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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“It is about all of the above rolled into one, and, after last week, with the stand-offs and U-turns, people have lost confidence and the advice coming to them is no longer making sense. They are not buying into it any more, so we need to do an awful lot to reach out to people again, because people know that we are not all in this together. <BR /> <BR />When the Chief Medical Officer gives advice to the Health Minister, the Health Minister creates a set of recommendations and they are then blocked by a single party using a cross-community veto — an abuse of power and privilege during a pandemic — to stop that advice being carried out, we need to have a look at ourselves.”
“Now is the time when we need to engage with people, with business, with sectors, with ourselves across these islands north, south, east and west to begin to navigate our way through this and to build a stable system from which we can steer a path to the future. <BR /> <BR />We had a mental health crisis before COVID-19: we did not address it. We had a crisis in the NHS: we did not address it. Our high streets were in crisis before COVID-19: we did not address it. We had poverty before COVID-19, and we did not address it. As for economic crises, how many do you want? We had many before COVID-19, and we did not address them. The COVID-19 crisis is about much more than health.”
“We need to have a good look at ourselves. The five-party Executive system is not designed to manage crisis; it was a means to create a sense of stability and bring an end to violence. It was never meant to be a long-term solution, and we have lost sight of that. We see each party playing to its base and doing duck and cover to blame somebody when delivery fails. At the outset, we wrote civic society out of the process, and we are feeling that now. We are in a triple crisis, and I cannot see how our governance system will be able to manage a way through it. This is a health crisis and an economic crisis, and we have the climate crisis, with Brexit as the cherry on top.”
“Another one is connecting to the grid, and Mr Aiken made a point about costs. We support the motion and thank the Committee very much for bringing it to the House.”
“We suggest that we need to move quickly to change the building regulations so that we design and build for the future zero-carbon world. We urge the Minister of Finance to produce immediately the technical documentation on the requirement for any new buildings being erected to be nearly zero-energy buildings. We need this as soon as is physically possible so that the regulations work seamlessly with the Communities Minister's announcement about the Housing Executive and the proposals to build more homes where they are needed. Let us not be content with another issue that we know needs addressed failing to be delivered on time. We are already behind. Until these measures are made and mandated, all we will continue to do is stack up more problems for the future. <BR /> <BR />Another key area, as has been mentioned, is the grid investment.”
“I accept those points, but I have had conversations with electric vehicle owners who have given them up because of bad infrastructure, so that issue needs to be tackled. The existing charging network is outdated, not reliable and needs to be urgently upgraded and extended. We suggest that the Minister for the Economy and the Minister for Infrastructure work together with the owners and operators of the existing network to find a way to get more investment and unlock the potential of electric vehicles in Northern Ireland, because, if we do not build it, they will not come. <BR /> <BR />Another key area is building regulations, and that has been mentioned. Today, we still build homes that are not adequately insulated and which use fossil-fuel boilers for heating, and we heard a little about that during Question Time.”
“It is obvious that we in Northern Ireland are being left behind GB and ROI in the uptake of electric cars, with the main issue being the absence of adequate charging infrastructure.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Economy Minister acknowledged that in her presentation at the energy forum on 29 September. In her responses to my questions for written answer, she said that she would not wait on the energy strategy to take urgent action. I ask the Minister to clarify what exactly those actions are and when she will be carrying them out. <BR /> <BR />Whilst the Green Party is not in the Executive, nor do we have members on the Economy Committee, I am confident that, as a party, we can offer some very valuable advice on the priorities and actions that should be taken. I am delighted to have the opportunity, through the motion, to put some of them on record. My party's view is that those actions should be based around four key themes. The first is electric vehicle-charging infrastructure.”
