Robin Swann
North Antrim · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his detailed statement. I know how passionate he is about the subject and how many times he has brought it to the Executive.”
“It has been reported that today will potentially be the warmest day of the year. As we move into the summer and our summer holidays, I want to raise public awareness of wildfires across Northern Ireland, which have been detrimental to farmland and our environment over the past number of years.”
“Wildfires are still having a detrimental impact on our environment and, occasionally, on livestock, but that reduction shows the impact of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service's proactive approach to educating the general public and engaging with rural communities and schools on its fire safety message, which is to stay alert, not…”
“There has been a lot of talk of sport in this place over the past few days, with everybody concentrating on UEFA. One sport that is going on across Northern Ireland at the minute is cross-community and goes across all age groups without fear, favour or distinction: pigeon racing.”
“I want to put on record that, since this place passed the amendment that recognised pigeon racing as a sport under the 2016 Act, over the past five years, pigeon racing clubs across Northern Ireland have been able to obtain £113,000 of rates rebates through the sports and recreation rate relief, allowing many of those clubs to continue ra…”
“There was much coverage on social media over the weekend of an incident in Staines in England, in which a police car rammed a young calf to bring it under control. It has restarted the conversation about animal cruelty. <BR /> <BR />I am dealing with a specific case in my constituency.”
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“The model for vaccine deployment has been designed to be pragmatic, agile and flexible. Teams of vaccinators from a range of professional backgrounds have been trained. In addition to existing health and social care (HSC) staff and primary care staff, 870 individuals have now submitted application forms to help out as vaccinators during the vaccination programme. <BR /> <BR />Phase 1 of the programme officially began on Tuesday 8 December, with all four UK countries launching their vaccination programme. In Northern Ireland, the programme began at the Belfast Trust vaccination site, where vaccinators from across Northern Ireland were invited to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. All the trusts intended to start vaccinating health and social care workers in the week commencing 14 December.”
“Mr Speaker, I intend to answer questions 1, 8, 12 and 15 together, so I ask for additional time for this response. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland has been planning for the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine for many months and, along with the other devolved Administrations, will adhere to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice on the prioritisation of the vaccine. JCVI advised:”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I made a statement earlier about a new strain of COVID, and I want to update the House, as I said I would. I can confirm that, as of 7 December, there were no Northern Ireland sequences on the UK COVID-19 genomics database to show that this mutation has been present in Northern Ireland. I gave the commitment that I would come back to the House with information, so I wanted to do that.”
“We do that — I repeat this — by maintaining social distancing; maintaining good hand and respiratory hygiene; wearing face coverings; self-isolating immediately if we experience any symptoms, including a new persistent cough, a fever or a loss or change of smell or taste; seeking a test if we experience any of those symptoms; downloading the StopCOVID NI app; and complying with the restrictions. By following that advice as we go about our daily lives, we can protect ourselves and others from serious illness, protect our health service and our economy and help to avoid further prolonged and more stringent restrictions.”
“We will be able to get an assessment of that tomorrow, and we will provide an update sooner rather than later on how we are progressing with the initial batch. As I said in response to the Deputy Chair, we now have 50,000 vaccines in place. We are hopeful that more will become available towards the end of the year, so that supply line will continue to produce. <BR /> <BR />I think that I have covered everyone's queries or comments. There were challenges at the start about the usefulness of this debate and the time spent in the Chamber, but our engagement has allowed Members to raise questions and get some answers, but perhaps not the level of detail that they would have liked. <BR /> <BR />We all have a responsibility to help to curb the spread of the virus.”
“With regard to my answer to Mr O'Dowd's question, I will also say to the Member that what we did at the start was to ensure the logistics. Remember that the vaccine itself presents severe logistical challenges because it has to be stored at -70°C.The vaccine came in batches of 1,000, so we had to work out how to split that. We are the first part of the United Kingdom to get the vaccine into care homes. Our plan for the first batch is to do the entirety of our care home sector, including residents, at least once by the end of the year. That is a major logistical challenge in itself, so I ask the Member not just to take what we have done in the past few days, because that was about setting up systems and processes and making sure that our vaccinators were vaccinated first. <BR /> <BR />Today is the first main day of vaccination.”
