Emma Pengelly
South Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“This week, I will travel to France to pay my respects to all those who fought and the many who fell at the Battle of the Somme as we mark its 110th anniversary. <BR /> <BR />From across Northern Ireland, generations have served their country.”
“One of the men who fought was James Sandford, my great-grandfather. He fought, he survived, he went on to fight again, and he was seriously injured in another battle. I am deeply proud of him, and I am proud of all those who stepped forward with such honour in the face of the horror of that war.”
“When I stand there this week, looking at the gravestones of so many who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedom, I will also remember — we must always remember — the responsibility that we carry forward. Remembrance is not only about honouring the past; it is about shaping the future.”
“Last night, people in north Belfast witnessed horrific scenes that have absolutely sickened and appalled people across Northern Ireland. It was a shocking and barbaric act of violence that has left a victim fighting the consequences of a truly savage attack.”
“Every person has the right to walk their streets, live in their community and feel safe in their own neighbourhood. This type of brutality has no place in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />This morning, I spoke with the Chief Constable and the Justice Minister.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have also been in contact with the Prime Minister, because the PSNI has confirmed that the 30-year-old male who has been arrested is believed to be of Somalian heritage.”
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“The development of these sites has been a part of the Executive Office and OFMDFM for some time, and it will play into a discussion around the strategic approach for the sites. We want to maximise the potential, as mentioned, around the Maze/Long Kesh site and other strategic sites. We know that they can be very important in the local area, and we want to work with the local community towards what can be achieved. I was reading about the development of Ebrington and the significant benefit that it has brought to the local area and the local economy. It sets a very good example of what we can achieve if we work with the local council and local stakeholders to maximise the potential of these sites.”
“However, we need to stabilise current provision while we continue to roll out development of the substantive childcare strategy.”
“Absolutely. In my constituency, Lagan Valley, we have already seen the impact of that pressure on settings. No matter what the type of setting — public, private or social enterprise — they are under huge pressure, not least because electricity and heating costs have significantly increased. Of course, childcare workers deserve to have fair remuneration — a fair wage. To that end, it is welcome that there is a pay increase that will shortly come in for those workers. They are some of the lowest paid, despite the importance of the work they do. We also know that that puts additional financial pressure on the settings. We want to meet both objectives. We want childcare workers to be paid well, but we want childcare settings to be sustainable. The Education Minister is urgently looking at this issue and will bring forward some proposals.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Member is right to highlight the rationalisation around the 22 hours. I think that the approximate cost of that is £35 million. The First Minister and I have asked for urgent, costed actions to be brought forward on what we can do immediately while that work on substantive strategy is put in place.”
“I thank the Member for Upper Bann for her question. It will come as no surprise that I absolutely agree with her. There are consequentials that come from those policy decisions in Westminster. I absolutely believe that, although we are not obliged to ring-fence that money for those particular purposes, we should ring-fence it and spend it. The Member, rightly, pointed out that there are immediate actions that could be taken. We are all conscious that, getting a really good, workable, effective childcare strategy, will require working with stakeholders, really thinking it through and getting the right intervention at the right time to support settings and families. Of course, families are under immense pressure right now. That should mean supporting families and settings with immediate actions while that work continues.”
“Absolutely. I want to pay tribute to the incredible work that has been done by the victims and survivors. The Executive Office deals with many people who have been fighting for so long to get recognition, acknowledgement and redress, not just for historical institutional abuse but in respect of mother-and-baby homes and for the victims and survivors of the Troubles. We recognise, absolutely, the incredible journey that they have been on and the fight that they have had to try to get acknowledgement, justice and redress. Our message today, absolutely, is that we are here to support all those victims and survivors. We recognise the hard work that they have put in, and we now want to do everything that we can to support and help them.”
“The First Minister and I would like to associate ourselves with the apology that was offered to victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse on 11 March 2022. In our role as leaders of the Executive and Ministers in charge of the Executive Office, we said that we are sorry. To the victims and survivors, we say this: we acknowledge the wrong that was done to you, accept responsibility and offer our deepest regrets. We pledge to ensure that systemic abuse never happens again, and we commit to continue supporting you in any way that you deserve.”
