Kellie Armstrong
Strangford · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of the Fisheries, Aquaculture and Water Environment Bill. It is timely and important. Miss McIlveen, a fellow MLA for the Strangford constituency, has just spoken.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill reflects the realities of the post-Brexit landscape by aligning protections here with those in other UK jurisdictions and the UK Fisheries Act. That consistency is important for standards, enforcement and international confidence in our products.”
“Last year, I met the Department and we discussed that. The opportunities for seaweed farming in Strangford lough are wonderful, and the opportunities from seaweed that Queen's University has identified are incredible. We are lucky to have those opportunities on our doorstep, as long as there is licensing and it is properly looked after.”
“Moving beyond managing individual fisheries, the Bill recognises the interconnected nature of our rivers, loughs and seas — an approach that is very much in line with Alliance's commitment to evidence-based environmental policy. The inclusion of a national benefit objective is also significant.”
“A while ago, we saw that commercial bottom trawling had all but decimated the horse mussel population in Strangford lough. It has since been changed to a special area of conservation. That limits a lot of activity in the lough, which is not a bad thing considering that horse mussels are coming back.”
“They allow for timely action on lower-level offences without over-burdening the courts while still acting as a meaningful deterrent. If only everybody were acting properly, we would not need to have those deterrents, but we are where we are, and the Bill hopes to improve upon that.”
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“I do not know why the Member thinks that I am pulling a face, to be honest. I love the fact that a number of beacons, not bonfires, in my local area are lit regularly. Cultural celebration is nothing to be feared. What is to be feared is the hate fest that comes with it, and I have borne the brunt of several sectarian comments. Does the Member then agree that that needs to stop and be taken away from a cultural expression event?”
“Minister, getting money out to grassroots sports clubs is always welcome, so thank you very much for that. I want to clarify something. You said that the Crowdfunder platform is being used. If a group were to apply for £50,000, the amount that that group would have to raise itself — the 35% — would be £17,500. However, if the group uses the Crowdfunder platform, the fees would deduct £1,120. Do groups have to use Crowdfunder, or can they use something else? As someone who has been involved with fundraising for decades, I know that Crowdfunder is quite expensive.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am ashamed today to be an elected representative who is sitting over a growing number of people in Northern Ireland who are hungry. That is not what we were elected to do. We were elected to make people's lives better.”
“It is not a fringe issue; it is structural. When one in five households go hungry, we are looking at a system that is not working. <BR /> <BR />Members, we are all responsible for that system. We know that Westminster has a role to play. Ending the cruel two-child cap would certainly help people; operating the local housing allowance to reflect real rents would certainly help people; and an essentials guarantee in universal credit could help people. However, we cannot just look to London. The Northern Ireland Executive have a central role to play. We cannot hide behind the excuse of reserved powers. We have to be brave enough to return to the drawing board on the draft anti-poverty strategy. We need to be ambitious and set targets. We need to look to our people to stop them being hungry.”
“The people who keep our society and economy moving are finding that paid work is no longer enough to protect them from hunger. Work should be a safeguard against poverty, and, too often now, it is not. Of the 520,000 people who are living with food insecurity, 130,000 are children. Some 130,000 children in Northern Ireland today are hungry. <BR /> <BR />The human stories behind the figures are sobering. A nurse who was hurt in a car accident told of how disability had pushed her into hunger. Single-parent families, which make up just 4% of households here, account for 22% of food bank referrals. Three quarters of the disabled people who are referred to food banks cannot afford the essentials. Carers, those from minority communities, LGBTQIA+ people and those who grew up in care are also reported to be disproportionately at risk.”
“Since each of us was elected to the House in 2022, we have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of people in Northern Ireland who are living in hunger. In 2022, 370,000 people were living with food insecurity, and, in the Trussell Trust report that came out today, 'Hunger in the UK 2025', we see that the figure for Northern Ireland has risen to 520,000. On our watch, more people are hungry in Northern Ireland. We are heading in the wrong direction, and it is escalating. That is important to me. <BR /> <BR />It is not just those who are out of work. One in three people referred to food banks in Northern Ireland come from households where someone is in employment. They are bus drivers, factory workers, hospitality staff and nurses.”
