Clare Bailey
South Belfast · Green Party · Northern Ireland
“It is a great relief to finally be able to move my Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill at Final Stage. When I was first elected, I pledged to the people of South Belfast that I would work hard on equality issues, for human rights-compliant legislation and, particularly, for women. Today is the last sitting day of the mandate.”
“Yet, despite "Stay at home" messaging and regulations to prevent public gatherings, the concerted campaign of harassment and intimidation against women and staff continued unabated, and all authorities — the Health Department, the Department of Justice, the PSNI — claimed that they could do nothing to stop it.”
“The efficacy of the Bill is achieved without being unnecessarily heavy-handed or putting significant additional pressures on any criminal justice system. I hope that we can move on from those debates. <BR /> <BR />This is absolutely a landmark moment for the Assembly. I have seen many Bills passed today that I am incredibly proud of.”
“I thank the Member for that. It is worth noting that, comparatively, this Bill takes a light touch in respect of offences being committed, because the punishment for breaching safe access zones around the world, in almost all cases where they are operational, can result in imprisonment and wildly higher fines than what is being proposed i…”
“I am also aware that the Minister, who, Mr Butler, is your party colleague, has also confirmed that he will produce a policy paper setting out how his Department intends to implement the requirements for safe access zones, including guidance to operators of health and social care premises.”
“None of that is what I have experienced with abortion services. <BR /> <BR />I went out to consultation on the Bill in 2017, just as the Executive was collapsing yet again, and the three-year hiatus meant that I could not progress the Bill any further.”
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“At a recent Committee meeting, we were informed that up to 80% of baby eels from the lough are removed for stocking eel fishery farming. What are the Minister and the Department's thoughts on that decline of 80%, and what are we doing to address that? Is it sustainable?”
“My question was just answered, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. Thank you very much.”
“I, too, welcome the Minister to his new post. I also look forward to working with him and maybe even seeing him at Committee. That would be great. <BR /> <BR />In light of the fact that Northern Ireland has a number of very serious ongoing cases of avian flu and that that can have dire consequences, I can only imagine how busy your first day has been, but have you met port inspectors today? If so, what is their assessment of the fact that no checks are being done? How much livestock has come into Northern Ireland unchecked? Is that legal?”
“We almost look back to the halcyon days of Theresa May's withdrawal agreement and the deal that she was able to propose as a solution. When people in the House speak of breaking delph, nooses tightening and acts of aggression, we become part of the problem, rather than giving solutions. Let us look at where we are and at creating solutions in the best interests of all the people in Northern Ireland, not just at some people's interests and at maintaining divisions.”
“Those calling for the removal of the protocol need to come forward with credible solutions before whipping up tensions and marching people to the top of the hill and leaving them there all by themselves.”
“I also wish Edwin Poots well. I am pretty confident of his speedy recovery. <BR /> <BR />I thank Stewart Dickson for bringing this Matter of the Day. It is 2021, and it is absolutely shameful that, in Northern Ireland, people are being stopped from going to their work. No one should be put in that position. We will, of course, await the PSNI's assessment of the situation. <BR /> <BR />It is equally shameful that elected reps are being targeted. All this is being done in the name of the protocol, but nobody likes the protocol. The House voted against the protocol and the withdrawal Act. Brexit is absolutely the problem. Brexit split the regions of the UK, and Brexit remains the problem. There is no good Brexit for Northern Ireland; there was never going to be a good Brexit for Northern Ireland.”
“Further to the Minister's comments about discussions with Roderic O'Gorman, the Minister in the South, and access to records, what can we do immediately, perhaps, about institutions and bodies here in the North that refuse to engage in sharing access between institutions on a cross-border basis?”
“I want to raise again the lack of justice for current victims and survivors of rape and abuse today; the fact that we have only just passed the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Bill, the very first Bill of its kind in Northern Ireland; and that family planning and reproductive healthcare is very much a Cinderella service, if a service at all. We should all echo the sentiments that were expressed by Linda Dillon to women and girls today, as well as to those in the past, that there is no shame. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Minister for her statement, the tone of her words, the publication of this long-awaited report and the very welcome commitments to co-design through working with the victims and survivors. I have a few questions. When did the Executive have first sight of the report?”
“I, too, welcome the long-awaited report. It is an important day for victims and survivors. Not only does it mark the end of one process, it begins the next steps of further processes. I have listened to the comments from the Floor. While the report highlights the culture of misogyny that we all lived under as a society, we should not fool ourselves that it is something in the distant past. It is a culture that is very much present to this day. As legislators, we have a long road ahead of us to acknowledge and address what continues of that legacy. The Minister has already mentioned much of that.”
