Claire Sugden
East Londonderry · Independent · Northern Ireland
“That is, gosh, almost 35 years ago, yet we are still having the conversation in 2026. If I were to speak to that eight-year-old girl, I would tell her, "When you are 40, Claire, this will not even be a consideration for you". Sadly, however, it still is. It is deeply disappointing that, when we had an opportunity, it was not taken.”
“Indeed, I tabled an amendment to that Bill to achieve the desired outcome, but, sadly, the opportunity was not taken. One of the strengths of the Assembly is that Committees can identify where Executive legislation has fallen short and produce their own practical, targeted solutions.”
“Frankly, we should be listening. Sometimes, we talk about equality in broad terms, but the Bill reminds us that equality is often about practical things. It is about removing unnecessary barriers from everyday life and ensuring that opportunities and choices do not depend on arbitrary differences between schools.”
“That is ridiculous. The point that we should all pay attention to is that of girls feeling less exposed. We should focus on that even if there were no other reasons to pass the legislation. Girls simply want to get on with their school day without having to think about something that most boys take for granted.”
“That meeting was a reminder that issues that can appear small to adults — there have been adults who have asked why the Assembly is legislating on this — can be issues on which we need to legislate. When people do not behave appropriately, we as a legislature have a responsibility to legislate.”
“Around one in seven couples in Northern Ireland experiences fertility problems, yet Northern Ireland continues to offer one of the most limited publicly funded fertility services anywhere in the United Kingdom. Couples face lengthy waits, restricted eligibility criteria and fewer publicly funded IVF opportunities than elsewhere.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,208 lines we hold for Claire Sugden, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 29 of 45.
“I thank the Member for her question. The fact that, since I have become Minister, we have had an awful lot of focus on mental health in prisons demonstrates my commitment to trying to make it an issue that is very much on everybody's agenda and which is a priority for everyone. You raise a very important point about the complexities of mental health in prisons, given that there are those who do and those who do not engage in the process. I think that, to an extent, that is where the difficulties with tackling mental health issues in prisons come in. I believe that we need to take a more holistic view of health and social care in prisons and that, working with the Health Minister moving forward, we need to have a focus on that. I give an assurance to the House and to the Member that we need to have a focus on it.”
“I very much recognise that we have challenges in the Prison Service, particularly with sickness absence among prison officers. I am keen to look at and address that. I want to understand the problems in my prisons so that I can best address them. I have been speaking to the various representative bodies, and they have outlined those concerns to me. I cannot tackle it overnight, but I am giving it my immediate focus and will hopefully be able to get some satisfactory outcomes as soon as possible.”
“I believe that we need to better support prison officers in the job that they do so that they can better care for prisoners in custody. I am happy to look at that from the perspective of looking after prisoners but, most of all, from the perspective of supporting officers in their job.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I am quite happy to look at that. Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of the most recent deaths, we sharpened our focus on the current training to try to understand whether it was appropriate in terms of what we can do to try to ensure that, in the short term, such deaths do not happen again. I think that we need a wider review of prison officer training, but, as my statement said, it will not be for prison officers alone to tackle the issue. Prison officers, as you know, are there to do a job of caring for people in custody. We need that work to very much coincide with the service that the trust provides through health and social care in our prisons. I think that it is appropriate that we also look at it as part of the review to see whether there is anything that we can do.”
“I am quite happy to have as full a review as we need to on the issue, and, if that includes providing a report or anything further, I am quite happy to do that, too.”
“Yes, I certainly can give that assurance. We need to look at this area — it is deeply complex — and how we can best address it.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The SPAR process, as I have outlined, is a very immediate short-term approach to tackling mental health in prisons; it was never intended to provide a long-term solution for dealing with prisoners in our care. Certainly, any approach taken forward will need to have more focus on prisoners who present with mental health problems; 75% is not an insignificant number. This is something that we need to take very seriously; indeed, I hope the review that we have announced today alongside the Minister of Health will take into account how we can best tackle this moving forward. I am keen to look at what we need to put in place to ensure that this is not as much of a problem in the future.”