“Thank you, Minister. I congratulate all the clubs that have been successful at this stage. You have recognised that there are unhappy clubs. Miss McIlveen mentioned Ards FC, and I will come back to that. As a club without its own ground, it feels penalised by the way in which the scoring system was worked out. For instance, it could not have scored in the current benefits and previous capital investment sections because it has no ground, so there were about 30 points that it was unable to achieve. That was acknowledged by one of the assessors, who said that it was unfair on the clubs that did not have a ground. For clubs that do not have their own grounds and could not score or achieve a high score in those areas, will you review that?”
“I hope that considerations like that are made in the future to ensure that cost is taken into account by all schools.”
“I thank the Member very much for giving way. <BR /> <BR />I am very fortunate to be a parent who no longer has to suffer the costs of uniforms because my daughter is up and away. I have found that the price of girls' skirts, in comparison with boys' trousers, is ridiculous, and I hope the Minister will take that into account after the Bill gets Royal Assent. It may not be a branded item or have a school badge, but the school may tell you that it has to be a certain colour of skirt that can only be bought in one shop, and it may have to have a certain number of pleats in it and this, that and the other thing. It means that boy's black trousers can be bought in a supermarket for a few pounds, whereas a girl's skirt can cost anything up to £40.”
“Minister, as you said, the consultation closes on 12 September. Have you any idea of the timeline that you and your Department are aiming for to get the report out and to deliver on the legislation? Will it happen in this term?”
“As an individual Alliance Party MLA and as a scrutiny MLA, I am delighted that we will have prior knowledge of the Executive's legislative programme at the start of a session. That will make life an awful lot easier for Committees and help us to hold Ministers to account.”
“At its meeting on 18 June 2025, the Committee agreed to bring the Standing Order to the Assembly for approval. <BR /> <BR />In my capacity as Chairperson of the Committee on Procedures, I thank the Deputy Chairperson and all members of the Committee for their constructive approach and detailed input to the Standing Order and to the work of the Committee more generally. I also thank our Committee Clerks, who are known affectionately as "Christella", and the officers who have worked so hard throughout the session to complete a significant workload. Thank you very much to all of them. <BR /> <BR />I trust that Members will view the proposed change as a constructive and useful addition to Standing Orders, and I look forward to the debate.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Standing Order fulfils the legislative requirements; is based closely on the approach that is already adopted by the First Minister and deputy First Minister to a debate on the Executive's legislative programme; and provides greater clarity on the expected time frame. It will assist the planning and scheduling of work during each Assembly session, provide appropriate flexibility should they be unable to meet the time frame, and implement the recommendation of the previous Committee on Procedures, which was endorsed by the Assembly in March 2022. Prior to finalising and agreeing the Standing Order, the Committee sought the views of the First Minister and deputy First Minister, all parties and the independent Assembly Member.”
“Thank you. I hope not to take it, because I am aware that this is the last debate before recess. <BR /> <BR />I absolutely agree with the Member. We have recognised, in the Standing Order, that there is a need for flexibility, as there may be circumstances that affect the ability to table the motion within the expected time frame. Paragraphs 6 and 7 of the Standing Order provide for the First Minister and deputy First Minister to make a statement setting out the reason for not tabling the motion within that time frame and providing a revised date for when, within that calendar year, a revised date will be set to debate the motion on the Executive's legislative programme.”
“The Business Committee must select the motion for debate, which should take place within 10 working days of the day on which the motion is tabled, in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5.”
