Paula Bradley
North Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I am especially grateful to all the women who, especially in my first mandate here, were a constant support and encouragement to me as a new MLA. Nothing ever prepares you for this role, but many inside and outside this Building are the glue that holds it all together.”
“I thank them for their support, especially over the last week, with the phone calls, emails, cards and flowers, but, most of all, for allowing me to be part of their lives, sometimes at the most difficult times. Secondly, I want to thank my party, of which I have been a member for 20 years.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will try my very best to get through these three minutes without tears in my eyes, though I doubt that that is going to happen. <BR /> <BR />I will begin by thanking you, Mr Speaker.”
“After much discussion with officials concerning the objectives of the Bill, the detail of an SMI loan, the process of registering and removing the statutory charge and how and when an SMI loan is repaid, the Committee was content with the Bill as drafted. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the Final Stage of the Bill.”
“I welcome the Final Stage of the Bill. It is probably the shortest Bill that the Committee considered, but it is no less important, as it aims to protect owner-occupiers in receipt of an income-related benefit from the threat of repossession.”
“I know that I have caused a few headaches over the past two years, but you have always delivered week in, week out and put the needs of the Committee first and foremost. You have made my role as Committee Chair so much easier. For all that you have done, I am truly thankful.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,102 lines we hold for Paula Bradley, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 16 of 23.
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee further noted that the Examiner of Statutory Rules confirmed in her report, which was issued on 21 October 2016, that she has no issues to raise with regard to the technical aspect of the rule. At its meeting on 27 October 2016, the Committee agreed to recommend that the statutory rule be affirmed by the Assembly and therefore supports the motion today.”
“<BR /> <BR />The current Committee considered the policy proposal for this statutory rule at its meeting on 15 September and considered the statutory rule itself more recently at the meeting on 27 October. When considering the statutory rule before the Assembly today, the Committee noted the important safeguards for businesses in the Act to allow businesses to request a rerating of their premises and accepted that the fee of £150 set out in these regulations reflected the costs that would be incurred by district councils in conducting a rerating inspection. The Committee also noted, and had no objection to, the fixed penalty amount of £200 that would be payable by businesses when a fixed penalty notice is served.”
“On behalf of the Committee for Health, I am pleased to speak very briefly on this order, which sets out certain fees and penalties under the Food Hygiene Rating Act, as the Minister outlined. <BR /> <BR />When considering the Food Hygiene Rating Bill back in 2014-15, the previous Health Committee supported the overarching aim of the Bill to reduce the incidence of food-borne illness through the introduction of a mandatory food hygiene rating scheme. It was accepted that this would not only help businesses to achieve and maintain compliance with food hygiene law but allow consumers to make informed choices about where they wish to eat or shop for food.”
“I thank Members for a good and positive debate and for putting HIV and the stigma around it on the agenda here in the Assembly today.”
“I have written to the Minister about this — I write to the Health Minister every year about baby formula for children born to HIV-positive mothers. That is another issue. <BR /> <BR />We need to look across the board. That is why I talked about reducing stigma and not making it just one person or another's disease. The disease affects so many people, whether it is mothers of children, the children themselves or men who have sex with men. Whoever it might be, it affects so many individuals. <BR /> <BR />I thank everyone here today. We will support Ms Bradshaw's amendment. We are still a long way off when we look at the PrEP drug and how we can manage that in Northern Ireland. I spoke out in the summer in support of it, and that has not changed.”
“We need to look at protection; it has to be at the core. <BR /> <BR />I think that three Members have used the word "condoms": how good is that? How long ago is it that that type of word would not have been used in the Chamber? I said to the CEO of Positive Life that I would also use it. We are here to promote safer sex. We should advise people that safe sex is the best message. It is all part and parcel of preventing the passing of infections. It is not just about HIV: look at the increasing prevalence of STIs. The Royal Victoria Hospital's GUM clinic is bursting beyond capacity. I commend it on the work that it does. Whether it is the doctors, the nurses, the allied health professionals or the social workers, they work hard with their HIV clients. I also commend the work that is done in the mother-and-baby unit.”
“It believes that the PrEP drug — I agree, I would love to see the PrEP drug being made available — is not the silver bullet.”
