Catherine Seeley
Upper Bann · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for her comments. I welcome this order, which, as the Minister alluded to, enables consumers to make more informed choices. A recent survey demonstrated that 90% of consumers look at the rating of the premises compared with the 22% who look online.”
“However, I believe that the positives far outweigh this, as the onus to openly display the rating and the opportunity for an upgraded rating will undoubtedly encourage businesses to make the necessary improvements.”
“In response to a question for written answer regarding departmental actions in tackling the stigma, the Minister of Health informed me of a recent workshop to consider key sexual health issues; HIV awareness training in health and social care trusts; and the funding of a number of voluntary organisations that raise awareness and provide i…”
“Through education and increased awareness, we must encourage people to look after their sexual health — in particular, young people. <BR /> <BR />In the North last year, 9,600 people were diagnosed with STIs — further evidence that we need to educate to ensure that all of us, including young people, make positive choices about our own sex…”
“I welcome the motion, which we will, of course, support. <BR /> <BR />World Aids Day takes place this week, so the motion is timely and will, no doubt, be welcomed by those impacted by the disease and organisations such as Positive Life and the Rainbow Project.”
“<BR /> <BR />Those suffering often do not share the fact that they are living with a life-changing condition that has an ability to impact on their mental well-being and overall quality of life, but we must also increase awareness of the causes, symptoms and living with HIV.”
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“Those groups include disabled children, those living in poverty, children in conflict with the law, care-experience children, children with care responsibilities and those in need of safe accommodation, yet the new framework for mental health incapacity excludes under-16s. That was never recommended by Bamford. That was recently noted with concern by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Furthermore, it was recognised by the Chief Medical Officer as far back as 1999 that approximately 20% of children and young people in the North would suffer significant mental health problems before their eighteenth birthday. Official statistics are out of date, but recent peer research carried out by the Children's Law Centre's youth group suggests that that figure is now closer to 27%.”
“<BR /> <BR />A point that will, undoubtedly, be well rehearsed during today's debate is that we in the North have higher rates of mental ill health than any part of Britain or Ireland. Our rates are 20% to 25% higher. It is the largest cause of disability in the North. One in four people is affected, as Robbie Butler mentioned. Someone you know is currently suffering mental ill health. Our young people are significantly affected by the cross-generational mental health needs of a society emerging from conflict. The areas with the highest rates of mental health need are those most impacted by the conflict, which are also areas of high socio-economic deprivation. <BR /> <BR />The prevalence of mental ill health among vulnerable groups of children is disproportionally high.”
“<BR /> <BR />The appointment of a cross-departmental mental health champion would be a significant step, but it is certainly not the only action required. We urgently need to audit the implementation of the Bamford review to identify how far we have come and determine what has not yet been implemented. Fifty-four recommendations came out of the review of child and adolescent mental health services in Bamford. Almost 11 years on, only 26 have been met. In addition, those living in rural areas are adversely impacted — forced to travel long distances to get help, when they are brave enough to ask for it. That does not fulfil the commitment made following the Bamford review to treat people in their community, close to friends and family.”
“Our amendment therefore allows the Minister the space to explore the full range of options. In addition and given the cross-cutting nature of mental health, it is necessary for the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Education to be involved in any discussions around appointing a mental health champion. To be successful, a mental health champion must work in partnership across Departments. Take, for example, the implementation of the Addressing Bullying in Schools Act 2016. It provides huge potential to address child and adolescent mental health triggers, while the implementation of the youth justice review recommendations, led by the Department of Justice, must address the alarming rates of child and adolescent mental health need among children who come into contact with the criminal justice system.”
“There are growing concerns about fuel poverty, rising personal debt and growing reliance on loan sharks and payday lenders. There is grave concern surrounding the lack of affordable housing, the shortage of well-paid full-time jobs and the impact of welfare changes that appear to disproportionally affect disabled people and other vulnerable groups. There is no doubt that unemployment and homelessness place a huge strain on many of our constituents. If we work to provide services for them only when they suffer ill health, whilst ignoring the root causes and making no effort to tackle them, we fail in our role. <BR /> <BR />I am not convinced that it is in the gift of the Health Minister to dictate where the funding from charitable or philanthropic resources should go.”