“It would also include opening a new range of quality jobs and economic opportunities for the people of Northern Ireland; providing a solid base for our economy to grow and compete on the European and world stage; preserving the biodiversity on which our planet and we depend for our existence; and providing a Northern Ireland that will sustain and nourish our children and their children, physically and economically. However, we really need to focus on the priorities. The proposed energy strategy process of which this micro inquiry report and debate are part, will take another year to be enacted. Only then will the required actions begin to be planned and deployed, which is likely to take another two years post-November 2021. We simply cannot wait another three years, particularly as the existing strategy is 11 years old.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Green Party sees that future through a climate change Act, transforming and growing Northern Ireland from a fossil-fuelled driven economy to a green energy economy. With the level of renewable electricity that is being produced and managed, Northern Ireland will become a world leader in the technologies of renewable electricity and smart grid. <BR /> <BR />A green economy provides for a range of really transformative policies that will help us to rebuild society in a sustainable and ethical way, including, but not limited to, decarbonising our energy systems in order to prevent the worst of climate change and the immense monetary costs that global warming would bring to the people of Northern Ireland.”
“Rather than the focus being singularly on energy, it, rightly, needs to extend to the green economy and to how all the things that are suggested in the micro inquiry can be used to generate more and better jobs, more savings and better and healthier lifestyles while giving us the tools to begin to combat and redress the damage that we allowed to happen to our environment before we reach the point of no return. <BR /> <BR />We know through previous motions and debates that the House has recognised that we are in a climate crisis and that decarbonising is urgent and essential. If the primary role of a Government is to work for the betterment of its people, one of the primary purposes of an energy strategy should be to provide a healthy, robust and sustainable economy in which all people can thrive.”
“The Green Party also very much welcomes the motion. We are encouraged by the vast range of views and positive suggestions given by organisations to the energy strategy micro inquiry. We would now like to see those carefully analysed in order to extract the enormous amount of value and level of expertise that has been given to us in the report. Whilst we are hearing the strong common theme of interconnectivity from Members, we feel that there is a gap in the responses, because most are about energy. We heard in the debate that energy is only half of what we should be thinking about.”
“OK. That was my question. Are particular efforts being made to really get stuck into addressing the disparity in farm poverty?”
“A neighbour's son worked in a local factory and earned more for the same —.”
“— had planned to take 10 years to pay that back and take a £15,000 salary for himself.”
“On the issue of the quality of our local food, we should be cognisant of the fact that people will buy the food that they can afford. Given the economic ramifications of the crisis that we are in at the minute, we need to be careful that the potential for cheaper imports to be within the budget of people here does not allow our good quality to be the major export for other markets. That brings me to your response to Ms Sheerin's earlier question. I hope that you can give us a wee bit more detail on the support schemes to provide opportunities for all farmers. Are you thinking, for example, of specific measures to address farm poverty and the decline in farmgate prices? I ask that because I heard a story from a farmer, who told me that, just two years ago, he invested a £500,000 loan into a new hen laying unit, and he —”
“Everyone here will be aware that many provisions in the UK Environment Bill do not extend to Northern Ireland. As my South Belfast colleague Mr O'Toole has already mentioned, other regions that are represented on the Council have their own specific climate legislation, with different targets and deadlines. What challenges have been identified that relate to divergence in environmental law and its impact on future cooperation?”
“I thank the Member and I agree absolutely with him, which is why, if we go into any consultation process, we should do so not just with industry but with wider sectors, the public and local communities as well. <BR /> <BR />Environmentally, it seems that we all know how to talk the talk, but walking the walk seems to be a different matter. Members are being presented today with the opportunity to step up and support tangible action and to say, "Enough is enough". I invite you all to seriously consider how much destruction of wildlife and damage to human health you are prepared to stand over, because this one, simple issue has been going on for nearly a decade, and we have done nothing.”
“Those are all big ideas and big words, indeed. Yet, it is hard to view them as anything but disingenuous when they are not backed up by action. <BR /> <BR />Do I need to remind you all of the cross-party Climate Change Bill signed by most parties in the Chamber, which puts legal obligations to address climate change and biodiversity loss?”
