Mark Durkan
Foyle · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“That review involved an extensive engagement exercise with charities, regulators and funders, aimed at creating a more modern and proportionate regulatory system.”
“When the review was commenced in 2021, many organisations were still in the midst of responding to the pandemic. Since then, they have faced a succession of new and evolving challenges. The ending of European funding programmes, on which so many in our communities relied for decades, has left a significant gap.”
“<BR /> <BR />The broad principles behind the Bill are sensible. The changes will modernise charity regulation, strengthen the Charity Commission's ability to intervene where misconduct or mismanagement occurs, improve information sharing and, importantly, reduce unnecessary red tape, particularly for smaller charities with limited adminis…”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak today. Before turning to the detail of the legislation — there will not even be that much detail in the debate today at Second Stage — I pay tribute to our charity sector. Across every constituency, charities provide support that changes and saves lives every single day.”
“<BR /> <BR />Whilst the SDLP supports legislation that removes unnecessary bureaucracy, we should not kid ourselves that administrative reform alone will secure the future of charities and organisations in the voluntary and community sector.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Like other Members, I welcome the fact that we have reached this point. There seems to be consensus among Committee members and, I am sure, all Members that the introduction of these measures will save lives, which begs the question of whether the 10-year delay in introducing the measures had an opposi…”
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“<BR /> <BR />The motion calls for a straightforward and essential safety measure — a legal requirement for vehicles to stop when school buses are picking up or dropping off pupils. It is not radical or even new, but it is long overdue. In rural areas, in particular, where roads are narrow, footpaths are absent, visibility is poor and signage is inadequate, that measure could and will save lives. The Assembly has passed road safety motions before. We have commissioned reviews, but, today, we cannot just go through the motions of another motion. It must be a springboard to change: to changing the law to protect children. <BR /> <BR />We support calls for a broader strategy involving the Department of Education, school transport providers and the PSNI. We need safer infrastructure, public awareness campaigns and shared responsibility.”
“Across our communities, children have suffered life-changing injuries or lost their lives in similar circumstances after stepping off a school bus. <BR /> <BR />Today, we are also joined by Amelia O'Neill, whose children Fintan and Mary were struck in 2017 and live with life-altering injuries; by Rosemary and Bob Hogg, whose 13-year-old daughter Caitlin was killed in 2022 in circumstances tragically similar to those of Caitlin-Rose; and by leading paediatric consultants, who know all too well the consequences of our inaction, and others who work every day to reduce deaths on our roads. Their testimonies and presence here today are moving, and they should move us all: they should move us to action and to commit ourselves to meaningful change.”
“I pay tribute to all those who, almost 100% of the time, play their part in making sure that they do: our school staff, bus drivers and so many others. <BR /> <BR />For one family, 88 days ago, what should have been just another school day ended in horror and heartbreak with the devastating loss of their beautiful child Caitlin-Rose, who was doing what children across the country do every day — getting off a school bus. I thank Stella McMullan for her attendance here today and for her family's incredible courage in the face of such unimaginable grief. I never cease to be amazed and inspired by families who channel their loss and grief to ensure that other families do not have to suffer the same. It is a sad truth, however, that that tragedy was not an isolated incident but one of many. Each life lost is one too many.”
“Many of us will have a familiar school day routine and rush — alarms ringing, the battleground of breakfast and ushering children out the door, ensuring that they have everything they need for the day ahead, including lunchboxes, pencil cases, PE gear and a warm coat. They go to school, they learn, they laugh with their friends and count down the minutes until the bell rings. Then, just like every other day, they line up to go home, trusting that the same bus that carried them there will take them back home safely. With that comes the fundamental unspoken contract that, as parents, carers and school staff, we all hold to: when we send our children out in the morning to go to school, they will return to us safe and sound.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“The Minister said that he will ensure a better balance of arts funding. What action will he take to address the obvious imbalance that last year saw 83% of the £13 million that was allocated for arts funding go to arts organisations based in Belfast and left artists and organisations based elsewhere fighting over the crumbs? That situation has been compounded by the Arts Council's proposed removal of 100% of its funding from Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company in my constituency.”
