain from the Minister whether those members of the Travelling community who are now permanent residents in Rathenraw make any contribution through rent? What do they contribute to the Housing Executive that they should be treated in such a royal manner? There seems to be such a difference in how these individuals are treated versus the people who reside and have grown up in the area. <BR /> <BR />I can understand the worry and frustration of those living in the area as the whole escapade unfolded.”
“What I really want is for the Minister to relay our concerns to the Housing Executive and to see what assurances he can get that issues in the area will be addressed. <BR /> <BR />The Minister will be aware that I have had much correspondence with him on a number of questions relating to how much is being spent. They have temporary roads and standpipes. The Housing Executive is now picking up the cost of maintaining and servicing the temporary toilets. The Housing Executive is picking up the costs of emptying the skips that have been put on sites. These residents are being treated entirely differently from everyone else living in the Antrim area. I am not saying that all individuals should be allowed more for domestic waste.”
“Indeed, some of the people who live there will tell you about bicycles being stolen. They think it is a case of, "You have to tie it down, or it is gone". <BR /> <BR />There have been problems with crime in the town itself, and it is reported that those involved were from the Travelling community. As I said, the Housing Executive prided itself in the past on how quickly it reacted to problems from ordinary residents — you keep logs and various things. Many residents have made representations to the Housing Executive about the problems associated with these individuals, but it is falling on deaf ears: nothing seems to be done to help the residents of the area, and everything to help the Travelling community.”
“The Minister may be responsible for the Housing Executive, but he is not the Housing Executive; therefore I am sure that it will be difficult for him to account for how the Housing Executive arrived at the ridiculous decision to bring Travellers to this area and make such a site. <BR /> <BR />One of the things that the Housing Executive prides itself on — some would say, and others would say that it does not pride itself very well on it — is that we have areas where the Housing Executive places problem tenants, who cause great difficulties to other tenants in that area. Not only has the Housing Executive brought in problem tenants, it has brought in a permanent camp that has brought the problem itself. Indeed, the attitude of the tenants who have come to the area is telling.”
“I would love it if the Minister of the Environment could tell us, the elected representatives, how a temporary site for caravans can be afforded beside a historic monument. If someone wanted a permanent residence there, it would not have been afforded them. I am bewildered as to how that decision has come about. <BR /> <BR />In relation to the Travelling community itself, it is sad for me to say that there has been an increase in incidents in the area since they arrived. Indeed, as one delves into the origins of the people, we find that they are not unknown or unfamiliar to the law. Indeed, they have been somewhat involved with the police over this last number of years.”
“Housing Executive rules suggest that there should be only one domestic animal, so we are treating the Travellers differently. They are not on a par with everyone else; they do not come within the definition of ordinary residents of that area. <BR /> <BR />What makes it even stranger is that the very site that the Housing Executive has picked is beside a historic monument. Anyone else seeking planning permission for that area would be refused. I come here tonight somewhat disappointed. I appreciate that my colleague, the Minister for Social Development, is here to respond to the debate because it is primarily a social development topic; however, there is a degree of crossover with regard to this site. The site has been granted permission, albeit the process continues, and there will be meetings at which strong objections will be lodged.”
“<BR /> <BR />Then there is the question of how the Housing Executive has approached the subject. It made a retrospective application. Mr Deputy Speaker, when, some years ago, you were an elected representative sitting in council, I am sure that, like the rest of us, you would have been critical of individuals seeking retrospective applications for houses in any area. However, this public authority, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, has set up a temporary site in Antrim, moved the diggers in and brought in static caravans. I stress that these are static caravans, not the type that you would normally associate with the Travelling community. The Housing Executive set up a static caravan site where Travellers have the right to bring in horses, donkeys and whatever else they want to bring.”
“However, the people of that area are disappointed to realise that they now have a permanent camp or site, whatever you want to call it. Whilst I have sympathy — I think — for the Travelling community, in that Travellers need somewhere to stay, I am surprised that people who define themselves as Travellers are in permanent caravans. They will not be towing those caravans along our county roads as they go from site to site. I do not know why they need permanent residence in a residential area. Indeed, if they want to be treated the same as everyone else, they should be afforded the same housing stock. I do not think that we should deny anyone the opportunity to be housed; however, Travellers should be treated the same as other residents of the Antrim area.”
“It has made a difference between members of the Travelling community and — again I use the terminology — "ordinary residents". Many of those people are in housing stress and come to our offices daily, as I have said, looking to be housed in a particular area. It pains me that the Housing Executive has treated the Travelling community differently from other residents. If I, a father of three children, were in housing need, the Housing Executive would not go to the same lengths for my family as it has done for the Travelling community. It would not build my family temporary accommodation. <BR /> <BR />Rathenraw had its difficulties in the past, but, thankfully, it has turned a corner and improved over the last 10 or 15 years. Those problems are now in the distant past.”
“I rise to talk about a Travelling site that arrived in Antrim some months ago. I suppose that I am coming at it with some degree of concern. I know that Sinn Féin took exception to my definition yesterday of "ordinary" people. Habitual residents who live in a particular area and reside in a purpose-built brick house are what I would describe as ordinary. Indeed, I am one of those ordinary people myself. Many people from Rathenraw and, indeed, the wider Antrim area come to my office and those of my constituency colleagues daily looking for accommodation. They are in housing stress in the greater Antrim area. <BR /> <BR />I am appalled at how the Housing Executive has handled this site and the complaints of the residents of Rathenraw.”
“The Member raised an interesting point, and that is why there was confusion at Committee Stage. In the Minister's words, we were talking about restrictive conditions, whereas we were looking for protection for the very point that you just made about the opportunity for individual sell-offs. Some Committee members argued for a form of protection, not to restrict councils from selling but, should they want to sell a car park, its places would have to be replaced by an additional number of places somewhere else, so they would not just sell a valuable asset. <BR /> <BR />Another point, if you will bear with me while I am on my feet, is that this is only enabling legislation. It should be put on record that one council that we visited that day said that, as it stands, it will not accept the transfer of car parks.”
“I hope that the Minister and his officials will bring that in good time and allow the Committee to carry out proper scrutiny of the clauses in the Bill. I further advise the Minister that the Committee will take the necessary time to conduct its statutory scrutiny and will not be bound by impossible timelines defined by his officials, particularly given their uncooperative approach to working with the Committee.”
“A prerequisite to that was that the Department would cooperate with regard to the turnaround of papers and information requested by the Committee to ensure that the normal 10-day period could be circumvented. <BR /> <BR />It is unfortunate that, despite initial assurances from the Minister that it would cooperate with the Committee in that respect, the Department chose to ignore that agreement and reverted to type. Two letters to the departmental assembly liaison officer, dated 8 and 21 October 2014, specifically asked for information within a period of five working days. The turnaround time was 10 and 13 days respectively. <BR /> <BR />I am aware that further primary legislation will soon be laid in the House, which should come to the Committee following Second Stage.”
“Whilst I started this speech on a positive note by stating that we were supportive of the Bill, I must finish it by being critical of the Minister and his Department during the process. <BR /> <BR />Members will be aware that the Minister requested, in correspondence dated 30 September 2014, that the Committee complete its scrutiny of the Bill in accordance with the statutory period defined in Standing Order 33(2), namely 30 days. Mindful of their obligations to properly and appropriately scrutinise primary legislation, members agreed, reluctantly, to accede to the Minister’s request, subject to their right to seek an extension under Standing Order 33(4) should there be a need to do so.”