“When they asked me what it was for, they had no difficulty in giving me the money to support me in my 'Strictly Come Dancing' with Positive Life. I want to thank Members for that. They have already taken part in advancing this charity's role. <BR /> <BR />I will not go without mentioning the work of Rainbow as well. I have to commend them also because they do sterling work. As Chair of the all-party group on sexual health, which I have been for the past four years, I have had cause to work with numerous charities, and I want to commend them all as they do excellent work. One of the Members — it might have been Ms Bradshaw — mentioned going to visit Brook. Anyone from the Chamber who has been there will know that you are not allowed to leave without a bag of condoms, because that is what Brook believes.”
“The classes were so good in that the children were being told — at a level that they required — about the choices they make in life, and this is part of it. As Mr McCann said earlier, our children have to make choices in life and they are not always armed with the right information to do so. I absolutely agree with that, and it is definitely something that we need to bring forward. <BR /> <BR />I am delighted that Positive Life has been talked of so highly in the Chamber today. As I said earlier, it is a charity that I have supported for a number of years, including its fundraising events. It had me dancing around and doing the waltz last year, and, as far as Members are concerned, I went round with a sponsor sheet to all the Members' offices earlier this year, and they all gave so generously to Positive Life.”
“However, it has not gone far enough. We need a sexual health strategy that is specific to us here in Northern Ireland. We are not the same as the rest of the UK; we are very different here. So, we need that sexual health strategy in place. <BR /> <BR />A few Members — I think that Clare Bailey was one of them — mentioned relationships and sexuality education (RSE) in schools and our sex education in schools. That is something else that we need to look at. I had cause to attend Knockevin Special School in Downpatrick a few weeks ago with the Family Planning Association (FPA), which was running specific sex education classes for children with additional needs. These classes were fantastic, because these children are probably the most vulnerable in our society.”
“I know him very well, and I know that, several years ago, it might have been difficult for him to come into the Chamber and talk about HIV. But, that is not so now; he can come and talk about it. <BR /> <BR />Charities such as Positive Life speak and explain things to us as MLAs. They lay out on the table how this affects people's lives. As I said before, I am talking about everybody's lives regardless of gender or sexuality. <BR /> <BR />I want to turn to some of the contributions that some people made. First and foremost, several Members brought up the issue of a sexual health strategy. In the last mandate, it was something that I raised several times. I think that Mrs Dobson said that it had been discussed in Committee in 2013. She is absolutely correct. We discussed it then, and we got the addendum up to December last year.”
“However, they are still able to live their life. <BR /> <BR />Thank you, everyone, for your contributions. I just hope that, tonight, when the media click on to this that it is not the altercation between Mr McCann and what he said about my colleague here. I hope that that is not the case, because I want a positive story coming out of the Chamber today on how we can talk about this issue in this Chamber. <BR /> <BR />I have to say a big thank you too to Mr Middleton and Mr Clarke. When I brought the motion to them, as my two Health Committee members, there was absolutely no question that they would sign it and speak on it. I thank Trevor Clarke especially for his honesty. Not only is he my party colleague, he is my friend.”
“I am delighted that people in the Chamber today have come together to support this cause. As I said, it is something that I feel so dearly about, and it is something that I can get quite emotional about as well, because I know how bad the stigma is. <BR /> <BR />I want to highlight something that Clare Bailey said earlier. I also think of all those people who are not here today because of this horrific disease. The person I love was diagnosed about 10 years ago but had it been 10 years prior to that the person might not be around today to tell their story. So, I am glad that we are where we are today when it comes to the drugs that are available and how people who have been affected by HIV can live a normal life albeit, I know, that they are stuck to a regime of medication that controls their life, almost.”
“I know what it is like to go to hospital appointments with them. I know what it is like when they try to go on holiday. I know what it is like when they try to get insurance. I know what it is like when they try to tell people just how their life is affected by HIV. I will defend, and I will stand up and fight and do whatever I can to help anybody who is living with HIV or is at risk of contracting it.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will start by thanking the majority in the Chamber for a very positive and very timely debate, because, as we all know, it is World AIDS Day on Thursday. <BR /> <BR />For the record, I will state that I have supported this charity for a number of years. For a number of years, my party colleague Sammy Douglas and I have run events in this Building on World AIDS Day. That shows the commitment that I have and that he has to this subject. <BR /> <BR />I will also state that I brought forward the motion on behalf of everyone, no matter what their gender or sexuality, because I believe stigma has to be reduced when we talk about HIV. I know personally how HIV affects people, because it affects someone I love dearly. I know what it is like to be there on the day they receive their diagnosis.”