“I have listened to bus drivers in the sector who have told me that, in order to try to provide some level of respite for parents within their capacity, they are driving round and round roundabouts and that, on the journey that they drive to take children home, they are going around twice, even if it provides an extra 10 minutes to the parents for respite care. There is absolutely a huge need to acknowledge and respond to the very special circumstances within the sector. I look forward to hearing from the Minister today what that will be. There is an opportunity here to stop failing our children and the SEN sector.”
“The behavioural problems, not just for children in schools but for the adults in their homes and care settings, have escalated. The social circles, more critical to so many SEN children and adults, have dissipated in some cases.”
“Fully following the regulations and social distancing, we were able to do that work voluntarily and at our own cost, but it would be great if the Department were able to do such work and give the provision that is needed. Despite all of that, the staff and the families continue to provide outstanding care. I commend their commitment and the family lives and community that they have built to support one another. I can assure the House that they have been more than capable of communicating their situation and circumstances to me. Therefore, I imagine that they are exactly the same when dealing with the Minister and the Department, and that is before we even get to lockdown. The parents, staff and teachers have all been left in limbo and despair. The routines that, in some cases, take years to build up have disappeared.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. Not just I but the whole sector would absolutely agree with that. It has been waiting and been under pressure for long enough. <BR /> <BR />Something that really struck me during my time at Glenveagh was that the school wanted to turn part of the outside space that they have into a memorial garden, because it is not uncommon for a lot of the children to die while they are at the school. That is hugely traumatic, not just for their family and staff but for their classmates. They could not get that work done. I am so proud of the Green Party volunteers in South Belfast who did that work for them over the summer.”
“It is a hard situation that they face, because we hear that they are expected to take children who, more frequently, are coming in with more complex needs; are living longer than expected owing to medical advances; and are coming in with more equipment and bigger equipment, such as wheelchairs, even though the school and its classrooms do not have the space to facilitate it. Numbers are growing, but provision is not being given to the school to cope with that. The school has a small outside area that it tries to use to allow kids and parents outside access, but it did not have the resource to do any work on it.”
“When we speak to the schools, we hear that they do not have enough resource to deal with all the issues that they have to work with and that there is a deep sense that they are being failed by the Department and the Minister. <BR /> <BR />Ms Bradshaw raised many of the pre-existing problems that have led to the SEN schools facing what they are facing and coping with what they are dealing with today. I have spent a lot of time in one school in my constituency, Glenveagh School. I have been up to its prize-givings, had the tour of the school and met the families, the children, the staff and the teachers.”
“I, too, welcome the debate and thank the Education Committee for tabling the motion, which the Green Party fully supports. I would be surprised if any MLA has not been contacted by schools, staff, parents or our third sector during the 10-month lockdown to highlight the specific problems and impacts for all involved, many of which have been mentioned in the debate. <BR /> <BR />We really need to remind ourselves that this is not a COVID issue. COVID has exacerbated many of the issues that were already there. Pre-COVID, SEN provision was in crisis. We did not have enough places in our schools, and children were not being given places for the coming year.”
“We know already that, under current policy, Northern Ireland fails to meet its obligations under the habitats directive. I am starting to hear reports of animal waste now being moved across the border in what are suspected to be attempts to continue to circumnavigate those obligations in a few cases. What coordination is happening to ensure that we meet our obligations under the habitats directive across the island?”
“Minister, your statement refers to close cooperation:”
“<BR /> <BR />The vast majority of people in South Belfast are fair-minded and peaceful. I know that they are disgusted by that attack. That goes for people right across Northern Ireland, not just in my constituency. I look forward to helping the cultural association and seeing it get back on its feet and continuing its brilliant work. It can always count on my and my party's support whenever it is needed.”
“That fire gutted an historic and beautiful building. I really hope that it has not gutted or damaged the aspirations for a better world of the staff and supporters of the cultural association. <BR /> <BR />In recent weeks, the cultural association had been putting together food parcels, for goodness sake. It has been helping people through the COVID crisis. Its volunteers have shown absolute selflessness in the middle of a pandemic that has disproportionately impacted on black and minority ethnic communities. Compare that with the reckless and disgusting behaviour of whoever was behind the attack. I urge anyone who has any information or saw anything suspicious in any way at all to contact the PSNI and have those people in front of the courts and held responsible for what they have done.”
