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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“Against that backdrop, the Finance Minister has sought to do two important things: first, to protect public services as well as possible within an extremely constrained financial envelope, and, secondly, to finally move away from the chaos and short-termism of annual budgeting by putting forward a multi-year Budget that gives Departments the ability to plan strategically over a longer period. That is vital because workforce planning, public-sector transformation and big infrastructure projects cannot be delivered effectively on the basis of one-year firefighting exercises. <BR /> <BR />Of course, the money available in the Budget is insufficient. Nobody is pretending otherwise. We continue to argue for greater fiscal powers and a fair funding model, because the current system is just not sustainable.”
“This debate takes place in the context of years of chronic underfunding by successive British Governments. That is the starting point for any honest discussion about the Budget. The reality is that public services here are being asked to do more with less, while demand, inflation and pay pressures continue to rise. The Finance Minister made clear that the additional funding that Westminster announced falls far short of what is needed. The Fiscal Council report lays bare the pressures facing Departments.”
“Does the deputy First Minister have any concerns about the increased focus on militarisation and defence funding at a time when the British Government's focus should be on supporting the Executive to deliver essential public services and support hard-pressed families, businesses, students and farmers?”
“Chláraigh breis is 1,500 duine le hobair dheonach le linn na fleidhe a dhéanamh, rud a léiríonn chomh mór agus atá muintir na cathrach ag dúil leis an fhéile. Beidh ról ríthábhachtach ag oibrithe deonacha le rath na féile a chinntiú. Tá deiseanna go fóill ann ar obair dheonach a dhéanamh. Mar sin de, molaim do gach duine páirt a ghlacadh san fhéile. <BR /> <BR />Léiríonn an fhleadh an Béal Feirste atá anois ann, an cur chun cinn atá déanta againn, agus, níos tábhachtaí arís, an bealach taistil atáimid a thabhairt. Bhéarfaidh sí deis dúinn rogha agus togha na cathrach a chur ar taispeáint, agus cuirfidh sí a bhfuil de shaibhreas ceoil agus cultúir againn a chur os comhair an tsaoil mhóir.”
“Is gearr go raibh Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann buailte linn i mBéal Feirste. Agus níos lú ná 100 lá le fanacht againn, níl teorainn leis an scéala chugainn maidir le suíomhanna, pleananna, ceoltóirí agus imeachtaí. Tá an chathair ar bís; tá ardú croí agus meanman le sonrú ar fud an bhaill; tá na pleananna faoi lán seoil; agus tá gach duine dár labhair mé leo, tá sin ag tnúth leis an fhéile mór le rá seo a theacht chuig an chathair s’againn. <BR /> <BR />Déanfar ionaid champála sealadacha dár bpáirceanna le freastal ar na sluaite, cuirfear borradh ollmhór faoin gheilleagar áitiúil, agus táthar ag iarraidh ar ghnólachtaí ar fud na cathrach tús a chur ar an phleanáil lena chinntiú gur féidir leo riar ar an mhéadú ar an éileamh.”
“I thank the Minister again for giving way. It is clear that there are disagreements between the Department and the Children's Law Centre about the legality of some of the reforms that have been proposed. That has to be an issue that can be easily resolved by you and the Children's Law Centre coming together and working through what you say is legal and what it says is not legal. How much does it take to resolve that? I just cannot see how it is an issue that can create a blockage in the system.”
“Can you come together with that organisation and the trade unions to work out a way that is acceptable to everyone?”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. We all saw the recent letter and statement from the Children's Law Centre. The Children's Law Centre is a go-to organisation for public representatives because it has the most expertise in the field of special educational needs. It is widely regarded and held in high esteem, and it is an expert in the field. The letter and statement that it released were supported by many other stakeholders, as well as the trade unions. Is it beyond the wit of all those organisations, yourself and the EA to come together and plot a way through this, rather than having disagreement? I accept that you want to do the best for children with SEN; I have no doubt about that, but so does the Children's Law Centre, and it is an expert in the field. One of the issues is that you have not met the Children's Law Centre.”