“I thank the Member for her question. Psychoactive substances are completely dangerous and have the repercussions that you have suggested. Tackling drug and alcohol misuse in our prisons is a challenge; indeed, an amnesty has been conducted recently to rid prisons of these substances. The point of the amnesty was to highlight the danger of the substances. This is about educating prisoners about drug use and putting other procedures in place for people who bring substances into prisons. It is something that we need to strengthen, but I am assured at this stage that we are doing what we can. I take the point about psychoactive substances, and the two very much go hand in hand, whether it is the misuse of drugs or mental health problems. It is something that we need to look at, and it will form part of the review we have announced today.”
“This has to be tackled with a holistic approach. Officers need to be given the right training and skills to deal with this in the immediate environment, and we need to look at the healthcare side to ensure that we do not get to that point. <BR /> <BR />It has to be a full review of mental health in prisons. Our Prison Service saves lives on a day-to-day basis, and that cannot be overlooked. However, more work could be done, which is why this review comes at a very appropriate point.”
“I certainly hope that, whatever comes out of the review, we can provide a more immediate response so that incidents such as the Member described do not happen.”
“In my mind, that is their basic right. There is a real opportunity to get this right so that people in custody get the service that they are entitled to. <BR /> <BR />The Member is absolutely right about the community and voluntary sector. The community is not just the statutory organisations; it is the community that people in custody go back to. I believe that the community and voluntary organisations are best placed to provide that support because they know these people best and they know their communities best. There is a real strength in the community and voluntary sector along with this work, so yes, I can give that assurance.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Absolutely. I think that we can do better in terms of the work between the Northern Ireland Prison Service and the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, which provides healthcare in my prisons. Since becoming Minister, and with my relationship with the Health Minister, there has been an increase in partnership working. Even in respect of the Programme for Government, when we talk about collaborative working, there is that essence of moving forward. We are in a much better place than we ever were before in terms of working together. <BR /> <BR />We are announcing today that we will strengthen that even more. We need to be mindful of the fact that whilst people are in our custody they should have the same access to health and social care as they would outside custody.”
“<BR /> <BR />This approach needs to be a holistic one between the Health Minister and me and other agencies along the route right throughout the criminal justice system and in the community, where support also needs to be in place. We need to take a critical look at health and social care in prisons. I hope that the work that the Health Minister and I will take forward will reveal some of the areas that we can address effectively.”
“I thank the Member for her question. What I would like to see out of the review and this collaborative working is that health and social care for people in the criminal justice system should be there before, during and after their time in custody. The Member is right to suggest that there are incidents of reoffending because we are, perhaps, not most effectively putting in the appropriate supports for people who find themselves in custody. When they go back into the community, they do not perhaps get the support that they got whilst they were in custody. Therefore, it is one of the vulnerabilities that is manifested when they come out.”
“It is deeply regrettable that we have had two deaths in a couple of weeks and four over the past year. The nature of prisons is that they are very challenging. I want to do as much as I can to stop this happening again, but I am not sure that it will be the case.”
“I will address the last question first. There absolutely needs to be support for prison staff, because, ultimately, anything that we do will begin with them. I have said that in the House many times before. Prisoner officers are critical to trying to address this particular problem. I will seek to support them as much as I possibly can, whether that be through training or personal support for them. <BR /> <BR />The Member raised a valid point about the use of psychoactive substances in prisons. Those, as well as the use of other drugs and alcohol misuse, contribute to a lot of the problems that we are seeing with mental health in prisons. The review of vulnerable people in custody that I announced today will look at those particular issues. It is something that we are keen to address. One death in custody is one too many.”
“I will announce in the next few weeks further support for prison officers around extending help from the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust (PRRT) both to serving and retired prison officers. I believe that there will be positive benefits from that; namely, helping with our sickness absence rates. Hopefully, that measure will enable us to have the full quantity of prison officers so that we can better care for prisoners. <BR /> <BR />I am pleased that the Member recognises that the issue is something that I am keen to tackle. We have a number of challenges. I cannot tackle those challenges overnight regrettably, but I am working towards doing it and am keen to listen to prison officers as much as possible to see what we can do to move forward.”
“I thank the Member for his question and for his continued interest in the area. We have spoken on a number of occasions, not least on the issues that he raises today. I welcome that support. <BR /> <BR />Yes, there are issues in prisons with staffing. It is something that some of the representative organisations that I have met have raised with me. Indeed, we are trying to find ways to better facilitate that, but it will not be easy. It will not be a challenge met overnight, but I do understand that there are serious consequences. To give the Member reassurance, I can say that it is something that I have a focus on. I am keen to support prison officers, and we have had a conversation in recent weeks on how I have been trying to do that.”