“I know that many people throughout Northern Ireland will want to see a resolution to the current situation in the Middle East, the hostages released and movements towards peace in that region.”
“The Member will be aware that I am answering questions from a departmental perspective for the office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, the Executive Office. There will, of course, be party political views on that matter.”
“Absolutely. I am not aware of the detail of what you have said about the potential sale of such land, but there is no doubt that people throughout Northern Ireland and the island of Ireland have been absolutely appalled at some of the revelations about the treatment of those babies and children. It is an incredibly emotive issue for very many people, so it is absolutely right that we address it in every way that we can. Although I do not know the detail of the specific plots of land that the Member talks about, land absolutely should not be sold if there is a question mark over those sites. We will certainly take that issue away, consider it fully and perhaps write to the Member with more details.”
“If we can, we therefore want to deal comprehensively with that issue through this inquiry and its redress scheme so as to prevent any unnecessary further inquiry into dealing with some of the elements. We will be very conscious of that issue and try to take it into account as fully as we possibly can.”
“That work has been moving forward at pace against the report on the five key recommendations. Work on the key policy decisions to be made in legislation is still at a relatively early stage. I know that many of the people most impacted on by the issue have not yet seen the draft legislation, but that is because it has not yet come up to Ministers. Once it does, we will consider some of the policy questions in the consultation. There are still a number of issues to be resolved, including on what we will go out to consultation, but we want to be able to look at them as comprehensively as possible. Mother-and-baby homes were not part of the Historical Institutional Abuse (HIA) inquiry.”
“The best way in which to secure and stabilise the future of our Government here in Northern Ireland is to build constructive working relationships. We work within the framework set down by the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, as amended by the St Andrews Agreement. The work on reform, and on the consideration of reform, is, appropriately, being taken forward by the AERC, and we look forward to reading the Committee's recommendations in detail.”
“The Member should be aware that his motion pertained to the work of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee (AERC) rather than to that of the Executive Office.”
“We will have discussions about that issue and how we will potentially unlock the site. It is a key strategic site in Lagan Valley, and of course I want to see its potential unlocked. It can be an economic driver not just for Lagan Valley but for the whole of Northern Ireland. We will therefore work to seek a way through the issues on the site in order to unlock the potential for Lagan Valley and Northern Ireland.”
“It continues to prove popular and attracted some 3,000 visitors over the European Heritage Open Day weekend in September 2023. Air Ambulance also operates from the site, taking the very best pre-hospital critical care to the scenes of medical emergencies.”
“We recognise the immense economic, historic and reconciliation potential of the site and look forward to working with the recently appointed board to maximise that potential. We hope to meet the board over the coming weeks. The new board will continue to consider possible approaches to the regeneration of the site and provide us with advice and options for the future. <BR /> <BR />The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society (RUAS) continues to develop its area of the site, with three further tranches of land transferred under the development agreement. The addition of Logan Hall, the Fold and the Annex have further enhanced the success of Balmoral show. The development corporation has carried out significant repairs and restoration of the World War II-era hangars, which host the wonderful Ulster Aviation Society collection.”
“We do not think that it is unreasonable that the UK Government should support that drive by making a financial contribution, not only to the scheme but towards the support and welfare of their applicants. Those discussions will continue, and, hopefully, we will have a more collaborative approach moving forward.”
“I thank the Member for his very important question. It was raised in the House of Commons at the time that the scheme had the potential to go wider. However, we made the case that there was no point in the UK Government replicating the scheme. The scheme could be fit for purpose for people no matter where they currently reside. Many soldiers who served in Northern Ireland reside in parts of England, Wales and Scotland and may well be able to apply to the scheme. <BR /> <BR />Discussions had commenced with the UK Government, asking them for a financial contribution towards the overall cost. At the moment, the cost of the scheme comes from our block grant. To do something like a leaflet drop for the entire UK would have a significant cost associated with it, which would come out of our allocation.”
