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 3 of 24.
“Has any assessment been done of what the Equality Commission spends its budget on and, in particular, how much it has spent on the legal cases that it has taken recently?”
“As the Member knows, I am here as a Commission member and am not supposed to have a political view. However, those matters are all subject to different codes. If someone had a particular issue on that day, they should have raised a complaint through the normal procedures.”
“<BR /> <BR />Section 7 of the policy deals with that type of incident and provides guidance on what will happen if a visitor interrupts or attempts to interrupt plenary proceedings. That policy was applied during the incident on 10 November.”
“However, it is important to note that, under Standing Order 66, access to the Public Gallery is within the procedural responsibilities of the Speaker, including the ability to require someone to leave the Public Gallery if necessary to preserve good order. <BR /> <BR />With regard to the incident on 10 November 2025, a member of the public was removed from the Public Gallery during plenary proceedings because they had risen from a sedentary position and begun shouting in the direction of the Floor. Usher Services staff who were nearby promptly intervened. The Speaker directed that the person be removed, and she was escorted from the Public Gallery. The incident lasted just over 20 seconds, and there was no further disruption to business.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The Assembly Commission has a policy entitled 'Conduct and Behaviour of Visitors in Parliament Buildings', which can be found on the Assembly's website. The purpose of the policy is primarily to ensure that the Assembly's core business and other events, be they at Parliament Buildings or at an outside location, can proceed without interference from or disruption by visitors or any other persons. <BR /> <BR />The policy is extensive and provides clear guidance on the general rules of entry and the behaviours expected at Assembly plenary sittings and Committee meetings.”
“I cannot give the Member a definite time frame, other than to say that it will be early 2026. A lot of consideration has gone into it in previous meetings, and that is why it is at an advanced stage. The Commission was very aware of the state of the current building and of all the factors that have been highlighted by you today. All Members are alive to the fact that the staff are working outside. That is part of the reasoning behind the automatic barrier. It would prevent them from having to be there, and occasional supervision of the car park could be carried out from the east glen.”
“Once that work has been completed, those staff will be withdrawn, and, should occasional monitoring of the car park be required, it can be carried out from the existing search facility at the east glen.”
“I thank the Member for her question. The Assembly Commission has used the security hut in the lower east car park for a number of years. The hut was originally installed and maintained by the Department of Finance, although, recently, it has fallen into a state of significant disrepair and is now considered to be close to the end of its service life. <BR /> <BR />The Department of Finance has indicated that it is not minded to replace the hut in the foreseeable future and has left it for the Assembly Commission to determine the way forward, since it is the primary user of the car park. Assembly Commission staff presently monitor and manage the lower east car park on the busiest days of the week, although plans are already well advanced to erect an automatic barrier at the car park entrance in early 2026.”
“One of the things that are particularly important for family farm succession is young farmers' schemes. It is disgraceful that no such scheme is planned. You said today, Minister, that there are no definitive plans for 2026. Your Department rolled out a pilot of the Farming for the Generations scheme, and that was a disaster. We are in December, Minister: will you give a clear indication today of whether you are introducing a scheme that will help to secure our young farmers, our future in farming?”
“More needs to be done in those establishments to make sure that, when people are there, they are being cared for and looked after and that the police are not being called to them. Of course, there is then the case of Muckamore Abbey Hospital, with all the issues that have gone on there. Now, too frequently, staff default to calling in the police when issues happen in those establishments. Additional training needs to be given to people in those facilities to prevent them from calling, because the police are not trained to work in mental health crisis teams. <BR /> <BR />As I said at the outset, Minister, I commend you for introducing the Right Care, Right Person model. We look forward to its implementation and to seeing those changes happen.”
“I get an extra minute. That is all right. <BR /> <BR />There is clearly an issue with custody suites, but another key issue is funding, which was talked about today. It is my understanding that the PSNI is lifting that budget and that there is no assistance from the Department of Health. It is not a case of the PSNI asking Health to do everything; the PSNI is prepared to do something, but it seems to have been on a lonely path for some time. <BR /> <BR />Living in the constituency that we do, Mr Deputy Speaker, you will be fully aware of the mental health crisis there, given that we have two establishments. We frequently hear people ask, "Why is the helicopter up in Antrim tonight?" The reason that the helicopter is up is that people have left those establishments.”
“More of those cases need to be dealt with, and, in this part of the debate, I call on you, Minister, to take that back to your officials to do what can be done to make sure that more of those cases are dealt with.”