“Maybe we need to look at our EDs as well to see whether referrals can be made to local community response teams, which are doing invaluable work in their communities. They are not there just to pick up the pieces after a suicide; they are there to assist in stopping people committing suicide.”
“I thank the Minister for her answers thus far and Mr Durkan for tabling the urgent oral question. I want to follow up on his question about the community and voluntary sector. I attended the greater Shankill suicide and self-harm reference group meeting in the Hammer community centre in the greater Shankill area. The people there talked about their local community response plan, which works very well when someone presents at an emergency department (ED) who has attempted suicide. The response plan goes in, looks after the community and the family concerned, and builds up a rapport. However, they suggested that maybe our EDs need to look at this slightly differently, given the fact that today's report states that nearly 16,500 people presented at EDs, some of whom had been admitted more than once.”
“Quite frankly, it was not good enough. We need to see more and to have more ideas written down. <BR /> <BR />As I said earlier, I know from meeting people who work in social care and many service users over the past five or six months that there is an appetite and a hunger for change. There is also an appetite and a hunger in the Chamber for change. I add my support to the Minister for her long journey ahead —”
“However, I know from my DUP colleagues on these Benches that we will face problems. I think that the Minister will also face problems from her colleagues. We have tough decisions to make; there are really tough decisions ahead of us. However, I think that there is momentum and will; I have heard from everybody in the Chamber that they want to see change and want to effect it. <BR /> <BR />As I said before, I am glad that Ms Bradshaw brought forward her amendment, because there needs to be an implementation plan. That uncertainty will lead to some people becoming cynical, and not just Members but service users and those who work in the service. We need to see progress; we need to have something more stable in place. That goes for the budget as well. We had a witness session last week at the Health Committee to do with the budget.”
“I want to pick up on a few points. I was glad that Ms Bradshaw said that change is often uncomfortable. I think that that is one of the major dilemmas that we, as an Assembly, will have as we go forward in this mandate, and in future mandates, when it comes to health and social care. Mrs Dobson talked earlier about the closure of EDs; she said that she did not wish that to happen. It is very comfortable for me, as a Belfast MLA, to look at everything else around the rest of our Province and think that we could do something better, that we should close or move something, or that we should make somewhere a special hub for something. I can say that with great comfort because I know that I have absolutely everything on my doorstep here in Belfast. I am so glad to have that.”
“I would like the Minister to comment on rolling that out further. We have heard also in Committee about the pressures facing our GP services, and all our primary care services, and about how that vision for the future can make a real difference.”
“I see so much innovative work taking place every day across primary and secondary care. <BR /> <BR />A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hosting a physiotherapy event. We heard from service users, who are probably the most important people to hear from in all this, especially with regard to self-referral in the South Eastern Trust, where, as I think that I have said here before, over 7,000 people have now used that initiative.”
“During that journey over the past few months, I have seen a real difference and optimism in all those disciplines in health and social care. <BR /> <BR />On Friday afternoon, I attended an event here for the College of Occupational Therapists. It was launching a report on reducing the pressures on hospital admissions, which is something that we very much want to look at in the future of health and social care. It showed us again the innovative work that is happening day and daily amongst allied health professionals here in Northern Ireland. At times, we look at health and social care and say that we have not done anything or that it has been at stalemate. As someone who came from that background and has not worked in it for over five years, I think very differently.”
“I thank the proposers of both the motion and the amendment, especially the proposer of the amendment on her very positive contribution. It is good to see that. I always think that I am the only optimist in the room; it is good to see that there is more than one here. I also thank her for the amendment because it puts a little bit more meat on the bones of the motion. We will also support it. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the commitment by the Executive in their unanimous support for the implementation of the Minister's plan for the future of health and social care. As Chair and a member of the Committee for Health, in recent months, I, along with others, have had the great pleasure of meeting many groups, whether that be the BMA or the RCN, all the various AHPs, social workers, and other people who work in health and social care.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. I welcome the money that has gone towards health through the allocations, albeit that we could probably have had a lot more. I am sure that the Minister came to you with many emerging priorities. <BR /> <BR />I want to follow on from what my colleague, the Chair of the Finance Committee, said about the transformation fund. Will the transformation fund be used to support the healthcare reform as the Minister outlined earlier?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement outlining her vision for Health and Social Care. Your vision is very ambitious, Minister, but I believe that, with consensus in the House, it is achievable. The statement mentions that tough decisions need to be made and refers to the Bengoa criteria. Will the Minister tell the House what process she intends to put in place to involve communities, front-line staff and political representatives in order to make that a reality? Will she also advise what preliminary work has been done to cost the proposals set out in her statement?”
