Michelle O'Neill
Mid Ulster · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“We are shocked and deeply saddened for both the victim of the horrific incident in north Belfast and the people who have been impacted on by the disorder that we have witnessed since. There is absolutely no justification for racism, violence or intimidation.”
“It is the latest chapter in a political psychodrama. It has been playing out in Westminster for forever and a day but particularly over the past 10 years. Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Brexit, which inflicted so much damage to the wider economy. We are now on the verge of having a seventh British Prime Minister in 10 years.”
“We cannot look at things in isolation. Whether it is the refugee integration strategy, the framework or the legislation, all those things need to move together and at pace.”
“I agree with the Member about the ugly language that was used to describe some people in our community. Like the Member, I have met many people from the black and ethnic minority community in recent times. I do that on an ongoing basis, but I did so recently given what happened over the last number of weeks.”
“There is not just one answer to it, as the Member knows. We need to come at it from every angle. That could be a policing response initially, for which additional funding was secured. I agree that this is the third year in a row in which we have had that type of racist behaviour on our streets. Likewise, I would describe it as a pogrom.”
“Building on that progress, the Executive Office is contributing £3·3 million towards the Derry on the North Atlantic Museum, which is due to open in 2027 and will further enhance Ebrington’s role as a heritage and tourism destination. <BR /> <BR />Ebrington is also continuing to develop as a vibrant events space.”
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“However, we are not out of the woods yet. We have a way to go. <BR /> <BR />All I can say to the public is that I will continue to lead and to steer us through these most challenging of times, and that means taking all of those things into account. The message that the public needs to hear from this Chamber this week is that we are working together, we are going to chart our way through this, and we are going to get to the other side. The best way we can do that is to have a first-class system in place to test, trace and isolate cases. I agree with the Member. I do not think that enough was done as regards the Department of Health's preparation. We always knew that winter was coming. That was certain. We did not know when a second wave would come, and I think that it came more quickly than people expected.”
“I thank the Member for her question. I can assure her that, the whole way through the pandemic, we have been guided by the two principles that I outlined earlier: keeping the virus transmission under control and keeping capacity in our health service to be able to respond. However, there is no doubt that it is challenging. I have also said repeatedly that it is challenging to be in a five-party Executive in normal times, but to deal with a pandemic in the middle of it all is even more challenging and difficult. We need to work to gain the public's confidence. We need to work to make sure that the public continue to work with us — they have been absolutely amazing in getting us to this point. Every time something was asked of the public, they responded, and I very much welcome that and commend them for that.”
“The Member would be wise to separate the two things. What we are asking people to do is about compliance and their personal behaviour. What I said, throughout the statement, is that this is a challenging and difficult time for everybody, particularly for those who have had to shut businesses. As I said in answer to many questions that I have been asked today, I am aware that many businesses have raised concerns about the slow payment of grant aid. I also said that the delay concerns me greatly. I also said that I have taken the matter up with the Economy Minister and I will do so again at the Executive this week.”
“Yes, you are right. We received an additional allocation of £400 million, and that has been added to some money that we already had. The public would be right not to forgive us if we do not use that money wisely to support them through the pandemic. It is incumbent on all Ministers around the table, actually, to come forward with ideas, and I know that the Finance Minister is talking to all Ministers about that. We need to help people in the here and now. Whatever we can do to get financial support to them in the here and now is what we should do. Certainly, the Executive are focused on that, and we want to make sure that we get everything and every penny out the door to support businesses as quickly as we can.”
“We will communicate that to the public as soon as we can. We are very conscious that people want to spend time with their loved ones and families; I know that I certainly do. How much time we can spend with them will depend on the current position with the virus at that time. We will talk about that at the Executive, and we will come back and communicate what it will look like for people as soon as we possibly can. Unfortunately, it is a wee bit too far away yet to be able to give that information in any kind of detailed way.”
“We have not got any decisions on what happens next. The current restrictions are still in place. I am happy to take that up with the Communities Minister and talk to her about the current restrictions. You have put on the record the positive benefits of youth sport. It is about giving people the chance to go outside, if there are opportunities for us to do things outside, because being outside comes with less risk than being inside. I will ensure that that is raised with the Department for Communities and that it is factored into the conversations about what comes next.”