“Officials from both Departments are working together to define the structure, scope and time frame of that review. I know that Members appreciate the scale of the challenge in respect of mental health in prisons and the need for joined-up partnership working to address that challenge. I hope that Members also agree that, at a strategic and operational level, steps are already being taken to meet the needs of vulnerable individuals in custody.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Department of Health and the Department of Justice are continuing to liaise in respect of a joint healthcare and criminal justice strategy, covering the health and social care needs of people at all stages of the criminal justice journey — whether they are suspects, defendants or are serving sentences — in Northern Ireland. The draft criminal justice and healthcare strategy and action plan have been through consultation, and an analysis of the responses has been completed to inform the final strategy. It is an excellent example of how Departments can work together. I expect it to be finalised, agreed and brought forward for implementation as a matter of urgency. <BR /> <BR />Minister O'Neill and I have agreed to conduct an immediate review of vulnerable people in custody.”
“The new policy is still in development, but it is likely to adopt a two-strand approach to the management of prisoners at risk. The first strand is called proportional response, and that encompasses the essence of providing keep-safe care through positive staff engagement and immediate response and intervention if required. The second strand is called tailored support, and that will provide a multi-agency approach to prisoner-specific, medium- to long-term care. All mental health and therapeutic care streams will be managed in partnership with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and facilitated by the Northern Ireland Prison Service through tailored support.”
“Full investigations into the circumstances of the recent deaths at Maghaberry are ongoing. Whilst it would be wrong to pre-empt the findings of the Prisoner Ombudsman or a coroner's inquest, I believe that it is crucial to act immediately. I also believe this is the first time that this model, which has been used successfully in the community, has been adopted in a prison in Northern Ireland. The objectives of the work are to identify and support those potentially at risk through timely and coordinated support from all sectors; to coordinate local and additional resources through the response period; and to monitor and evaluate the response put in place. <BR /> <BR />Furthermore, the Prison Service is working in partnership with the South Eastern Trust to review suicide and self-harm policy.”
“However, not every episode of self-harm can be prevented. Tragically, some suicides will happen despite the best efforts of staff. The Prison Service and the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, which deliver healthcare in prisons, are committed to providing effective services to vulnerable people in custody. The Health Minister and I want to reassure the Assembly and the public that we are working together on this issue. <BR /> <BR />Following the most recent tragic death at Maghaberry, a meeting was held on Friday 18 November to develop a community response plan. It followed the same model that is adopted when there are potential clusters of suicide in the community. The aim of using that approach is to detect a potential suicide cluster and thereby prevent further deaths by suicide.”
“We need the ongoing help and support of the Department of Health, other Departments and partners across the justice system and in the wider community. Prison officers play a vital role in assessing and supporting vulnerable offenders during periods of crisis. Countless lives have been saved by prison officers who identify prisoners at risk and care for them successfully. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the work that they do around the clock to keep prisoners as safe as possible in very challenging circumstances. <BR /> <BR />The management of the Prison Service, governors and their teams work tirelessly to reduce the rate of self-harm and to prevent suicide. Identifying and supporting prisoners with mental health issues remains a high priority for the Northern Ireland Prison Service.”
“The SPAR process is designed to be a short-term crisis, first-aid management tool; it is not designed to provide long-term care or to address underlying issues such as poor mental health or historical trauma. The process provides for an immediate plan for keeping the person safe, a swift assessment of the concerns causing the crisis and a pathway for longer-term interventions and support to prevent or reduce a recurrence. <BR /> <BR />However we portray it, the custody environment is not designed to deal with those experiencing severe, chronic mental health issues. Whatever level of training we provide to staff, they remain prison officers. The Northern Ireland Prison Service cannot meet the challenge alone.”
“In addition, the problems that are associated with alcohol and substance misuse, mental illness and generally poor coping skills are all higher among the prison population. Research also tells us that people who are in custody are more likely to have either undiagnosed or unmet health needs. For many, their first mental health diagnosis occurs only when they are in custody. <BR /> <BR />The Prison Service supports vulnerable prisoners through the supporting prisoners at risk (SPAR) process. This helps staff to identify at an early stage behaviours that suggest that a prisoner may be in personal crisis and in need of additional and immediate support and care. The emphasis is on individualised care of the prisoner and engagement to understand what is causing the distress.”