“That, again, is entirely correct: it is not just nursing that we need to look at but everything else as well. <BR /> <BR />I was delighted to hear that Mr Sheehan had been in my wonderful constituency of North Belfast, at the Mater Hospital, for whatever reason it might have been. I thank him for his contribution. I know that I am getting to the end now and need to wind up. I thank everyone who took part, especially those who told their personal stories. I was glad to hear Antrim Area Hospital getting a mention for the work that it has done for Mr Milne and his family. There is an overall consensus in the Chamber that we cannot thank our nursing and healthcare staff enough for the work that they do for us.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will just touch on a few more contributions if I can fit them in. Catherine Seeley talked about International Nurses Day and the feelings of being drained and hopeless of the person she spoke to. That is certainly not what we want to hear of our health and social care staff. They are the people who, when we are feeling drained or hopeless or go to visit loved ones in that state, we want to comfort us. We forget that no one is comforting them through their trials. <BR /> <BR />I have already touched on some of what Mr Butler had to say, so I will move on to Mrs Bradshaw. She was absolutely right when she said that we needed to reduce our dependency on agency workers. She also said that workforce planning was a major issue across the entire health and social care service.”
“<BR /> <BR />I find the amendment to be a rather good one — I do not think that any of our Members said that it was not — but we felt that it did not address some of the specifics. We are not knocking it; we certainly have not done so. I hope that the tone from these Benches has not been heard in that way. I think it was Mr Butler who said that he did not want to politicise this; in fact, he was the only Member to politicise things when he talked about Health Ministers not doing anything. I wonder whether that includes his Health Minister when his party held it, but, at this stage, I will not know the answer to that. I am glad that it did not become a political football in the Chamber. Time and again, when we debate health in here, that is not how any of us want to take it forward.”
“He mentioned, too, the reliance on agency staff — many Members pulled it into the debate today — which costs our health service a vast amount of money. There are vacancies for nurses in care homes and other parts of the health sector that cannot be filled, and that is very much to do with the overuse of bank nurses. Some nurses have decided that that is a better course for them. I cannot blame them, because they can choose their hours, decide what days they want to work and get paid slightly better. We cannot throw the blame on nurses. Why would you work unsociable hours, weekends and night shifts, when, through banking, you can pick and choose what you do? We need to address all those things, as everyone said, through workforce planning for the future.”
“He said that when he meets his trust — I am sure that we are all the same — the issue of our nursing and medical staff is brought up time and time again. I believe, even from the tone of the debate, that we all take this seriously and want to see and effect change. <BR /> <BR />Mr Anderson also mentioned that the needs of the service had changed over time. Mrs Dobson brought that up as well. The role of nurses is diversifying all the time. That is due to, among many things, the number of people with long-term conditions and multiple co-morbidities, which has led to changes in what nurses have to deal with and how they work. <BR /> <BR />Mr Anderson also brought up the age of the workforce in nursing and especially in midwifery, which has become a great problem and needs to be addressed.”
“<BR /> <BR />My colleague Gordon Dunne, who has left, made an intervention on safety and staffing levels on wards during Mr Anderson's speech. I am sure that the Minister takes that extremely seriously, given that we are hearing information that, because of a reduction, there are only two healthcare assistants and two nurses to manage wards. We need to identify that pretty quickly in our hospitals and in our trusts, because that should not happen. We know the pressures that those nurses are under and how that type of unsafe working can lead to mistakes and an increase in sickness among staff. <BR /> <BR />I will move on to some of the comments that were made. I thank Mr Anderson again. He and a lot of Members said that the problem was not unique to Northern Ireland. We are seeing an increased need and a reduction in nurses worldwide.”
“I am of an age that I remember it way back before it was a nursing degree, and I remember working with all the nurses who had to go through their nursing degree. I am very encouraged by what the Minister is saying about the pathways, especially the Open University pathway. We all know so many high-quality healthcare support workers or healthcare assistants and the invaluable work that they do and the level of nursing that they provide on the wards. I would like the Assembly, in any way possible, to pull all that experience together and enable them to progress through a nursing career and a nursing pathway. I am also encouraged about the fast-track programme, whereby we look at people who have other health-related degrees and fast-track them through nursing. There are some very welcome things there.”