“I thank the Member, who is a member of the Business Committee, for that clarity. As I was about to say, I do not believe that the Ad Hoc Committee on the COVID-19 Response still has the facility to do that. The Member will know that I will do that if needs be. I will also commit to providing written statements, if necessary, to ensure that Members are kept as fully up to date as possible.”
“I have never been reluctant or hesitant to bring forward recommendations to the Executive. With regard to the seriousness of recalling the House to assess further restrictions or regulations that need to be brought in, I will leave that in the hands of the Speaker and Members. Under Standing Orders, 30 Members can recall the House. I believe that it is in the gift of the First Minister and deputy First Minister. I do not believe that it is in the gift —.”
“As I said, we are observing that. It has just recently started in England. As that is a commercial transaction, it would be neither pillar 1 nor pillar 2 testing by the National Health Service. A commercial transaction would take place. We have concerns that it would start to use up testing capacity for what is a commercial transaction rather than one of a health nature. We are keeping an eye on that. <BR /> <BR />I think that I have covered most of the concerns.”
“One thing that we have not done yet, although we have explored and are looking at it, is the commercial nature of testing on arrival; those who can afford to fly could pay for their own tests or get priority access to National Health Service testing because they can afford to fly. That is not something that would sit comfortably with me. That is why we have maintained and followed the route of assessing the country from which someone travels and the risk there, and, depending on that, whether we deem it necessary for them to undertake 10 days of isolation. That is done on an international basis by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). That country analysis is used in the same way across the four nations.”
“Maybe I will not answer all the Member's concerns. However, the junior Ministers are leading engagement with the leaders of the main Churches. From feedback that I have had, I believe that the junior Ministers understand fully the passion and feeling of the main Church leaders when that decision was made. The Member will know that it is not something that I would do, nor a recommendation that I would bring forward, easily. <BR /> <BR />Ms Bailey asked about travel. We have set our regulations on international travel depending on the country that someone comes from rather than the test on arrival.”
“And we wonder why there are so many Protestant denominations in Northern Ireland. As a Presbyterian, if you cannot get three points into a sermon in an hour, there is something —. Sorry. I will not go any further; I am probably in enough trouble.”
“I thank the Member. I will come back to her once I have dealt with Mr Allister's contribution. He asked about face coverings. One of the things learned from international advice, and from looking at other practices, is that the aerosols generated by singing have caused outbreaks in churches. The advice in other places, which we have adopted, is that wearing face coverings all the time is a better management tool than putting them on and taking them off. For the sake of the hour that someone is in church, we should try to minimise the risk and allow churches to go ahead with their services as much as possible.”
“I wholeheartedly agree with the Member. I have never met anyone it has harmed, although some in the House might benefit greatly by listening when they are there. <BR /> <BR />I hope that that clarifies some of the reasons why the two-week circuit breaker was in place. <BR /> <BR />On face coverings, one of the challenges —.”
“I do not want to put churchgoers off engaging with our Public Health Agency, but one of the things to have come clearly through from our systems, and which has been indicated before, is that — I am thinking about how I can put it sensitively and in a politically correct way — when a contact tracer contacts people who have been at church in the previous seven days, they are more likely to say that they have been in church, if the Member gets my drift. The contact tracers have indicated that there is an openness and honesty that —.”
“The First Minister and the deputy First Minister received the same update that I did so that we could validate the information and make it public, as we do not want to send out a false sense of that information or to present it in a non-useful way to the public. They should see the evidence of where outbreaks are occurring in schools and churches. <BR /> <BR />Mr Allister mentioned churches and church settings; we have had outbreaks in churches and church settings. That is why there was a step to introduce the two-week circuit breaker for churches and places of worship as specific locations that had not been included before. That is coming from the Public Health Agency system.”