“<BR /> <BR />At the weekend, I had a very interesting conversation with Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool, about its mass testing programme. It was really interesting to talk to him about how it has been able to break the chain of transmission. Some of the early detail from the pilot is that mass testing can bring transmission down by as much as 50%. That is transformative in terms of what we can do here. That is a really important area of work, and I would make the case that we should give priority to the roll out of either a mass-testing pilot or its full implementation on the back of the pilots that are being done. That, to me, would allow us to have both personal freedom and freedom for more businesses to open as well.”
“Obviously, we know that some services are impacted more than others. We also have the localised restrictions support scheme in the Department for the Economy, and we have the COVID restrictions business support scheme. There is a whole range of schemes that we have tried to get into the public domain as quickly as possible. There is the Department for Infrastructure scheme for taxis and buses, and we still have the furlough scheme, so there is a whole range of schemes to help businesses to survive this. That is the best that we can do in this period: try to mitigate the damage that this is causing to our economy. There are also other areas that we need to focus on such as, as I said earlier, the issue of mass testing. How can that help us to open up more things in the economy and lift some of the restrictions?”
“Thanks to the Chair of the Health Committee for his question. There is a range of supports in place. We have different schemes across the Department of Finance and grants available at three different levels: £800, £1,200 and £1,600 per week. In addition to that, we still have the 12-month rates holiday in place, which is obviously a welcome initiative for businesses that still have their overheads to pay but that are not trading right now, whether that is in hospitality, tourism or leisure.”
“Thanks to the Member for his question. We cannot give a definitive date right now, but we have been told that we will perhaps have supplies of vaccine this side of Christmas — so, hopefully, in December. There will be prioritisation around how we roll out the vaccination programme. That is one of the discussions that we will come back to at the Executive around what that will look like and who gets prioritised. We await a paper on that from the Department of Health. I have no doubt that, given the significance of having a vaccination programme, the Health Minister will want to make a statement to the Assembly and to take Members' questions.”
“Yes, I do not think that anybody can get away from that. When the public see what happened here last week, they will rightly be dismayed. Let us not repeat what happened last week. Let us make sure that there is a better way forward — a consensus way forward. Let us make sure that we use this time to not lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with a global pandemic. Despite everything that happened last week, we still need to communicate to the public that we are asking them to do those basic things to break the transmission. We are in a very challenging situation, and our health service is under huge pressure right now. We are asking people to continue to work with us, and, hopefully, we can continue to keep the virus's transmission down.”
“It will depend on the public health at the time. It will be a challenging time for people, but we have to give them that wee bit of hope. We should be able to find a way to allow some flexibility to allow people to get over the Christmas period and have some comfort.”
“That reflects the concerns of many families right now and demonstrates the enormity of what we are dealing with and the fact that people have been separated all year long. Now, we are coming up to the Christmas period, and it is the natural instinct of us all to be with our family and friends and to spend time together. We have to work our way through this. We have to be very clear with the public about the fact that close contact spreads the virus. At the same time, we have to give people something in terms of being able to find some way to spend some time with family members. As an Executive, we will have to discuss the approach to this. It will be dependent on the virus's spread at the time, as you would expect. We will have to find a way to communicate it, in the clearest possible terms that we can, to the public.”
“I thank the Member for her question. Yes, I am deeply concerned that many of the businesses that were asked to close four week ago have still not received their grant aid, particularly those in the close-contact services — again, a predominantly female workforce who are often at the lower end of pay scales. The money needs to be delivered to them and into their bank accounts ASAP. It should already have been delivered. There is no doubt that these are complicated times, but I have raised this with the Minister for the Economy and will continue to do so in the Executive.”
