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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“Will the Member accept, therefore, that the 6·7% refers to people with possible breast cancer, but that is not how it is worded in the motion. It states:”
“The victims and survivors of abuse have spoken to me in glowing terms about the work they do and how much easier it is to navigate the criminal justice system with the help of those workers. <BR /> <BR />I will leave it there.”
“As an example, if someone is intimidated by paramilitaries and seeks to be rehoused, their case is designated as high priority by the Housing Executive. The same does not apply to victims of domestic abuse. Alicia Perry's name has been mentioned on a number of occasions today. She has been waiting years to be rehoused without success; there needs to be changes there. We must send out a clear message from the Assembly that there will be zero tolerance of domestic abuse and coercive control. <BR /> <BR />I commend the motion to the House. I support the two amendments. In fact, I think they both add to the motion. I welcome the Minister's commitment to look at justice support workers.”
“These could include the use of a register, showing the number of times police have been called to a house, in order to build a picture of the frequency and nature of the abuse. There is also evidence that use of body-worn cameras by police has led to a rise in convictions. There is also a need for a domestic violence disclosure scheme, and, again, I welcome the Minister's commitment to introduce that into the legislation. The fact is that most perpetrators of domestic violence are serial offenders, and if someone in a relationship becomes suspicious, she or he would be able to go to the police and find out whether the person that they are now in a relationship with has a history of domestic abuse. <BR /> <BR />Statutory agencies also have a role to play in helping victims of domestic abuse.”
“<BR /> <BR />Pam Cameron gave us a horrendous example of a woman who had been abused for over 60 years — almost all of her lifetime being tortured and abused by her husband within her own home. Of course, we have recently heard the testimony of Terri-Louise Graham, who was subjected to absolutely diabolical abuse in her relationship. Making domestic abuse an offence will send a strong message to perpetrators that they cannot act with impunity, and it will also send a message to victims that the abuse they have suffered will be taken seriously by the Executive and legislators here. <BR /> <BR />Innovative evidence collection approaches should be considered to secure convictions.”
“Instead, perpetrators are charged with regular offences such as assault, criminal damage, harassment or false imprisonment, and the PSNI records that the crime had a domestic motivation for statistical purposes. The PSNI and the criminal justice system treat each occurrence of domestic violence as an individual incident. However, this is at odds with the nature of domestic violence, which is a pattern of abusive behaviour. The upshot of this is that most incidents of domestic violence are treated as minor crimes and misdemeanors, resulting in short or suspended sentences. The sentencing does not take account of the weeks, months or even years of psychological torture that the victim has been subjected to.”
“Let us remember that this is a serious issue: in 2014-15, there were six murders with a domestic motivation here in the North; in fact, 37·5% of all murders in the North were domestic-related. As has been pointed out, the PSNI responded to over 28,000 domestic incidents; 13% of all crime in this jurisdiction. These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg. Lord Morrow pointed out that it takes an average of 30 instances of abuse before a victim will report it. All of this shows that women are still more at risk of crime in the home than anywhere else. <BR /> <BR />The crux of the matter is that domestic violence is not, in itself, a criminal offence.”
“Many victims of domestic abuse say that the coercive control element of their abuse is much more difficult to endure and recover from than physical violence. This has been corroborated by victims and survivors of domestic abuse in other jurisdictions and across the globe. Indeed, numerous studies have shown similarities between coercive control and tactics used to control hostages, prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates. <BR /> <BR />The presence of coercive control in a relationship can be an effective indicator of the likelihood of serious violence, resulting in the death of victims. Some victims of domestic homicide do not have a history of previous physical abuse, but they were victims of extreme forms of coercive control.”
