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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“Those days are over, Timmy. They are over.”
“I heard Michelle make the same point about the First Minister and deputy First Minister bringing forward proposals for reform. It is like the academics who come to Committee and use broad brushstrokes, saying, "We cannot get this, that or the other". One party is to blame. We do not have tax-varying powers here because the DUP is opposed to it. We do not have proper female representation in this place because other parties do not follow Sinn Féin's example. Instead of blaming everybody, let us put the blame where it lies. If there is no agreement between the First Minister and deputy First Minister on reform, it will not be the First Minister's fault.”
“I take your point about the line having been omitted, but you should take our amendment and the motion in the round. There is an implicit recognition of the need for reform. Like my colleague, I am surprised that the Alliance Party does not support our amendment.”
“The difficulty is that, with the Good Friday Agreement — we were warned by those who designed it — there is always the potential that, if you pull at a thread somewhere, it will unravel other parts of the agreement that we do not want to unravel. Therefore, we need to be absolutely clear, when we do nail our colours to the mast, that the Good Friday Agreement — certainly, the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement — will not, in any way, be affected by it.”
“As the Member knows, because he is on the AERC, there is a process taking place whereby the Committee is taking evidence on potential reform of the Assembly. Would it not be better to wait until we gather all the evidence and then go out to public consultation, rather than nailing our colours to the mast beforehand? We are all for a discussion on reform of the Assembly. There is absolutely no doubt about that.”
“I have asked the Minister a number of times for his response to the critical Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reports. We now have cuts relating to school dinners coming from the Education Authority, and the working poor will be hit hardest. For EOTAS placements, the most vulnerable will be hit, and, for music tuition, again the poor families will suffer. Is it not time that the Minister started thinking of the most vulnerable in our schools and realised that it is his financial mismanagement that is causing the problem here?”
“Rather than stand aside, however, he will continue to parrot the propaganda of those responsible for genocide, and he will hurl personal insults at those who support the no-confidence motion. All of that is deflection. The truth is that his actions are indefensible, and his position is untenable. Do the right thing, Minister: go now. You are an embarrassment.”
“Where is the humanity from those who constantly bombard us with their Christian beliefs? That is a different sort of Christianity from the one that most Christians, I think, believe in. I ask the Minister to give a commitment that he will not go back to Israel while he holds the post of Education Minister, and I ask him to give that commitment today. <BR /> <BR />There are many reasons why the Minister should resign. After the debate, we will see that he does not have the support of the majority of MLAs. Over the past year or so, we have seen that he is financially and economically illiterate. Now we hear about his inability to manage his staff. If he were the manager of a football team, it would be reported that he had lost the changing room.”
“Killing children is wrong, whether it happened here or is happening in Gaza. We have heard weasel words about the killings being appalling, regrettable and so on, but the DUP cannot even bring itself to say that the slaughter of children in Gaza is wrong. Where is the empathy? Where is the compassion?”
“Not once has anyone from the DUP, let alone the Minister, said that the killing of over 20,000 children, the maiming of tens of thousands of others and the destruction of the entire education system is wrong. Not one of you can say that.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister and the DUP do not want to listen to the likes of the UN, Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch when they say that Israel is committing genocide, but plenty of other reputable organisations have said that Israel is committing genocide: in Israel, B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights organisation, and Physicians for Human Rights; in the States, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, Jews Against Genocide, Jewish Voice for Peace and Genocide Watch; Médecins Sans Frontières; and Doctors Against Genocide, which is a global coalition of healthcare professionals, all say the same thing. The Minister would, of course, much prefer to accept the word of those who are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
“It was only when the bodies were recovered and a mobile phone was recovered from one of them that what the Israelis had said was shown to have been absolutely untrue. The ambulances and the fire truck had approached with all their lights on.”
