Pat Sheehan
West Belfast · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does she agree that the Minister's School Uniforms (Guidelines and Allowances) Bill was poor legislation and a missed opportunity?”
“The last point that you made reminded me of one of the witnesses — a young girl — who came to the Committee. During the winter, she wore her own overcoat, but she had to take it off 100 yards from the school gate because she was not allowed to wear it into the school.”
“Agus iad ag ullmhú le haghaidh scrúduithe GCSE agus ard-leibhéil, féadann an imní agus an éiginnteacht sin drochthionchar a imirt ar a n-oideachas agus ar a bhfolláine.”
“Is scannalach go deo an foréigean ciníoch a chonaic muid le seachtain anuas. Tá ionsaithe ar theaghlaigh, ar thithe agus ar ghnólachtaí doleithscéil, agus tá siad dochosanta. Níor cheart eagla a mbáis a bheith ar dhaoine neamhurchóideacha mar gheall ar a gcine, a gcúlra ná a gcreideamh.”
“One of the reasons, Daniel, is that, if we were to have blocked the Bill at the Executive, the SDLP would be saying tomorrow morning "This place is dysfunctional. You're blocking legislation. Sinn Féin is blocking legislation, and the DUP is blocking legislation". No, we are not blocking legislation.”
“I have not once today argued against inspections. Not once. The Bill is about one thing and one thing only: intimidating and punishing teachers.”
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“We must strive to ensure that every single child and young person gets the opportunities to succeed and reach their full potential.”
“The links between educational underachievement and deprivation are well known, and the evidence suggests that some children who return to school can often be intellectually or developmentally weeks or months behind classmates who have access to a more wholesome diet during the school holidays. <BR /> <BR />Members will cite the financial situation that the Executive find themselves in as a reason not to support ending holiday hunger or not to provide support towards uniform costs, but what is the cost of not making an intervention? The reality is that society will pay for this situation in the long run, so let us intervene early. The evidence for early intervention is overwhelming. Get the families and their children the support that they need.”
“That is tens of thousands of families who face that cliff edge when each term ends.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the issue of free school meals, I commend my colleague Danny Baker. Danny has been a champion on the issue and, in the absence of a plan or any action from the Minister, is bringing forward a private Member's Bill (PMB) to ensure that children and families are supported during school holidays. If people are serious about ending holiday hunger, they should take the opportunity to feed back in the consultation on that PMB and support it when it comes to the Chamber. <BR /> <BR />The issue is vital. The Department of Education's vision is for every child and young person to be happy, learning and succeeding. Can anyone explain to me how a child can be happy, learning and succeeding if they cannot get proper, nutritional meals during the school holidays? Holiday hunger affects around 100,000 children and young people.”
“That is an increase of £81 for parents of primary-school children and £97 for parents of secondary-school children, when compared with the 2023 research. The situation puts people into debt and forces them to go without other essentials, but it is entirely avoidable, if we make the right interventions now. It also creates a financial barrier to some young people attending particular schools, because, when parents see the cost of the uniform for a school and know that they cannot afford it, they do not even think about sending their child there. We need to legislate to drive down costs by insisting that schools have competitive tendering processes. We also need to remove the requirement for expensive branded items, especially PE gear. The Minister has the tools at his disposal to do that. He needs to get a move on and support families now.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to, once again, talk about holiday hunger and the exorbitant cost of school uniforms. Indeed, it is only a little over six months since my party colleagues and I brought a similar motion to the Chamber to highlight the serious pressures facing so many families here. It is disappointing and frustrating that we come to debate those issues yet again with no meaningful solutions yet in place. It was the Minister's predecessor, Michelle McIlveen, who promised action on soaring uniform costs back in 2021. Over three years later, tens of thousands of families still wait for support. <BR /> <BR />The research speaks for itself. The Irish League of Credit Unions investigated the issue and found that families forked out, on average, £918 for primary-school uniforms and £1,086 for secondary-school uniforms.”
“That is why it is important that, with an individual duty of candour, there is a criminal sanction, so that people cannot be pressurised by people above them, as one of the doctors involved in Claire Roberts's care was by the director of litigation. That doctor accepted in a statement that he had made a mistake, and the director of litigation in the Belfast Trust pressurised him or asked him to change that statement, and he did.”