“How will a simplified procurement process help to deliver small, local public-sector contracts, for example, in schools?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra.”
“The education system in the South is by no means perfect, but the educational outcomes there far exceed the outcomes here in the North. Far fewer young people in the South leave school without qualifications, and far more are going on to third-level education. Can the Minister point us to what lessons he has learned in his engagements with his counterparts in the South that can be transferred to the education system here?”
“We are for giving girls the right to wear trousers in school.”
“Will you work in partnership with Sinn Féin?”
“The World Health Organization recognises burnout as an occupation-related phenomenon caused by prolonged and unmanaged workplace stress. Teachers in the North are dealing with the heaviest workloads in these islands, with higher stress, more unpaid hours and weaker systemic support. Does the Minister agree that after a decade of his party holding the Education Department, that is a poor reflection of how the Department is being run?”
“Is the Minister aware that many principals, teachers and others in our education system are at the end of their tether on account of the level and speed of change that is being imposed on our system? Does he also accept that there is widespread suspicion that curriculum reform is based on ideological foundations rather than being for pedagogical reasons?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra.”
“Tá mé thar a bheith bródúil as ionadaíocht a dhéanamh ar son mhuintir mo thoghlcheantair a chuir a muinín inár bpáirtí, agus tá mé thar a bheith bródúil as an dul chun cinn atá déanta againn, agus a leanfaimid orainn a dhéanamh sa tSeomra seo, i gcomhairlí agus i dTeach Laighean.”
“Níor athraigh ár dtacaíocht do athaontú na hÉireann; níor athraigh ár ndlúthpháirtíocht idirnáisiúnta le pobail atá faoi chois ar fud an domhain; agus níor athraigh ár dtiomantas do lucht oibre na hÉireann. Ba léir ó na himeachtaí agus na rúin ag an deireadh seachtaine an tiomantas atá againn dár bpolaitíocht, nó vótáil an ard-fheis d’aon ghuth i bhfabhar rúin inar daingníodh an tiomantas againn chun athaontú na hÉireann, chun tacú le muintir na Palaistíne agus muintir Chúba agus chun tacú le pobail mhionlaigh anseo in Éirinn; agus rúin i dtaca leis an Ghaeilge. <BR /> <BR />Tá mé thar a bheith bródúil as ionadaíocht a dhéanamh ar son Shinn Féin sa tSeomra seo.”
“Ós rud é gur sinne an páirtí agus an ghluaiseacht pholaitíochta is mó ar an oileán, ní raibh áit níos fearr ná Béal Feirste ann leis an ard-fheis a óstáil i mbliana, nó tá an chathair s’againn i gcroílár imeachtaí na nGael i mbliana. D’óstáil muid Oireachtas na Samhna agus ard-fheis Chonradh na Gaeilge, agus beidh Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann againn le linn an tsamhraidh. <BR /> <BR />Agus an ard-fheis s’againn á reáchtáil sa chathair s’againn, bhí deis agam mo mhachnamh a dhéanamh ar an méid a d’athraigh ó bhí 2018 ann, an uair dheireanach a d’ostáil muid an ard-fheis. D’athraigh stáid na polaitíochta go mór ó shin. D’fhás an páirtí ar an dá thaobh den teorainn. Michelle O’Neill ina Céad-Aire ar an fhoras seo an cruthú is fearr air sin. Má d’athraigh cuid mhór, tá cuid mhór atá gan athrú.”
“Can the Minister please tell us what areas the policy will cover?”
“Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Aire as an fhreagra sin.”
“What happened to them? They were let off and feted in Israeli society as celebrities and heroes. <BR /> <BR />Genocide has not just been a graveyard for thousands of Palestinians; it is the graveyard of international humanitarian law and human rights law. Why should we be surprised when the Israeli Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was seen recently going into the prisons with TV cameras to berate, humiliate and verbally abuse Marwan Barghouti, who has been imprisoned for 23 years and is known in Palestine as the Palestinian Nelson Mandela. He has not been broken in 23 years. He continues to resist, and Itamar Ben-Gvir could not lace his boots.”