“<BR /> <BR />All of these things are predictable and they are modelled. The Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser have been very clear with regard to the four-week-only intervention. If you remember back to the four-week intervention, the Health Minister wanted more; he modelled four to six weeks. We talked about all of these things, and we tried to get an accommodation and a way forward. We really hoped that the intervention would work, but, when it does not work, you have to do further things. That is the position that we find ourselves in”
“I encourage the Member to maybe listen to all that I say on different occasions. I was consistent from the start of the four-week intervention that I hoped that it would be a four-week intervention but we needed to keep everything on the table because we did not know where the virus would sit at the end of the four-week period. We had predicted and all of the modelling told us that the four-week intervention could get us to 0·7, which it did. Again, that demonstrates that what we are doing works. It also further modelled that it would go up again with the impact of schools, and we know that all of our measures have a lag period. The impact of schools opening means that our R rate is sitting at 0·9 and is maybe even closer to 1, if not above it, this week. We will know more about that later in the week.”
“Those are all really important areas of work that we need to continue to promote. That is because a lot of these things are out there, and I do not know if everybody knows about them. We need to continue to promote them to make sure that the people who need that support know where to go to get it.”
“The grant that Carál has brought forward is a tax-free and non-repayable grant, and no other jurisdiction has it. That is a really important thing that we have that she has been able to bring forward. <BR /> <BR />Alongside that, there is a dedicated urgent referral service from the advice sector to escalate supports for people who desperately need them. We, as MLAs, all should promote this work to make sure that people know where they can get support when they need it. We have had the different supports through the different helplines, which I very much welcome, and we have had the community support funding and the commitments that were made to councils. That was to help with things like, for example, grassroots services so that, whenever there are localised lockdowns, we will provide wrap-around services, food and financial support.”
“This is a fundamental tool in dealing with COVID-19. As I say, all the attitude surveys tell us that people intend to self-isolate, for example, but cannot because they cannot afford to. The pandemic has a disproportionate effect on those on lower incomes and women. Its implications are dire. Financial support is, for me, crucial. I know that the Communities Minister will make a statement to the House tomorrow on that. However, I will drive that message home to the public: there is financial support in place. Tomorrow, as I have said, we will have more detail around a self-isolation grant, and the current scheme will be increased. That is really important in getting that money to people who are on low incomes and maybe face a reduction in their pay because they have tested positive or have been told to self-isolate.”
“It would be untrue to the public to give them any kind of guarantee. All we can do is try our very best and communicate it in a timely way and take balanced decisions in the best way we can.”
“When we, at this juncture, as at every juncture, have discussions with the public health team, with the Health Minister, with Michael McBride and Ian Young and they tell us, "No matter how you slice and dice it, we will, in all likelihood, be coming back to an intervention before Christmas if we do not have a full two-week lockdown" — that was the scenario with which we were faced — when I hear that evidence, I take it seriously. Further to that, after days of conversation in the Executive, we have the Chief Medical Officer saying that to proceed down this route will cause excess deaths: again, we have to take that seriously. <BR /> <BR />I accept that these are challenging conversations, and the best way to communicate with the public is with honesty. None of us can make cast-iron guarantees: we are dealing with a pandemic.”
“<BR /> <BR />Back to the point about honesty: I was very honest on Sunday in saying that I would weigh up all the factors on the basis of the public health advice. Every time we come to one of these crucial points, we have to look at it from the perspective of health, of the economy and of society. All those things are factored in to our discussions. They are very difficult decisions for everyone. You cannot take away from that. People have different emphases and priorities for what is required.”
“I hope that I addressed the Member's point in a previous answer when I spoke about the compliance group being put together to work with different sectors to get them ready to open. We also have supported our councils, as they have a key role to play, with local environmental health officers and enforcement officers working with businesses to help them to open in a safe, secure way. I welcome the funding that has been given to councils to do that work, and we need to continue to do that. <BR /> <BR />In order to deal with the pandemic, we need not just the Executive but all partners. We have said from the very start that it would require a partnership approach and heavy lifting by everybody. That is how we will take it forward.”
“Clearly, those who work on the front line will be prioritised, as will those who are vulnerable to the virus. There will be choices to be made by the Department of Health. However, we are assured that we will receive a paper for discussion on testing and vaccination. I look forward to that conversation, hopefully this week.”