“That information was more recently supplemented by a written ministerial statement that provided an update on the Executive's legislative programme for the remainder of the 2024-25 Assembly session. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the detail of the Standing Order. Paragraph 1 provides for time to be allocated for an annual debate on the Executive's legislative programme as required by the 2016 Act that I referenced earlier. On the Bills that are intended to be introduced during the Assembly session, paragraphs 2 and 3 provide for the First Minister and deputy First Minister to table a motion for debate:”
“and facilitate Committees to better plan their scrutiny. <BR /> <BR />In developing the Standing Order presented to the Assembly today, the Committee on Procedures considered a range of potential approaches, received legal advice on a number of issues and took account of the process already adopted by the First Minister and deputy First Minister in this mandate. <BR /> <BR />Members will recall that the First Minister and deputy First Minister tabled a motion that was debated on 11 June 2024 on the Executive's legislative programme of Bills to be introduced in the Assembly in 2024, details of which were set out in a written ministerial statement dated 23 May 2024.”
“The Business Committee and the Chairperson's Liaison Group (CLG) also supported provision for such an annual debate and indicated that it would be:”
“On behalf of the Committee on Procedures, I am pleased to bring forward a new Standing Order, which provides for an annual debate on the Executive's legislative programme. <BR /> <BR />The addition to Standing Orders is one of the recommendations of the inquiry into private Members' Bills that was undertaken by the previous Committee on Procedures and approved by the Assembly on 14 March 2022. That Committee did not have time to bring in the Standing Order before the end of that mandate and, therefore, recommended that its successor Committee do so in this mandate. The recommendation to provide for an annual debate on the Executive's legislative programme arose from the requirement of section 15(3) of the Assembly and Executive Reform (Assembly Opposition) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, which states:”
“Minister, you talk about transformational delivery. Will there be any consideration of synchronising programmes across government to make the most effective use of government moneys? For instance, at this stage, we do not see joined-up budgets to deliver programmes that can be delivered across two or more Departments. Have you any plans to update that process so that we can have better use of public moneys?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your statement. As Mr Durkan has already dealt with the £9 million for Communities, I will move on to the discussion in your paper about next year.”
“Minister, with 280,000 households in Northern Ireland facing fuel poverty, one solution is to make use of surplus renewable electricity, particularly from wind. Will the Minister update and expand the energy support schemes to include an option to install technological solutions that harness surplus renewable energy in a way that directly assists the households most in need, such as the EnergyCloud system introduced in Omagh by the Housing Executive?”
“Thank you very much, Minister. You mentioned environmental governance: will you outline what the next steps might be to strengthen environmental governance following the publication this summer of the panel's final report?”
“Thank you very much, deputy First Minister. I really welcome your earlier comment about high-skilled pathways, but I will take you to the paragraphs about the Connect Fund. The £1 million is very welcome — we will always welcome any money that comes to Northern Ireland — but how long that is for and who sets the criteria for it is very unclear. As we know, when the Northern Ireland Office or Westminster set criteria, such as those for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, they are not necessarily aligned with Northern Ireland's priorities. You talked about recent difficulties across Northern Ireland because of riots, so there is an opportunity for the Connect Fund to be used to establish best practice for race relations in communities. Can you give us any further details on the Connect Fund?”
“It was a wonderful occasion that showed how taking a collegial approach to football can result in a tournament that makes such a difference to young people's lives. If they were to try to compete in any other league, they would be left out. The skills that I saw on Saturday, from the tiny players right up to the older gentlemen aged 16, were incredible. The young people are a credit to each of their clubs and to their families, who stood in their hundreds to watch on Saturday. As I said, it was a wonderful event. I thank them very much. Praise goes to Ards FC Inclusion for setting it up.”
“Something fantastic happened on Saturday. I had the absolute pleasure of attending the first-ever Ards Rangers Inclusion football tournament at Londonderry Park in Newtownards. My thanks go to Claire Coney and Mark Smith, who made the arrangements for the tournament. The tournament was made up of young people, boys and girls, playing football, who had autism and different disabilities. You could see the smiles and the joy on all their faces. The final match in the older age group ended in penalties, which was incredible. Of course, Ards Rangers came out on top, fortunately. Thank you to all the teams that travelled, such as Glentoran Inclusion FC, Linfield, Monkstown, Larne, Dungoyne and many others that I am sure that I have left out.”