“It is also an apartheid state, and we saw evidence of that recently when the Knesset introduced a law that gave Israel the right to execute Palestinian prisoners, not Israeli prisoners or Israelis who are serial killers or have been found guilty of some of the most heinous crimes, such as killing children: it is just Palestinians. One wonders why they even need it, when 87 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody in the past year. Two who died were raped. One of them had the muzzle of an M-16 rifle shoved into his rectum, which tore his intestines to shreds, and he died not long afterwards. Another prisoner had the nozzle of a fire extinguisher forced into his rectum and set off. He died shortly after that. In another incident, CCTV cameras caught a number of Israeli prison guards raping a Palestinian prisoner.”
“Last Friday, 17 April, was Palestinian Prisoners' Day. There are nearly 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and among them are 350 children. Some 3,500 of those prisoners are on remand. A similar number are in prison as a result of what is called "administrative detention". We know that better here as "internment", where people are thrown into prison without any due process. The rest are, by and large, called "unlawful combatants" who have been captured in Gaza and thrown into prison, again without any due process. <BR /> <BR />Israel and its supporters often claim that it is the only democracy in the Middle East: of course, that is not true. Israel is a genocidal state, as we have seen in recent times, whose leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
“It ensures that planning is not ad hoc, not dependent on individual Ministers and not allowed to drift. <BR /> <BR />Finally, on cost, the figures show that the Bill's administrative requirements are modest. The real question is the cost of continuing to do nothing. Workforce planning is not a burden; it is a basic necessity. I commend the Bill to the Assembly.”
“It is never a good sign when a Minister tosses an official under the bus. His name was at the bottom of that email, so it came from him. <BR /> <BR />The argument that the Bill is premature ignores the reality that the workforce issues have existed for years and years. The DUP has held the Department of Education portfolio for over a decade, and, during that time, we have not seen the structured, long-term workforce planning required to address shortages in teacher numbers, SEN provision and support staff. The idea that action should now be delayed further in anticipation of a future strategy is not credible. The Irish-medium sector cannot wait. <BR /> <BR />Fourthly, far from duplicating or constraining departmental work, the Bill strengthens it. It provides a statutory framework within which any strategy must operate.”
“I will give way in a second. I do not want to make it entirely personal about the Minister. His party is notorious for its hostility to the language, and that is something that I do not understand. How can you hate a language? How can you think that a language is offensive? What is offensive about a dual language sign in a public building in 2026? What was so offensive that the DUP thought it a good idea that its Minister should join a judicial review? <BR /> <BR />I will give way to the Minister.”
“; and the people who do not speak Irish but have a love for it and like to see it being promoted — trust the Minister to deliver a strategy for Irish-medium education. Nobody trusts him. The Minister knows why they do not trust him. They know his history with the Irish language. They know that he was the Minister who cut the Líofa bursaries for young children from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to Gaeltachtaí to learn Irish. It was a miserly sum that he cut, and, to add salt to the wound, he wished everyone a happy Christmas at the end of his email. Against that backdrop, it is entirely reasonable to ask whether a future strategy will even be delivered.”
“We are being asked to place our faith in a strategy that is not due until 2027, after an Assembly election, from a Minister whose track record on the Irish language is shocking. I say that not to score any points; I say it because it is a fact. None of the people in the Irish-medium sector — the parents who send their children to Irish-medium schools; the children who attend Irish-medium schools; the people throughout the North who go to Irish language ranganna”
“A non-statutory strategy, however welcome in principle, offers no guarantees of delivery, no requirement for timelines and no mechanisms for accountability.”
“<BR /> <BR />Let us move on to the argument that, because the Minister is bringing forward an Irish-medium education strategy, the legislation is superfluous, there is no need for it and that the Minister will deal with all those issues. We have written to the Minister on a few occasions to ask him what will be contained in his strategy, and, to be quite honest, we have not got very satisfactory answers. The answers are always pretty vague. He has told us that something is being considered, but he will not give us the full picture of what will be in it. <BR /> <BR />There is currently no statutory requirement on the Department to produce a workforce plan for Irish-medium education. That is the gap that the Bill addresses.”