“On the second point, clarification will come with the regulations. We said last week that we need to help businesses to understand what is expected of them. I do not think that there has been enough communication between the Department of Health and the wider sector. Meetings with various sectors have been held throughout the pandemic, and I have to say that many sectors and businesses have worked really hard to adjust their businesses and to bring in things to make them more COVID-19-secure. We will just have to keep working at that. However, people need to be communicated with in order to make decisions about what comes next. <BR /> <BR />On the issue of the vaccine roll-out and prioritising who will get first, there will be an Executive discussion on that. I am sure that we will be able to say more about it over time.”
“All those decisions should be made in a timely way to make sure that people have that information well in advance so that they can plan.”
“What can we do to fix this picture and take pressure off our health service and to support people to isolate? That is what is required. All the evidence tells us that, of the people who have to self-isolate, many of those on low incomes dread getting a ping on their phone, if they have downloaded the app, because they cannot afford to isolate. <BR /> <BR />We have to get to a point where we make this as easy as we can for people in the most challenging of times. That should be the objective of the Executive, and we should be guided by two things that we said on our pathway to recovery: keeping the transmission rate under control, under 1; and, alongside that, keeping the pressure off our health service. That is what should guide us in all our future decision-making.”
“We should always inject a wee bit of honesty into these debates and conversations. It was not two parties that used a cross-community vote: it was one party. Let us be clear about that. Let us also say that all other parties in the Executive wanted to extend the period for two weeks. That is also honesty with the public. That reality was voted down by a cross-community mechanism, which I am aghast at. I do not believe that it should have been used. That is my clear position, and that will always be my position. <BR /> <BR />Where do we go from here? We communicate to the public where we are now; we tell them where the spread of the virus is now; we tell them about the hospital pressures that we are under now; we tell them what the current restrictions are now; and then we work towards what can we do for the future.”
“We need to accept where we are now. I accept that this is now the outworking of the Executive. We are all duty-bound now to communicate the current situation to the public and to work with the public and to work our way through this. We need to try to give people some hope in the middle of all this doom and gloom and the challenges and mental health damage that the pandemic brings and everything else that comes with it. For me, certainly, last week was a bad week all round, and I do not want to see that repeated.”
“I find it a matter of profound concern and regret that colleagues opposite decided to use a mechanism that is there to protect minority rights. That should not have been the case. The will of the Executive should have been carried through.”
“I described last week as being unedifying for everybody. It does not reflect well on the Executive. We have a challenging Executive in the most normal of times. We have five parties sitting around the table that have a duty to work towards collective decision-making and collective responsibility, and, unfortunately, that was not the case last week. <BR /> <BR />It was a really challenging week for the Executive. It does not reflect well that we found ourselves in a difficult position but we had very clear public health advice. It is very challenging to work your way through, and I readily say that. I believe that everybody is conflicted all the while when trying to make decisions. The majority of Ministers voted to extend the restrictions for two weeks, and that should have been the case and the outworking of Executive.”
“We have to learn from those things and continue to do them where required, but, ultimately, we need to get to the point at which we have the virus transmission at a controllable rate and the pressure off our health service, and then we can focus on the other areas on which we need to be very much focused into the future.”
“Yes, I concur with the Member. It is back to basics. It is back to the principles of washing your hands and staying apart. In the simplest terms, we are trying to break the transmission of the virus, and the best way in which we can do that is to limit our contacts. We really want to reinforce that message, and we hope that the new communications campaign will help us get that message out there again and remind people of what is expected of all of us. <BR /> <BR />I also think that people should take some hope from the fact that the restrictions that we have brought in to date have worked. We have demonstrated that they work. The rate in Derry and Strabane was through the roof: the intervention there worked. We can see that the four-week intervention that we have had is starting to work. We are at where we predicted that we could be.”
“What we can be certain about are the trigger points at which we take certain decisions. That is what I want the Executive to focus on. We will focus on vaccination, on mass testing and on additional supports for individuals. The Minister for Communities will make a statement on that tomorrow, which, again, is some positive news. We have to give the public something to grab onto for the future, and it is those areas that we want to work on. The Executive need to get a grip collectively on their approach. We need to reflect on last week and make sure that it is not repeated.”