“A lot of them take a lot longer because they are historical or, perhaps, some of the records are difficult to obtain. <BR /> <BR />We have been working with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) to try to secure a better way of getting access to records. We have been supporting the Department of Health with additional resources to help get medical records and whatnot. There is a whole series of actions. We need to improve communication and speed for families, but it is a very complex and novel scheme.”
“There has already been a review of the application process. Those changes and the changes to the guidance have been rolled out to support people with their application. I have spoken to victims and survivors who have found it retraumatising to fill out the form and relive all the experiences that they have gone through. The £5 million was spent on organisations, welfare officers and support officers for them to work with people not only on putting the application in but, after that, on the implications for those people of having gone through the process. We know that, for many people, certainty is an important aspect. The nature and complexity of many of the applications means that it is not simple to say that they will take six or 12 weeks.”
“We have also been working with the Department of Justice, which appointed Capita, to look at the processes to see what we can do to improve them. <BR /> <BR />We have to remember that, in this process, we are not requiring people to get information and evidence to support their application prior to making the application. We are encouraging people to put their application in, and that is when the process commences. That, inevitably, means that the application process is considerably slower than it would be were we asking for fully supported applications. We have encouraged people to do that for a number of reasons, but we are looking at how we can speed up the application process, knowing that so many victims and survivors are very concerned, are waiting and need that support as quickly as possible.”
“The Victims' Payments Board has so far made determinations on 1,024 applications, 733 of which have been successful and 391 of which have been unsuccessful, so things are moving. As I indicated, £36 million has been distributed. I am sure that many Members are in a similar position in that they have constituents who are now part of the process. Their application is in, and it has been a very difficult and challenging process for them because the application form inevitably requires them to go through an awful lot of their experiences and the impacts that those experiences have had on them. We are conscious of that. We have asked the Department of Finance's business consultancy service to come in and do a review.”
“As the Member is aware, the previous Victims' Commissioner resigned. We are waiting for a submission, which, we understand, should be with us in the next number of weeks, to commence that process. We are very keen for a commissioner to be put in place as quickly as possible. The appointment is regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments for Northern Ireland (OCPANI), and there are therefore a number of requirements that mean that we estimate that the process will probably take about six months. We encourage anybody who may be listening and who feels that they could do the role and do it well to please put their name forward for it. The process will commence, hopefully, very shortly, with the aim of putting a commissioner in place as quickly as possible.”
“We are also supporting the retrieval of evidence on behalf of applicants and the Victims' Payments Board. Our officials continue to engage regularly with the Department of Justice and the Victims' Payment Board to consider ways of helping to enhance the delivery of the scheme.”
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will answer questions 6 and 10 together. More than £36 million has been paid to victims since the victims' payments scheme opened for applications on 31 August 2021. We are aware of concerns about the length of time that it is taking applications to reach determination stage. It is important to acknowledge that each application to the scheme is unique, with its own complexities, and that many applications include multiple relevant incidents. <BR /> <BR />Our Department has provided £5 million of funding to support victims' and survivors' representative groups to facilitate the recruitment of welfare and support officers and of admin support staff who can assist applicants with the application process. Additional funding has also been made available to provide health and well-being support.”
“That unit would not simply be owned by the First Minister and me in that we would ask for and demand that delivery; it would very much be there to work with all the Ministers in order to make sure that we deliver the strategic priorities of the Programme for Government.”
“We are conscious of the fact that many things were achieved in previous Programmes for Government but that there were commitments that were not. In the last number of weeks, the report on the investment strategy for Northern Ireland and capital programmes has come out. That has some very good examples of what has been achieved, not least the Glider and the Titanic centre, which are really good examples of key capital investment in strategic interests. We are also conscious of the fact that other big capital projects were not advanced. That is why the First Minister and I have tasked the head of the Civil Service with bringing forward proposals for an effective delivery-style unit that will sit at the centre of but work across the Executive.”
“The Member will be aware that there is a commitment to the Casement project as part of the multisport programme. There has been no change to that fiscal commitment, and it remains, but we are aware of a huge amount of speculation, which has yet to be confirmed, that costs have increased. There will be an inflationary increase, but it appears that costs have significantly increased. We have not had confirmation of the totality of that cost. When we have that, the Minister for Communities will bring forward advice on the issue, but, at the moment, the commitment in the Programme for Government is to the allocation as set out in the multisport package, which, at that time, included rugby and football.”