“Where are our Executive Office Ministers to address those concerns? <BR /> <BR />It is the Minister for Communities who is responsible for housing. Not only is his Department responsible for housing in general but for the regulation and licensing of HMOs. The DUP might want to rerun the debate and call him to the House. You will not, though, because you know the answer that he would give you, and you do not want to put him in that position. The conflation of those two issues is not just opportunistic or cynical but downright dangerous. Catch yourselves on.”
“It is about protecting the character of existing residential areas and the amenity of residents from unsuitable overdevelopment, not from immigrants. I would point out that there is scope for councils, through their local development plans — I do not mean to give your response for you, Minister — to look at limits on HMOs in their areas. I implore the Minister to work with councils on ways in which they can do that to protect residents from overdevelopment. <BR /> <BR />Earlier, in an intervention, I made the point that we have a housing crisis. HMOs are a very small aspect of housing. It is blatantly obvious that the singling out of HMOs was to get a non-DUP Minister here to respond to the debate. Where is the Executive Office on a strategy? Unmanaged immigration does create issues, so where is the Executive Office strategy to manage it?”
“I thank the Member for that helpful contribution, particularly because the reference to the pressure that migration is putting on the health service is — well, not laughable — risible. Have you had the misfortune of being in one of our hospitals lately? Without immigrants, our hospitals would collapse altogether. <BR /> <BR />On the HMO aspect, I tend to agree that there is a requirement to look at policy. I raised that issue on the Floor with the Minister recently. It was interesting to hear the Chair of the Infrastructure Committee speak so passionately on that today. We have had planning officials in front of us in the Committee on several occasions in the past year, and it has not been an issue of concern, as I recall.”
“This is Westminster money: sure, fill your boots. <BR /> <BR />Like other Members in all parties, I have heard and listened to the concerns of constituents. However, I back up and support what my party colleague said. The DUP is not interested in addressing or allaying those concerns; it is interested only in exploiting them. <BR /> <BR />Mr Gaston referred to recent election results in England. I have no doubt that that is a good part of the motivation behind the motion.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. If the NHS was getting the extra £350 million a week that the Brexit bus told us that it would get and that the Member and party across the way championed, we might well be able to afford it. How much did RHI cost the public purse?”
“I was not going to speak, but I feel compelled to do so. Raising concerns about immigration does not make someone racist. I do not dispute that unmanaged immigration compounds existing issues to a degree. However, let us not place the blame at the feet of the immigrants. The proposer of the motion made great play of the lady who could not get a GP appointment and the child who could not get a school place. He is speaking up and standing up for them. I did not hear him speak up or see him stand up for those people yesterday, when he voted for a Budget that is going to enshrine and exacerbate the difficulty that so many of our people have in accessing and relying on crumbling public services. Like other Members —.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Unfortunately, the proposer of the motion was unable to do so. Can the Member explain why the motion focuses on HMOs and calls on the Infrastructure Minister to act on that particular element of housing rather than focusing on the wider housing crisis that we face? Doing that would call for his party colleague the Communities Minister to respond to the debate.”
“Will you expand on that? Will you commit to exploring further opportunities for joint funding for addiction services in border areas? I think of Northlands Addiction Treatment Centre in my constituency, which has recently been stripped of its core funding?”
“Minister, in your statement, you referred to:”
“Each diagnosis has a whole-family impact. Dementia devastates lives, but, as we have heard, it also brings devastation to our economy: it costs over £1 billion currently, and that figure is set to rise to £2 billion by 2040, unless action is taken now.”