“I know that Sinn Féin actively acknowledges the urgent need to include biodiversity in climate actions, but that will require far-reaching and radical actions to create the solutions. UUP representatives have openly and publicly spoken about the growing need for, and the duty of, lawmakers to step up urgently and be aspirational in policymaking. Well, we are the lawmakers. <BR /> <BR />The SDLP stated in its 2019 manifesto that:”
“It is an environmental issue too, and we would invite consultation with rural groups, medical professionals and environmental NGOs, as well as the wider public. <BR /> <BR />Lastly, and most starkly, the amendment removes the mention of the need to be compliant with the law, and that is important for how we do business. It removes mention of the need to avoid further worsening the crisis. For me, that is perplexing, given that we all acknowledge the problem. For that reason, coupled with a lack of action to date from the Department, despite knowing the problem, we looked at how to do this differently, through tightening the planning system. <BR /> <BR />In July, the House debated and voted in support of a motion acknowledging the climate and biodiversity crisis.”
“I would like to reiterate, first, that the problem here is not just that planners do not seem to be aware of the guidance and their legal obligations, in many instances from the start, but that the guidance itself is deeply, deeply flawed, and the Minister has recognised that. It is not appropriate, has not been legally proofed and is open to being legally challenged. Guidance must be led not just by science and data but also by compliance with our laws. <BR /> <BR />The amendment also calls for a consultation with the farming and agri-food industry and the Agriculture Minister to understand the impact on the farming and agri-food sector. I most certainly welcome such a consultation and point out that the effects of ammonia are not experienced solely by those in the industry. Ammonia is a public health issue.”
“They wring their hands when they tell us in Committee that they are very aware of the problem and that they know they are not doing enough. What are they going to do? How long will we sit back, hand-wring and rub our chins? We need to commit to reforming our system to get ahead of the problem. <BR /> <BR />I now come to the amendment. I know that most here have expressed support for the motion as amended, but what the amendment serves to do, compared with the motion, is replace the call for a moratorium — we have to ensure legal compliance, and we know from the Department and its agencies that they are unsure whether their policies are legally compliant — with the call "to conduct a review" so that planners:”
“Farmers did not create the problem. Our Executive did, and they did so through economic incentives. We need to reverse that. That has also been pointed out by the sector itself. The Ulster Farmers' Union wrote to every MLA ahead of this debate. Even it has pointed that, while ammonia emissions from farms can be reduced, that can add additional costs to farm businesses, and a balanced way forward is needed to ensure a sustainable future for family farms. That raises a question about why farm businesses are being expected to foot the bill for the harm caused by Executive strategies. <BR /> <BR />There were other issues and concerns about the impact on farmers. Farmers are asking for help, but we have had an inadequate response so far. DAERA and the Environment Agency have reports, meetings and discussions with the sectors.”
“One of the issues was why the Infrastructure Minister is here instead of the AERA Minister. I was happy to hear others address that. This is a cross-cutting issue, and we cannot deal with it properly if we continue to act in silos. Like any action on climate change, pollution and the biodiversity crisis, this has to be seen as a whole. We know that the problem exists and that we created it, but we have not taken action to address it. We therefore need to try something different and introduce other avenues. That is why we put a focus on planning and not DAERA. <BR /> <BR />Why a moratorium? A moratorium is needed because we need to see whether we are meeting our existing legal commitments. The debate has, again, been shaped around this being about farmers versus the environment. That is an absolute false narrative.”
“That is an interesting one. I thank the Member for his intervention. We will see how it goes. <BR /> <BR />We have the data, the research and the science. We have all the information that we could possibly need, but what we need to do is act. A moratorium does not need to be a long, drawn-out measure. That is very clear. If we are to get to grips with the harm that we have created and allowed to happen, we need to stop, draw breath and assess where we are. That is called creating a baseline, from which we can start to make things better. That is possible, and it can be quick, but it needs political will, so, on the Member's intervention, let us see. <BR /> <BR />A number of issues were raised, although I probably do not have time to go into all of them.”
“I would like Members present to really consider the nature of the policy of agriculture intensification and the expansion being pursued by the Executive and to ask themselves whether they are ready to stand by the threat to public health, the destruction of our biodiversity and the cost to human lives and well-being that comes with that.”