“What we need to do as an Executive is to go forward in the way that I outlined in the statement, where I talk about looking to the future. What can we do? What will allow us to open things up? We have had some glimmer of hope around vaccination, and we look forward to having that rolled out. Even before that, however, there is the issue of mass testing. How can we quickly get that rolled out? Doing that will allow us to have more freedoms to move around. <BR /> <BR />Everybody wants certainty now. This has been such a difficult year for everybody, and everybody is craving some certainty. I only wish that we could give that certainty, but the reality is that, because we are dealing with the pandemic, we cannot. What we can be certain about, however, is when we are going to communicate with the public.”
“I thank the Chair for his question. Last week was unedifying for everybody: not one party, not two parties, but every party that sits around the Executive table. Let me put that on the record. <BR /> <BR />We need to get a grip on the pandemic. We need to get to grips with the fact that, comparatively speaking, we find ourselves in a worse position compared with many other areas and many of our neighbours. We need to get virus transmission under control, and we need to find a way to work collectively to deliver that. We need to continue to follow the public health advice. We need to be guided all the while by what we said we would do at the very start of the pandemic: keep transmission in check and keep the pressure off our health service. Those are our guiding principles through this.”
“This has been a difficult year for all of us, especially the many families who have lost loved ones and the many others who have been ill as a result of COVID. However, let me end by saying that I continue to be amazed and impressed by the widespread fortitude and resilience across all our society. I know that, looking forward, we are well placed to continue rising to the unprecedented challenges that we face.”
“<BR /> <BR />As I said, we are very grateful to everyone for the steps that they have taken, and we understand how difficult the past months have been. We all have to dig deep now, and I have every confidence that we can do this together. The vast majority of society are following the public health advice and, in doing so, are keeping people safe and, undoubtedly, saving lives. To those who are considering going against the public health guidance and regulations, I ask you to think carefully. Your decision could be detrimental to all our efforts to reduce the transmission of this deadly virus. Your decision could also be detrimental to the health and well-being of your loved ones and to the capacity of our health service to cope. <BR /> <BR />In closing, I thank everyone for their efforts and their hard work so far.”
“We have a new media campaign, and we encourage everyone to engage with it; to continue to follow the public health advice on social distancing; to limit our social contacts now; to wear our face coverings now; to wash our hands now; to go out only for necessary activities and travel; and to stay at home as much as we can. Those are small individual acts, but they are incredibly powerful when we act together. As a society and a community, our small, daily steps can make that real difference. They will build capacity for the health service. They will help keep the economy going. They will mean that we will do the right thing for our friends and families. Those small, daily steps are more than the sum of their parts. They are a huge part of how we will get through this.”
“<BR /> <BR />There is still some way to go, and nothing about the virus is predictable. As I have previously said, there is no certainty. We know that everyone wants to know what the next few months will hold, and that is a natural expectation. We are currently planning for that, and we want to protect as much of the festive period as we can. Our clear commitment is that we will do absolutely everything we can to secure that, and we will make more announcements on that soon. <BR /> <BR />At this point, I would like to draw everyone's attention to the most powerful tool that we have at our disposal in the fight against the virus: our own behaviour and the actions that each and every one of us takes. Our decision will now ultimately shape what happens next and what steps are required.”
“People will present with illnesses that are not COVID-19-related. We want people to make sure that they seek advice and services if they are worried about their health. People will also be experiencing mental health problems, social isolation and anxiety. <BR /> <BR />We will work with all sectors and other partners to identify the measures and solutions that can be put in place to effectively tackle the spread of the virus. Our wish is to avoid the need for ongoing cycles of restrictions, but we are living in a period of great uncertainty. We need to work closely with all our partners and citizens to get through the Christmas and winter period and to prepare for mass testing and the delivery of vaccines. The Executive have a very clear focus on that pathway.”
“The Executive have had to consider the impact on health, our hospitals, our health staff, alongside the economic and societal impacts and the very real impact that it has on people there too, including employees, many of whom are lower-paid. We also know that further decisions need to be made. The ability of the health service to cope over the winter months and the economic and societal impacts will remain key issues. <BR /> <BR />Going into winter — a time when people's health is already more vulnerable and the health service is under more pressure — it is vital that we continue to work together to suppress the transmission of the virus. COVID will also have a detrimental impact on people's general health and well-being, and we are mindful of the other health impacts that we are seeing in the pandemic.”