“I thank the Member. He will be aware that one of the changes and advancements that we have made in our test, trace and protect system is the ability to look back. On 16 November, we started to ask people who have tested positive where they have been over the last seven days rather than just the last 48 hours. When we received the presentation from the Public Health Agency on Friday, the First Minister, the deputy First Minister and I visited our test, trace and protect offices in County Hall in Ballymena to see further guidance and information about where the outbreaks had occurred. They occurred in various settings, including churches, gyms and the retail sector. They were all proportionate with the time and where the restrictions fell.”
“We can see how it has slowed the infection rate and plateaued the number of inpatients that we have, but it has not lessened the pressures on our health and social care staff across the system. Going back to the World Health Organization guidance and advice, you utilise a circuit breaker in order to alleviate the pressure on your healthcare system. The Member will know, because he has sat in this seat, the pressures that we face at this time of year anyway, never mind in the middle of a pandemic and what could be a further wave.”
“I say with all respect that Members know me well enough. The Member for South Down indicated the number of times that I have come to the House and the number of times that I have made myself available to the media. One thing that I have always done is have those conversations in the Executive first and then communicate them. It is challenging. As I said, it is challenging that, often, when we have those conversations in the Executive, some in the media are able to put them on Twitter before I have taken a note of what we actually agreed. <BR /> <BR />Do I think that we will be facing further restrictions before this year ends or at the start of the new year? Over the next week, we will assess how effective the two-week circuit breaker has been or whether it has had any effect at all.”
“I was just about to come to that comment. I did not know what I was going to say, but I was just about to come to it”
“Their message is consistent with anything that has come from me, as the Health Minister, from the Chief Medical Officer or from the Chief Scientific Adviser about how dangerous the virus is, how dangerous it continues to be and the steps that we can take to break the chains of infection.”
“The relaxations are there as a framework that people can work to; they are not something that they have to abide by. <BR /> <BR />Clare Bailey commented on where we are, and she criticised the Executive. I have said in the House many times that it is not easy for a five-party Executive, with the different political outlooks that we have on many things. However, one thing that I am assured of is the consistent message that has come from my Department and the healthcare workforce across Northern Ireland. In fact, earlier today, the chief executives of all six health trusts issued a statement on their concern about that.”
“I do. I always take the advice of the Chief Medical Officer with great value and cognisance. Those words have resonated and have been used by myself and, I think, the First Minister as well, because it is about self-responsibility. I agree with Mr Buckley on what we can do and what we should do. This is not a challenge to Mr Carroll, because I would not do that, but just because the Executive have put relaxations in place, it is not about looking for someone to blame in the future. It is about enabling people to have their own level of sensibility and seriousness about and observance of what they can do, should do and should not do. The concern, especially about the guidance for over Christmas, was that, without a structure, people would simply revert to a free-for-all in the number of people they have in a house.”
“It is about taking on those responsibilities. Some of the commentary with regard to how others saw that, especially on social media over the weekend, puts it into stark reality. How necessary are a pair of pyjamas when it comes to putting yourself or your family members into that challenging situation? <BR /> <BR />Mr Chambers said that anyone who ignores these restrictions does so at their own peril. I think those were his actual words. One of the things is that we ignore the restrictions at someone else's peril, because if we ignore them, there is the opportunity for someone else to become infected and end up in hospital. That is some of the selfishness that we need to challenge. <BR /> <BR />I take on board Mr Carroll's comments —”
“I do not think that lessening or lightening the seriousness of this virus is the right thing to do. I am not criticising him for it, but we just need to be careful around our words. <BR /> <BR />Ms Bradshaw commented on what we saw at the weekend with regard to face coverings. I was amazed and shocked by what I saw in the Abbey Centre. I am challenged as to how the owner of the facility and the managers of the facilities did not have those structures in place. I was reassured by the retail engagement group that is headed up by the junior Ministers, the engagement by the Economy Committee and the work that has been done by the retail sector that there would be things in place to prevent us from falling into what we saw a few weeks earlier outside the same shop, only it was outside on the streets of Belfast — that it would not happen again.”