“Thank you Gerry for bringing the Matter of the Day to the House. The Green Party also condemns that arson attack and more so the people who carried it out. I want to put on record that, in the light of that attack, the community response to help BMCA after that despicable hate crime against it has been quite phenomenal. We should not lose sight of that, because that is the core of who we are as a people. <BR /> <BR />It was an absolutely disgusting and seriously dangerous attack on a community association that is doing really important work in the community. That arson attack could have resulted in death or serious injury. It is fair to say that the people who were behind it neither knew nor cared whether anyone was inside the building at the time. It was a savage fire, and it was started by savage people.”
“— imagination, and do we have the will to do right: to secure a future relationship and build the new systems needed?”
“Your pet passport will still be valid, so feel free to bring the dog. <BR /> <BR />The Green Party has never supported Brexit. We absolutely acknowledge that it is here and it is happening; the momentous changes start now. There are indeed opportunities to be had in the times ahead, because radical change is needed if we are to mitigate the climate and biodiversity crisis that is upon us, as well as Brexit. Do we have the leadership, do we have the —”
“For British passport holders, the UK Government have actually recommended that you go and get yourself comprehensive insurance once your current health certificate expires, despite the coming new global health card system. <BR /> <BR />All Irish citizens will retain free movement rights, and that will extend to children and spouses, but British citizens will not. So, in practice, we can actually still travel freely, buy as much duty-free as we can, come home via Dublin, and all will be well. Should we be advising all our citizens to get themselves an Irish passport, if they have not done so already? I know that I have signed many, many applications. Of course, remind them not to forget their green card if they are taking their car with them across the border or into Europe with a UK registration.”
“Some have been mentioned. For example, from Friday all Northern Ireland university students can still access ERASMUS+ programmes. It is just that now the Irish Government will facilitate that, and not the UK Government, who are their actual Government. British students are going to need a visa and will potentially face hefty increases in university fees — and roaming charges, as has been mentioned. They are back, and that will cause so much daily frustration to those living anywhere near close to border regions. Of course, the price caps have gone with that. <BR /> <BR />What if you need medical assistance in the EU? Well, Irish passport holders will see no change, really.”
“I am somewhat relieved that, here today, the recall of this Assembly is simply to debate a non-binding motion and not to vote anything through, since this deal was done less than a week ago and contains massive changes for people's lives and businesses. It is our job to fully scrutinise and fully understand exactly what we are being told to do, and Brexit is being done to us, for we have no power in this process and no inclusion in the negotiating teams. Neither have the Irish Government. We have all been passengers. This has been an EU/UK Government process, and every devolved region has been no more than an influencer or a concern raiser. <BR /> <BR />I want to focus on people and on the changes that are going to be brought about by this Bill come Friday — some of the changes to people's lives that will come into effect on Friday.”
“While there has been much lauding that a deal has been reached, it would be wise to remind ourselves that Prime Minister Johnson has a long record, as Mrs Mallon mentioned, of U-turns and lies. Of course, he seems to have no issue with threatening to break international law, as was supported and announced by our very own Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis. Time will tell, really, what the commitment to this deal is, for this current Government cannot be trusted. Some here know that better than others. <BR /> <BR />For the duration of this Brexit process, we have been given no proper scrutiny time and no proper access to relevant papers. We have had SIs, SRs and LCMs all being rushed through without full understanding of their impacts.”
“Of course a deal is better than no deal, but let us stop fooling ourselves that Brexit holds benefits for Northern Ireland, its businesses or its people. Let us remind ourselves that Northern Ireland, like Scotland, voted against Brexit. We should not be relieved that a bad deal for Northern Ireland has been done, or that we have been given a choice between bad and really bad, because bad is bad is bad, Mr Speaker. There is little in this future relationship Bill that will lessen the Irish Sea border, for example, and no one here thinks that that is a good thing. Boris Johnson wanted a hard Brexit, and it seems that this is as close as he could get.”
“I thank the Minister for her comprehensive answer; it is heartening to hear. The Minister will be very aware of the ongoing high risk to human health and the environmental damage that occurs the longer we do not tackle the problem. During the same debate in the Assembly, there was a commitment to consult fully the farming and agri-food sector. Has that happened, whether by you or someone in your Department?”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Minister, there will be a mass shift of people trying to come home for Christmas from other countries. I know of people who will have to be tested clear in the country that they are in and get a certificate before being allowed to travel. Under the test, track and trace system here, will we ask for and look at those certificates on entry? Will we test people who leave here to travel elsewhere?”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. That is exactly what this House needs to hear. Tomorrow will be the last plenary day before the new year, and, yet again, we know nothing, so I would really welcome that from the Minister.”
