Fearghal McKinney
South Belfast · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“We need to do everything we can to bring investment and job opportunities. A prosperity strategy should also include a massive programme of workforce training and skills enhancement.”
“In particular, we want the Programme for Government to adopt a much more joined-up style of government that delivers much greater accountability and transparency and will itself say that it wants Northern Ireland to work.”
“<BR /> <BR />We can point to collective achievements — local government reform among them — but just months ago the echoes of our past threatened our political future, reinforcing the challenges to our delicate political system that the Good Friday Agreement could never have foreseen.”
“Creating much better social cohesion and integration must be another Programme for Government requirement. <BR /> <BR />Health reform, job creation, better infrastructure, creating world-class education and tackling social deprivation are issues on which the SDLP is not prepared to compromise.”
“There are many big challenges facing Northern Ireland, perhaps the biggest of which is to get people into work. It is our job to create the infrastructural and educational opportunities and to maximise those opportunities.”
“It is our job to ensure that our people can and should dare to dream that life can be better; that our children will not be forced to leave these shores for the promise of work in Australia or America because of a failing economy — I referenced the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's latest research; that our health service provides a service th…”
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“While we saw a privatisation agenda in that, much of the core analysis was not wrong. It identified areas of growing concern, which were the expense of hospital costs and weaknesses in community provision. The problem was that the Budget was already set, so they had no money to pay for it. TYC was not strangled at birth, but it certainly was deprived of oxygen. Basically, that has been the narrative ever since. The biggest change plan at the heart of the health service for years recognised the major and emerging strains that were coming down the track but did not have the money to deal with them, except out of in-year monitoring. We all know where that is now. You wouldn't, to use a colloquial phrase, bet the farm on getting anything out of that now.”
“I welcome the opportunity to take part in today's debate on such an important issue, and I do so as the health spokesperson for the SDLP, commenting on the health aspect of the Budget. <BR /> <BR />We are debating the draft Budget presented for 2015-16, but the actual context was set in 2011. The SDLP said then that there was not enough money for health, and I think that we have been proved right. The shortfalls in money have had a growing negative impact, which is now reaching its climax. Forgive me, Mr Deputy Speaker, if you have heard some of this before, but just because it is repeated does not mean that there is a weakness in the argument, quite the contrary. <BR /> <BR />In 2011, the health authorities knew that there were problems on the horizon, which is why a plan was put in place that recognised those problems.”
“I add my voice to the calls for this decision to be reversed. In this context, and it is reflective of comments made earlier, this is marginally small money — potted together with other moneys — producing good outcomes. Is not the decision around this, like many of the other decisions, consistent merely with the bottom line and not with strategic objectives? In that sense, it is completely counter-strategic, not only to justice outcomes but to health outcomes.”
“I thank the Minister for his fulsome answer. Will he outline how the needs of people with disabilities will be taken into account in community planning?”
“In that regard, the Committee report highlights the need to make the process of obtaining grid connections as transparent and as cost-effective as possible and to streamline the process, minimising cost and delay. <BR /> <BR />The SDLP is committed to the view that we must work closely with all our Departments and with our colleagues in the Republic to ensure the effective and efficient sharing of energy resources with full cross-border interconnection. We must therefore deliver an all-Ireland initiative on energy, so that developers, business and consumers, North and South, can benefit from renewable energy at a competitive price.”