“I thank everybody who spoke on the motion and the amendment. It has been an interesting debate. There seems to be a consensus that we need to have a system in place that provides clarity for farmers and that enables them to farm sustainably while being economically viable. There also seems to be a consensus that we have a problem but, over the years, have done little to nothing to fix that problem, which we have created. In order to tackle the ammonia crisis, everything possible needs to be done to encourage and develop good practice. We must, at the very least, ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations in Northern Ireland.”
“We need a moratorium to allow us to assess the situation.”
“We know that planning is flawed and that the policy that we have in place to assess ammonia emissions is obstructive to farmers. It has not been legally proofed and is, more than likely, not complaint with our legal obligations. We know that good planning could help to fix this. We need to stop, establish exactly where we are and put good practice in place. We need an urgent review of the planning system and of approved planning applications for ammonia-emitting projects within 7·5 kilometres of the habitats protected under EU law.”
“You do not have to be a genius to realise that the way in which we do business, and this Executive policy of relentless intensification at all costs, simply does not work for most people. Instead of ensuring the prosperity of some of the most powerful businesses in this sector, we should be focused on ensuring the prosperity and well-being of its workers. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, we know that we have a deeply flawed planning regime and a deliberate government policy to disregard environmental law and regulation. That is what has led us to the situation that we face. The scale of this is overwhelming — it is beyond alarming. This pollution is in our waterways, our air and our soil. It is in our rural communities. How long will we allow this to continue?”
“Traditionally, when times were good for farmers, they called in professional builders to replace or repair their buildings. We always say that a cash-strapped industry is never a safe industry. <BR /> <BR />Further down the production line, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed just how precarious jobs in the industry are. We have seen outbreaks of coronavirus among meat factory workers, many of whom are on poor contracts and unable to self-isolate or take sick leave. We have seen employers flouting the 2-metre social-distancing rule and putting public health and workers' lives at risk for profit. Poverty pay and exploitative contracts are endemic in the sector.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention, and I will explain as I go through. I thought that I had made clear that AD plants were operating even without planning permission. There are problems in the system. However, we also have a situation where the number of full-time and part-time farmers is dropping year-on-year, which indicates that, for many, it is no longer possible to make a living in the industry. I would like to quote what one farmer told me:”
“On the other hand, we see an in industry that has become increasingly hostile to those working within it: the key workers who have shown just how vital food production is to our economy and our people. Rural poverty is at an all-time high, with one in four farming families living in poverty. As the costs of production have gone up, farmgate prices have been driven down so that farmers are operating at a loss or barely breaking even.”
“I would like to know where else in the world the environmental protection authority would sign prosperity agreements with some of its biggest polluters.”
“The facts tell us that ammonia pollution is causing mass species extinction, harming public health and ending lives early. The Executive's Going for Growth strategy has resulted in, on one hand, the creation of Northern Ireland plc, and we have seen big companies such as Moy Park, Thompsons and Dunbia smash through the annual £1 biillion sales target, with directors paid salaries as high as £2·6 million. Good for them. However, we also see the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, the very government body charged with protecting our environment, signing prosperity agreements with these same corporations, which have direct links to the Agri-Food Strategy Board and the drawing up of the Going for Growth strategy.”
“<BR /> <BR />Let me be clear, this is not the fault nor the responsibility of the farming community. This is the result of deliberate and informed Government policy to expand, grow and intensify, in the full knowledge of the facts around environmental and health impacts. They cannot say that they did not know, because they did. As demonstrated, time and time again through answers to written and oral questions, ammonia seminars and the Department's own planning policy documents, the information is there and they have known it for a long time.”
“When we do assess the impact of ammonia on protected habitats, existing ammonia levels at that site are not taken into account. We now have situations where sites exceed critical levels of ammonia by over 300%, year-on-year-on-year. The fact is, that this is actual planning policy and that is astounding. Current confusion around the system has left farmers unable to upgrade or replace existing sheds, even where the building of more modern sheds would result in the falling of ammonia levels because, under planning, these are considered to be new developments. <BR /> <BR />The overall picture is of a broken planning system that enables the non-stop intensification of our agri-food sector, rapid and extensive species decline and irreparable damage to protected habitats, not to mention 500-600 premature deaths in Northern Ireland every year.”