“Domestic violence is intentional and persistent abusive behaviour. As many have said today, it is an ongoing pattern of abusive, coercive and controlling behaviour that can include physical, psychological, economic, sexual and emotional abuse. Domestic abuse is, by its nature, not a single incident of violence in an otherwise healthy relationship. Domestic abuse is characterised by coercive control. Mark Durkan defined coercive control as a deliberate and calculated pattern of behaviour and psychological abuse designed to isolate, manipulate and terrorise the victim into complete, fearful submission. Unfortunately, coercive control is not currently a crime here in the North, and I welcome the Minister's commitment to introducing legislation within the next year to make it so.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. I am aware that the Minister met the Basque Finance Minister in, I think, August. Has he continued to engage with the Basque Government?”
“Go raibh maith agat agus gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. I thank the Minister for his answer. Will the deputy First Minister give any indication of whether any of our European partners are aware of the issues that face Ireland?”
“I am glad to hear that you are willing to look at the continued funding of the projects. I did not have enough time during my contribution to mention nurture units. They are not unique to West Belfast, and I am not sure whether there has been an official evaluation. Certainly, anecdotal evidence coming back is that they have been a phenomenal success, and I ask the Minister to consider funding for them.”
“— and help to have it rolled out elsewhere. I thank Jennifer McCann for bringing the debate and ask the Minister to continue the funding.”
“<BR /> <BR />I know that the Minister is aware of it; I know that he was Chair of the Education Committee when the partnership board came in and presented on it; and I know that he was impressed by what he heard. I ask the Minister to continue to fund the cutting-edge work that is happening in education in West Belfast —”
“Similarly, projects are carried out at transition years from primary to post-primary. <BR /> <BR />Of course, there are the Easter schools. We all know how important English and maths are at GCSE level. Without English and maths, it is difficult for kids to move on to third-level education. What do the Easter schools do? They identify children who are sitting on a borderline C/D grade for English and maths, and those children get a week of intensive tuition at St Mary's University College. The children are brought into a university setting and given intensive tuition for a week, and the results are phenomenal: a 78% pass rate for maths, 82% for English. That is what is happening in West Belfast.”
“What have we got in West Belfast? First, the children and young people are no more and no less intelligent than children anywhere else, but it is clear that something different is taking place. There is a template there, and it is all in the report on the polycentric inspection. Area learning communities have been established at nursery, primary and post-primary level, where schools work and cooperate on problems that are identified in the system. There are problems in transition years from nursery to primary level and from primary to post-primary, so the area learning communities are working to ameliorate those problems. The teacher from the local primary school comes to the nursery school for a few weeks before the end of term and the children get to know her or him, and it makes the transition all the easier.”
“The research was carried out at the behest of ERASMUS, under the auspices of the West Belfast Partnership Board, and was conducted by academics from Dublin City University. <BR /> <BR />Jennifer McCann referred to the results of such an approach: an increase of 14·3% at GCSE level among children on free school meals. The district inspector from the Education and Training Inspectorate, Dr Paddy Shevlin, described that as spectacular, and it is spectacular. I defy anyone to point me to anywhere else in the North where such a leap in attainment has taken place.”
“It is undergoing a £14 million refurbishment and redevelopment and, when that development is complete, it still will not have room for all the children who want to go to that school. It is already one of the top achieving non-selective schools in the North; it is also the largest post-primary Irish-medium school on the island of Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I have talked about this before in the Chamber: a piece of research was released in the Long Gallery just before Christmas last year called 'School Inspection in a Polycentric Context'. The theory behind it is that individual schools on their own can only reach a certain level of achievement, but, when schools collaborate and cooperate and there is an overarching inspection, all results can increase.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate tonight. West Belfast gets a lot of bad publicity, and the previous Member who spoke mentioned some of the issues, including, for example, the highest rates of child poverty, lowest life expectancy, highest unemployment at various times, and all of that. It is one of the most deprived constituencies. <BR /> <BR />Yet, if a stranger arrived in Belfast and asked to be directed to the top-achieving school at A level in the North, where would they be directed to? Straight to that area, right to the Falls Road in the heart of West Belfast, St Dominic's — the top-achieving school at A level. Also on the Falls Road in West Belfast, you have Coláiste Feirste, which is bursting at the seams.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra sin. I have just come from a meeting with Conradh na Gaeilge. It welcomes the fact that children from Irish-medium education have been consulted by the Department. Will the Minister ensure that his Department continues to consult and engage with children from Irish-medium education so that they can gain an understanding of the expectations for the future in terms of accessing goods and services and dealing with Departments and public bodies through the Irish language?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a freagra. I thank the Minister for her comprehensive answer. Will she give us a timeline for the completion of Desertcreat?”