“Cycle Against Suicide came to Drumcree College in Portadown twice this year to spread their message that it is OK not to be OK and to encourage people, particularly young people, to speak openly and to ask for help. I also commend the work of groups such as the Children's Law Centre, Action Mental Health, Niamh, the Public Health Agency, Lifeline and, more specifically, PIPS Upper Bann, which works tirelessly in my constituency to help those who need support, be it individuals with mental ill health or families suffering loss as a result of suicide. <BR /> <BR />Our amendment seeks merely to strengthen the motion. We believe that it is crucial to note the devastating impact of austerity on mental health across the North.”
“I begin by welcoming the motion and by commending my UUP colleagues for tabling it. It is heartening to note the cross-party consensus on the importance of mental health. That was strengthened further by confirmation from our new Health Minister Michelle O'Neill that mental health is one of her key priorities. I am confident that she will be ambitious, not tokenist, and will push mental health up the agenda and champion it throughout her term, including during the Programme for Government discussions. <BR /> <BR />I also commend the work of the many charities that offer support and aim to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement and the opportunity to question him this morning. I am sure that he does not need me to tell him that grading GCSEs alphabetically or numerically does not change how a pupil performs, so I question the educational argument behind his decision. However, given his comment on and commitment to child-centred education, will he give assurances that, as well as taking action to improve GCSE attainment, he will do all he can to extend full-time special school and preschool provision to as many children as possible, including to children whose parents want to send them to Fleming Fulton School?”
“Would the Member agree therefore that the result of the referendum will disproportionately affect our young people and future generations?”
“I am most concerned about the unemployment rate here in the North and the fact that this means that many of our youth now face a dire future. <BR /> <BR />To conclude, this is not the future our young people voted for. If we do nothing, we will greaten the injustice. I call on all those across Britain and Ireland who favoured "Remain" to come together and explore options pertaining to a continuing relationship with our friends in the European Union”
“That is not good enough for anyone, particularly our most disadvantaged. I will give way.”
“In the coming days and weeks, Upper Bann will welcome Syrian refugee families into its communities. I implore my constituents to extend a warm welcome because, sadly, the whole debate has given rise to the type of poisonous politics that we should never have witnessed. The first sign of contagion was evident with the questions of citizenship that were posed by a Fianna Fáil TD in the South. <BR /> <BR />As Mr Stalford pointed out, the civil and human rights we enjoy were fought hard for, but they now lie in the hands of far right Tories who are hell-bent on scrapping the Human Rights Act.”
“Our talented and skilled young people will stay away when we need them to return home most. <BR /> <BR />In my constituency of Upper Bann, community projects funded by EU money will now collapse, with those in the pipeline suffering a devastating blow. On Friday, I met representatives from NICEM, which represents the ethnic minority community of Upper Bann. Their lives have been thrown into disarray. Families are unsure where their children will go to school in September and if they will have a job in a month's time. Families, who will endure countless sleepless nights, now need leaders to step up and reassure them.”
“I will not give way. That has been snatched away from them. Young people have been denied opportunities, experiences and friendships. That is certainly not a legacy to be proud of. <BR /> <BR />Linkages between universities will now be severed. The ERASMUS school exchange programme will be called into question, and those young people from our neighbouring countries who have taken a brave step to live and work here now face huge levels of uncertainty. Let there be no doubt: young people will disproportionately bear the brunt, and the effects will be long-lasting. I personally have been contacted by friends who are living, working and studying in Europe and widening their skills, who now say that there really is no point in coming home. If unemployment is concerning now, the outlook is increasingly bleak.”
“Thursday's result will impact most not on those who are 50-plus and who voted in their thousands to leave but on our children and our children's children, as their opportunities to study, live, love and work in another 27 countries while gaining invaluable life experiences —”
“As party spokesperson for childcare, children and young people, I can only describe the referendum result as heart-wrenching. The vast majority — three quarters — of 18- to 25-year-olds voted to remain. It appears that Thursday was the day young people proved that they are much wiser than many others. I therefore want to express solidarity with young people right across Britain, who have been let down by inter-party rivalry in a campaign which did not have their interests at its heart. Again, this raises the urgent need to extend the vote to 16-year-olds. Their level of engagement in the Scottish referendum was unprecedented. If their vote was good enough then, why not now?”
“How does the Health Minister hope to tackle the loss of 20% of our newly trained nurses, as well as a significant number of consultants, to England, which places huge pressure on our health system?”
“I thank the Minister for his response. This is my first opportunity to wish him well in his new role. What was discussed in meetings with the Finance Ministers of Scotland and Wales?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. What measures does she intend to take to prevent incidents of this sort reoccurring?”
