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 43 of 45.
“You cannot apply a clinical, quantitative solution to budgetary problems. It is not simply a £2 million saving; it is a decision that will impact on families and communities and that will shift pressures on other areas. The lack of thought for the wider ramifications of cutting the early years fund is severely counterproductive, and I urge the Minister to reconsider, as do the 13,599 people who signed the petition.”
“One hundred and seventy-seven jobs will be lost — jobs that were mainly for women — in the most disadvantaged areas of our communities. Mums who have been able to go back to work because of the early years provision, particularly in rural areas in my constituency and in constituencies across Northern Ireland, now face the prospect of being unable to stay in employment. That is not equality. Eighteen hundred single-parent families will be directly impacted, and 620 places for children with special needs and 250 places for children whose first language is not English will be lost. Those are the most vulnerable in our society. <BR /> <BR />There is no indication of funding beyond August 2015. Staff are being put on protective notice right now. They need to be able to plan for the year ahead.”
“<BR /> <BR />For some, this is the only funding that they will receive, and, without it, they will not be able to provide vital services for children, families and communities. I have heard from 16 funded groups in my constituency and other groups across Northern Ireland. This cut will devastate them. <BR /> <BR />I am concerned that the Minister does not fully grasp the impact of the decision. My biggest concern is that he does not understand the impact on early intervention. This is not about childcare, and if he believes it to be so, then he is more uninformed than the House realises. It is not simply a preschool issue either, because whilst 16,000 preschool places were provided under early years in 2014-15, there were also 900 crèche places for children aged nought to three.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to present a petition of 13,599 signatures that urges the Minister to re-evaluate his decision to cut funding to early years services. <BR /> <BR />Early years education is a building block — an unsung building block — for the future of any child. The Minister's announcement of cuts of nearly £2 million to the early years fund stunned groups: it shell-shocked them. Many operate within the community and voluntary sector, which has already been an easy and nonsensical target for Executive cuts. The cut was not in the draft Budget. It was under-thought and an attempt to trim fat, yet, with early years, there was only skin and bones to begin with.”
“I commend the recent comments by my East Londonderry colleague Mr McQuillan to raise the concerns about the lack of investment in East Londonderry. Does the Minister share those concerns? What will he do to encourage Invest NI to work a little bit harder in our area?”
“<BR /> <BR />In a crude way, I see this as a positive message, because it means that we are working our way out of this dark tunnel. We have a long while to go yet, but we need to keep going, and we cannot fall here. I will vote for the Second Stage of this Bill, and I commend the Minister for bringing it to the House in the form that she has done, but we need to keep going, and we cannot fall now.”
“They are fed up with the poor quality of politics here that they have been getting since 1998 and before that. I have a theory, Mr Speaker; I think that we will eventually get there. We will get there because what is happening now is probably a natural cycle of the conflict and of deeply-divided societies. Politicians got the job because they waved their flag higher or because they got a number of votes for the other side. They did not have to be good at their job during the conflict, but now they do. People are starting to wake up to politicians in Northern Ireland, and they are starting to realise that those people are here to represent them and their interests and to provide the public services that they use.”
“<BR /> <BR />Even if I could swallow the nonsense about the most vulnerable, it is fair to say that we are not helping the most vulnerable in that respect. We are actually making it much harder for them. We are cutting the services that are helping them to get back into work, making them feel part of society and giving them somewhat of a quality of life that the rest of us take for granted. Please, please do not tell me that this is in the name of the most vulnerable. This is the consequence of bad party political decisions. I would be sacking the spin doctor because Sinn Féin is usually better at wearing the faces that it has. <BR /> <BR />Welfare reform needs to be set aside for now, so that Northern Ireland can get on with it. The people of Northern Ireland so desperately want us to get on with it, whatever "it" may mean.”
“If that is the imminent reality, which it is, then I would rather that it was implemented in the form that is most considerate of the circumstances of Northern Ireland and the post-conflict society that we find ourselves in. <BR /> <BR />There are concerns about welfare reform, as I have very briefly outlined, but I do not accept that the current impasse is about the most vulnerable in our society. I am actually quite angry that that phrase is overused in the way that it is by some Members of this House. If it were about the most vulnerable in our society, we would have passed welfare reform, because satisfying the most vulnerable in our society goes beyond benefits. It looks to other public services, and to pin it only on benefit disrespects the people whom Members here say they are helping.”