“To finish on the matter of equality, there were some concerns that we were arguing that the Irish-medium sector should be given a privileged position over other sectors. Mr Burrows is fairly new to the place, and he may not be familiar with all the procedures, but part of the process involved writing to the Equality Commission to inform it of what we were doing and of our policy intent. The Equality Commission did not identify any adverse impacts from the Bill. In fact, it highlighted the importance of properly resourced, planned provision, particularly in areas such as SEN, to ensure equality of opportunity for all children, including those in Irish-medium education. Therefore, the issue around a lack of equality for children in English-medium settings because of the proposed legislation is just a nonsense.”
“I will just finish this point. We saw, on the issue of the summer schemes for special schools, that the Education Minister could not even lift the phone to his counterpart in Health. I will give way.”
“It is an issue that requires cooperation and collaboration between the Health Department and the Education Department, and that is not there. We saw, on the issue —.”
“I absolutely agree that there are problems in delivering SEN support in English-medium schools as well. There is absolutely no doubt about that. The Committee has been holding an inquiry for the past number of months, and anybody who sits on the Committee and has listened to the evidence that has been given will be clear that the provision that is there at the minute does not cut the mustard. <BR /> <BR />One of the reasons comes back to an issue that we discussed yesterday, and we discussed before the Easter break. There is no cooperation at all between the Education Minister and the Health Minister. You know that, David, because you sit on the Committee, and you know that there is no cooperation there at all.”
“The fact that there are so many children in that school, which was designed for 550 pupils, affects the fabric of the school, levels of wear and tear and access to toilets — everything — but there has been no urgency on the part of the Minister or the Department to ensure that a second site is provided for children in post-primary education. <BR /> <BR />I am not saying that the Department has done nothing — I am not saying that at all — but I am saying that the Irish-medium sector is growing faster than the Department is dealing with the challenges that exist in that sector.”
“Coláiste Feirste, the main Irish-medium post-primary school in the North, had a major development that, I would say, opened 10 years ago for a population of 550 students. There are now more than 1,000 pupils at Coláiste Feirste. It is bursting at the seams. Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta and Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta have been begging the Department for over seven years now to provide a site for a second post-primary school in Belfast, preferably in North Belfast because many of the students who attend Coláiste Feirste come from North Belfast. What has the response been? "No sites are available". Nothing can be provided for children who want to continue their education in Irish after primary school at post-primary schools.”
“If I had had my way, as I said in my opening remarks, I would have introduced a much more expansive and wide-ranging piece of legislation. It would have included a duty on the Minister to ensure parity between children in Irish-medium schools and those in English-medium schools in the provision of resources, particularly by having resources in the language in which the children are educated. The fact that teachers in Irish-medium schools still have to translate materials themselves is a stain on the Department of Education. <BR /> <BR />Some Irish-medium schools have been in temporary buildings for nearly 40 years. Where was the statutory duty there to encourage and facilitate Irish-medium education?”
“There were some concerns that there would be some sort of change to or a strengthening of that statutory duty, but that is not the case. The Bill is not trying to change the statutory duty in the 1998 Order to encourage and facilitate Irish-medium education. Through the Bill, we are trying to give practical effect to that statutory duty. <BR /> <BR />When it comes to equality, how has that statutory duty been implemented and carried out by successive Ministers? After 28 years, teachers in Irish-medium education still have to translate materials themselves for children in those schools. There is a deficit of bespoke materials and resources for children who are educated through the medium of Irish. That is after 28 years.”