“The six most common symptoms of dementia are memory loss — problems recalling things that have happened recently; difficulty in organising thoughts; struggling to make decisions, solve problems or follow steps; problems with communication — difficulty in following conversations or finding the right words; problems with vision — difficulty in judging distances or perceiving object edges; confusion about time or place, losing track of the time or date or becoming confused about location; and changes in mood or personality, such as becoming unusually anxious, irritable or withdrawn. <BR /> <BR />Over the next 15 years, we will face a 51% jump in dementia cases, which will be the largest rise in the number of people living with dementia across these islands. By 2040, we will have over 37,000 people living with dementia.”
“Every year, those who are living with dementia but do not have a diagnosis account for around 15,000 visits to A&Es. That puts huge pressure on the wrong part of the health service: it is not good for the patients, the staff or the system. <BR /> <BR />This Dementia Action Week, the Alzheimer's Society is shining a light on the six most common early signs and symptoms of dementia and encouraging people to seek help, if they spot those signs in themselves or a loved one. Anyone with concerns can use its free symptom checklist and seek help.”
“As the chair of the all-party group on dementia, I would also like to speak about Dementia Action Week. <BR /> <BR />The Alzheimer's Society has indicated that around 25,000 people live with dementia across the North. However, more than a third of people with dementia do not have a diagnosis, so they cannot access the vital care, support and treatment that they need. I understand that getting a diagnosis can be daunting, but research shows that 97% of people affected by dementia have seen the benefit of a diagnosis. An early and accurate diagnosis helps people to live independently for longer, access existing treatments and avoid ending up in crisis. It also allows people to better understand their condition and plan for their future.”
“Communities do not feel safe because call-outs are not answered and many crimes are not properly investigated. We acknowledge that we need more money from Westminster, but we also need better ideas at Stormont. <BR /> <BR />I will finish with a word on political hypocrisy. In the South, Sinn Féin calls for more water infrastructure investment, housing reform and an overhaul of planning. That is all laudable, but all of that is opposed or neglected when they sit at the head of the table here.”
“Instead, there is a complete lack of political will to implement such simple solutions. Departments need to work together. <BR /> <BR />The mental health crisis here continues to deepen, yet the Budget fails to address it. The removal of funding to vital services such as Northlands will leave more vulnerable people without the help that they urgently need and shift the burden to emergency services, Justice and the housing system. There needs to be more investment in policing and community safety. The Chief Constable has been quoted as saying that his budget is "beyond disappointing". Policing numbers are a cause for real concern. Response times are up, and confidence is down. The perception of policing is shifting, not on the basis of any political ideology but because of the public's struggle to access basic services.”
“It is the perfect metaphor for how the Executive operate: avoid action, avoid responsibility and avoid reality until things collapse in crisis. That collapse can clearly be seen in our health system, which is haemorrhaging staff, no longer just to better paid jobs down under but to Donegal. Waiting lists are obscene. People are turning to credit unions and other less reputable sources to borrow money for private care. We hope that the reimbursement scheme will help in part to address that situation, but we need preventative care, not just crisis management. We have heard much lately about the cost of obesity. The Barnett consequential from the sugar tax levy should be ring-fenced here to address related health issues such as obesity and type 2 diabetes.”
“<BR /> <BR />We cannot advise people to leave their car at home when public transport is not up to scratch. One in five rural bus services have been cancelled. Fares have gone up multiple times, yet investment remains nowhere near what is required. In 2023, the South's rail network reported a 28·5% increase in passenger journeys: we had an increase of 7·1%. That underscores the huge disparity in investment. We need a reliable, affordable and regionally balanced public transport network to reduce car dependency, protect our environment and boost the economy. <BR /> <BR />Is there money in the Budget for the remediation of Mobuoy dump? The cost of delay is mounting for the taxpayer and for the environment.”