“The Israeli regime is full of unvarnished liars, and they have been caught out on numerous occasions, of which I will mention just two. On 17 October 2023, a rocket landed in the courtyard of Al-Ahli Hospital, and almost 300 Palestinian men, women and children were killed. They were blown to pieces. The Israeli regime said that it was a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket. When ballistic experts and sound pattern and sound wave experts were brought in to look at the evidence, it became clear that it had been the Israelis who bombed the hospital. On 23 March this year, in southern Rafah, the Israel military attacked a convoy of ambulances, a fire truck and a UN vehicle, and 15 paramedics were killed. The Israelis said that the convoy had advanced without any lights. The Israelis also buried the ambulances and the dead.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister must now do what he has failed to do to date: publish a childcare strategy that delivers affordability, sustainability and inclusion for all families, including those in the Irish-medium sector, and for children with special educational needs or disabilities.”
“Many Irish-medium early years settings are forced to create their own learning materials, fundraise to buy resources and operate with limited access to Irish-speaking SEN support staff or allied health professionals. Those are among the reasons why I have brought forward a private Member's Bill that will place a statutory duty on the Department of Education to prepare and review an Irish-medium education workforce plan every five years. The Bill will ensure that the Department finally takes responsibility for recruiting and retaining the staff that our Irish-medium schools and early years settings need. I urge all Members to support the Bill when it comes to the Floor.”
“That money was directly allocated to the Education Minister with a clear expectation that it would make childcare more affordable, support struggling providers and finally deliver the long-overdue early learning and childcare strategy. Yet, despite almost £80 million having been spent, in many cases, families continue to pay the equivalent of a second mortgage for their childcare. There has been no strategy and no real reduction in bills, as providers continue to raise fees due to the scale of the costs with which they are dealing. Hard-pressed families need a break. <BR /> <BR />When we eventually see a strategy from the Minister, if he remains in post, there must also be a clear commitment to the Irish-medium early years and childcare sector. That sector faces acute challenges and remains chronically under-resourced.”
“If the Department and the EA cannot manage their current budgets, why on earth would anybody want to give them more money? In any event, I just wanted to deal with that issue. <BR /> <BR />The delivery of affordable childcare is a clear commitment in the Programme for Government and a key priority of the Executive. Families already struggle with the cost of living. Affordable childcare would be life-changing for many of them. It would help parents get back into work and give children the best start in life. That is why our party delivered over £75 million in funding to help deliver high-quality and affordable childcare and early years provision.”
“First of all, I want to deal with an issue that has been raised twice today in the Chamber, namely the Minister's SEN capital plan and the fact that the Executive have not offered him any money yet. The Audit Office brought out two reports — the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also brought out reports — that stated that neither the Education Department nor the Education Authority (EA) can demonstrate value for money. When the permanent secretary of the Department was at the Committee recently, I asked him what had changed since those reports came out, and he said, "Well, we are working together more closely". When I asked the chief executive of the Education Authority whether it had identified any efficiencies or wastage, his answer was no.”
“How many Palestinian children were displaced?”
“How many Palestinian children had to leave their schools?”
“A significant number of highly reputable organisations are clear that what has been happening in Gaza over the past two years is a genocide. Those organisations include a UN commission, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, Genocide Watch and B'Tselem, which is an Israeli organisation. Why can the Minister not accept the truth rather than continuing to peddle the propaganda of a genocidal regime, the leaders of which are wanted on international arrest warrants for crimes against humanity?”
“There was not one word of empathy for the tens of thousands of Palestinian children who have been killed, maimed and injured. There was not one ounce of humanity or compassion. The Minister is a disgrace. He should hang his head in shame. He has shown that he is not fit to be the Education Minister, and we have no confidence in him. He should pack his bags and go now.”
“The Minister, however, prefers to parrot the propaganda of his Israeli paymasters; the genocidal regime, the leaders of which are wanted on international arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity. <BR /> <BR />This morning, I listened to a young student outside here as he talked about his routine for going to school each day. He said that he does not have to worry about bombs dropping from the sky. He passes the hospital but does not have to worry about whether it will be there tomorrow. Likewise, he knows that his school will be there when he reaches the gate. That is not the case for children in Palestine. The Minister is oblivious to that. <BR /> <BR />This morning, against my better judgement, I listened to the Minister for 40 minutes.”