“<BR /> <BR />This morning, I visited Holywell Hospital to show the staff our thanks and appreciation for the work that they have been doing these past months. They are the front line that is already there and is often forgotten about. When we think about mental health, we think of the challenges in the community and for GPs but often forget those who are staffing mental health facilities on a full-time basis, supporting some of the most vulnerable. It was an honour, and a humbling experience, to see the work that they are continuing to do, day in and day out. <BR /> <BR />With regard to Mr McGrath's comments on our assessment process, I covered that. I would just caution him: I know that he likes to use illustrative language such as "hokey-cokey".”
“I thank the Member for his question. I cannot give any firm update; it is not information that I have to hand. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due to give the go-ahead for the Pfizer vaccine, I think on 29 December. I hope that, if that approval is given, the Republic of Ireland will start its vaccination programme, using the Pfizer vaccine or any others that come to hand before that. <BR /> <BR />Ms Hunter, in following her predecessor's role on the Health Committee, has big shoes to fill. I thank Colm for his contribution over the past few months in holding my Department and officials to account in a constructive way, which he always did. I hope that the Member is able to follow on in that regard. One thing that she has already brought to the House is her passion for mental health and how she has presented that.”
“It is my intention that it will become another part of the public dashboard on display so that people can see the progress that we are making. It takes time to develop that and to validate the information that is displayed. <BR /> <BR />The Deputy Chair commented on the value of our healthcare workers. She knows that well, having family members who have been on the front line from the start and who continue to be there. Other Members have indicated the support that we need to give to those workers. The best present that we can give to any healthcare worker this Christmas is to play our part, reduce the number of contacts that we have and break the chains of infection so that they can have an easier time over the festive period. <BR /> <BR />I will move on to comments from —.”
“I gave an update to the House during a debate a couple of weeks ago on how the vaccination programme would work. We have started off by vaccinating our vaccinators. That programme ran over the weekend in a number of trusts. It started last week in the Belfast Trust, because of the logistical supply and management of the vaccine. It requires a pharmacist to be present to dilute it and draw it up. The other trusts are moving into care homes today. I spoke to the chief executive of the Northern Trust, who had teams out vaccinating care home residents and staff this afternoon. The multiplier effect will kick in from today. As I have said, I am willing to provide written updates on how the programme is progressing.”
“<BR /> <BR />As of close of play yesterday, we had vaccinated 1,700 individuals, including vaccinators, healthcare workers, and care home residents and staff. From a standing start, from when we received the go-ahead for the vaccine and then received the vaccine, the programme is now well under way. As the Deputy Chair of the Committee indicated, we received further deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine over the weekend. We now have stock of 50,000 vaccines, which is enough to vaccinate 25,000 individuals without waste.”
“I agree with the Member. If I recall correctly, and I stand to be corrected, when the regulations were brought in and announced by the Executive on the Thursday, I came to the House and made a statement on the Monday morning. As I have said, this is the place where the questions should be asked and answered. <BR /> <BR />I move on to the contribution from the Deputy Chair of the Committee, Ms Pam Cameron, about the vaccine. I believe that it was Mr Chambers who spoke about the light that the vaccine brings. Let us not lose the hope and positiveness that the vaccine brings. I know that I mentioned the new variant in my opening statement, but we do not know where that stands yet or how successful the vaccine will be against that variant. We do know, however, that the vaccine is effective against the current variant that we are battling.”
“<BR /> <BR />In response to the Committee Chair's comments, I thank the Committee for its engagement with my officials and other officials in scrutinising these regulations. If there was a way in which they could come forward earlier, at policy development stage, I would support that, but the policy is developed by the Executive, not solely by my Department.”
“<BR /> <BR />Things move fast in the current context, and the observations and concerns of Assembly Members are taken on board as we develop policy and work on the next set of amendments. I will explain the process — I have had this conversation with the Committee Chair, whose duty it is to scrutinise the regulations — which is that the regulations come forward as a result of policy development by the Executive, not solely my Department, although I take great pleasure in coming here to have such debates and answer Members' questions. I believe that the public must have confidence that the Executive are not acting without scrutiny, and, for that reason, I am happy to respond to a number of questions and comments raised by Members during the debate.”