“Just on the chill factor and some individuals in the health system being afraid to speak out because they are under pressure maybe from more senior people in the health service. If they have a choice to make between acquiescing in what a more senior person wants or complying with the law, where, if they do not, they could end up in front of a judge, I think it is pretty straightforward what choice they will make.”
“We need an individual duty of candour with criminal sanctions. That is the only way in which to bring about a culture of openness and transparency.”
“I agree with the Member 100%. <BR /> <BR />You would think that the Belfast Trust would then have been open and honest. A team was set up to collate information to give to the coroner. Alan Roberts says that, between 2004 and 2006, false and misleading information was supplied to the coroner. In 2006, the coroner returned findings that were not true or accurate. In the aftermath of the O'Hara report, and following the family's campaigning, the family got another inquest in 2019. The findings from that inquest are that Claire Roberts died as a result of hyponatraemia, not as a result of a virus travelling from her stomach to her brain or for any other reason.”
“I will take a quick intervention; I have not got much time.”
“Absolutely. Time prevents me from going into all the details of the case; I am just going over the main points. <BR /> <BR />Seven or eight years later, Alan and Jennifer watched a programme entitled 'When Hospitals Kill', which was produced by UTV. It struck both of them that what was being discussed in that programme, which was about other children who had died from hyponatraemia, was the same thing that had happened to Claire. They went to the Belfast Trust and demanded that the coroner be informed. The Belfast Trust was caught with its pants down and had no option but to go to the coroner. You would think that, at that stage, the Belfast Trust would have said, "Right, we've been caught here: let's be open and transparent. Let's tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" —.”
“The family were told that Claire died as a result of a bug in her stomach travelling to her brain. They lied, barefaced, to the family. The family were obviously devastated from having lost their daughter but believed what they had been told by health professionals.”
“Later on in the evening, after the family had left, Claire went into respiratory failure and was taken to the paediatric intensive care unit, by which time it is believed that she was already dead. The consultant who was in charge of Claire's care did not see her for the whole time that she was there on the Monday and Tuesday. She only arrived in the children's hospital at 4.00 am on the Wednesday, and she immediately knew what had happened. Claire had been put on intravenous fluids, and, because her sodium was low, those fluids further diluted the sodium in her system, leading to hyponatraemia and the brain swelling that caused her death. The consultant did not notify the coroner, as she should have, and did not order the post-mortem that she should have: she ordered a post-mortem of just Claire's brain.”
“Her bloods were tested, and it was noticed that her sodium was low: not dangerously so, but it should have been checked the next day. She had been admitted on 21 October, and those levels should have been checked the next morning, on the Tuesday. They were not, and that was the first mistake. She was then treated with a number of medications that, because of her condition, she should not have been given. She was prescribed three medications and was overdosed on two of those, making the situation worse again. <BR /> <BR />Her family were by her bedside for most of that Tuesday. That evening — around 9.00 pm, I think — they needed to go home, because they have two other children. None of the staff in the hospital explained to them how seriously ill Claire was.”
“There seems to be some misunderstanding about what an individual duty of candour is — one with criminal sanctions. It is not about penalising doctors or other medical professionals who make genuine mistakes. It is about ensuring that there is a culture of transparency, because, for the past 20-odd years or the past 30 years, we have seen a culture of cover-up time and time again. <BR /> <BR />Today, I want to talk about one case, which is that of young Claire Roberts. I want to acknowledge her parents, Alan and Jennifer, who are in the Public Gallery today. As Nuala McAllister said, they have been trying to get to the truth for nearly 30 years now. Let me just give a recap of what happened. Claire was nine years old when she was admitted to the Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast with vomiting and lethargy.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“Is tráthúil go bhfuilim ag caint air seo ós rud é go bhfuil Mí Eorpach na Cibearshlándála ann an mhí seo chomh maith. <BR /> <BR />Gach bliain, ceapann Anti-Bullying Alliance téama ar leith don bhliain, agus Choose Respect an téama a cheap siad i mbliana. Mar chuid den fheachtas sin, iarrann Anti-Bullying Alliance orainn dhá stoca chorra a chaitheamh ar an 12 Samhain le haird a tharraingt ar na rudaí a dhéanann daoine ar leith dínn. <BR /> <BR />Tá mé ag dúil go mór le bhur stocaí corra a fheiceáil amárach.”