“Nevertheless, I think that what we have on the table is the best option. It seems that it is the only option that is on the table. It is not a bad thing that we set welfare reform aside. In Northern Ireland, the politics often gets in the way of the politics, and, to me, welfare reform at this stage is nothing more than politics; bad politics at that. <BR /> <BR />I do not like the Conservative Government's approach to welfare reform. Their approach has been about penalising those who take advantage of the system rather than helping those who need to use it. All of us, as Members of this House, will be able to say that they have felt the squeeze in anticipating welfare reform and the changes that are happening, knowing that it is coming. It is coming and neither I nor any Member of this House can stop welfare reform.”
“<BR /> <BR />We are where we are, and that is at the end of the line. Unless the Budget (No.2) Bill is passed today, Northern Ireland has failed. While that shame will stay with us as Members of the House, the biggest tragedy is the effects that it will have on the people of Northern Ireland — the people I represent — and the basic public services they are entitled to. Not the standard that everyone else gets, but the basic public services that they are entitled to. <BR /> <BR />Much has been made of the phantom Budget, or provisional Budget, although I am not sure that that is much better. We will call it hypothetical. By all means, I am the last person to come forward to congratulate the DUP on its policy.”
“Essentially, that is our reason to be. That is why we are in the Assembly today. Anything that we do follows from the Budget. <BR /> <BR />I was not a fan of the original Budget Bill, and I am not really a fan of this one. It seems to cut a clinical line across the various Departments. There is no strategy that envisages our Departments working together so that we can provide the people of Northern Ireland with an efficient and effective public service, which is something that they deserve. That said, the Minister can only play with the cards that she has been dealt. Even in an environment where the political impasse did not hang over our heads, she would still have a difficult task trying to convince civil servants that we are no longer under direct rule and that cross-departmental working is really the only way forward.”
“I will try to be brief in say in a few words that others have laboured over; I do not think there is much that I can say that will change the outcome of the debate anyway. If anything, I hope that I can send out a message of what a 28-year-old female from Northern Ireland thinks of the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />When preparing for the debate, I looked over the Hansard from Monday. One of the things that jumped out at me was when Minister Foster said:”
“Apologies, Mr Speaker, I was not expecting to be called so soon.”
“Is the Minister aware of the financial aspect of the business case not to continue dance and drama classes at Belfast Metropolitan College?”
“The Minister has laboured on what he believes early years to be and not to be, but my sense is that he is just ignorant of the facts. When will the Minister take responsibility for a fund that is within his remit?”
“When setting out the area-based plans, was the Minister mindful of finance and, indeed, did he set aside finance to implement his plans, for example of an amalgamation of a new school?”
“It was a fantastic, close-knit group of Irish people, coming together and doing wonderful things. It is very sad that, in this case, those students will now not get to realise the opportunities that that opened. <BR /> <BR />It is a terrible tragedy right across the world. Whatever part of this island you are from, whether Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, I think that we are all feeling that pain. Again, I thank you for the opportunity for allowing me to offer my sincere condolences.”
“I, too, appreciate the opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in Berkeley. I wish those who have to recover a speedy recovery. <BR /> <BR />I spent two summers in Washington DC on a J1 visa. My first trip out to the United States was just over five years ago. It was part of a programme with 30 students from Northern Ireland and Ireland who spent the summer on a leadership and development programme in the capital. I suppose that one of the things that came out of it for me was that it was one of the happiest summers of my life. If it can give any comfort to those who have lost in the past week, I can say that my time in Washington DC on my J1 was one of the happiest summers of my life.”