“I will issue a written statement. The Member will be aware that, on a number of Fridays, I issued written statements to update Members on where we were, and I was criticised by Members for doing so. I will issue and have issued written statements. Can I guarantee that Members will know before the media or Twitter finds out? I cannot give that guarantee. I cannot even give that guarantee about an Executive meeting, so I cannot give it to the House. If I could give that guarantee to the Member, I would do so. I will update Members. As I have said, I will provide current and regular updates to the House and the Committee on the variant and the vaccines. I think that I am due at the Health Committee just before Christmas, and that will be my twelfth attendance at that Committee this year.”
“I brought that update to the House first, not to the media or anywhere else, because I think that this is the proper place for such an update. If there is another way in which we can debate the regulations and have meaningful and democratic input, I am up for that, and Members know that.”
“The regulations were laid before the Assembly on 27 November and 30 November respectively. The Examiner of Statutory Rules reported on them on 9 December, and the Committee moved quickly to scrutinise them on 10 December, so today is the first opportunity for them to be debated. The timing of the debate is a matter for the Assembly, given the Assembly's requirements for the input of the Examiner of Statutory Rules and the timing of scrutiny by the Health Committee. <BR /> <BR />If there is another way in which the regulations can be brought forward and debated, I am up for that. As I said earlier to Members, in the past nine or 10 months, I have been in the Chamber more than any other Minister. In today's opening comments, I provided an update on the new variant of COVID.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I thank the Members for being in attendance today and for their contributions to the debate. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate the willingness of the Assembly to work within unusual processes, whereby the role of legislative scrutiny is being applied after the event. In this case, the scrutiny takes place in respect of regulations that have already expired, as many Members have said. Nevertheless, I believe that it is important that this scrutiny takes place in order to examine and comment upon measures that have been taken. <BR /> <BR />On the timing of this debate, I will not defend where we are today, but I will explain, from what I know, why we are debating the regulations today. The debate is being held at the earliest opportunity available to my Department.”
“I will bring some clarity to that point for the House. The information about the variant's seriousness has been brought to light today. Most activity on the virus is being undertaken at the military labs at Porton Down. People are working there to see whether the variant virus will respond to and be dealt with by the vaccine that is currently on offer. At the minute, there is nothing to say that it would not, because it is a variant of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. That work is ongoing as we speak. As soon as I receive an update on that, I will update the House.”
“If you experience any symptoms at all, you need to isolate yourself immediately and seek a test. We are depending on everyone to act responsibly and thoughtfully in the realm of their own life. Now that the two-week restrictions have come to an end, the infection rate and our return to normal life and activities depend on the behaviour of every one of us.”
“They were intended to be in place for only a fortnight, and that period ended at midnight last Thursday night. <BR /> <BR />We believe that the restrictions have had some effect and have slowed down the spread of the virus, which would not have been the case if they had not been in place. We also know, however, that we are far from being in the clear. As I have said over the past few days, the virus is still circulating in our community and is still claiming lives. If there is a festive free-for-all, with public health advice being ignored, it will cost lives and place unbearable pressure on our hospitals. We must avoid those catastrophic consequences. We have to keep doing the basics of reducing our contacts, keeping our distance from others, wearing a face covering and washing our hands.”
“In the preceding week, 76 people had lost their life to COVID-19. In those circumstances, the Executive agreed to put in place the most extensive number of restrictions since the spring. The regulations were designed to be a short, sharp circuit breaker to reset and drive down infection rates. They were accompanied by the message to stay at home, work from home if at all possible and otherwise leave only for essential purposes such as education, healthcare needs, to care for others or outdoor exercise. The amendment (No. 18) regulations were made the following day to address two specific issues in the amendment (No. 17) regulations, which then needed to be amended. As you will be aware, Mr Deputy Speaker, the active period for the regulations has come to an end.”