“Emergency accommodation costs have ballooned from £700,000 to nearly £8 million. I raised the alarm on those figures years ago, but Ministers looked away and showed little appetite for confronting the consequences of inaction and its inevitable cost to the public purse and to people. We have constantly raised the need for an infrastructure commission to tackle capital overspend of £3 billion, but what has dominated headlines instead is a row about £150,000 being spent on Irish language signage at Grand Central station, which, by the way, is a project that ran over budget by tens of millions of pounds. The selective spats over such issues while we ignore the daily dysfunction bleeds public funds dry and sucks public confidence out of politics.”
“I thank the Member for that intervention. It goes up, but, in real terms, it goes down and, as Mr McReynolds highlighted, goes far below what is required and what was identified as being required in the price control plan. The Executive continue to kick the can down the road. <BR /> <BR />Earlier this year, the Executive celebrated the long overdue housing supply strategy, but what hope is there of solving the housing crisis, if the infrastructure is not there and plans cannot be approved? Ms Mulholland outlined how the Budget will build nowhere near enough homes. The Executive, however, sit on hundreds of acres of vacant public land and own buildings that cost millions to maintain. Those are assets that could and should be repurposed to provide social and affordable housing.”
“<BR /> <BR />Once again, the Budget fails to confront the crisis in our water and waste water infrastructure. Northern Ireland Water and others have been clear: without improved and sustained investment, housing development will stall, pollution will worsen and public health will be at risk.”
“The strategic road maintenance plan recommends an annual spend of £143 million to keep our roads in a steady and safe state. That target has not been met once in the past decade. Instead, we get patchwork repairs and escalating costs. The collapse of Stormont meant that fallback funding from monitoring rounds also vanished, and our roads, like other public services, were left to disintegrate. Meanwhile, compensation claims have soared to £25 million in the past five years. The cost of doing nothing is not zero; it is millions. This is not belt tightening; it is strangulation. We need investment in maintenance, not just vanity projects. The public are not crying out for flashy announcements or more consultations; they are crying out for their street lights to work, for their drains not to overflow and for roads not to ruin their cars.”
“People still cannot get a GP or dentist appointment; their daily journeys are peppered with potholes; local businesses struggle to stay afloat and keep people in work; and the dream of owning or even accessing a secure home is nigh on impossible. The reality on the ground bears no resemblance to the press conferences in the Great Hall, and people are right to ask, "If this is leadership, why aren't our lives getting any better?". <BR /> <BR />Let us begin where the cracks are most visible: our crumbling infrastructure. Some 70% of our road infrastructure is classified as "poor" or "very poor". For many constituencies, potholes are not just a nuisance but a menace. One kilometre of the Strand Road — a main arterial route in my constituency — has had 400 pothole repairs in the past five years, yet the area does not warrant resurfacing.”
“The Budget is a masterclass in managed decline. It tries to paper over the cracks of the damage done by decades of disinvestment from London and dysfunction and a dearth of ideas here. As my party colleagues have mentioned, if "Doing what matters most" is the Executive's guiding principle, it does not appear to include "Doing things differently". If we had a pound for every time that we have heard, "Next year, we'll move to multi-year Budgets", we would be in a much better financial position. We have an Executive of optics who govern by press release. The carefully choreographed photo ops and promises of leadership for all are starting to wear thin.”
“I welcome progress on the Inner Walled City scheme that the original question referred to. Will the Minister consider a regeneration scheme for Foyle Street, adjacent to the city walls, where beleaguered businesses have suffered from the prolonged closure of the street due to works by Northern Ireland Water? The good news is that the street will be reopened to traffic at the end of this week. However, the street still could do with a facelift, and any intervention from the Minister would be welcome.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. I am not sure that it answers my question, which was focused on issues that have emanated recently and publicly in and around the Waterside area in particular. However, we welcome any initiative to educate our young people on the evil of sectarianism and the dangerous and deadly destination that it can lead to and has led to in the past. Will the Minister agree that, as elected representatives, we have a responsibility and that what we say and do here matters? We should all focus on the common good. Of course, we can disagree, but we should do so respectfully and without whipping up fear and driving division.”