“I have worked across the board with them all at some stage in my time in health and social care, and I have used several of them over the years. I will go on to talk about Members' contributions in a moment, but it is very telling how many people in the Chamber have had very close contact with nursing. I thank Jo-Anne and Ian Milne for bringing up their experiences. I know about that on a personal level, too. The nurse is the one person whom you come to rely on, especially in that hospital setting. You can tell from the comments in the Chamber — Mrs Bradley is the same — just how important those services are when you have to use them. <BR /> <BR />I want to touch on the nursing degree.”
“I do not want to minimise the debate in any way by looking at all our different types of nurses in a different way; I see them all as nurses. We have very much focused on hospital-type nursing and midwifery. We also need to look beyond that, because part of the way forward for health and social care in Northern Ireland is to look at primary care. We have our district nurses, our acute-care-at-home team nurses and our practice nurses, all of whom are essential to keeping our health service going. I pay tribute to them for the work that they do. We heard at the Health Committee last week about the crisis that faces GPs in Northern Ireland, and, without those practice nurses, district nurses and acute-care-at-home teams, GPs would be in an even worse position. I do not rule out any type of nurse when I stand up and speak.”
“I welcome the opportunity to wind up the debate. First , I thank my colleague Sydney Anderson for asking me to put my name to the motion. I was more than happy to. Many Members on our Benches go home to nurses at night-time. I know that many in the Chamber do that. I can hear Mr Poots in the background heckling, and I know what he has to put up with: worse still, I know what she has to put up with. Anyway, I digress. I will go back to the subject. <BR /> <BR />I join all my colleagues and everyone in the Chamber in showing our gratitude to our nursing staff throughout Northern Ireland. As someone who worked for the health service for a number of years, I know only too well the pressures that they face. I know only too well the work that they put in and how they go over and above, day and daily, to fulfil their duties.”
“— needs to form part of an education programme.”
“For families on a lower income, it can sometimes be cheaper to buy fast food than to fill a basket and prepare a fresh meal. We need to look at that and look at ways to combat that because there are ways with a wiser knowledge of cooking. <BR /> <BR />Just to finish, on the Minister's point, the motion called for an educational programme. We are not saying that that money has to be poured into education. That is not what we are saying. It is not a silo. We are saying that every Department —”
“It is a hard habit to break, and that is why we need to start early. <BR /> <BR />I will move swiftly through because I am coming to the end of my time. A lot of Members raised the same issues. I want to finish off with Eamonn McCann and the Minister. When Mr McCann said that he had listened to the debate and had very little to object to, I knew at that stage that we were ready for a "but". I am glad that that "but" came because I am of the same general opinion as he is when it comes to deprivation and health inequalities. We have seen time and time again that your outcome and how long you live depends on your postcode and where you live in Northern Ireland. So I fully understand that "but". I agree with that, I think that there is absolute merit in that, and I also understand the disposable income issue.”
“That is something that we need to address and get that learning out there of the health benefits and understanding of how to use fruit and vegetables to make something that is appealing for children. I know that, as a parent, it can often be difficult to do. <BR /> <BR />Mr O'Dowd agreed with the principle and the intentions of the motion and said that they were very good, although he expressed that it was foolish to ring-fence money, given that we did not know the amount and that that would be an Executive decision. I understand and respect that point of view. I welcome Sinn Féin's general support on this issue, albeit that I know that it will vote against it. However, I note that it is generally supportive of the principles. <BR /> <BR />Mr Smith talked about obese children becoming obese adults. That is absolutely correct.”
“Mr Durkan, I think that you look nearly perfect. It is not just obesity that we have to look at; we have to look at the other issues where we have people with eating disorders and issues with emotional and mental health. We know that bullying takes place in our schools, we know that our children are under immense pressure to conform and to be a certain way, and we do not want to see any aspect of this being put upon them that they have to conform to that way. <BR /> <BR />He made several points and said that he believes that some people in his area have never eaten fresh fruit or vegetables. Every one of us in the Chamber could say that we have constituents whose children may not have had that. That is shame on us as well.”