“It is a very sad fact that the prison population includes groups of highly vulnerable people and, for some, the confinement regime itself presents a significant burden on their mental health. <BR /> <BR />Since November 2015, there have been five deaths in custody in Northern Ireland, four relating to mental health issues. On 17 November 2016, the prison population totalled 1,533. Of these, 417 were recorded as having a mental illness, and a further 740 prisoners were recorded as having an addiction. That amounts to just over 75% of the prison population. <BR /> <BR />The needs of those who are in prison are complex. In comparison with wider society, disproportionately higher numbers of prisoners present with mental health problems and personality disorders.”
“I wish to update Members on matters relating to mental health in the Northern Ireland Prison Service following recent deaths in custody. <BR /> <BR />First, my thoughts and sympathy are with all those who have been affected by the recent deaths in Maghaberry Prison. Every death in custody is a tragedy. It is a tragedy for bereaved family and friends. It greatly affects prison staff, particularly those officers who have worked with these vulnerable people and have come to know them. It is also a tragedy for other inmates who are affected, too. <BR /> <BR />As Justice Minister, I take extremely seriously the responsibility that is placed on me to care for every individual in custody in Northern Ireland.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I apologise to the House for the lateness in supplying the Business Office with my statement. It was an administrative oversight on our part. I will ensure that it does not happen again.”
“More generally, we need to have a review of mental health in our prisons. That perhaps begins at the stage of committal but also during their stay in prison or, perhaps, going back to an earlier question, even before they get there. It is something that I am committed to doing. Ultimately, mental health, whether in or out of prisons, is under the remit of the Health Minister, so she will be critical in how we move it forward. It needs to be tackled. It comes up time and again in the House, which I suppose is a good thing because it means that we are talking about it. We need to tackle it, so I agree with that.”
“I believe that there is more that we can do, because one death is one death too many. We need to have a really honest, critical assessment of how the processes take place so that we can ensure that we do not have another death in custody. There is more that we can do.”
“I thank the Member for his question. No, I think more work needs to be done. Over the past number of months, a series of tragic incidents have happened in custody. Recommendations in reports from the previous Prisoner Ombudsman suggest that there is more that we can do, not only in the Northern Ireland Prison Service but in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, which also has a role to play. Moving forward, it is a conversation that we will continue to have. We need to take action on it, so I am working with the Health Minister to see how we can best do that.”
“My understanding is that that case is still under investigation. A number of processes have been put in place, including the Supporting Prisoners at Risk (SPAR) process. I think it is an active investigation, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment. If I am incorrect, I will come back to the Member with more details .”
“As the Member will appreciate, it is difficult for me to comment on those types of issues. Since becoming Minister, I have been keen to listen to the various victims represented on the various groups. I am happy to do that, yes.”
“I thank the Member for her question. Indeed, she has approached me to talk about the issue. As always, I am keen to listen to the views of victims on this. I think that will better inform our legacy approach moving forward. The institutions agreed under the Stormont House Agreement will, I believe, enable victims to essentially get their issues on the legacy of the past addressed. I think that this reiterates that we need to move forward as soon as possible. Indeed, I encourage anyone who has a role in moving legacy forward to do so as soon as possible, because time is running out. I think the example the Member raised demonstrates how difficult these issues are. We need to do this so that victims are no longer suffering.”
“Yes, I agree that there is a lot of really good work happening within our communities, particularly on that type of issue. I think we need to be careful not to undermine that good work moving forward and not to make problems worse by manifesting them into something that is not the case. Indeed, a lot of the community organisations are best placed to do that work, given the communities they work with. Indeed, I have seen some of that good work on the ground as well, and I think we need to be supportive of that type of work.”
“Not that I am aware of, but I can probably confirm that. No, I do not think so.”
“I think everybody has a responsibility with the language they use in the type of leadership they want to take forward. Indeed, I am more than happy to join the Member on a similar visit, particularly given the attacks on Jewish graves. We made contact with the rabbi with the aim of making such a visit. So, I am quite happy to join the Member and the Chief Constable, if it will send across a united message about how we tackle that type of hate crime.”