“I welcome the fact that the Minister has confirmed the most up-to-date position on the red-flag referrals and the targets that have been met. Given that this is breast cancer awareness month, what is her Department doing to raise awareness of breast cancer?”
“I acknowledge that the Department has established a regional group to consider the modernisation of neurological services, including epilepsy. As part of that work, the Public Health Agency has recently established a regional neurology nursing group, and planning for epilepsy services will be included in the group. However, given the wide discrepancy between Epilepsy Action's figures and the trusts' estimates of the number of epilepsy sufferers, I ask the Minister to look again at the possible creation of an accurate database. Planning services and resourcing them require an accurate database. I support the motion.”
“<BR /> <BR />Concerns have been raised about long waiting times for neurology appointments, which, of course, leads to delays in diagnosis and treatment. Waiting times are a concern for all of us in the Assembly. I acknowledge that the Minister has spoken on a number of occasions about her determination to reduce waiting times right across the health service. I hope that there will be an improvement, at least in the medium-term future. <BR /> <BR />As with any medical diagnosis, looking after oneself is vital. Staying healthy is key. Along with that, patients should have access to the highest quality of care, from their GP through to the specialist nurses and neurologists. It is clear, however, that access to the highest quality of care is not always available.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion as a member of the Health Committee. I thank George Robinson for tabling the motion. I commend the all-party group on epilepsy and the work it does in shining a light on the needs of epilepsy patients and the difficulties they face. Epilepsy Action also plays an important role, and its contribution to helping those who suffer from epilepsy should also be commended. <BR /> <BR />There is no doubt that a diagnosis of epilepsy can have a devastating impact on an individual and his or her family. Epilepsy, as we know, is most often diagnosed in childhood, but it can occur at any time and can have severe consequences on the ability to work, drive a car and, basically, lead a normal life.”
“The joint agency task force has been established. Is the Minister satisfied that it has the necessary resources to operate effectively and that there will be no negative impact from the recent Brexit referendum?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. I thank the Minister for his answer, but can he tell us how many development proposals from the Irish-medium sector he has approved or rejected since he assumed office?”
“They should try to gather evidence, if they can, without endangering themselves or aggravating the stalker. If they can get photos with their phone, for example, or if someone is with them who can be a witness to what has happened, that would be useful. <BR /> <BR />It is also important, in conjunction with any new legislation, that the police are given the proper training. One of the difficulties with stalking is that when incidents are reported they are treated in isolation and not as part of a pattern of behaviour, so training for police is important. I rest my case there, as most of the other points have been made.”
“Most victims of stalking undergo severe psychological distress, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, paranoia and in some cases post-traumatic stress disorder. Stalking itself may be difficult to define, but any legislation could include a list of example behaviours. If it waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck — everybody knows the rest of that. <BR /> <BR />Legislation is one weapon against stalking, but it is also important that victims know what they can do to try to prevent it. The first thing they should do is keep a log including the date, time and location of when the stalking has taken place. They should keep all correspondence whether it is cards, letters or electronic correspondence such as emails, texts or messages on social media. They can screenshot any electronic correspondence.”