“We will be supporting the amendments. We need to ensure that, this time next year, we are not still standing here debating the issue.”
“I have already mentioned two of those prongs, The sustainable urban drainage system stuff is dead on, but, again, it is tinkering and legislating for something that already happens in practice. Anyway, where is that legislation? By the time that we see it, development may well have already ground to a halt. That really would be "SuDS" law. I appeal to Members to back the motion.”
“Unfortunately, we have had to, because they have not made any difference. She said that she was proactive, like her predecessor; I would say that she is as proactive as her predecessor. She referred to the fact that a previous Infrastructure Minister was from the SDLP. That is never forgotten — we are never allowed to forget it. In her two years in office, through a global pandemic, Nichola Mallon brought PC 21 to the Executive, where it was agreed by the Executive parties. That agreement is another agreement that has been reneged on. The Minister said that she had not heard the Opposition's proposals. We are asking for the Minister to seek the expert-led review that was recommended by the Audit Office to hear the experts' proposals. She referred, again, to her three-pronged approach.”
“<BR /> <BR />The leader of the Opposition, my esteemed colleague, made the point that developer contributions are almost a smokescreen — an attempt to muddy the waters, if you like — to distract from the real action that is required. He spoke about the potential for new borrowing points and pointed to the promises that were made on water infrastructure in NDNA. I am starting to think that that is an acronym for "Neither Delivered Nor Achieved". <BR /> <BR />Gerry Carroll said that the fault does not lie with the workers in Northern Ireland Water but with the Executive, who have starved the agency of funds. Of course, the same applies to NIW as applies to the Executive: NIW needs more but it could do better with what it has got. <BR /> <BR />I move now to the Minister. She said that we have had these discussions numerous times.”
“He sought more detail from the Minister on developer contributions, and we did not get that from the Minister today. <BR /> <BR />Stephen Dunne raised the pausing of the living with water programme in Belfast. At the same time as it is being paused, there is an ongoing public consultation on living with water in Derry, when the reality is that, without some sort of miracle, it is already dead in the water. <BR /> <BR />John Stewart focused on the blockages to development that impact on our ability to attract investment. Northern Ireland Water needs stable, multi-year investment. We are not even treading water; we are sinking.”
“The Member also politely questioned the value of the internal reviews carried out by the Department. <BR /> <BR />Nicola Brogan pointed out that outdated infrastructure is a consequence of British austerity. Of course, underfunding has had a hugely negative impact on development and public services, and it is important that we come together and continue to demand more, but no one can honestly say that the Executive have played well with the hand that they have been dealt over the years. <BR /> <BR />Keith Buchanan brought up a few highlights from the avalanche of evidence that the Infrastructure Committee has received on the issue. We have been looking at it for a long time, and the longer that we look at it, the worse it looks.”
“I am not going to get extra time, so I am afraid not.”
“Andrew McMurray made the point that the Minister's desire to work with Executive colleagues to get more funding is likely to be as successful as that approach has been so far, which is not particularly successful, other than in the example that we heard of — the monitoring round in which we got an extra £19 million. That was welcome, but much more is needed. My fear is that it will continue to be less successful as the costs of, and demand for, other infrastructure projects continue to grow and grow.”
“The fact that the Minister had to bring in a forensic accountant is further evidence that all is far from well. We still do not know how far the forensic accountant will dig beyond the overspend of a few million pounds on this year's dramatically reduced requirement.”
“Therefore, we need an expert-led independent review, but it must be open, transparent and rooted in fairness. It must ask the hard questions. How do we deliver the infrastructure that we need without placing a burden on working families or businesses, which are already stretched to the limit? <BR /> <BR />I will turn to Members' contributions. It is clear that everyone knows the issues and knows that there needs to be some action; we just might not all agree on what action that should be. I will start with what my colleague Patsy McGlone said. While much of the debate subsequently focused on the funding model, my colleague's remarks demonstrated that, while there is a clear problem with funding, there are also clear issues with governance.”