“The PCSPs have done a lot of good work on this, particularly in North Belfast, which the Member represents, through the No Hate Here campaign. Again, we need to continually press the message. We also need to be careful with the language we use in the House so that we do not incite that type of behaviour. Again, I think we all have our part to play in that.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Indeed, hate crime is a scourge on our society, and the Executive Office leads on that area. The crime committed falls within my Department's remit, and, operationally, it is more for the PSNI. <BR /> <BR />As an Executive and an Assembly, we need to be united in the messages that we put out that this type of behaviour is not acceptable. We can all contribute to the message by continually condemning this type of attack and supporting these people, who are very much part of our community, and ensuring that the message is out there that this will not be tolerated in any way. Indeed, the Member will be aware that the close relationships with the PSNI can also encourage that.”
“Not that I am aware of. I could be wrong on that information, and, if I am, I will come back and correct my response to the Member. I am keen to understand individual officers' issues with their job. To an extent, it is not the problems that are the problem but it is how we deal with them. If we can get as clear a picture as possible, we can better support prison officers, who are then less likely to have work-related stress issues, which will, hopefully, mitigate sickness absence in the service.”
“I do not have the exact figure to hand. There have been issues about maintaining that figure, which in itself adds to the stress that prison officers face when we have those limitations. I believe that we are operating in a safe environment, but we need to look at the issue. Sickness levels can have an impact on the figure, and we need to find a way to mitigate that as much as possible so that staff are operating in a safe environment and prisoners are being cared for in an appropriate environment.”
“We are in the very early stages of what we hope to do, particularly with the modernisation programme. The Member will be aware that we are in the process of recruiting a new director general, and I am keen to understand how he or she will lead on taking this forward, particularly from the operational perspective of Prison Service staff. We have yet to firm up the details of a number of initiatives. Hopefully, we can move forward as soon as we decide on the best strategy.”
“It points to the really difficult nature of the job, particularly in the Prison Service, which is perhaps why officers are taking sickness absence. It is a stressful job, and many of the reasons why officers go off sick is down to stress. I hope that we can address the issue, for prison officers in particular, with the modernisation programme that we are bringing forward. We have yet to firm up on the detail of other initiatives that will address sickness absence. I am putting a keen focus on how I can better support staff in my Department, and, hopefully, we will see the positive outworkings of that.”
“I thank the Member for his question. There are significant levels of sickness absence in my Department in particular.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am very keen to work with the Health Minister, as I said. We met to affirm our commitment to this particular issue, but it has to be part of a wider holistic approach and that includes how prison officers can be better supported in the job that they do.”
“I thank the Member for his question. There have been a number of reports on tragic incidents happening in the prisons. It is something that I am very saddened by and we need to take action. In the Prisoner Ombudsman's reports, he outlined a number of recommendations that my officials in the Northern Ireland Prison Service are working towards implementing. The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust also has a role in implementing them, so it is critical that both agencies work together to tackle the issues. As I have outlined again, a lot of this can be very much satisfied by how prison officers themselves are supported in looking after people in custody. We had a conversation earlier in Question Time about the mental health issues there and a lot of these incidents seem to derive from that.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Indeed, I have had conversations with the First Minister about some of the challenges for prison officers and staff that are presenting themselves in my prisons. I am keen to tackle these particular issues and get to the root cause of the problem. We are working with the Prison Governors Association, which I met last week, and I also met with the Prison Officers' Association a number of weeks ago, to understand the problems so that we can find a positive way of moving forward.”
“It is going to challenging and difficult and is not something that will happen overnight. The action plan that the Executive have published, and how we move forward on that, will go some way in tackling the criminality of these types of activity.”
“I thank the Member for his question. I accept that tackling paramilitaries within communities will be really difficult due to the grip that they have on those communities. I spoke about this in my response to the debate on paramilitaries in the Assembly last week, and one of the challenges is about paramilitarism versus criminality. Indeed, the testament that we heard on the news this morning goes to show how challenging it is. <BR /> <BR />We need to be quite honest in how we approach it, and we should enable those who want to move away from this type of crime to do so. These people are a credit. It is not the case that we are letting anyone move forward on these initiatives, but it is something that we need to be really honest about with our local communities.”