“Tá deis againn an tseachtain seo díriú isteach ar an mhaistíneacht agus Seachtain na Frithmhaistíneachta ar siúl. <BR /> <BR />Is minic a phléitear an mhaistíneacht sa Tionól, agus rinne muid an tAcht um Aghaidh a Thabhairt ar an Mhaistíneacht i Scoileanna (TÉ) 2016 a chur i gcrích agus a chur chun feidhme le blianta beaga anuas. <BR /> <BR />Cé go bhfuil dul chun cinn bainte amach againn, tá obair go fóill le déanamh le haird a tharraingt ar an mhaistíneacht — go háirithe an chibearmhaistíneacht — ó tharla méadú suntasach ag teacht ar líon na ndaoine a ndéantar maistíneacht orthu. Dar leis an Eagraíocht Dhomhanda Sláinte go bhfuil méadú tagtha ar líon na gcibirionsaithe sna Sé Chontae, ach ní hé amháin anseo ach fud fad an domhain. Sa bhliain 2018, tuairiscíodh go ndearnadh maistíneacht ar aon duine óg as seisear.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. In the long recitation of his facts, the Minister did not at any stage tell us what weighting was given to each of his criteria, nor did he give us any facts about the involvement of the 'A Fair Start' panel in the development of the model. Does the Member agree with that point?”
“I thank the Member for taking an intervention. We did not say that free school meals entitlement was the only indicator: we said that economic and social deprivation is the best indicator of educational outcomes.”
“By any metric or yardstick, this scheme that the Minister has come up with is blatantly unfair and is not based on objective need.”
“Significantly more are going on to third-level education in the South than in the North. The ESRI report also flagged the issue of academic selection, which it deemed to be a major factor in educational underachievement here. Of course, no serious educationalist believes that academic selection at the age of 10 or 11 is of any benefit, either to the children or to the system of education that we have here. <BR /> <BR />Let me conclude with a suggestion for the Minister. When he devises or invents a new scheme and funding model, it is wise to game it out and test-drive it in order to establish whether there are any anomalies or unintended consequences. When that has been done, one question needs to be asked: is this outcome fair?”
“That was rolled out on the basis of free school meal entitlement, and it produced positive results. The Minister could also look further afield, to the South, at the delivering equality of opportunity in schools programme, known as DEIS, which aims to reduce educational disadvantage. Under the DEIS programme, schools with the highest number of students at risk of educational disadvantage get extra resources. Perhaps, given the fact that we have the longest tail of educational underachievement on these islands, the Minister might take some learning from the DEIS programme and the system in the South in general. <BR /> <BR />The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) comparative study of the education systems, North and South, shows that far fewer young people are leaving school without qualifications in the South than in the North.”
“Those are principals of schools in some of the most deprived areas in the North, whose schools appear to fall outside the Minister's proposed geographical catchment areas. Are they confused also? Do they not understand how the programme is to be rolled out? It is also worth mentioning the fact that the Minister told Mark Carruthers on 'The View' that he clearly did not understand how the RAISE programme is supposed to work. So, there we have it: everyone is confused and wrong, except the Minister. <BR /> <BR />I have already said that the Minister should go back to the drawing board. There are plenty of examples of good practice in dealing with educational disadvantage. The Engage programme, which helped children who had fallen behind in their learning after COVID, is one good example.”
“<BR /> <BR />Officials appeared recently at the Education Committee and, basically, told us that we did not understand how the RAISE programme is supposed to work. In relation to the list of schools published on the Department's website, which were deemed to have met the eligibility criteria for the RAISE programme, officials said that just being on that list does not mean that a school meets the eligibility criteria. Similarly, we were told that schools that were not on the published list were not necessarily excluded from the programme. Is it any wonder that people are confused about how the programme is supposed to be administered and delivered? <BR /> <BR />The Minister, I am sure, will also have heard criticisms of the programme from a number of school principals in the media.”