“It is not unknown that a woman being stalked will find some day that the stalker has been speaking to her children, without the children knowing exactly what is happening. <BR /> <BR />While we have no crime of stalking here, there is, as has been mentioned, the Protection from Harassment Order 1997. Victims can take out a court injunction against those who harass them and claim damages for anxiety and any financial loss that they may have incurred. However, the point is that harassment and stalking are two completely different animals. As has already been said today, the conviction rate under the harassment Order does not reflect the level of stalking that takes place in society here. The absence of violence does not mean that the victim is unaffected.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and thank those who tabled the motion for bringing it to the Floor of the Assembly. I support the motion and the amendment. <BR /> <BR />As has been said by almost every Member today, there is no legal definition of stalking and there is no crime of stalking in the North. England, Wales and Scotland have legislation, as we know. Stalking takes many forms. It may be someone that the victim knows well — in many cases, an ex-spouse or ex-partner. It may be a casual acquaintance or a complete stranger. The methods that stalkers use are wide and varied and can range from sending flowers to the victim and following the victim to constant phone calls, emails, texts and so on. In many cases there are secondary victims.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a freagra. I thank the Minister for her answer. Does she think that the impact of leaving the EU will be that the Assembly has to develop its own legislation on the environment and climate change?”
“Hopefully, the result of the debate is that, in the near future, we will have a mental health champion.”
“There are issues around having a mental health champion funded by outside bodies, charities and so on. How would that work? Who would make the appointment? What would be the job description? There would also be accountability and governance issues involved. As I said, I do not want to overstate those issues. It is important that we get an outcome from today's debate and not one a year or two down the road.”
“Mike's wife, Lynda Bryans, has spoken publicly about her struggles with mental health problems, and my colleague Michelle Gildernew has done the same. It is important that we get rid of the stigma that is attached to mental ill health. The way to do that is to have people speaking out and showing others that they can come and speak to people and that they should come forward if they need help. <BR /> <BR />I suppose that the only issue of contention today — I do not want to overstate it — is how a mental health champion would be funded. As has been said by practically everyone who has spoken, I hope that we do not divide on the issue.”
“<BR /> <BR />We all know that mental health problems can arise for a variety of reasons, some preventable and some less so. Mental ill health, as we know, affects every stratum in society, including young people — I have just talked about them — and women. I am not sure who it was who talked about postnatal depression — sorry, it was Emma Little — and there are those affected by rural loneliness and isolation and those who have been affected by the conflict. We know that, in the past, a lot of stigma has been attached to mental ill health. I welcome the contributions made today and previously by people who have been affected by mental ill health. Paula Bradley spoke eloquently about post-traumatic stress disorder and how it affects people she knows.”
“It is not just the person who takes their own life who is affected; it has a negative impact on society in general. We hear of a sort of domino effect of other young people taking their own life, leaving their families distraught and devastated. It is a big problem in our society. <BR /> <BR />There is no doubt that there has been underprovision of mental health services. I welcome the fact that that has been changing, particularly since the Bamford review, and that there has been a rebalancing of service provision, with more going into community provision and less into the hospitals and inpatient provision. A lot more is still to be done. I welcome the Minister saying that she will be a mental health champion and that there will be more improvements to the provision of services.”
“Like everyone else, I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and to make the winding-up speech on the Sinn Féin amendment. I want to commend and congratulate those who tabled the motion for bringing it to the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />The statistics around mental health problems here have been rehearsed today. We have the highest rates of mental ill health on these islands and the highest rates of suicide. The statistics around suicide, in particular, are alarming and horrendous. I know of one recent incident in a public place when a young girl tried to take her own life. She was rescued by other young people. The result of that was that counsellors had to go into two schools to counsel up to 20 young people who had witnessed what had happened. I know that Robbie Butler mentioned suicide and being at the funeral of a friend.”
“Does she agree that the urgent establishment of all of the mechanisms for dealing with past, as agreed under the Fresh Start Agreement, provide the best opportunity to secure maximum recovery of the truth and justice for all families and individuals who suffered as a result of the conflict?”
“I also wish the Minister well in her new post.”
“As it stands, someone who has been convicted of animal cruelty can go into an animal sanctuary and ask to take possession of one of the animals, take it away and perhaps inflict further cruelty on it or use it as bait in dog fighting or something of that nature. If there was a register, the animal sanctuary could access that register and find out if that person had been convicted of animal cruelty. <BR /> <BR />I accept that there are difficulties. However, I also believe that, if there is a will to get over those obstacles, it can be done and a register can be established. I support the motion.”