“If we are to protect the rights of older people, let us do it right; let us not tag it on to a Further Consideration Stage. <BR /> <BR />I agree with other Members: the sentiment is there. However, if you really meant it, you would have tabled it at Consideration Stage and we would have had the opportunity to amend it at this stage. I get the sentiment, but I do not quite accept the intention. <BR /> <BR />I signed the petition of concern on the amendment, and I think that I had a valid reason for doing so. It highlights the inability of some Members to draft legislation, and that is a bigger crime than any of the other abuses of the petition of concern in the past. I will not support the amendment.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Members who tabled the amendment lazily try to define a "violent offence". I take exception to that, too. They laboured the point about sexual abuse. Should a sex attacker not experience the same repercussions as someone setting out to kill someone? It is just a very lazy attempt at legislation. <BR /> <BR />The amendment leaves out mental abuse. Across Northern Ireland, we have heard of older people being mentally abused in care homes. That can be just as bad a crime as physical abuse. The huge holes in the amendment also disrespect the sector. <BR /> <BR />I will not claim to know law in the same way as people in the House who have worked in the profession know it, but they have demonstrated that the figure of seven years is completely uninformed.”
“I have difficulty when a party tables an amendment to protect the rights of older people while dragging its heels on other issues that make more sense. <BR /> <BR />I recognise the sentiments in the amendment. In my constituency, we have had cases of older people being dragged from their home. By all means, their attackers should be punished; I do not disagree with that. What irks me about this amendment is that disabled people, ethnic minorities, children and other vulnerable people who are abused — in fact, everyone who has had an offence committed against them — should have the same satisfaction of knowing that the offender will be held to account. Generally, we disrespect older people by saying that they should be elevated in that way. I do not agree with that.”
“<BR /> <BR />I struggle to find the parliamentary language for "stupid", Mr Speaker — I apologise for that — but the amendment is stupid and ill informed. It disrespects the entire sector. Mr Poots says that we are protecting the older sector: we are not protecting the older sector. If Mr Poots felt that we were protecting the older sector, he would know that the Commissioner for Older People Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 defines older people as those aged 60 and above. In some circumstances, someone aged 50-plus can be defined as an older person. If we are really to respect the sector and do what we intended to do, let us put some facts to it. To be honest, even the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister does not know how to define older people — it cannot get its active ageing strategy off the ground.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the group 2 amendments. I will briefly refer to amendment No 6, which is a progressive way of looking at rehabilitation, so I congratulate the Member for thinking outside the box. <BR /> <BR />On amendment No 7, I will start with the point that Mr McCrea finished on — the petition of concern. I do not sign petitions of concern — they are an abuse of democracy — but tonight I signed my first petition of concern. I do not see it as an abuse in this case. I see it as a way of limiting people who think that they know better. They can say that this is the will of the House — Mr Allister referred to that — but it is not the will of the House; it is the will of the guy who comes round, gives them the whip and tells them what to do. This is a case where I felt that we needed to sign a petition of concern.”
“Will it be in the Department's power to decide what guidelines it will set to ensure that the appropriate people receive the right money?”
“My understanding is that some networks have had the impact mitigated more than others, to the point where those that run a very efficient service have been told to tap into their reserves. Is it appropriate, or even its business, for the Department to look into those networks' finances and reserves? After all, a group may have a 10-year-old whiskey, but the Department should not necessarily pressure it to drink it, particularly if there is not another bottle coming any time soon.”
“Like Mr Ramsey, I also welcome the Minister's intention to bid for more provision for community and rural transport. In his answer to Mr Ramsey, he alluded to challenges. Will he outline what those challenges are in respect of that group?”
“Is the Minister aware of how many successful appeals there have been against the net annual value, and does that suggest that the revaluation process in itself was flawed?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. What influence will local authorities have in distributing the money to ensure that it is distributed where it is needed?”
“I will support the Final Stage of the Bill if only to send out the message that there are some Members of the House who have faced the reality of where we have found ourselves and are starting to try to work with that rather than trying to dream up something that is not possible.”
“Number two: I will not risk the outcomes of the people of Northern Ireland, and I do not think that any other Member of the House should do so either. <BR /> <BR />I do not think that this is a case of it being the eleventh hour and that someone has to come and save us. That window of opportunity has passed. Crude as it might sound, Northern Ireland had a window of opportunity following the conflict, but that is closing, and I certainly think that, on welfare reform, that window has closed. <BR /> <BR />I will not keep you any more than I have done, because the Bill is doomed.”