“<BR /> <BR />The credibility of the RAISE programme and public confidence in the scheme was further eroded when a list of seemingly eligible schools was published on the Department of Education's website. The list has since been removed, but the appearance on that list of a preparatory school that charges £5,000 per year in fees as, seemingly, eligible for inclusion has done nothing at all for the credibility of the programme. <BR /> <BR />The Minister must go back to the drawing board. We need a plan that will deliver based on objective need. A plan that will direct funding and target support to the children and communities that need it most, and a plan that, ultimately, the public can have confidence in.”
“The research in this area is crystal clear. It is not geography that is the best indicator of educational outcomes. Neither is it religion. Poverty and deprivation are the primary predictors of educational underachievement, and when we talk about poverty and deprivation in the context of our education system, we measure it by the level of free school meal entitlement (FSME), using free school meal entitlement as a tried, tested and trusted indicator of socio-economic status. While 'A Fair Start' did recommend that the Department should explore the potential of using other indicators, research commissioned by the Department recommended that free school meal entitlement should not be replaced as the primary indicator of socio-economic disadvantage.”
“Instead of targeting areas of deprivation where we know educational underachievement persists and is most acute, the Education Minister has decided to spread the programme geographically and has used a flawed formula to determine eligibility. Electing to spread the scheme geographically will purposefully redirect much-needed resources away from where they are needed most. If the data is telling us where the need is, that is where the resources and associated interventions should go. <BR /> <BR />I am also concerned that the apparent over-reliance on GCSE data runs counter to the concept of early intervention. Socio-economic background is a much more comprehensive predictor of educational underachievement in the long term, because it shapes the foundational conditions that influence a student's entire educational journey.”
“The difficulty now is that less-deprived areas and even some more-affluent areas are due to be included within the programme, while children and young people in many deprived areas in working-class communities are set to be excluded. "Punishing poverty and rewarding wealth", is how one school principal described the situation. <BR /> <BR />As a party, we welcomed the announcement of £20 million in much-needed funding for our education system from the Shared Island unit, and the Minister deserves credit for identifying and securing new funding opportunities. However, in a system with such limited resources, we should be targeting any additional funding to where it is needed most, and, unfortunately, that simply will not happen under the RAISE programme.”
“Educationalists, experts and academics agree that poverty is the biggest predictor of educational underachievement. The issue with the RAISE programme is that it does not give poverty and deprivation the weight that they deserve when determining what areas are eligible for funding and/or inclusion. I do not disagree with an area-based or locality-based approach to targeting educational disadvantage; indeed, the 'A Fair Start' report recommended that schools should be incentivised to:”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“Will the Minister agree that the public realm works, when they are completed, will be transformational for those who live in Belfast, those who work in Belfast and anyone who visits Belfast?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra.”
“In light of the Minister's announcement this morning that young people will have to remain in education or training until they are 18, will he tell us what discussions he has had, and what work he has done, with the Minister for the Economy? Will he also tell us when he will come to the Committee to discuss these issues, given that he has already informed us that he will not be available until 2025?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a ráiteas.”
“<BR /> <BR />Féadann lucht tacaíochta Iosrael an chluas bhodhar a thabhairt do na Náisiúin Aontaithe, do Amnesty International, do Human Rights Watch agus do na céadta eile eagraíochtaí atá ag éileamh deireadh a chur leis an chinedhíothú ach nuair atá Iosraelaigh iad féin ag éileamh ar a Rialtas deireadh a chur leis an chinedhíothú, nach bhfuil an t-am dearg ag an phobal idirnáisiúnta —”
“<BR /> <BR />Tá an plean sin á chur i bhfeidhm cheana féin ag Iosrael. Ní scéal rúin é. D’fhógair Iosrael féin do na meáin chumarsáide go raibh siad le plean an ghinearáil a chur i gcrích. Má éiríonn le hIosrael na Palaistínigh a dhíbirt ó thuaisceart Gaza, tiocfaidh sé chun milleáin ní hamháin d’Iosrael, ach don phobal idirnáisiúnta ina iomláine. Ní mise atá á rá sin — ach an grúpa Iosraelach B’Tselem, eagraíocht Iosraelach atá ag obair in Iosrael ar son chearta an duine.”