“The restrictions were brought in after modelling indicated that doing so offered a greater likelihood of avoiding further restrictions before Christmas. The Executive had been advised that, without such an intervention, hospitals risked being overwhelmed. In the week preceding the decision on 17 November, the number of cases had stabilised, with only a very slow decline. The R number for cases was around 1 at that point. Hospital admissions had continued to decline slowly over the previous week, but they remained at a relatively high level and had not decreased as quickly as hoped at the outset of the period of restriction. COVID hospital inpatient numbers had fallen even more slowly than admissions and remained at a high level. That was a major concern in terms of hospital capacity. At that point, hospital occupancy stood at 100%.”
“18) regulations, which constitute the circuit-break restrictions announced on 19 November and introduced for a two-week period from 27 November to 10 December. The amendment (No. 17) regulations were made on 26 November to come into effect on 27 November, and the amendment (No. 18) regulations were made the following day to come into effect immediately.”
“However, Mr Hancock has reassured the House of Commons that there is nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious symptoms and has added that it is highly unlikely that it will not respond to a vaccine. I have directed my officials to urgently ascertain whether, during the genomic sequencing of Northern Ireland samples that has been ongoing over the last number of months, the variant has, at any time, been detected in Northern Ireland. As soon as I receive information on that, I will update the House. <BR /> <BR />Moving on to the motions that are the subject of today's debate, the regulations under consideration are the amendment (No. 17) regulations and the amendment (No.”
“Before I do that, could I have the indulgence of the House to provide a quick update? Since my earlier statement today, I have received an update from our Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to alert me that he has been made aware of a variant of SARS-CoV-2 that has recently been identified through genomic sequencing in England. While the significance of that is being assessed, the UK authorities have provided an early alert to the relevant World Health Organization and European surveillance bodies. <BR /> <BR />The variant has been identified in the UK and is believed to be causing the faster spread in the south-east of England. My colleague Matt Hancock has provided an update to the House of Commons. Its spread is growing faster than that of the existing variant with, currently, over 1,000 cases.”
“Again, the specifics of food safety which come under the remit of Safefood are about the promotion of how you cook, obesity and the use of food more than challenges in the supply of food post Brexit. Safefood will continue its work on sensible eating, good nutrition, tackling obesity and how food is cooked. We received an update, on the day of the meeting, that the point of information on the Safefood website that has been accessed the most throughout the world and has international context is on how to cook a turkey at Christmas. That is that sort of advice that Safefood supplies. The work that Safefood does will not change come the end of this month or come transition. I have no concerns that the work that Safefood does will continue to the current high standards.”
“As I said in a previous answer, I had hoped for more engagement on those specifics. However, now that we know what the Republic of Ireland Government's specific concerns are, we will be fit to address those. I hope that we can find a speedy resolution because it is an area of concern. I am informed that our departmental officials are meeting officials from the Republic of Ireland today to discuss this matter, following a letter that I issued to my Irish counterpart last week.”
“I thank the Member for his comments. As I indicated, the meeting was held before the COVID outbreak on a mink farm in Denmark, so that matter was not touched on. The specific of factory farming does not fall under my remit, as Health Minister, or the Safefood remit, which is about the consumption of food, how food substances are produced, the effects of obesity and good diet. Factory farming and initial production fall under the AERA Minister's responsibility, so the question may be better suited to him and his North/South Ministerial Council discussions.”
“The review is taking longer than expected, as the number of patients referred for treatment has not been as high as initially anticipated. That review is likely to be completed shortly, and I am sure that, when it is completed, I will provide the detail to the Member so that he is aware of the exact figures.”
“In regard to the opening paragraphs, the Member will know that there is no dereliction on my part in coming forward in the support and openness that I give to the House. If he looks at any record of ministerial attendance and openness on answering questions and moving regulations, he will find that I am, in fact, here more often than most. <BR /> <BR />He asked about finance and financial support. Department of Finance and Department of Health approval for the radiotherapy unit at Altnagelvin Area Hospital was given in May 2014. There was a capital cost of £66·1 million, which included a £19 million contribution from the Republic of Ireland. That was for the day-to-day running costs, which are shared between the two jurisdictions, according to the terms of a service level agreement, which is being reviewed.”