“The term "scholasticide" refers to the systemic obliteration of education through the arrest, detention or killing of teachers, students and staff and the destruction of education infrastructure. Over 20,000 children and 500 teachers have been killed in Gaza over the past two years. Tens of thousands of others have been maimed and injured. If that is not scholasticide, I do not know what is. <BR /> <BR />Anyone with an ounce of honesty or integrity knows that what is happening in Gaza is genocide. There are any number of reports and organisations that support that view, including the UN international commission of inquiry, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem, Oxfam, Genocide Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.”
“even though he did not answer the question that I asked. The RCN has now joined the Children's Commissioner and the Children's Law Centre in withdrawing. Those are organisations that deal with children's rights, and they have accused you, Minister, of ignoring human rights and exposing children with SEN to potentially unlawful use of force. Is it not now time for you, Minister, to accept that the process has lost all credibility and legitimacy?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as a fhreagra,”
“Agus nuair a bhaintear feidhm as na cúirteanna le bac a chur ar an dul chun cinn; tá an éadulgaint sin le feiceáil in athbhreithniú breithiúnach cráiteach i ndiaidh athbhreithnú breithniúnach cráiteach eile arb aidhm dóibh toil mhuintir Bhéal Feirste, agus na gcomhairleoirí a thogh siad, a chur ó mhaith. <BR /> <BR />Is minic an DUP ag caint ar airgead poiblí á chur amú ar an Ghaeilge. Cá mhéad airgid phoiblí a chuir siad féin amú agus iad ag tacú le hágóidí dlí gan dealramh? Airgead a d’fhéadfaí a chaitheamh le feabhas a chur ar sheirbhísí nó le tacú le comhphobail.”
“I am here to talk about Irish language street signage and dual language street signage, so —”
“You, as a former police officer, should be able to tell us whether the police carried out any investigations.”
“<BR /> <BR />Ní bagairt í an Ghaeilge d’aon duine. Is í teanga dhúchais an oileáin seo í, agus is cuid den oidhreacht chomhchoitianta í ag gach duine sa chathair seo, beag beann ar chúlra nó ar chreideamh. Tá na mílte ag foghlaim na Gaeilge gach seachtain. Is linn go léir í. <BR /> <BR />Tá beagnach 40 bliain ó shin, cuireadh Máirtín Ó Muilleoir amach as cruinniú comhairle cionn is gur labhair sé Gaeilge; caitheadh amach é cionn is gur úsáid sé a theanga féin. Tá an éadulaingt chéanna le feiceáil inniu nuair a loitear comharthaí sráide Gaeilge. Tá an éadulgaint sin le feiceáil i rúin den chineál atá idir camánaibh againn inniu.”
“I níos mó ná trí cheathrú de na sráideanna a ndearnadh suirbhé orthu, níor easaontaigh oiread is aon chónaitheoir amháin. Fiú má fhágtar an Cheathrú Gaeltachta ar lár, tá an patrún mar a gcéanna. Ar fud 244 shráid, níor vótáil ach 3.9% de na cónaitheoirí i gcoinne na comharthaíochta dátheangaí, agus vótáil naonúr as gach 10 ar a son. <BR /> <BR />Ar níos mó ná leath de na sráideanna uile - 54% - ní raibh aon easaontú ann, agus, i 96% de chásanna, bhí níos mó cónaitheoirí i bhfabhar na comharthaíochta dátheangaí ná a bhí ina coinne. Ar fud na 536 shráid a ndeachaigh suirbhé orthu, ní raibh oiread is aon sráid amháin ann nach rabhathas sásta leis an chomharthaíocht dhátheangach. Insíonn sin rud tábhachtach dúinn: ní beartas conspóideach é seo; tá sé cuimsitheach. Léiríonn sé gur cathair nua-aimseartha fhéin-mhuiníneach é Béal Feirste.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Member for that. He will know that international best practice with regard to visibility for minority languages is the basis for that policy in Belfast City Council. I know that the DUP is totally opposed to Irish in any form whatsoever, but you need to get used to it. It is a minority language here and needs to be helped and supported. That is exactly what is happening. <BR /> <BR />Ó tugadh an beartas isteach, agus ó ceadaíodh na chéad sráideanna i mí Eanáir na bliana 2023, chuaigh suirbhé ar bhreis is 530 sráid ar fud Bhéal Feirste. Níor chuir ach fíor-bheagán i gcoinne an bheartais. Níor easaontaigh ach 2.9% de na cónaitheoirí uile a ndeachaigh suirbhé orthu. Ar an meán, sin 1.7% in aghaidh na sráide.”