“Thank you for the intervention. As I understand it, the costs are spread over the national bill network. Therefore it is a small additional contribution on many more bills, and we can get a benefit here. <BR /> <BR />It has also become clear that planning permission must be reassessed, as developers here are at a serious financial disadvantage in comparison with the Republic. Those factors create uncertainty, which has the knock-on effect of increasing the risk for investment, especially when we consider that it becomes difficult to predict future financial impact due to the lack of clarity on timescales and costs. As I have reflected, these are putting many projects at risk, which is counterproductive in achieving our overall 2020 targets.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. At the moment there are people who are willing to invest in some of this grid connection, but they cannot. The very processes that we have are a disincentive. As I say, that is adding costs. We have significant fuel poverty here, and these are issues that we need to deal with. Allowing people to connect to the grid through freeing up the processes can work in a positive regard. <BR /> <BR />Developers have also expressed —”
“They say that if it walks like a duck and quacks, then it is a duck. The opposite, of course, applies: if it is not walking and not quacking, it is not there and is not connected, as the Chairman reflects. Those failures have become evident through our Committee investigation. There has been a lacklustre approach to strengthening the grid, and there are significant failures in supporting developers in accessing it. The current approach is adding significant cost and uncertainty and acts as a disincentive to potential investors. As we have heard, significant delays —”
“A key plank of this transformation is obviously the strengthening of the grid to allow for greater access for renewable energy developers. Of course, as has already been reflected, that would go some way to achieving our 40% target by 2020. Therefore it is unacceptable that, despite the ETI Committee's conducting two previous inquiries into energy policy, along with a long-standing concern over electricity supply, those responsible have failed to take sufficient reasonable measures to ensure that our national grid is properly strengthened and that we have the proper infrastructure in place to guarantee security of supply and to accommodate developers of renewable energy. <BR /> <BR />There is a lack of long-term vision, policy or strategy and no attempt at a joined-up approach to the development of our network.”
“I welcome the opportunity to contribute to today's debate. I reaffirm the Chairman's remarks on the importance of the Minister and the other relevant bodies implementing the recommendations in the Committee's report. I would like, first, to thank the Committee and, indeed, Sydney Anderson, for its work. I also thank all the contributors for their valuable input, which I hope will prove highly beneficial in our immediate and future approach to energy policy. <BR /> <BR />It is clear that there is broad consensus that a transformation is needed in our energy system if our society is to meet the challenges of environmental sustainability, security of supply, infrastructural renewal and, as has been reflected here this morning, economic affordability.”
“Can I extend that point? In recognition of the deeper impact that particular types of arts activity can have on community health and well-being, what assessment is being done of those extra benefits with a view to arguing against and mitigating the cuts?”
“Can the Member point to any effective costings that have been put forward for the alternative provision?”
“I thank the Member for the intervention. I do not know whether we will have time for that. I think that the Minister needs to make an announcement today that he will stop the cuts. The individuals who find themselves vulnerable, with their back against the sea in Ballycastle, have thrown themselves in the courts of public opinion and political opinion, and they have substantial support in both. Minister, please stop these cuts.”
“The question had been about whether one trust decision would impact on others. So, they found extra money. Could they not take some of that extra money and give it to the trusts and allow the longer-term plan to continue?”
“Apparently, according to the Minister last week, in a specific answer to our leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell, there was little danger that any of the trust's decision-making was going to impact on the centre, but they found £5 million. The Minister said:”
“<BR /> <BR />The paper talks of the need for better regional coordination, better information-sharing between trusts, better planning across and between trusts, and a clear strategic vision set by the Minister. Coordination, better sharing, better planning and a vision — can the Minister please tell the House where those ambitions are in terms of these cuts? It looks as if we will have one plan that aims to streamline things and which has a forward-looking and long-term ambition at its core, and another short-term plan that will undermine that. <BR /> <BR />There is another plan, and, once again, it is a contradiction.”
“I thank the Member for his very helpful intervention. Mr Dallat's pedigree in promoting rights is well established. We understand that in the terms of rights and in the terms of caring. We need to ask questions about TYC. Are any of these plans consistent with TYC? What longer-term impact will they have on TYC ambitions? Where is the consistency in trusts' decision-making? <BR /> <BR />I have a paper on how the Department understands it will take on unscheduled care. It is based on the views of the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA). What does the RQIA say about the need for trusts' decision-making processes to be improved?”
“While these have been described as temporary cuts, nothing that was said in a recent interview with her convinced me that some of these will not end up being longer-term cuts. The picture presented in Ballycastle is being replicated in Bangor, Armagh and Down. Services that have the potential to take the weight off the more expensive side are being cut, as I said, in a short-term context. We are also concerned that they are being cut against the backdrop of trusts' bottom lines.”