“I thought that, for the first time in the past year, they would actually show leadership and realise that they should not put their names to a petition of concern. To be fair to them, they did not; they created their own. I sincerely hope that that was not a mistake and that they knew what they were doing when they signed a petition of concern that would be added to Sinn Féin's petition of concern and would render the Welfare Reform Bill invalid. By the sounds of it, that means that the party to my right are either stupid or desperate. At this stage, I feel they are both. Mr Attwood summed it up for me earlier: he said that, because things change, we should be open to taking risks. Number one: if we are going to wait for people to change things in Northern Ireland, we will not get very far.”
“It was not before the ard-fheis in Derry, and it certainly was not after it. Like every party in the House — I see it — Sinn Féin is deeply split, although, to be fair to them, they are always the best at hiding it. To be honest, it is not even within the Assembly grouping that they are split; it is North/South. Let us face it: Sinn Féin's direction has not come from Martin McGuinness, the deputy First Minister; it has come from Dublin. I think we are all quite aware of that. I know that they do not recognise the border. Do you know what? That is fine. That is entirely fine, and I will respect that, but Members of this House do not have jurisdiction anywhere else but Northern Ireland, so it is their responsibility to put Northern Ireland first. <BR /> <BR />On Thursday, I had great faith in the SDLP.”
“It is a shame that we are not even going to have that opportunity tonight. It does not best serve the people of Northern Ireland, but, sometimes, we have to just strive for what we can get. The reality is that the Conservative Government are at the beginning of a five-year mandate. Welfare reform is coming to Northern Ireland with or without the rule of the Assembly. If without, it will be in its crudest form, without the concessions that we have negotiated until this point. Suggesting that we try to move forward and try to negotiate more is irresponsible. The most vulnerable, whom I have heard many of us from all sides of the Chamber talk about, will suffer. <BR /> <BR />Where is the rationale? I hate to be one to say this, but I think that Sinn Féin's rationale is nothing to do with the vulnerable.”
“It breaks my heart that I have to give a mother directions to a food bank because she cannot feed her child. Those are the shortcomings of welfare, and I have grave concerns about what welfare reform will bring. Equally, I have concerns about the budget cuts that we have, because that same mother was also talking to me about her community transport trips, which may be reduced from five to three. I have had to explain to an elderly lady why she cannot go and meet the only person she will see that week because her community transport has been cut. I have had to comfort a lady who has shed tears because Early Years has been pulled from beneath her. <BR /> <BR />The cuts are not unique to one party; they go right across the board. Everyone will have felt it. Right now, we do not have any option but to pass welfare reform.”
“That is where we are with this Bill: we are no further forward with welfare reform tonight than we were when we heard the First Reading of the Bill. That is not good enough. <BR /> <BR />I do not feel that we have an option here other than to back the Bill, and I do not like the Bill. In any other circumstances or on any other journey that would have brought us to where we are tonight, I would have voted against the Bill. However, I do not think that we have an option. For me, as a MLA whose work is predominantly constituency work, it is difficult to explain to a woman why she is not sick enough to receive certain benefits. It frustrates me that my constituents are pushed to their physical and mental limits to satisfy box ticking on an application form.”
“What frustrates me is that so much work has been done on all the legislation that will pass through the House in the next year, the last year of the mandate, and we have an opportunity to shape legislation that will affect people's lives on a day-to-day basis, but that will all be threatened and undermined because of where we find ourselves this evening. It has led me to believe that the Assembly is no more than theatre, and, to be honest, theatre is only as good as the message that it gives out and how it makes the audience feel. Tonight, the message of the Northern Ireland Assembly is that we are failing. The audience — the people of Northern Ireland — are heckling us. In fact, they are not heckling us; they have actually just left the auditorium. They do not care any more because they are so frustrated with us. That is not a good sign.”
“Like others, I wish the First Minister well in his recovery. My thoughts are with him and his family. <BR /> <BR />I have been a MLA for just over a year. I must admit that I am really frustrated and disappointed that the past year has been characterised by several events that have threatened to bring this institution down. In the Assembly, we often get criticised for not doing anything. This past year, I have done a lot. I could work 24/7 if I wanted to, not only on constituency concerns but on the Assembly business that we do here. I think that, to an extent, we do something up here.”