“Cibé ar bith, tá an pobal idirnáisiúnta go fóill ag díol arm le hIosrael le caitheamh leis na naimhde úd. Tá 400,000 Palaistíneach i mbaol a maraithe i dtuaisceart Gaza. Mura dtuga Iosrael a mbás le buamáil, tabharfaidh siad a mbás leis an ocras. <BR /> <BR />Ní mise atá á mhaíomh sin, ach an grúpa, Jews for Justice for Palestine. Is fiú spléachadh a thabhairt ar an tsuíomh gréasáin s’acu. Gheobhaidh tú eolas ansin ar Sha’ban al-Dalou, mac léinn Palaistíneach, 20 bliain d’aois, a loisceadh ina bheatha an tseachtain seo caite nuair a bhuamáil Iosrael otharlann al-Aqsa arís. Gheobhaidh tú eolas ansin ar "phlean an ghinearáil", plean lena gcuirfear na Palaistínigh uilig go léir amach as tuaisceart Gaza le gorta agus le cibé duine a fhanann ann ina dhiaidh sin a mharú.”
“Tá cúrsaí in Gaza ag dul chun donais gach lá dá bhfuil ag teacht. Tá Iosrael ag cur bac ar chabhair dhaoiniúil agus ar lón bia ag gabháil isteach i dtuaisceart Gaza ar gach aon chor. Ní mise atá á mhaíomh sin, a Cheann Comhairle, ach ardoifigeach de chuid na Náisiún Aontaithe. <BR /> <BR />Ach cá bhfuil mé ag caint? Nach bhfuil na Náisiúin Aontaithe ina namhaid ag Iosrael anois? Sin an fáth arbh éigean d’Iosrael beagnach 230 ball foirne de chuid na Náisiún Aontaithe a mharú le bliain anuas. Sin an fáth arbh éigean dó túr faire leis na Náisiúin Aontaithe a scriosadh agus campa de chuid na Náisiúin Aontaithe a ionsaí le tanc ar na mallaibh. <BR /> <BR />Níl a fhios agam cad é a rinne na hoibrithe eile cabhrach as cosán nuair ab éigean d’Iosrael iad a mharú, ná an 800 oibrí sláinte a mharaigh siad ach oiread.”
“Traditionally, free school meals entitlement would have been used as the key indicator when making an intervention such as this, but, on this occasion, Minister Givan has decided to move away from that. In a system with such limited finances, we must ensure that we get bang for our buck. To do that, we need to target our resources where they are most needed. We must invest based on objective need and, in this instance, that is simply not happening. <BR /> <BR />Recently, I sent questions to the Minister to outline my concerns — to say that I was not satisfied with the answers that I received would be an understatement. I take this opportunity to urge the Minister to go back to the drawing board, scrap his bizarre eligibility formula and bring forward a proper programme that delivers based on objective need.”
“While the funding was designed to support children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds — the children who are most likely to underachieve in education — the Minister and his officials have designed a scheme in which two thirds of grammar schools, many from the leafy suburbs, are eligible for funding, yet there are schools in some of the most deprived areas in the North that will not receive funding. For example, Bunscoil an tSléibhe Duibh in Ballymurphy cannot access funding, nor can Gaelscoil na Móna in Turf Lodge or St John the Baptist Primary School in Andersonstown. It is those schools and the young people who attend them that require this intervention.”
“I want to outline my concerns about the Department of Education's RAISE programme. When Minister Givan announced that £20 million was coming from the Shared Island unit in the South to help tackle the issue of educational underachievement here, I welcomed that as a really positive development. However, RAISE, as the programme has been named, fails to hit the mark. For some reason, the Minister and his officials have constructed a bizarre and complicated formula for determining the eligibility of schools to access funding under the programme. <BR /> <BR />Why is it bizarre?”
“Does she agree that the only reason that anyone should meet those groups is to tell them to leave the stage?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an fhreagra sin.”