“We therefore have some certainty that will allow us to plan on a multi-year Budget. Of course, it is fiscally incredibly tight. We need flexibility. We want the ability to invest in transformation. Ideally, we want to weave the initial one-year Budget plan into a multi-year Budget to align fully with a multi-year Programme for Government.”
“As the Member is aware, under section 20 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the commitment and requirement of the Executive is for a one-year costed programme. However, we want to place that in the context of a multi-year Programme for Government and a multi-year Budget. That will require some projection forward in the hope of achieving a certain level of spend. To that end, budgetary discussions with the UK Government secured, for example, the so-called fiscal floor of 124%. There is much more to be done on that, but it gives a degree of certainty. As the Member is also aware, some of that additional funding was secured as part of the £3·3 billion package. It is not without its issues, some of which are being worked through by the Finance Minister for clarity about what is or is not contractually committed.”
“The number of years covered by the Executive's Budget depends on the period covered by the Treasury's spending review. As 2024-25 is the last year of the current spending review, and the Executive's funding beyond that has not yet been confirmed, a multi-year Budget is not possible at this point. The Executive have been clear that public finances here need to be put on a more sustainable basis. To that end, we are committed to working with the UK Government to make sure that we are given the tools that we need. That does not prevent the Executive from planning for the long term. We have already got to work on childcare and public-sector pay, and we will continue to plan for the future while we work to create the stable financial baseline that we know we need.”
“Focusing on a small number of strategic objectives will give us the best opportunity of achieving them to the benefit of Northern Ireland.”
“We are aware of the ever-changing global situation, particularly in geopolitics. There is the war between Ukraine and Russia, and there are areas of instability, including in key trade routes. There are also opportunities, however, such as the growth of the tech industries, including cyber security and regtech, in which we have done very well thus far. There is huge potential for that, along with AI and other technologies and industries in which we have a proven track record. The key will be to work closely with the Department for the Economy and Invest NI to identify which partners offer the best opportunities for investment. We are relatively small, so, of course, we cannot cover everywhere. That is why targeting in line with the Department for the Economy's 10X strategy will be absolutely key.”
“All engagement is done clearly in the context of our strong position on human rights, including internationally.”
“Going forward, an evaluation of the successes of the strategy over the past number of years will be invaluable. That evaluation will have to be fed into what we build on. We are conscious that, in the US, our office is in DC and that we have an office in Brussels. Those are the key centres of power. We will, of course, continue to assess strategic advantages. That was part and parcel of the 2017 review of the international relations strategy that sought to identify in which regions there is potential for growth and with which regions there is potential for forging closer relationships that will be to the benefit of our businesses and to Northern Ireland. We keep that under active review, and it will very much be a part of the new international relations strategy.”
“We will also work closely with the UK and Irish Governments, in their representations overseas, to boost opportunities.”
“Global challenges impact on us locally. Engagement with international partners is vital to deliver for all people here. We have seen significant changes over the 10 years since the first 'Executive's International Relations Strategy' was published and are considering how a future strategy will deliver the Executive's priorities. Part of that will be about building deeper relationships with the key international regions that can help us, whether we build trade and investment links or learn from others and share our experiences. In the past year, we have seen a considerable increase in delegations coming here, and we will build on those links to develop new relationships. Improving our relationship with the EU, its institutions and its member states is an important focus.”
“As I very clearly set out, moving forward, the key thing is to try to build robust, confident, strong and constructive working relationships. I look forward to working with the Member and her party, as the official Opposition, and, indeed, with parties throughout the Assembly to sell a very positive vision. The key thing is to ensure that we avoid instability by working well together. I am confident that we have the ambition to do that across all the parties of the Executive, and I look forward to working constructively with the official Opposition.”
“It is our responsibility to make sure that we maximise the opportunity presented by that goodwill in order to bring maximum benefit to everyone in Northern Ireland.”