“Respite provision there is all the more important, as is a respite centre of excellence. <BR /> <BR />It is important to look at the context of what has happened. We all know that the health service is under severe pressure and that there are financial pressures; we have to be mature about those things. However, it is how cuts are being administered that is a real concern. The House will be aware, and I have reminded it many times, of the plan at the heart of the health service — Transforming Your Care (TYC). Given the context of TYC, which is putting care into the community, you might think that facilities like this would be the last to be cut and that people would start to think in the long term. <BR /> <BR />I have listened to the new head of the Health and Social Care Board.”
“I welcome the opportunity to join those supporting the Dal campaign and welcome them to the Public Gallery. I support the motion calling on the Health Minister to reverse the Northern Trust's decision. <BR /> <BR />I was delighted to see the strength of support here at Stormont last week. I think that all parties joined those who campaigned and brought those 20,000 signatures to Stormont. I also attended the Bushmills rally last Tuesday; it was packed to the gills. It is clear that the facility is prized and valued by those who use it and the local community, and it has political backing. It provides high-level care for people with MS. We must recognise the extent to which that illness puts severe pressure and demands on the individual and their family.”
“Thank you very much indeed for giving way. Will the Member accept that, despite that, there has now gathered an accumulated excellence around the care of MS sufferers and that to dissipate that will have wider financial and health implications?”
“Thank you for your indulgence: I know that you are under pressure of time. A lot of these considerations are around finance. Does the Member agree that there is a risk that there could be further, raised costs because, according to the MS Society, inadequate respite provision can lead to declining health?”
“It is vague and points to huge gaps in information. In that context, are the report and its recommendations not, ultimately, weakened?”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. May I lean on the words of the Minister's statement? He said:”
“I remind the party opposite that the SDLP is in good-faith negotiations on the NCA, and we are making good progress.”
“I thank the Minister and must say at the outset that I am flabbergasted, to be honest, that Ms McLaughlin simulated outrage at these issues, given her party's approach to Maíria Cahill.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does he care to reflect on the extent to which money is being spent on policing as a result of Twaddell? Will he take the same approach to that?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Can he explain to the House how he can reconcile standing with the protesters outside Stormont today while backing the Budget that has led to the cuts?”
“You have admitted in the House that these cuts run contrary to that. My worry is that the cuts will impose greater costs on the overall budget and on other trusts, and we have need to pause the system now to ensure that that does not happen. I have already said that we need to be mature about the pressures but clever with the cuts.”
“It is an indictment that, 16 years after the Good Friday Agreement and seven years since devolution was re-established, those areas still top the UK league table of deprivation. The reduction in front-line services will unquestionably have a detrimental impact on the health service and will put patient care at risk. If we are to secure the best quality care possible for patients, we need the best quality doctors and health-care professionals, and the instability around the cuts will put all of that at risk. <BR /> <BR />I urge you to forensically examine the budget to expel waste. As I have already outlined — I thank you for your contribution — we had a quick scan over the headline figures, which amount to many, many tens of millions of pounds. <BR /> <BR />Minister, I urge you to underscore a strategic plan.”
“The board or the Department? It could not have been you, Minister, because you are only in the job, and you have made that very clear. You are worried about Dalriada, and your parliamentary assistant is worried about Bangor, and the public are really angry over the other decisions. We also know that there is not a plan and that this is just another cut. Minister, given what you have just said in your contribution, I call on you to fundamentally take charge and stop these cuts now while we have a proper strategic review. Then, you can prove that, if you are going to cut anything, it will be consistent with a long-term plan to improve our health service and return proper services to the community. <BR /> <BR />The cuts are affecting areas like Derry and Strabane and west and north Belfast.”
“I thank the Minister for his intervention and his admission. This comes back to my central point: the Budget was flawed. If you are willing to go back, renegotiate on that and encourage colleagues to do something differently, including the colleagues to my right, I will accept the logic of that. <BR /> <BR />I want other questions answered. How long has the plan been in the making? Has it been constructed in line with Transforming Your Care? It is clear that you are saying that it has not. Are the trusts just operating to the bottom line? It seems clear that that is what you are saying. How do we know that the trust cuts will not just impose greater pressures on other trusts? If Whiteabbey is going to shut, that will have an impact on the Belfast Trust and the A&E centres there. It is bound to have that effect. Who ordered the plan?”
“We would be really foolish to ignore them, but we will continue to ask, "Where is the strategic direction?".”