“They are the roll-out of a vaccination programme as early as possible, initially targeting priority groups such as healthcare staff, care homes and those with underlying vulnerabilities; ongoing preparation for the introduction of rapid and mass testing at the earliest opportunity; and additional financial supports in place for affected businesses and individuals. A focus working group will also be established that will work to mitigate the risk in the opening of hospitality businesses, including improved ventilation and requirements for the recording of customer information for contact tracing purposes. <BR /> <BR />We have all acknowledged that this was a challenging week. That is because none of the decisions before us are easy.”
“They include the measures relating to private households and gardens, gatherings, marriages, funerals, sport and indoor attractions and libraries. We know that this will be difficult, but I want to commend the determined efforts of all of the people in our community who to date have ensured that we have made good progress. We want to thank you for that, and we want to urge you to continue to work with us in the weeks and months ahead. <BR /> <BR />You will have heard the First Minister and me talking previously about co-existing with the virus, and it is with that focus that the Executive have agreed a number of support measures, which we are now working on.”
“They relate to the opening of close-contact services, including driving instructors, on 20 November, which will be by appointment only, and to the opening of unlicensed premises such as cafes and coffee shops, also on 20 November. They will operate with restricted opening hours of 5.00 am to 8.00 pm, and the consumption of alcohol on the premises will not be permitted. Both unlicensed premises and close-contact services will have a legal duty to record contact details of those using their service to assist in contact tracing. Additionally, pubs and bars will be permitted to sell off-sales from 20 November. They must be in the manufacturer's original sealed packaging only. All other restrictions remain in place until 27 November.”
“<BR /> <BR />While the measures have not been easy for any of us, we are starting to see the positive impact. That has been due to the hard work of all of us in adhering to the measures, and I want to thank every one of you for that. The R number has started to come down, and positive cases and hospital admissions have started to level out. However, they are still at a very high level, which means that we are not out of the woods yet. It is, therefore, vitally important for us to continue to be vigilant at this time, especially as we face into the winter months. <BR /> <BR />It is in that context that the Executive met last week to consider the next steps that must be taken. That resulted in the current restrictions being extended for one week until 19 November, after which there will be a number of relaxations.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I thank you and your office for making arrangements to accommodate the statement today. The First Minister and I recognise the importance of making these announcements to the Chamber, and we are grateful that you were able to facilitate us at such short notice. <BR /> <BR />On 16 October, the Executive put a series of measures in place in response to a significant increase in the transmission of COVID-19 and a concerning rise in positive cases and hospital admissions, including those requiring intensive care. Those measures were informed by the latest scientific and medical advice and a consideration of the societal and economic impacts that they could have. They have been a necessary and proportionate step to protect our valuable health service at this difficult time.”
“<BR /> <BR />It would be remiss of me not to make specific mention of the historic achievement of the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris. She is breaking new ground not only as the first female to take up the second-highest office in the United States but as the first black woman and, indeed, the first Asian American to take this office. Her achievements will act as a catalyst to inspire many women, not only in the US but closer to home, with their ambitions and dreams of joining us in public life. Ádh mór ar Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Thank you for allowing this Matter of the Day.”
“Sinn Féin will continue to defend the foundation stones of the peace process, including the Good Friday Agreement, and will work with all those who share that priority wherever they may be — in this case, the White House. I look forward to working with the new president and his Administration to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is protected and that its transformative potential is fully realised. <BR /> <BR />Our focus will also be on international collaboration as we deal with a global pandemic that has caused untold loss and pain right across the world. I look forward to the possibility of welcoming Joe Biden to the North in the future, as the president of the US, where we can assure him of the warmest of welcomes.”
“In addressing the grievous threat that we face from a looming Brexit, Joe Biden has signalled his intent to defend the interests of Ireland and to ensure that the progress made under the Good Friday Agreement is not undermined. Indeed, Joe Biden is on record as saying:”