“Given the recent news reports of increased pressures on public service ambulances, has the Minister any plans to alleviate that and, if so, what are they?”
“Will the Member agree that, although it is based on the advice of civil servants, the buck does stop with Ministers and that all Ministers are responsible for making these cuts? I agree with Ms Lo that the community and voluntary sector has been an easy target in this.”
“Mindful of the number of appeals and the number that have been upheld, is the Minister planning to review the rates revaluation process?”
“I join everyone in congratulating the Minister on her new role. I hope that she can bring the same success to the Department of Finance and Personnel as she did to DETI. <BR /> <BR />Like Mrs Dobson, I requested a meeting with the Minister's predecessor to discuss the revaluation process of non-domestic rate relief. I hope that the new Minister will not be as reluctant to meet me to discuss that.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I draw to your attention something that I heard in the House about 10 or 15 minutes ago. Someone used my deceased predecessor's name to deflect attention from their dirty wrongdoings. I am quite disgusted by that. No one in the House knows David McClarty better than I did. I was part of the process of swapping Committees with Mr Allister at that time. Mr Allister made the request politely. There was no bullying. To suggest so disrespects not only Mr Allister but the late David McClarty. That was done in a way that best facilitated David and his constituents; he thought that he was better placed on the Committee for Employment and Learning. I am disgusted that a Member would use a deceased Member to advance their aims. I am not surprised; I am disgusted.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the First Minister for his answer. I have a situation in Portrush where we have a cross-departmental programme on an initiative. I have had a lot of representations from constituents who are concerned about the lack of consultation with them. I want to know what influence, if any, the First Minister and his deputy have in respect of influencing Departments to actually seek the views of the people who matter.”
“Why has the First Minister's Department failed to spend £8 million of the £12 million that was allocated for childcare?”
“Although those appointments are currently based in Causeway, they are trust appointments as opposed to Causeway Hospital appointments. The Northern Trust also encompasses Antrim hospital and others, so could it, in the future, be that those appointments are moved elsewhere?”
“Yes. I thank the Member for that. I am aware of that, but other Members in the House have also brought up the fact that our population increases significantly in the summer holidays, which would also need to be taken into account during the daytime. I am somewhat sceptical about making it a part-time A&E service, but if this debate comes down to that, and if that is what Causeway is going to be, I would rather we get it out now so that we can start preparing for it and so that the people in the Public Gallery can find out what is going on beyond the simple commitment to Causeway Hospital and its A&E.”
“Thank you. I thank the Member for that question. Yes, Mr Campbell, I agree that that does perhaps suggest that there is some sort of investment in Causeway, but that investment is a long time coming. We need to ensure that it remains in Causeway. I understand that these appointments, whilst they are at the Causeway Hospital, are within the Northern Trust. That means that they can be shifted about to other hospitals. I hope that the Minister will give his commitment in other ways as well the recent appointments, but I do take that fair point. <BR /> <BR />To conclude my contribution to the debate, I ask the Minister to clarify and, again, to reiterate his commitment to the Causeway Hospital with a wee bit more detail. Will the A&E be open 24 hours or will it be part time? That was referred to me earlier and I think it is cause for concern.”
“That was in response to a question about Causeway, so that makes me think that forefront in the Minister's mind is that the Causeway Hospital is one too many for Northern Ireland. I hope that the Minister does follow through on his commitment and is not paying lip service to the people in the Public Gallery and to the fact that we have an election in a few weeks' time. I hope that he really does put substance behind the fact —”
“At the end of the day, we are not England; we are Northern Ireland. We do not have the same infrastructure. We are a rural constituency. Perhaps, if the Minister's Executive colleague had seen fit to extend the A26 through to Coleraine, there might be more of an argument to reduce the services at Causeway, but he did not do so. Right now, in the position in which we find ourselves, the Donaldson report is not quite applicable to Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I agree with Mr Allister that the Minister, up to this point, seems quite enthusiastic about it. That does give me concern for Causeway, particularly when the Minister was asked about Causeway and his response was that, with a population of 1·8 million, 10 hospitals was not appropriate for Northern Ireland.”