“Indeed, the Minister is on record in the Chamber as saying he has concerns over Dalriada, and we have all heard the comments from his parliamentary assistant, who has major concerns about the cutbacks to the minor injuries unit and hospital services in Bangor. If they are concerned, what should we be? <BR /> <BR />Let us get back to what the plan was supposed to be about: putting health care into the community, where it will be cheaper and closer to the need. Look at how the cuts that have been proposed — they are called contingencies, but they have all the potential to be long-term — are cutting in the community. We all know that there are health service pressures — we have to be mature about that — both financially and in terms of provision.”
“We had hoped, in fact, that protesters would be here today, but, with the debate starting earlier, I assume that they have not yet arrived. I welcome those who will travel later to listen to the debate. There will be cuts in Armagh, Omagh and Downpatrick and in minor injuries units, such as the one in Whiteabbey. <BR /> <BR />The trusts — this is a very important issue — are making their own independent decisions with no demonstrable focus — I cannot see one — on a strategic plan for the future of our health service or even their own future. The Health Minister, I regret to say, is hiding behind the trusts. The plans are ill thought-out.”
“Last year, £50 million was spent on bank and agency staff; remember that 30% of that goes to private administrators. Also last year, £50 million was spent on sickness, and 360,000 appointments were cancelled in the system by patients and by hospitals. There is a huge increase in private sector operations to cover the waiting lists that come about as a result of that, so we pay twice. Of course, today, we heard news about £40 million of fraud in the system. <BR /> <BR />What is the answer? What have we got from the health service? Faced with financial pressures, the trusts have been asked to draw up plans for cuts, and that is what they are doing. They are slicing all round them. We know the detail of cuts in areas like Ballycastle.”
“However, the plan was never in the Budget; it was to be funded out of monitoring rounds. It consistently failed to achieve that sufficiently. Meanwhile, hospital budgets were cut, and the community side was not funded, leading to significant pressures on both. The plan was not so much flawed as strangled. We have spent the year quizzing the previous Minister, this Minister, the Department and the board. Eventually, at breaking point, we called in the Audit Office, as it is its job to evaluate value for money. It has agreed to do that, and I look forward to seeing the results of its endeavours in due course. <BR /> <BR />Meanwhile, it is clear — the previous Minister acknowledged it publicly — that there is significant waste in the health service.”
“They are hard pressed as it is, and these cuts will put further pressure on them and their ability to deliver high-quality care. It is important that we acknowledge the excellent work done by these front-line staff. Remember that we are on their side when we criticise the intolerable pressures, such as lengthy GP queues, accident and emergency pressures, waiting times for elective care and flimsy domiciliary care packages. However, we are not on the side of a system that imposes such intolerable pressures on those valuable workers and on our patients. <BR /> <BR />In fairness to those in charge, while we saw a privatisation agenda at the heart of it, some of the aims and objectives in TYC are admirable, shifting funding and care into the community to ease the strain on the hospital side.”
“The SDLP tabled an amendment to the motion to express our deep concern at the Northern Ireland Executive's failure to protect our health service. With the exception of Minister Mark H Durkan, Executive Ministers either endorsed or failed to oppose the draft Budget, and our front-line services will see the impact of that. The original motion is, let us be very clear, an attempt to distract from Sinn Féin and the DUP's joint responsibility for this draft Budget. I hope that those who are joining the protest around Dalriada recognise that, in doing so, those parties are now, in fact, reneging on their backing of the Budget. <BR /> <BR />I take the opportunity to commend the staff who work tirelessly on the front line of the health service day in and day out.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have one or two concerns reflected by the FSB, which voiced its concern over the definition of "food business establishment", and I would welcome the Minister's remarks on those concerns, particularly in the context of business-to-business implications. There have been concerns over the economic impact of re-inspection fees, particularly for small as opposed to larger businesses. Therefore, a balance has to be struck. Clearly, we have to have a robust piece of legislation that ensures that consumers can shop and eat in the most high-quality businesses that they can. However, we do not want to overburden businesses with administration or extra costs.”