“What are the predictions for COVID over Christmas? Is 4 January the date that is being earmarked as the next lockdown? Will the NHS make it until then? Are there plans in place for restrictions before, after or during Christmas, if they are needed? Will we have to turn to Twitter and the newsfeeds of journalists to find out when that is, or will the House be respected enough to be told?”
“All of this is happening while we are still seeing worrying levels of community transmission and too many people still losing their life to this virus. This is an unprecedented situation, but, unfortunately, the Executive's inability to deal with the crisis in a timely manner has set the precedent. <BR /> <BR />We do have hope on the horizon with the vaccine, but it remains to be seen whether we have any sort of plan to get us to the point where the vaccine has ensured widespread immunity. Therefore, like others, I cannot welcome the opportunity to discuss these regulations today. They have passed and have gone, so does it matter whether I, or anyone else here, support them? They are done and dusted, but I welcome the chance to hear from the Minister on the detail of what lies ahead of us.”
“They had not intended to remain open and had everything ready to close down in line with what they believed was public health guidance. They then found out that, because they sold hardware, they were classed as essential and that, if they did go ahead and close as planned, they would be deemed to be making their own choice and would not be eligible for financial support. <BR /> <BR />I note that the regulations and guidance that were due to come into effect on Friday past were published, once again, at the eleventh hour. So much for the promises from this Executive that they would not make decisions without giving people notice. Hours before some businesses were due to open, they learned that they could not do so. How is that acceptable?”
“<BR /> <BR />We had the shock of a cross-community veto being used against proposals from the Health Minister to deal with the crisis, and we had some businesses being allowed to open for one week and then being closed down. We are told that essential retail only can remain open, but since when was buying a flat-pack coffee table or a fancy vase more essential than children's clothing? Like everyone, I have businesses contacting me in a flurry when these restrictions are announced, but, as an MLA, my source of information was just as good as theirs. I looked at Twitter and to journalists' newsfeeds. <BR /> <BR />Time and time again, we have put businesses in impossible situations. One business owner phoned my office very confused as they were clear that they were not essential.”
“However, the problem is that the Executive do not seem to have a plan that extends, at the very best, beyond a week or two. There is no strategy in place for when one set of restrictions is easing and what that means. There is no forward planning and no guidance ready to let people know what it means. <BR /> <BR />The amendment No 17 restrictions came in only after another shambolic display of decision-making from the Executive. I need to put on record that the public's confidence in the Executive and their ability to deal with the pandemic has been decimated. How do we expect the public to adhere to the public health regulations, with the confusion and mixed messaging that has been happening and when we are here debating and approving restrictions that no longer even apply? Is it any wonder that people are confused?”
“I have to agree with some of the other Members. Here we are again, with the Assembly debating and voting on regulations after the period in which they applied. Ten months into this pandemic, we should not be in this position, fumbling our way from one set of restrictions to the next, with no overarching plan or strategy. We keep being told that we cannot have endless cycles of lockdown, yet here we are in another endless cycle of lockdown, with speculation already starting among the public about when the dates for the next lockdown will be agreed. <BR /> <BR />Of course we must follow the science and the public health guidance, and if that dictates restrictive measures to deal with the virus, that is absolutely understandable, and everyone needs to get behind it.”
“The senior economists who were surveyed viewed green stimulus measures as among the most beneficial for the economy, as well as having strong potential cuts to emissions. <BR /> <BR />Over recent months, the House has had much discussion about a green recovery. Now is the time when we really need to see planned actions coming forward with delivery strategies. I support the motion.”
“The top five policies agreed by the economists were clean physical infrastructure investment in the form of renewable energy assets and storage, including hydrogen, which we hear a lot about here, grid modernisation and carbon capture and storage technologies; building efficient spending for renovations and retrofits, including improved insulation, heating and domestic energy storage systems; investment in education and training to address immediate unemployment from COVID-19 and the structural shifts we need from decarbonisation; natural capital investment for ecosystems, resilience and regeneration, including the restoration of carbon-rich habitats and climate-friendly agriculture; and, of course, clean R&D spending, which we heard about from Members this evening.”