“<BR /> <BR />Alan spoke defensively from the Minister's perspective, but I think that we all agree that the problem is within. However, I commend you, Minister. If you had not had the insight from having been on the Policing Board, seeing some of the numbers behind all this, things would never have changed. However, an opportunity was missed that could have come much sooner from previous Health Ministers. I am not pointing the finger at anyone in particular. <BR /> <BR />I also commend the reference that was made to custody suites. The custody suite model is still in operation but is far from perfect. Again, on one of the ride-alongs, I saw the risk-averse nature of some of the health professionals who are in those suites. They do not divert as many calls to hospitals as they should.”
“There was an accident in my constituency on Saturday night, in which somebody was trapped in a car. It was classed as a category 3 incident. The Fire Service was asked to attend, but the police suggested that there was no rush for the Fire Service, because it was going to take 29 hours for an ambulance to arrive. That gives an indication of the waits that the police face. If the police had stayed with the injured party in that car, they would have been waiting for 29 hours. The other thing that all Members will be familiar with is that, when we attend A&E departments for whatever reason, there are always police cars there. No one can say that that is a good use of police resources, and no one has tried to do so today.”
“One thing strikes me that has not been touched on. To pick up on Jon's point about the police, some of us on the Policing Board have had the opportunity to do ride-alongs. On every ride-along that I have been on, when the police were asked about their job, they said that the bit that they hate most is the time that they spend waiting in A&E departments. They say, "We did not join the police to do mental health calls or health calls in general". <BR /> <BR />One of the dangers is that, while the stats that we are talking about are purely for mental health calls, the calls, as you will know, Minister, are not only about mental health. Many of them are other health-related calls, such as for heart attacks or other reasons, when the Ambulance Service is unable to attend. I will give an example.”
“<BR /> <BR />If you look at our amendment, Minister, the reason that we want to amend the motion is to tie in the Justice Minister. Acknowledgement has been made that the Justice Minister is not here, but probably could have added to the debate, because we talk about a tripartite agreement within policing, and, obviously, the Justice Minister has a big part to play in the resolution of this within policing itself. That said, there is a problem with the policing budget, but that is not what today is about; we are talking about the Health element. <BR /> <BR />I am in danger of repeating everything that has been said about numbers. You will know, Minister, because you were there when all the issues were discussed.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is not usual for me to commend the Minister, but I commend the Minister for the insight that he has given us today on where Right Care, Right Person is at. I should declare an interest as a member of the Policing Board. Indeed, when the Minister was a member, we sat beside each other. The only thing that I would say in criticism, not of the Minister but of his Department, is that it should have been happening much sooner, because it is not a new problem within Health or policing, as the Minister will know from his time on the Policing Board. He is right to put on record the work that ACC Henderson has done. Indeed, when he got a promotion to a different post, he continued to look after that particular piece because he saw it as his baby, and I commend him for the work that he has done with the Minister.”
“While you may have been speaking as the vice president of Sinn Féin when you made the statement, you were still First Minister of the Assembly. In your capacity as First Minister of the Assembly, did you offer to give any information to the police? Did you give an interview to the police, or give them any information that you were in receipt of? Did you avoid all contact?”
“On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. She talks about the systems that are there to protect those people, but does she agree that one thing that goes missing from those conversations is that there is no system to protect the officers who view that material daily and that an under-resourced police force makes it even worse for those men and women?”
“I have been defending policing for some time, and I will defend the current Chief Constable, as, indeed, I did the previous Chief Constable, making the calls for additional finance. While those conversations were going on, every other Department was putting pressure on Finance to get money. At some stage, we will have to be mature and say, "We need to give something up, because we recognise that policing numbers are at an all-time low". We will have to ask, "What will another Department go without?", and then offer that money to the Finance Department to allow policing to be resourced.”
“What would they substitute policing for so that there could be spending on policing that would allow us to get to the number that we require, which is 7,500? Always being left off that 7,500 is the provision of 2,500 Reserve officers, which was a Good Friday Agreement commitment. That would also help to address the overtime pressures that policing faces, because there would be flexibility to scale numbers up and down at short notice. <BR /> <BR />As I said, we are minded to support amendment No 1. We have a less favourable view of amendment No 2, because of the prioritisation of that issue. Let me say this, however: we all need to be honest about and careful what we wish for.”