“I am confident that her intervention, along with the backing of the Executive, will prove fruitful.”
“I believe partnership will prove crucial, be that partnership with the Education Department here in the North to address pressures on our health service that could have been prevented through increased awareness or, indeed, partnership with our counterparts in the South so that we share best practice and build on collaborative service developments. I ask the Minister to assure the Chamber that that will happen and that she will consider the development of a unit in the Health Department, like that in Scotland, to deal specifically with waiting times. I also seek assurances from the Minister that she will treat mental health issues and the waiting times in that service with equal concern. <BR /> <BR />I wish the Minister well in her role and look forward to the response in the coming weeks to the current crisis.”
“An overhaul is required, and I look forward to Professor Bengoa's report.”
“I begin by thanking the Minister for her attendance here yesterday. It is encouraging that, this early on, she is presenting herself in front us to deal with these ever-important issues. I also take this opportunity to pay tribute to our front-line staff, many of whom I met out on the canvass trail, who are at their wit's end given the increasing pressures on them in the NHS. I am delighted that, in her statement yesterday, the Minister detailed many of the existing pressures that we are all very aware of, including increasing demand, financial constraints and, most importantly, a slowness to bring about radical change and reform to our health service. I concur wholeheartedly with her sentiment that our biggest problem is the way in which we currently deliver services.”
“In the long term, we must increase spend on early care and childhood development to bring the North into line with international OECD standards. Finally, we must make efforts to strengthen support for parents, particularly those parents living in poverty.”
“We must prove flexible and be responsive to the needs of our children, irrespective of age, race, religion, gender or, indeed, postcode.”
“<BR /> <BR />During a first Holy Communion service that I attended at the weekend involving my nephew and his P4 St Patrick's Aghacommon class, children were described as the mums and dads of tomorrow and the builders of tomorrow's society — two very poignant points. Early intervention provides us with a key opportunity to shape the North's future. It is a strong platform for future success, creating smarter, safer, healthier and wealthier societies, and is crucial if we are to break the cycles of poverty and inequality, but this will require a renewed level of ambition. Children should be valued and provided for at the centre and heart of service delivery. We must first address the needs of those children whose lives, opportunities and ambitions are threatened by poverty, poor health, poor attainment and unemployment.”
“Such an effective approach to early years education and intervention will contribute strongly to promoting and upholding children's rights as identified in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). <BR /> <BR />Sadly, not every child who needs it enjoys early intervention. A postcode lottery currently dictates levels of intervention. Many harder-to-reach children, particularly vulnerable two-year-olds, remain under the radar, with intervention coming so late that its impact is significantly weakened. We must redirect resources to ensure that intervention happens as early as possible for those who need it the most.”
“There are proven links between speech, language and communication difficulties as a risk factor and predictor to neglect, abuse, school exclusion and early school departure. Currently, 7% of our children — two in every classroom — have speech, language and communication needs. That increases to 50% of children from our most socially deprived communities. This threat to the development of expressive and receptive language skills impacts massively on interpersonal relationships, environments and services. Interventions should therefore take place as early as possible, particularly when the child has been identified as vulnerable. We must shift the focus from crisis intervention to prevention and early intervention.”
“<BR /> <BR />I also take this opportunity to commend the previous Minister of Education, my constituency colleague Mr John O'Dowd, whom we owe huge gratitude to for his unprecedented level of investment in early years education. I hope that our new Minister of Education places similar emphasis on early education, given the benefits to the child and to wider society. <BR /> <BR />I must say that I am somewhat disappointed with this motion. Its focus on three- to four-year-olds ignores and disregards the negative impacts that even younger children face. Research clearly demonstrates how early language ability, particularly at two years, makes a strong contribution to emotional and behavioural functioning. Good early language skills, especially for children growing up in poverty, underpin educational achievement.”
“I want to take this opportunity to say how honoured and humbled I am to be in the Chamber as a voice for the constituents of Upper Bann. As a former teacher, and as the party spokesperson on childcare, children and young people, it gives me great pleasure to speak on today's motion. I begin by paying tribute to the many community groups, schools and individuals in my constituency of Upper Bann who work tirelessly to give our children the best start in life, particularly those in rural and most socially deprived areas. Upper Bann is blessed with proactive and empowered groups from Scotch Street to Tannaghmore and Loughshore to Taghnevan.”