“We wrote to all 11 councils. So far, we have received five responses. From those responses, we know that 34 of their AD plants have no planning approval, yet they are getting public subsidies. This has been stated in the recent Northern Ireland Audit Office report. <BR /> <BR />I cannot say it any more plainly: this is unlawful and it contravenes our legal obligations under the habitats directive. These assessments are systemically not being conducted and potentially illegal projects are systemically going ahead.”
“The Green party have been examining, in depth, how the planning system works and where it does not work. Through our research, we have found that habitats regulations assessments, which are a legal requirement for projects within a certain radius of protected habitats, are sometimes not being carried out. <BR /> <BR />I will use the example of anaerobic digester (AD) plants which produce vast quantities of ammonia. The Green party mapped each of the 79 active AD plants in Northern Ireland and we found that 49 of them should have had that assessment carried out. To date, we have only found one instance and evidence in that one case of this actually being done.”
“Amongst other issues, with indifference and inaction across several Government Departments, we are seeing systemic planning failures that omit legal environmental considerations from planning application processes.”
“The number of breeding sows has gone by 24% to almost 48,000, broiler chickens up 41% to almost 17,000,000 and hens up 89% to almost 4,000,000; whilst the number of wetland birds has fallen by 19% and the freshwater bird population by 42%. <BR /> <BR />95% of our lakes now fail water framework directive quality standards. 78% of our shellfish water bodies now fail water quality standards for E. coli. It is not a pretty picture, but I would argue that it is no accident either. <BR /> <BR />The policy of agriculture intensification that has been pursued by the Executive through its Going for Growth strategy since 2013, has resulted in pollution that sits in our air, soil and our water. Nature, and our communities are paying the price. How did we get to this point?”
“Members will be aware of the current scale of the ammonia crisis in Northern Ireland and its impact on human health and the environment. Health-wise, ammonia pollution is linked to lung damage, heart disease, diabetes, problems with memory and thinking, cognitive decline, respiratory issues, higher death rates and lower birth rates. Members do not need to be reminded that we are in a pandemic. COVID-19 is a virus that affects the lungs, heart and respiratory system. We know that ammonia pollution can have a significant impact on the rates of serious illness and death from COVID. This is not something that we should be taking lightly. <BR /> <BR />Some Members will also be aware of the scale of the ecological crisis in Northern Ireland.”
“We are now nine months into the pandemic, and for nine months we have known that it is a winter virus, so while it might be reassuring for some to hear that the Executive are now starting to prepare for the introduction of mass testing, it is long overdue. They are looking to establish a focussed working group. Again, that is long overdue. How can the Minister assure the public that they can have confidence in delivery from the Executive, given the track record of chaos and given the Executive parties' continuing to act as their own opposition? People need action and delivery more than they need promises and statements.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. This has been going on for years and years, and we keep hearing that there are plans to deal with it. Will the Minister give the House a time frame so that we know that diesel private and light goods vehicles will be checked, just as every other vehicle in Northern Ireland is checked?”
“COVID did not create our mental health crisis: it is adding to it. Is there a long-term strategy or acceptance that we need to deal with our mental health problems in Northern Ireland not just now but in the longer term?”
“— in freshwater birds by up to 42%. Minister, are those statistics collated island-wide so that we can know the full extent across the island and come up with strategies to deal with such transboundary issues?”
“I want to focus on issues of transboundary breaches of existing environmental laws, specifically with regard to aquaculture and marine breaches. In the statistics for Northern Ireland, 78% of our shellfish water bodies now fail water quality standards for E. coli. There has also been a decline —”
“Thank you to the Minister for the statements and for bringing them forward in a timely manner. That was much appreciated. <BR /> <BR />Members have asked about enforcement, but I want to go further, Minister. What discussion has there been around how we deal post transition with trans-boundary environmental breaches under existing EU directives? Ammonia, for example, was brought up, but it is certainly not the only issue. We know that we are not meeting our EU directive targets for ammonia. That is not the farmers' fault; it is certainly not the chickens' fault. It is the result of polices. How will we meet those targets post transition across the island?”
“I did not know that I had a question, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker.”