“I accept that, and, for the record, I am happy to say that that is what the amendment says. However, it implies that we should look at one side of policing as opposed to all of it. As the Member for Upper Bann said, we have 4,500 police officers available on a daily basis, effectively, so how can we emphasise one area of policing without looking at it in its totality? <BR /> <BR />I will go back to where I started this conversation. The pause on recruitment has been lifted. We need more responsible conversation from the Opposition and others. They come along with wonderful wish lists of everything that they want to do, but if there were a big case for funding for police today, would they get behind it?”
“That is in the line that states that we must "prioritise" issues facing women and girls over everything else. How can we decide today which one area of policing is more important than others?”
“<BR /> <BR />The motion from the Opposition party is a wee bit opportunistic in the way that it has been drafted and in some of its content, because none of us needed to wait for a report from the ombudsman to see the state that policing is in. We all know from different areas in policing the pressures that it faces. It is interesting that we are focusing on one aspect of that today, but the one thing that we all see in our communities day and daily is front-line policing through neighbourhood policing, which is where we all want to see policing get to. <BR /> <BR />We are, obviously, minded to support the Ulster Unionist Party amendment. We are not against the amendment in the names of Linda and others from Sinn Féin, but it is difficult in that it emphasises one part of policing without recognising all its parts.”
“I am not sure that I can add much to what has already been said. It sounds a bit like a rehearsal of the debate that we have been having over this past two to three years about resourcing issues for the police. I put on record, however, my recognition of the work that the Department of Justice, the Executive and others have done to recognise the underfunded position in which policing finds itself. In saying that, we are disappointed that the finances have not come from the Department of Finance. However, there is a commitment from the Executive to fund the police in the recovery plan. We do not know what that will look like in the next two to three years, but it will certainly be in the recovery plan for this year.”
“I appreciate what you say about the financing, Minister. However, during your time on the Policing Board, there was a review of the police estate: have your officials carried out a review of the Health estate? I ask because, while you were speaking, I looked up Knockbracken and read that it has 270 acres. There are other sites across the estate that are not being utilised. Has any rationalisation of the estate been done, particularly of the sites that are not being used and will bring in revenue or capital?”
“When you see those figures, Minister, you will see for yourself that the business case is there and that you need to exert more pressure to find the £143 million to deliver the site.”
“As I said — I keep repeating myself — we cannot afford to wait. It is costing us time and will cost us additional money. We all know how procurement has worked in Northern Ireland for years. If the cost is £143 million now, it will be £200 million in five years' time, but the money raised by the disposal of land will not rise at the same pace as the price that developers will charge for the construction of that site. <BR /> <BR />I urge the Minister to look again at this case and to look at all the options. I also ask him to put pressure on his Department to release the figures on what it will cost to bring the site up to an acceptable standard, one that we would wish for our family members if they required it, so that they would get the service that they deserve, delivered in a fit-for-purpose facility.”
“I submitted a question for written answer to the Minister to get an estimate of all the costs. The question was due to be answered in October, but it remains unanswered. I suspect that the figure is scary. This is about essential maintenance; it is not wish list stuff. Mr Kearney talked about buckets catching water and walls crumbling: those are all essential repairs. <BR /> <BR />The estimated cost of the site is £143 million. You will not have to purchase land, because you own the other site, but, when you vacate the Holywell site, you will have a 140-acre site that could go to market, sitting right within the development zone of Antrim town. We cannot afford to wait, and the families who use the facility cannot afford to wait. The business case would be supported simply by the disposal of that site once the new facility is built.”
“I visited it a number of years ago with a former director, and, even at that point, a case was being made to replace it. It is disappointing, therefore, to hear how slowly things have gone ever since. The Member referred to the business case in 2020 and the planning permission in 2024. If things had gone as planned, we would have been welcoming that site by 2028-29. Some of us have had to visit the site to see some of the patients there, at the request of their families. Anyone who takes the opportunity to visit it will see the intolerable conditions that those individuals are in, as has been said. <BR /> <BR />The site is not fit for purpose, but, for me, it is more the case that we cannot afford to do nothing. The Member mentioned the cost of repairs.”
“Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. I am not sure that I will need five minutes, because everything that needs to be said was said by the Member who just spoke. <BR /> <BR />For the benefit of those who do not know the history, some of which has been mentioned, the site was picked in 1891, and construction started in 1894, with the first patients coming in 1899 or 1900. The facility was for 400 patients. That outlines the age of the site, and the Member alluded to that. The original name would not be acceptable in today's language: it was called the County Antrim Lunatic Asylum. Thankfully, language moved on, and it was aptly named the Holywell Hospital some years later. That gives you the history and outlines the length of time that the facility has been in being. <BR /> <BR />The previous contributor said that he visited the site.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. I am sure, Minister, that you are similar to all of us in the Chamber in finding that the lack of housing is one of the things that keep us busiest in our offices. We welcome the announcement. Some will be envious of the fact that it will cost £206,000 to build a social home given the quality of those houses, which should be lost on no one. That said, Minister, housing association rents are considerably dearer, which another Member remarked on. Is there any danger that those costs will increase, and, if so, do you have a mechanism to prevent that? <BR /> <BR />If I may add this, to be cheeky: how are we coming along on the funding for the Housing Executive, which can deliver at a much reduced cost?”
“Another banner called for more support services for men, and I agree with that. We have not got the services that we really need in Northern Ireland, and it is only through the efforts of the Men's Alliance in raising awareness that we know that. We need more support services for men, and we need shelters for men as much as we need them for women. <BR /> <BR />It would be great if, some day, we could talk in the Chamber about there being no domestic violence because we had got rid of it. Unfortunately, that is not the case: it is here, and it looks as though it is here to stay. We have to do more for all victims: be they men or women, we need to do more.”
“Unfortunately, that man paid with his life: he was stabbed to death in his bed. In that case, thankfully, someone was brought to justice and will serve 14 years in prison. I am sure that, if that man is looking down on his daughters, he is proud of them for leading the Men's Alliance event in Belfast on Saturday. They carried that banner not only in memory of their father but for all the other men and others who suffer from domestic violence. <BR /> <BR />I spoke to others at the event who described themselves as feminists but put the issue of domestic violence at the forefront. One of their banners stated:”
“Thirty-five per cent of reported cases of domestic violence are suffered by men. That is a startling statistic. It is difficult for all those who suffer from domestic violence to come forward, but most Members would accept that it is more so for men because of pride. <BR /> <BR />When I attended the event, I was surprised, because it was led by women. There is nothing more powerful than women walking down the street in Belfast with a loud message about domestic violence. To be fair to them, they are against domestic violence against all. I met two young girls who lost their father through domestic violence. They spoke of an incident in which he had been publicly attacked by his ex-partner on a bus service in Belfast. He was too shy to come forward or make a complaint.”
“Like many in the Chamber, I was invited to the Men's Alliance NI domestic violence event that was held on Saturday in Writers' Square in Belfast. It is very disappointing that Members across the Chamber did not support that event. Many have much to say about domestic violence, but one could be forgiven for thinking that, because it was a men's event, they decided not to attend.”
“You went on to say that the "ignorance" will end. <BR /> <BR />Clearly, Minister, there is an issue in the organisation. Do the recommendations go far enough? Is there any form of sanction that you could apply in the short term until we make sure that those recommendations are followed?”
“I am sure that the Minister agrees that it is disappointing that many Members from those Benches would have more to say if Daryl Clarke came from a different community background. Whilst they often cling on to the Equality Commission as being their saviour, it is not lost on anyone on the Benches on this side of the Chamber that, in your statement, you said that the 2013 report:”
“<BR /> <BR />The Commission continues with its programme of improvement to the space of Parliament Buildings, which will include the upgrading of the Long Gallery, education rooms and shared spaces, as well as three major projects to refresh security measures, including the replacement of the east and west security huts. <BR /> <BR />The Commission's budget includes a diverse range of activities that reflect all the work on the Building to support Members, and I know that Members will join me in paying tribute to the Commission staff who deliver that work. I commend the 2026-2030 budget proposals to the House.”
“However, it also reflects the level of expenditure on other assets in the preceding years. <BR /> <BR />The Commission has budgeted capital DEL of £1·32 million, £2·45 million and £1·7 million over the three-year period. For capital only, the Department of Finance has requested an estimate for 2029-2030, which is budgeted at £1·52 million. The capital budget includes expenditure on the IT modernisation project, which, once complete, will have migrated all existing on-premises infrastructure and IT applications to a secure cloud-based platform. That will also provide for a new website, content management system and electronic records and document management system.”