“I thank the Minister. Will he, when writing back, confirm whether any short-term measures can be prioritised to improve access to neurology services in the interim?”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you for your kind words.”
“We cannot reduce housing waiting lists or meet our new-build targets without funding the infrastructure, reforming the systems and empowering the agencies that deliver homes. I call on the Assembly to back a fully costed action plan that spans all Departments, aligns with the multi-year Budget cycle and delivers on the promises of our housing supply strategy. Anything less would cause another delay, and, for too many families, delay means despair. In the spirit of working together, Alliance will support the UUP amendment.”
“This is where I ask that a review be completed to ensure that cross-departmental strategies and plans are able to be scrutinised in a way that is not limited by the Committee structures of this place. If the Minister for Communities is taking the lead on the housing supply strategy, his Department must ensure that it monitors, collates and reports to the Committee for Communities on progress. There can be no more fudging. We have to learn from the renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme and, as an Assembly, no longer accept "It is not within my Department" as an excuse. If a Minister and his Department are taking the lead on an issue as important as the housing supply strategy, they have to take the lead and report on that. <BR /> <BR />Let us be ambitious and coordinated. Most of all, let us be honest with the people of Northern Ireland.”
“As has been mentioned, we need to ensure that the Housing Executive can have borrowing powers and start to build again. I look forward to an update from the Minister on how negotiations with the Treasury are progressing. We also need to see public land being made available for housing. I look forward to the mapping exercise being completed so that we finally find out what land is available that we can put houses on. <BR /> <BR />A housing strategy without a costed whole-government action plan is just a wish list. We must hold each Department accountable, from Infrastructure to Finance and Communities to Economy, because no one single Department can solve the crisis alone.”
“Planning is dysfunctional. Local development plans are gridlocked. Developers, housing associations and councils are all in agreement that, without planning reform, we will not meet even half of our housing targets. That means that the Department for Communities and the Department for Infrastructure must work together to fast-track approvals. We have a collapse in private rental supply. Rents are up over 8% in a year, and the number of available properties has halved since 2019. That means that people are being evicted, coming out of homes and going on to social housing waiting lists. That means that the Economy, Finance and Communities Departments must collaborate on regulation, incentives and public-private partnerships to stabilise and expand affordable rental options.”
“As a result of the underfunding of Northern Ireland Water, or however you want to put it, there are 19,000 planned homes — many of them social homes — stuck in limbo because they cannot get connected to sewerage systems. It is not just a technical issue; it is a political one. We need to deal with waste water. The Fiscal Council has already highlighted that the current funding model for Northern Ireland Water is not working. That means that our waste water is not delivering enough capacity for the number of homes that we need to address the housing crisis.”
“That is why I am calling for an action plan that has been agreed by the whole Executive, evidencing how each Department will contribute to reducing the housing waiting lists and help to meet the new-build targets. I was delighted when the strategy was finally published because we had, at long last, a housing supply strategy. The strategy, as launched, sets the right ambition of building 100,000 new homes over 15 years, and that includes 33,000 social and intermediate homes. I would like to see us actually go past that ambition and aim for more. However, a strategy is only as good as the action that follows and, today, that action is missing. <BR /> <BR />What is holding us back? Northern Ireland Water.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I think that it is fair to say that everyone in the House knows that we are in a housing crisis, with more than 47,000 households on social housing waiting lists, more than 36,000 in housing stress, and more than 11,000 people living in temporary accommodation. As other Members have said, they are not just numbers: they are children, families and older people. Despite the growing need, we are building fewer homes today than we have in 60 years, with barely 5,000 in the past year and well short of the 10,000 that we require annually. The failure is systemic and cross-cutting. <BR /> <BR />It is not just a housing problem and, indeed, it is not just a Communities problem; it is a cross-departmental problem.”