“My understanding is that that would be relatively straightforward. More significantly, however, there are more complex legal issues around the sharing of that conviction data with non-statutory bodies, such as animal charities or sanctuaries that provide new homes for animals. As the previous Member mentioned, there are issues relating to freedom of information and data protection, for example, that would need to be resolved satisfactorily before non-statutory bodies could access a central register of the type that we are discussing. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate the complexity of some of the issues and know that there are major difficulties. However, as I said at the outset, the issue is the prevention of crime and the prevention of cruelty to animals.”
“The legislation also provided courts with the power to make a deprivation and/or disqualification order against an individual found guilty of committing an offence. While there is no provision in legislation for a central register of those convicted of animal welfare offences, I know that the previous Justice Minister was looking at the feasibility of such a register. I ask the new Justice Minister to take up the baton and to explore further what possibility there is of introducing such a register. <BR /> <BR />I know that the Department maintains a register of persons banned by the courts from keeping animals. However, there are issues with the sharing of that information among the enforcement bodies — DAERA, the councils and the PSNI — that require the implementation of new procedures and protocols.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in this important debate about animal cruelty and to consider what further steps the Assembly can take to clamp down on those who inflict cruelty on defenceless animals. In essence, the debate on a central register is about preventing crime against defenceless animals. I am sure that everyone in the Chamber would agree that crimes against vulnerable animals are abhorrent and should not be tolerated in our society. <BR /> <BR />The Welfare of Animals Act 2011 is the statute that introduced a duty of care in respect of protected animals. It allowed for intervention and prosecution, as the previous Act had done, but it also provided new enforcement powers to allow action to be taken to protect animals from unnecessary suffering, even before that suffering occurs.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Can the Minister tell us whether the Housing Executive is working to a time frame for converting costly and environmentally damaging electrical heating appliances to gas?”
“Go raibh maith agat. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a fhreagra. Will the Minister tell us whether he believes that the coroners office has sufficient resources to deal with all outstanding legacy cases at the moment?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a fhreagra. I thank the Minister for his answer. Does he agree that the project has the potential to enhance tourism, create jobs for local people and help to underpin the local economy?”
“Those amendments go some way towards addressing the concerns expressed by some members of the Committee on the issue. <BR /> <BR />As the sponsor acknowledged during the Further Consideration Stage debate, the scrutiny undertaken by the Assembly and Executive Review Committee made a huge contribution to shaping the Bill before us today and some of the thought processes on it. On that note, I place on record the Committee's thanks to the Bill sponsor, who actively engaged with the Committee, and the stakeholders, who submitted written evidence and provided formal oral evidence during the Committee Stage.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee also considered in some detail the implications of the Bill, as drafted, for the underlying principles of power-sharing and cross-community support enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement. Many of the original clauses in the Bill and, in particular, the provisions of the schedule, which were of considerable concern in that regard, have been removed from the amended Bill that is before the House. Those included the replacement of cross-community support with weighted-majority voting, the election of the Speaker, the threshold for the nomination of a Minister, and the proposal for a simple majority for Budget approval. Furthermore, the revised Bill provides that cross-community support is required for the passing of the Assembly and Executive transfer of responsibilities motion in the House.”
“The Committee considered all those issues during Committee Stage. Whilst the Committee divided and did not support the initial clauses and amendments to the Bill, its deliberations on those provisions and, in particular, the views of academics who responded to the Committee's call for evidence, may prove useful to those charged with reviewing the relevant Standing Orders to reflect the provisions in the Assembly opposition Bill. Indeed, the need for legislation to require Standing Orders to be amended to provide for an official opposition was a matter that Members extensively debated during the Committee Stage. The Committee considered the views of the academics and the Bill sponsor on the advantages and risks of legislating for an official opposition in the Assembly. The Committee did not take a formal position on that matter.”