“Is iarracht eile é an rún seo ón DUP lenár dtarraingt ar gcúl. Níl suim dá laghad ag bunús mór na ndaoine in iarrachtaí den chineál seo. Tá formhór mhuintir Bhéal Feirste, agus, leoga, formhór mhuintir an Tuaiscirt, ag iarraidh sin a fhágáil ina ndiaidh. An frith-Ghaelachas atá taobh thiar den rún seo. Tá sé seanaimseartha, agus tagann sé salach ar an Bhéal Feirste atá againn inniu. Insíonn na fíricí a scéal féin. <BR /> <BR />Ó tugadh an beartas isteach, agus ó ceadaíodh na chéad sráideanna i mí Eanáir na bliana 2023, chuaigh suirbhé ar bhreis is 530 sráid ar fud Bhéal Feirste. Níor chuir ach fíor-bheagán i gcoinne an bheartais. Níor easaontaigh ach 2·9% de na cónaitheoirí uile a ndeachaigh suirbhé orthu.”
“You should maybe tell that to the Education Minister who, today, was talking about rushing his own legislation through. He wanted the Committee Stage to be compressed so that he could get his legislation done as quickly as possible. Maybe you should have a word with him.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In the course of his hectoring of members of the Committee, the Minister made reference to "a Protestant school". I am not aware of a Protestant school sector. I know that we have the controlled sector and the maintained sector. I believe that what the Minister was trying to do was sectarianise a serious issue that was discussed sensitively in the Committee. That is conduct that is unbecoming of any Minister, and the Minister should withdraw the comments that he made.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Minister has just made an allegation that is completely untrue. I have never uttered the words that he said there.”
“We have mentioned the guidelines and the lack of integrity that there appeared to have been in the whole process numerous times. Can you think of any reason why draft guidelines could not have been shown to the Committee? The Minister could have said, "This is what I have in mind. Take a look at those and discuss them. If you think that you can do better, come back to me, and we will have a larger discussion about it". That would have been a good way to move forward. We all agree that we need to have greater affordability when it comes to school uniforms and other connected issues. Instead, we have this debate today. Although we are all going to vote in favour of the Bill, we all know that we are divided on its efficacy and on concerns that, when it comes to affordability and equality, it is not going to butter the parsnips.”
“We were misled by officials. I do not believe that they had skin in the game, but I believe that they were acting under instruction from those higher up the food chain. There is therefore no contradiction in what my colleague has just said.”
“I wonder, because I did not hear this articulated in any of the debates, either in Committee or in the Chamber, where the Ulster Unionist Party stands on the issue of girls having the right to wear trousers to school.”
“The only way to ensure that that situation is rectified is by ensuring that, by right, girls are allowed to wear trousers. They do not have to wear them. They could still choose to wear a skirt. However, if you want to ensure that that young girl whom you are talking about is able to do sport — I mentioned a young girl who has to go into a field with nettles and thistles wearing a skirt — that situation can be changed by bringing equality legislation in here. We all know — I said it earlier — that there are principals who, on their own whim, will not allow girls to wear trousers to school.”
“That is why, at Sinn Féin's request, the Education Committee has now agreed to begin exploratory work on a Committee Bill that will correct the Minister's homework, close the loopholes that he left wide open and deliver real affordability, fairness and equality for children and young people. We will not rest until that happens. Families have waited far too long for action, and Sinn Féin will make sure that they get it one way or another, regardless of how long it takes.”