“Water infrastructure investment is being squeezed out of general public funding, and the burden is quietly being shifted on to households. Meanwhile, businesses, which pay direct water rates, see their bills rise by about 5% year after year. For many small and medium-sized businesses, that is unsustainable. It is really death by a thousand cuts. While the Minister will point and has pointed to developer contributions, as others have said, the revenue that is raised will just scratch the surface of what is needed to do the work. It will have to come from somewhere. It will be passed on to homebuyers, pushing up the price of homes, which, in turn, will push up the cost of rent. People will pay more. Fewer social homes will be delivered as a result.”
“That will not be too far away from people's or parties' consciousness. People also need to know that they already pay for water, and I will come on to that. <BR /> <BR />Amendment No 2 might deviate a wee bit from our motion, but we will support it, because, when we talk about fairness, we are talking about domestic water charges. We in the SDLP have consistently opposed the introduction of separate water charges, and we stand by that. However, let us not pretend, as I said, that people are not already paying for water. Let us not allow the Minister or anyone else to maintain that fiction. People are paying, and, in many cases, they are paying more. <BR /> <BR />Domestic rates have gone up and continue to go up.”
“A review, to which the Minister is resistant, may well vindicate her position. While mutualisation might offer some advantages in borrowing powers or long-term investment planning, it is not necessarily a panacea and should not be used as a smokescreen to avoid the deeper and more difficult conversation about how we fund water infrastructure fairly and sustainably. To use the example that has been given today, we need only look at England and Wales to see the disaster that can result when public utilities are driven by profit and not by people's needs.”
“In my constituency of Foyle, we have seen real-world consequences, with planning applications halted, the building of homes delayed and rivers polluted. That is far from unique to Derry. It is happening in every constituency and council area across the North. Chronic underinvestment in waste water infrastructure is not just an environmental issue, a housing issue or an economic issue; it is all those things. It is becoming a crisis that will shape the lives not only of this generation but of many to come. <BR /> <BR />Let me also be clear that, while we need a review, we also need honesty. There has been a lot of talk about mutualisation, with some presenting it as the magic bullet that will solve all of Northern Ireland Water's problems. Let us not kid ourselves.”
“I welcome the opportunity to make a winding-up speech on this important motion. I thank everyone who contributed, particularly the proposers of the amendments, both of which we are happy to accept. <BR /> <BR />It is clear from what we have heard today that everyone is aware of the issues. Some, maybe through the privilege of having a place on the Infrastructure Committee, are more aware of the exact extent of those issues. That is what prompted the SDLP, as the official Opposition, to call for an independent review of Northern Ireland Water's funding and governance. Why? Because the current situation, as we have heard, is clearly untenable. <BR /> <BR />Our waste water network is in crisis, over capacity, underfunded and dragging down economic progress and environmental protection across the North.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“The proposal is in the motion that we tabled. We proposed that the Executive create an infrastructure commission. This was brought to the Executive four or five years ago, but the parties have failed to move it forward. There is the proposal —”
“It must be established alongside planning reform in order to create a more efficient, coordinated approach to building the infrastructure that supports sustainable growth, regional balance and future prosperity. We need leadership that plans not just for the next election but for the next generation. I propose the motion.”
“We heard huge furore around a £150,000 spend on Irish language signage for Grand Central station — a debate that dragged on for weeks — but there was not so much as a whisper or whimper about the fact that the station project itself ran £45 million over the projected £295 million cost. The truth is that the two big parties are complicit in those failures, preferring tit for tat to the tête-à-tête that is required to move projects and this place forward. <BR /> <BR />The commission is not a magic bullet, but it is a start, one that will provide independent expert advice and long-term planning and ensure that every penny spent delivers for people.”