“The first phase is to fix the rear parapet and the three internal courtyards. It has been subject to considerable delay for a range of reasons. However, it is anticipated that the work will commence in this financial year, with the second phase concluding in 2027-28. The timing and costs, however, will be subject to final scoping and tender. <BR /> <BR />The next category is payments to parties under the financial assistance for political parties scheme (FAPP) 2024. The budget for the FAPP scheme costs £1·1 million each year. <BR /> <BR />The penultimate category relates to depreciation charges, which have been budgeted for the three years at £5·3 million, £5·6 million and £4·9 million. That is mostly due to the estimated depreciation of the annual valuation of Parliament Buildings.”
“Those activities help to ensure that the Assembly operates in a modern and secure environment that is effective, fit for purpose and secure from the increasing risk of cyberattacks. <BR /> <BR />Administrative costs for the three years are budgeted at £11·3 million, £11·7 million and £10·7 million. Administration costs cover a wide range of expenditure incurred in supporting Assembly and Committee business and operating Parliament Buildings. <BR /> <BR />As Members will be aware, there are a number of issues with water ingress in Parliament Buildings related to the roof replacement project, which was completed in 2015. Construction and Procurement Delivery (CPD) is overseeing that work on behalf of the Assembly Commission, and the work is taking place in two phases.”
“<BR /> <BR />The third major category in the budget covers salary payments for Commission staff and the administrative costs incurred in delivering the full range of services that are needed by the Assembly. The Commission's staff salary costs for the three years are budgeted at £28·9 million, £29·7 million and £30·5 million. Those costs provide for a net increase of eight staff in the first two years, falling to seven in the final year of the budget period. Those staff will support the delivery of the Commission's public engagement strategy, project delivery and business improvements. <BR /> <BR />The 'Assembly Commission Corporate Strategy 2023-2028' contains several objectives that relate to the modernisation of IT hardware and software systems, the website and corporate systems.”
“Members may recover the costs of establishing and running a constituency office, including the purchasing of equipment, utility costs, rent, rates and support staff salaries. The amount required for the three years is £13·6 million, £15·3 million and £14·5 million. The budget is based on the current rates of allowances, and the key driver for the increase in 2027-28 is the financial impact of the Assembly election in May 2027. Members' annual travel allowances, which assist with the cost of business travel, are forecast to be just under £0·4 million each year. Members' other costs include security measures, disability allowances, ill-health retirement and resettlement allowances.”
“Members' salaries continue to be provided under Part 1 of the Assembly Members (Salaries and Expenses) Determination (Northern Ireland) 2016. However, the responsibility for determining Members' salaries and pensions will fall to the new Independent Remuneration Board that is currently being established. It is not possible to anticipate whether the board will introduce any changes to Members and officeholders' salaries or pensions or the scale of the changes, if it makes changes. Therefore, the budget is based on the rates that are set out in the current determination, allowing for a small prescribed annual below-inflation increase of £500. <BR /> <BR />The reduction in the Members' salary for 2027-28 reflects the financial impact of the dissolution of the Assembly and the subsequent election of the new Assembly.”
“Within that, the budget for Members and officeholders' salaries over the same period is £7·2 million, £7·1 million and £7·3 million.”
“<BR /> <BR />The first category in the Commission's budget is income, and the Commission expects to receive just over £0·6 million each year. Substantially all that relates to the recovery of ministerial salaries from Departments. The second category relates to the salaries and allowances paid to Members and those incurred by Members in establishing and running constituency offices. The total budget for Member-related costs for the three years from 2026-29 is £21·43 million, £23·75 million and £22 39 million.”
“<BR /> <BR />In line with what was being requested of the Departments, the Commission has prepared a multi-year budget to cover the financial periods of 2026-29 for resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and 2026-2030 for capital DEL. The total resource DEL budget for 2026-29 for each of the three years is £67·36 million, £71·07 million and £69·06 million. The capital DEL budget for 2026-2030 for each of the four years is £1·32 million, £2·45 million, £1·79 million and £1·52 million. <BR /> <BR />There are also costs associated with the operation of the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee, but those costs are funded directly by Her Majesty's Treasury, and, while those figures were reported to the Audit Committee for completeness, the Assembly is not being asked to consider or approve those figures today.”
“<BR /> <BR />Agreement of the motion will enable the Assembly to determine the resources that the Commission will be given to support the Assembly in carrying out its legislative functions. Once agreed, the budget will be notified to the Department of Finance for inclusion in the three-year Budget to be presented to the Minister of Finance. The budget will ensure that the Assembly can carry on its core functions and continue the programme of investment in key areas such as IT, building maintenance and staffing. When the Assembly was not sitting, the Commission had limited investment in those areas, and that underinvestment now needs to be addressed.”