“<BR /> <BR />There was also the issue of ensuring comfort and practicality of uniforms for our children and young people with additional needs. Some children become stressed or anxious because of the type of materials that uniforms are made of or because of the style of uniforms — for example, ties and shirts closed up to the neck. There is also the issue of supporting schools to facilitate more uniform banks and swap schemes. It is missed opportunity after missed opportunity. <BR /> <BR />We will allow the legislation to pass today because families deserve something rather than nothing, but make no mistake: families deserve better than this.”
“Working with others, Sinn Féin tabled sensible, practical proposals that would have done all that — not once, but twice — and they were blocked from even being debated. Let us recap on some of those proposals. One was limiting the number of branded or bespoke items that a school could require. Another was the right for girls to wear trousers if they want to, not at the whim of a principal. I agree with the Minister that there are schools that currently permit girls to wear trousers, but there are also schools that will not permit girls to wear trousers. Every one of us sitting here knows that. There are schools that will refuse girls the right to wear trousers, even during menstruation or when they are uncomfortable because of other issues. That is another opportunity that the Minister missed.”
“I thank the Member for that. I am not sure that I agree that it is just a minority. School uniforms are one of the biggest costs for families throughout the year, especially families who have maybe two or three children going to post-primary school. <BR /> <BR />We mentioned on a number of occasions the example of Craigavon Integrated College, which, in consultation with parents and students, recently designed a new school uniform. That will come in at £2 under the school uniform grant. That is the type of radical thinking that we need, and which we expected here, but we now know that we are not going to get it. When we are talking about reducing costs, that is what we are talking about. We are not talking about reducing something by a fiver. <BR /> <BR />We want a significant reduction in costs for hard-pressed families and parents.”
“The Chair said that he does not know of any Minister who would want to bring forward legislation that is not effective. I sort of concur, but I believe that the intention of the Minister is to bring forward light-touch legislation. Families will not notice any significant difference next year or the year after. <BR /> <BR />Families across the North are struggling. They wanted the Bill to deliver relief and fairness. Instead, it was a missed opportunity. The DUP Minister has produced a weak, light-touch piece of legislation that does little to bring prices down, nothing to protect parents from excessive branded demands, and nothing to promote equality or fairness for children and young people.”
“I do not believe that the officials had an axe to grind or had skin in the game; I believe that they were just following instructions. That is not good faith. This is serious lawmaking. It is disrespectful to the Assembly and the legislative process, but, more importantly, it is disrespectful to the hard-pressed families who were hoping for meaningful legislation that would give them a break from the spiralling cost of school uniforms. <BR /> <BR />We do not have faith in the Minister's legislation because we do not believe that he is one bit serious about significantly cutting the cost of uniforms. For example, on a radio programme some weeks back, he did not even mildly criticise a school's practice of introducing a separate elite-tier uniform costing £180 to distinguish its high achievers.”
“From the very beginning, Sinn Féin approached the Bill in good faith, and, on that basis, we accepted a shorter Committee Stage. We engaged constructively, tabled amendments to make the legislation stronger, and took Department of Education officials at their word when they told us that the draft guidelines would be shared with us before the summer recess. We were told that, once we saw the guidelines, we would be assured that there was no need to amend the Bill, only to discover that the Minister never intended to give us sight of anything. <BR /> <BR />The Minister then mocked that process in the Chamber. He laughed off the commitments that were made to Committee members by his senior officials. He laughed to himself as he confirmed that we were never going to see the guidelines, despite the promises of those senior officials.”
“The Member may recall the evidence that we heard from a very articulate primary-school child who attends a rural school. Sometimes the class is taken into the field beside the school, and that child said that she has to wear a skirt, whereas the boys can wear trousers, and there are nettles and thistles and so on in the field. It is just not fair and does not provide equality for that girl. Does the Member agree with me on that?”
“Does she agree that any changes to decarbonisation must be in line with just transition principles?”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht a freagra.”