“The absence of SEN support that is delivered through Irish represents a structural gap in provision, affecting pupils across several sectors, rather than an advantage that is afforded to any one sector. Addressing that gap aligns with inclusive education principles and ensures that pupils are not disadvantaged based on the language through which they are educated. <BR /> <BR />There was talk about the statutory duty on the Minister:”
“<BR /> <BR />Irish-medium schools, on the other hand, regardless of sectoral designation, deliver education entirely through Irish, which is the language of learning and assessment, not an additional or enrichment subject. Equivalent SEN services do not currently exist in a consistent or systematic way through the medium of Irish, despite Irish-medium pupils having the same statutory entitlements as all other pupils. The issue that is raised by the Bill is therefore not one of sectoral privilege or additional entitlement but one of parity of access. Irish-medium pupils with special educational needs should receive the same assessment, intervention and support as their English-medium peers. For that to be effective, it must be delivered in the language of instruction.”
“While Irish-medium education spans several sectors, it constitutes a distinct education system in the language of instruction. Therefore, from a SEN support perspective, the education system operates, in practice, through two media of instruction: education that is delivered through the medium of English and education that is delivered through the medium of Irish. All controlled, maintained, integrated and special schools that deliver education through English benefit from a fully developed and system-wide SEN infrastructure that is delivered in English. That includes educational psychology, assessment and follow-up and SEN-related training and advice that is provided by the Education Authority (EA). They get support from local impact team intervention and have access to specialist professional support services.”
“Those who opposed the legislation raised two main issues: first, the fact that a strategy is being developed in the Department and, secondly, that there is an equality issue because Irish-medium education would be given a privileged position in our overall education system. Let me just clear up a few issues about equality. <BR /> <BR />Questions were raised about why Irish-medium education would require different SEN support and whether that implied preferential treatment. It is important, therefore, to state at the outset, and to clarify, that Irish-medium education does not sit within one particular sector. There are Irish-medium schools and units in the maintained sector. There is provision in the controlled sector. Most recently, there is Irish-medium provision in the integrated sector at Scoil na Seolta.”
“First of all, I thank everyone who participated in the debate. It was a very well-tempered debate.”
“First, thanks for giving way. Secondly, if you have been listening to the debate, you will have heard that there are unique challenges for the Irish-medium sector that do not exist in any other sector. That is part of the rationale behind the Bill: to bring the Irish-medium sector up to an equal footing with all other sectors. It is not about discriminating against other sectors. <BR /> <BR />I suppose that I would like to ask a question, because I honestly do not understand why there is such hostility from you and your party not just towards the Irish-medium education sector but towards the Irish language in general and anything connected to Irish culture. Why does that hostility exist in that way? It also exists in the DUP.”
“If you are talking about the processes and why a Bill should or should not go forward, there is one reason why it should go forward.”
“When I set out to bring the Bill forward, one of the things that I had to do was to write to the Minister and ask him what he was doing. The Minister wrote back and said that he was developing a strategy that, he hoped, would be ready by mid-2027, after the election next year. The timeline may fall; the Minister may not be here; and there may be another Minister and so on. The important point is that the Speaker directed us to write to the Minister. When the response came back, the Speaker, who is the ultimate authority when it comes to private Members' Bills, decided that the Bill should go ahead, so it seemed to me that the Speaker felt that the argument that the Minister put up was not strong enough to block the private Member's Bill from going ahead.”
“Thanks for giving way. It is, effectively, two sides of the same coin. How many speech and language therapists dealing with children in the Irish-medium sector who have speech and learning difficulties are fluent in Irish? If that person can speak only English, that puts those children at a disadvantage.”
“<BR /> <BR />In conclusion, Irish-medium education has grown because of the determination and commitment of the Irish language community, but we cannot expect that growth to continue on the back of teacher burnout, recruitment crises and short-term firefighting. Is freagra tomhaiste, dírithe, cuí é an Bille i mo thuairim ar na dúshláin atá roimh an oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge.”
“<BR /> <BR />Without teachers, classroom assistants, early years practitioners, SEN professionals and leaders, capital investment and curriculum reform, our wider strategy cannot succeed. What the Bill does is more fundamental. It ensures that decisions about recruitment, retention, professional development and workforce support are informed by structured planning, evidence, consultation and measurable targets. It creates a statutory framework within which meaningful interventions can be developed and delivered. Getting workforce planning right will lay the foundations from which the sector can continue to grow and flourish.”