“The respondents, who included academics, senior G20 Finance Ministry officials and Central Bank officials, all gave their highest ratings for climate benefit and economic outcomes to green measures, including clean energy investment and building retrofits. That was in stark contrast to the unconditional airline bailouts that were rated, by the same people, as "very poor" across all their metrics. <BR /> <BR />Recent findings suggest that a post-crisis green stimulus can help to drive a superior economic recovery.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. He makes very valid points. We need to realise that the COVID crisis is the start of many more crises. We have a health pandemic leading to an economic crisis. We have taken our eye off the ball: we have a climate crisis, and we have not really begun to take on board the ramifications of that. <BR /> <BR />With that in mind, the Bank of England is predicting that the worst recession for 300 years is coming. Two hundred and thirty leading economists were asked about spending money on climate-friendly green policy initiatives, which could not only help to shift the world closer to a net zero emissions pathway but offer the best economic returns for government spending.”
“Economic stimulus measures could build on this by ensuring that large public-sector organisations are anchored in communities, with councils, hospitals and colleges sourcing their food from local producers. The Preston model has been used and has shown that the model can work.”
“Given how weak the sector is at present, states could buy out oil and gas companies and take their reserves into public ownership, effectively keeping those fuels in the ground. Displaced workers could be compensated and retrained. That is what has happened in Spain, for example, with the coal industry. <BR /> <BR />The fragility of our food supply has recently come into stark focus, highlighting limited storage capacity, just-in-time supply model and dependence on imported food. The absurdity of flying and driving most of our food from big producers across the world has become apparent. During the pandemic, many have taken the initiative to support local small businesses and bought their food from local suppliers.”
“<BR /> <BR />To create green infrastructure and jobs, green bonds could be issued directly by central government or through national or regional green investment banks, and that could also help to transform the electricity system into renewable energy generation, rolling out, for example, charging points for electric vehicles, building cycle networks and building low-carbon housing. It is also very possible to restructure national electricity grids away from a centralised model to one where energy generation is distributed among many sources, including wind and solar, but also includes community-owned wind farms. We need to end the subsidies that prop up the fossil fuel industry and reallocate that money to research and development funding for, for example, battery storage technologies and clean energy.”
“I, too, welcome the motion. The Green Party believes that we can build back better and that the key to doing so is a climate change Act, that will transform and grow the Northern Ireland economy from being a fossil-fuel-driven economy to being a green-energy-driven economy. That, of course, involves talking about a green new deal and a just recovery. Climate action can be built into stimulus packages, bailouts and a planned retreat from fossil fuels that reallocates employment into secure and socially useful work while also making the global economy and supply chains more resilient to inevitable future shocks.”
“Is the Minister aware of any instances of women trying to access baby scans at NHS or other premises being blocked from doing so, so they have to go to a private provider? If that is the case, what can be done in such circumstances?”
“Thank you, Minister, for giving way. If this is our common enemy, why do we not have a common response? Last week, I stood on the street where a friend's young daughter had taken her life. I watched the funeral cortege make its way to an open-air ceremony before an open-air burial that only 25 people were allowed to attend. The very next day, our First Minister gets into a taxi and, with 1,000 others, heads to a football match in an outdoor venue. How is that "common"? How does that show that everyone is in this together?”
“Let us start by not getting into a lift with somebody else in it in this Building where you cannot socially distance. Let us start by washing our hands and sanitising before coming into the Chamber. <BR /> <BR />We are not all in this together, so if there is any confidence to be regained, let us start acting on our own advice and start setting an example.”
“Care home deaths and infection rates are akin to what they were during the first lockdown, so what have we been doing since March? Payments to student nurses who are putting themselves at risk to step in and step up have been stopped while they are still being asked to do that. Why? Vital care staff are not being tested routinely, and those are some of the low-paid, essential staff. There is no plan. We are just stumbling from one point to the next in an attempt to crisis-manage, from a five-party Executive that have no track record in getting to grips with crises. <BR /> <BR />The motion calls for a plan. I noted the words of the Chair of the Committee when he asked each of us to recommit to do all that we can to address this. Well, let us start by wearing a mask.”
“Regulations are being announced to the media before they are announced to the Assembly, despite our setting up an Ad Hoc Committee on the COVID-19 Response to deal with such situations. Moreover, they are being announced before the financial package is put in place to give people the assurances that this will be OK. <BR /> <BR />Wind turbine owners and Sinn Féin offices are receiving tens of thousands of pounds in payments while businesses have received nothing. People are broken and on their knees. Workers put on furlough, taken off furlough, made redundant, kept on zero-hour contracts. Low-paid workers, some valued as key or essential workers, cannot afford to stay at home and self-isolate if needs be. Sure, nobody is checking anyway.”