“Our annual visit to DC around St Patrick's Day offers unprecedented access to key decision makers at a very senior level. Looking across the globe at the opportunities that equivalent countries or regions the size of Northern Ireland get, we see that we have incredible access. We want to maximise that opportunity. We will go to DC with a very positive message — the positive message that we have sought to establish over the first four weeks of our joint leadership of the Executive — that Northern Ireland is up for investment and growth and that we want Northern Ireland to thrive for all our young people and for all places within it. <BR /> <BR />We are going to DC, and the Member is right that there is a huge amount of goodwill out there.”
“The work of the bureau has continued over the last 12 months, but we are conscious that a strategy was put in place in 2014. There were some attempts to revise that strategy over subsequent years, but a decision was made to look at a longer-term strategic framework for not just the Executive Office but the Executive and all of the key interests. The First Minister and I are expecting proposals from officials around how to approach that new strategic framework, but we want to work collectively with everyone across the House to make sure that our strategy for international engagement is fit for purpose. That will include an assessment of the work of all three overseas offices over the past 12 months, to identify what has been effective and what we need to build on.”
“That is the type of thing that we need to build on to promote ourselves as a key region that is connected, between Government, business and our universities, and really sell the opportunities of Northern Ireland as a great place for international investment and growth.”
“Absolutely. We have always been very conscious, in terms of our offices overseas, that we do not work in isolation. We do not work in a silo in terms of just the Executive Office. We work very closely with, for example, Invest NI to identify opportunities and priorities. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland's economy will only grow through that foreign direct investment, support and collaboration, and we are very conscious of that. Very often, our size can be a challenge in terms of economies of scale and cost, but it is also an incredible opportunity because we should be able to get ourselves into a position of being very agile in identifying new and merging opportunities. We have made significant progress with that on, for example, fintech, regtech and our creative industries.”
“As we look forward, we need to have a clear focus on our priorities for overseas offices and on new opportunities and regions.”
“The role of our offices in Washington DC, Brussels and Beijing is to represent and promote the Executive's interests and priorities overseas. As a small, outward-looking economy, that is key to our ambition to building a more prosperous region where our businesses and our citizens can realise their potential. <BR /> <BR />The bureau works closely with key partners, including Invest NI, Tourism Ireland, local government and the business community in promoting Northern Ireland as a great place to work, live, invest and visit. We have come to enjoy unprecedented access to the key decision makers at the most senior levels at the heart of the world's largest economies. That is welcome. We need to build on that if we are to realise our ambitions.”
“That has always been a huge challenge because if the choice is to take away from front-line public-service delivery right now in order to do that medium to long-term planning, that is, understandably, a very difficult decision and choice for Ministers. <BR /> <BR />So, we have made clear to the UK Government that we want to put our finances on a sustainable basis that facilitates both of those key themes of work: delivering good public services right now to the people who need them and being able to absolutely invest in the transformation work that we need to make our public services fit for purpose.”
“There have been huge challenges in relation to that. It is notable that for quite a number of years — really, since 2015-16 — we have been operating on a single-year Budget instead of a multi-year Budget. That is a product not necessarily of our system but of the spending review process in London. We are dependent on what is happening with the spending review, and we will find ourselves with a single-year Budget again this year because this is the final year of the spending review period. <BR /> <BR />We absolutely want to move onto a multi-year Budget. That should be aligned with an ambitious Programme for Government, as I have set out. Of course, what we also need is the ability to make that investment in public-service transformation while we continue to provide public services.”
“However, we have this incredible story to tell about so many of our places throughout Northern Ireland, and we will ensure that, in speaking to businesses, we make clear the huge benefits of many places throughout Northern Ireland.”
“Yes, absolutely. As indicated in a number of the public remarks that both the First Minister and I have made, we are keen that we have a strong prosperity agenda for Northern Ireland. That must mean all of Northern Ireland — every part of it. We are very conscious of that. That will be fully integrated in our economic approach, which will be a key mission within the Programme for Government. You are absolutely right: that must be backed up by the right indicators. Of course, we encourage investment in Northern Ireland no matter where it is coming from, and we will listen to the companies that are willing to invest here on where they want to go.”