“Minister, we have been waiting for more than a year for the strategy, and I thought that more would have been included. Your strategy highlights ongoing engagement with people with lived experience and key stakeholders. How will that be meaningfully facilitated and their opinions weighted to the process? How will the Minister ensure that every Department will have meaningful and ongoing engagement, and will he report to the House and the Committee for Communities on that?”
“Deputy First Minister, given that the Executive Office resources various units, including the foreign offices, whose value for money remains a mystery, how can we be assured in the House that work to tackle and end racism and xenophobia is being adequately resourced and carried out by properly qualified personnel?”
“Minister, I agree with you that we need to support victims. I also agree that actions need to be taken to ensure safe and appropriate accommodation. Therefore, will you now direct the Housing Executive to remove all "Locals only" posters, racist graffiti and paramilitary flags from all their developments to make sure that the people who are victims do not constantly have them rubbed in their face?”
“Given that the Assembly will be in recess at that time, what procedures will you use?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. I am pleased, as others have said that they are, that Labour has done a U-turn. I am also pleased that those who are very wealthy will have their winter fuel payment reclaimed from them. In your statement, Minister, you said:”
“The Minister talked about local-level priorities. How is she ensuring that strategically important and high-growth sectors in my Strangford constituency and across Northern Ireland are supported and developed through the work of the LEPs to achieve economic development?”
“You have just referenced the fact that the budget helps that to happen. Will you give some of the positive impacts that the agencies have delivered?”
“If we had to replicate what they deliver, we would have a bankrupt health service. We need to ensure that carers' needs are met and that their equality is not ignored.”
“This Carers' Week, I call for the Assembly to recognise the vital role of unpaid carers in our society, support policies that provide financial assistance, respite care and mental health services, and ensure that carers have access to flexible working arrangements and opportunities for social engagement. By addressing those inequalities, we not only honour the dedication of unpaid carers but show that the Assembly has listened to those carers. I thank those who attended the Carers NI drop-in event yesterday in the Long Gallery, where a lot of organisations that support carers were available to discuss the type of help that they provide. It is very sad that some of our Departments do not provide the same type of support. <BR /> <BR />Remember that it is those carers who are saving our health service.”
“In Northern Ireland, one in three unpaid carers has had to leave paid employment to carry out their caring responsibilities. The physical and mental toll of caregiving is substantial. One in four unpaid carers report not being in good health, and 36% of carers report that they have had bad or very bad mental health. That figure rises to 59% among those carers who also confirm that they are struggling financially. <BR /> <BR />Caring can be an isolating experience. The demands of caregiving often lead to reduced social interactions, leaving carers feeling disconnected from the community, and this isolation exacerbates mental health challenges and diminishes overall well-being. Caring should not come at the cost of a carer's health, financial stability or social connections.”
“I welcome the fact that it is Carers' Week. The theme for this year is Caring About Equality. It is not only a celebration of the invaluable contributions of unpaid carers but a call to address the profound inequalities that they face every day. Across the UK, around 5·7 million people provide unpaid care to family members, friends and neighbours in need. Their dedication sustains our health service and social care system. They save the Executive, this House and all of us a fortune every year, yet many carers face significant challenges. <BR /> <BR />Unpaid carers are disproportionately affected by poverty. In the UK, 1·2 million carers live in poverty, with 400,000 in deep poverty. The poverty rate among unpaid carers is 50% higher than it is among those who do not provide care.”
“As my colleague Andrew McMurray just said, we need to build back patients' trust. Will Mr McBride be able to look at issues such as the number of appointments that are delayed because the consultant is not in the hospital? I have personal experience of a patient whose operation has been delayed five times. On one of the most recent occasions, they were gowned and ready to go to theatre when their operation was postponed again. Will Mr McBride look at that to ensure that patients are treated a lot more kindly and fairly throughout the process?”
“Minister, when you are doing that work, will you include councils in that consideration?”
“Will the Minister confirm whether, under the social housing development programme, he has undertaken an evaluation of the outcomes of the shared housing programme?”
“Land regeneration will be key for East Belfast. Where is the land? What can be done with it? When can we action that? Minister, what can you do to help East Belfast?”