“That is really important for some children because they may not be high academic achievers, but they want to be outside working in the garden. That needs to be part of our education system so that children have opportunities to be outside in the open air working and looking at where produce comes from. Those are all good points. <BR /> <BR />I am conscious of time, so I will move on to Mr Durkan. He raised the good point about promoting good mental health through healthy eating. That also includes the increasing pressures into looking perfect. So, when we look at the issue of obesity —”
“Mrs Dobson made quite a good point about skills and knowledge that will stay with our children into adulthood. That is my experience. That is where I came from, and I think that she had the same type of experience as I did growing up. Those skills stay with you for a very long time, and they are skills that we pass on to our children. Societal issues are also part of it, and we need to look at those. <BR /> <BR />I do not know whether she touched on this issue, but I think that I linked it in with how many of our children actually know where their food comes from. I have been working with a couple of our schools in North Belfast, and I can think of one — Abbots Cross — which has a fruit and vegetable garden and a compost heap.”
“I understand and respect those issues as well.”
“When we look at all the sporting greats we have and the produce we develop here in Northern Ireland, we see that that is sometimes quite hard to believe. <BR /> <BR />Mr Lyttle said that this issue was one of the greatest challenges facing us. I have to agree with that. It is something that we see increasing year-on-year, and it is certainly something we need to address. He also talked about the vital importance of tackling the problem. That should be multifaceted. It came out time and again during the debate that this is not just an educational issue; it is a cross-departmental and multifaceted issue. <BR /> <BR />I thank Mr McElduff for his contribution. He agreed — as I said earlier, there is consensus — with the tone and sentiment of the motion, although he did not agree with how we should fund or approach the issue.”
“She spoke about the project in Upper Bann called Healthy Kids. We had a similar project that ran in Rathcoole Primary School in my area. It brought children and parents together. The parents were taught how to cook healthy meals, and children were taught where the food came from. Parents and children sat down and ate food together. For some of those parents and children, that was not a regular occurrence. They talked about where the food came from and the preparation of it. I understand that all those initiatives, albeit they are not the be-all and end-all, will form part of a healthier lifestyle here in Northern Ireland. It was stark to hear that Northern Ireland is the least active part of the UK.”
“There is a greater societal issue as well as one to do with physical activity and things like that. <BR /> <BR />I do not intend to repeat all the statistics that have been stated here today; they have been well versed. It is rather stark to see the lack of physical activity amongst our children and grandchildren. Turning to some of the comments, my colleague Ms Lockhart talked about a legacy for children and adults for the future. She said that the aim of the motion is to promote early intervention. I fully understand that and think we are not always best prepared in here for some of the motions and the actions we bring forward. Sometimes we need to plan a little earlier. She also mentioned that bad habits are hard to break and that so many of them begin in childhood. Many Members touched on that.”
“So maybe I need to declare a little bit of an interest. I was certainly of that generation. I grew up in a family that was not affluent in any way, shape or form — I grew up on a housing estate — but I had a mother who was a wonderful cook, and, even worse, she was a wonderful baker. I was used all my life to eating healthily and having healthy food. I see Mr Ford laughing; he knows my mother very well from his social work days. That is how I grew up and how we were. I believe that, as a parent, I have shared that experience with my children; they know full well where their food comes from. They are quite used to having to go into my garden to pull up garlic, carrots or potatoes. That is how I was brought up, and that, in turn, is how I have brought my children up.”
“<BR /> <BR />I, like others, believe that, to reduce it in years to come, we need to tackle not only obesity in children but lifestyles in general. This is where I might get myself into a little bit of trouble: I am of the generation that was encouraged to go outside and play and to be members of every club going. Of course, I arrived here at Stormont and put on not only the Stormont stone but possibly the Stormont two stone, so maybe —”
“I will say at the outset that it is clear from the debate today — this is certainly unanimous — that everyone in the Chamber wants to support some way of tackling obesity, especially the problem of childhood obesity, in Northern Ireland. I know we had ideas of varying degrees about how to choose to fund and do that that may differ slightly, but I think there is consensus in the Chamber that this needs to be tackled. We know that cardiovascular disease and cancer are still two of the largest killers in Northern Ireland. We also know that both are very much determined by obesity. The increased prevalence of type 2 diabetes is a problem too. We hear time and again about the number of people every year in Northern Ireland being diagnosed with that. Although not all the time, obesity can quite often be attributed to diabetes.”