“It is something of a hidden undercurrent of public concern in our society, to the extent that we could argue that it is endemic and, as I said, that underpins the need for action. Without doubt, the existing voluntary food scheme has been very successful, and I underscore, like colleagues, that it operates on a voluntary basis. When we hear that only 56% of establishments adhere to it, that also calls for greater action. <BR /> <BR />The proposals in the Bill will enable customers to make informed decisions. The fact that a number of safeguards have been built into the scheme to encourage compliance and self-regulation must be welcomed. I also welcome the fact that there are provisions in the Bill to promote an equal playing field among businesses.”
“I, too, welcome the opportunity to speak on the debate and to support the Food Hygiene Rating Bill and the rationale that underpins it: to give the customer the opportunity to make an informed decision when purchasing food in a particular establishment. My colleague Paula Bradley outlined that eloquently. <BR /> <BR />I will deal with some of the context. While we are here, principally, to deal with health, we are daily reminded of the pressure on our budgets. To hear that a bill in the region of £83 million annually is attached to cases of food poisoning, with 450 hospitalisations and, sadly, as Maeve McLaughlin pointed out, 20 deaths, that underpins the need for this legislation, particularly when we hear that only 10% of cases are reported. This is an under-reported issue and demands the actions that are being taken.”
“Will the Minister outline the state of preparedness, including transport, at all our hospital facilities?”
“In this regard, I would support a request for a thorough and in-depth impact assessment to be undertaken to ensure that those individuals are not disadvantaged in any way as a direct result of increased digitalisation of the insolvency procedure.”
“Without that change, there would be a detriment attaching to the people of Northern Ireland, who would be unduly disadvantaged compared with colleagues across the water. <BR /> <BR />In the light of the increasing figures surrounding insolvencies, it is important that we do more to promote greater awareness about finance and financial products available to the public. We need to ensure that they have the necessary information, structure and support available. In that regard, it is important to ensure that changes in the legislation do not limit access to services for clients, particularly those who are vulnerable, such as the elderly or those who live in rural communities, as Mr Dunne said. We need to ensure that proper safeguards are in place to protect these individuals.”
“<BR /> <BR />We must welcome the proposals, which bring insolvency procedures into line with the modern era and help to streamline the process. However, we must ensure, as colleagues have mentioned, that no detriment attaches to those who do not have such access, and I welcome other comments that were made in that regard. <BR /> <BR />It is a great incentive that there were no objections to the legislation during public consultation. There are, however, a number of other issues that must be addressed. Earlier, reference was made to bank accounts for bankrupts. It is currently difficult for them to get bank accounts here, and the proposed change would go in some way to removing barriers.”
“<BR /> <BR />Against that backdrop, it is imperative that the Insolvency Bill be as accessible as possible, and its proposals will enable a faster, more efficient and less costly method of communication. The Bill is a welcome step in making the necessary changes aimed at modernising the administrative process by permitting greater use of electronic communications. For example, of particular benefit will be the option to attend meetings virtually, as has been outlined, and to use websites for the transmission of documents. The proposals include establishing the view that documents stored and transmitted in electronic form are as good and as valid as paper ones. The Bill also offers office holders involved in insolvency proceedings the ability to communicate information by displaying it on websites, albeit with the protection of a password.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Second Stage of the Insolvency (Amendment) Bill. <BR /> <BR />It is important to note that great strides have been made in giving necessary support to those who have come into financial difficulty. Since its inception, Debt Action NI has dealt with nearly £215 million of debt, and nearly 13,000 people have benefited. More than 7,500 of those people have availed themselves of that support since August 2012. There are a record number of individuals here who have to take drastic action to manage their debt, and almost 11 individuals a day, to update the present statistics, have declared insolvency, including bankruptcy, over the past three months. There were 975 insolvencies between July and September this year. Those are staggering figures and are a real reflection of the legacy of the recession.”
“Nonetheless, I am trying to obtain some information. Can you outline how many of the most successful contractors and subcontractors under Steps to Work will be in the supply chain under Steps 2 Success?”
“I thank the Minister for his detailed answer and the review. If ever there was a key building block in education, it is bound to be speech and language. Given that up to 30% of preschool children present themselves with language acquisition problems, is any immediate remedial action being taken by the Department in conjunction with health to address that ever-increasing problem?”