“Tá deis ag Páirtí an Lucht Oibre sa Ríocht Aontaithe na ciorruithe sin a cheartú agus infheistíocht cheart a dhéanamh inár seirbhísí poiblí nuair a fhoilseoidh siad a mBuiséad ag deireadh na míosa ionas gur féidir linn oideachas ardchaighdeáin a sholáthar dár ndaltaí. <BR /> <BR />Ar Lá Domhanda na Múinteoirí, tá sé tábhachtach ár mbuíochas a ghabháil agus aitheantas a thabhairt as an obair ríthábhachtach agus as an méid a chuireann ár múinteoirí lenár sochaí agus an tionchar dearfach atá acu ar ár bpaistí agus ar ár ndaoine.”
“Ba mhaith liom aird a tharraingt ar Lá Domhanda na Múinteoirí a bhí ann ag deireadh na seachtaine. Imríonn ár múinteoirí ról thar a bheith tábhachtach i saol ár bpáistí agus an aosa óig, mar sin, ní mór dúinn, mar ionadaithe poiblí, bheith ag éisteacht leo agus ár ndícheall a dhéanamh bheith ag tacú leo trí chomhoibriú ar mhaithe lenár gcóras oideachais. <BR /> <BR />D’éirigh le múinteoirí ardú pá a fháil in 2022, agus ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Dr Caoimhe Archibald as ardú pá a sholáthar dóibh mar cheann de na chéad bhearta a rinne sí ina ról nua mar Aire Airgeadais. <BR /> <BR />Le blianta anuas tá ciorruithe á ndéanamh ar earnáil an oideachais ag rialtas na Breataine mar chuid de pholasaí déine na dTóraithe. Cuireann na ciorruithe sin barraíocht brú ar mhúinteoirí agus ar an chóras oideachais.”
“Má dhéanaimid sin, ní hé amháin go mbeimid ag sábháil bia, is amhlaidh a bheimid ag sábháil airgid fosta.”
“Níl sin inbhuanaithe, agus, nuair nach bhfuil, níl teacht aniar i gcóras an bhia s’againn. Beidh bearta le déanamh ar bhonn áitiúil agus domhanda le húsáid is fearr a bhaint as an bhia lena shábháil ar a chur amú. <BR /> <BR />Dar le Friends of the Earth gur féidir cur amú bia a laghdú ach: díriú ar shlabhra an tsoláthair agus an chailliúint bia a laghdú ag an phointe sin; eolas a thabhairt do chustaiméirí faoin dóigh le cur amú bia a sheachaint; agus trí bheith ag obair le carthanais sa chruth go ndéanfar farasbarr bia a roinnt ar na daoine atá ar an ghannchuid. <BR /> <BR />Thig linn uile go léir ár bpáirt a dhéanamh leis an chur amú a laghdú trí bhéilí na seachtaine a phleanáil, trí bhia a reo de réir mar is gá agus trí bheith eolach ar an difear idir dáta ar fearr roimhe agus dáta dulta ó mhaith.”
“Lá Idirnáisiúnta Feasachta ar Chur Amú agus ar Chailliúint an Bhia a bhí ann Dé Domhnaigh. Nuair a chuirtear bia amú nó nuair a chailltear é, is amhlaidh a chailltear na hacmhainní uile go léir a úsáideadh leis an bhia sin a tháirgeadh sa chéad dul síos. Cur amú uisce, talaimh, fuinnimh agus saothair atá ann fosta. Is olc a théann cailleadh agus cur amú an bhia ar an chomhshaol, ar shlándáil bia agus ar infhaighteacht bia, agus is siocair iad leis an bhia a bheith ag éirí níos daoire. Tá líon na ndaoine atá faoi ocras ar fud an domhain ag ardú ó bhí an bhliain 2014 an, agus i rith an ama, cailltear agus cuirtear amú na céadta tonaí bia gach lá. <BR /> <BR />Cailltear thart ar 13·2% de bhia an domhain idir a bhaint agus a dhíol gach bliain. Déanann teaghlaigh agus miondíoltóirí 19% den bhia a tháirgtear ar domhan a chur amú gach bliain.”