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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“In response to the original question, the Minister referred to advice that he had received from the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser. Does the Minister have the authority to act alone in implementing the experts' recommendations or does he need the approval of the whole Executive?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Has finance been set aside to do that work, or are we still just discussing it?”
“Will the First Minister share with us the vision for Northern Ireland that her five-party Executive have agreed so far? Wider society, much of which is on its knees waiting for a plan, desperately needs to know.”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. In it, she says:”
“We are setting a cap at 5% less. I have been led to believe that this scheme actually allows more carbon emissions, and I will back that up with a quotation:”
“As Philip McGuigan has already said, we have plans. We have laid a Bill in the House, and we hope that, as it progresses through the House, we can have the really ambitious debate about what we can do, how we can play our part and how we can tackle carbon emissions, because that will not happen with the unambitious move to have a functioning rule book in eight weeks.”
“We know that, to allow the seamless transition, we will cover in the legislation the same greenhouse gases and the same sectors applying to the current scheme under the same initiatives and that the main means of introducing the allowance into the UK market will continue to be the auctioning process that created £163 billion in global trade last year alone. The review mechanisms in this have been confirmed as a mirror image of what we currently have under EU law. The UK Government are taking back control — it is great to see — four and a half years later. <BR /> <BR />The real debate will come when we have some sort of proposal from the UK Government on what they want to do to move forward. Will it be a carbon tax? Will they have ambition? Will they be leaders in tackling carbon emissions?”
“We have, however, the promised potential for the UK Government to take back control of devolved powers, if they go ahead with the carbon tax and replace the ETS. I have to say "might", because that is as far as we have got in the decision-making process so far: mights, maybes, don't-knows, still-to-be-decideds. That is what we face today. <BR /> <BR />This has been criticised for lacking ambition, but so was the EU scheme. It lacked ambition, but it is an incredibly lucrative scheme. It is estimated to have produced £163 billion in global trade in 2019 alone. It is almost as if there is a magic carbon money tree somewhere. It is exactly the same; it is the same old unambitious way forward.”
“Thank you, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. First, kudos to the Members who have spoken so far for having so much to say in the debate. The reality is that what we are debating is the UK Government doing a copy-and-paste of EU law into domestic law and calling it "taking back control". We are passing this legislation in order to allow us to have a functioning rule book by 1 January. It is a wee bit depressing to know that all the devolved Administrations are working flat out just to achieve a functioning rule book in less than eight weeks. Four and a half years on from the frenzied drive to take back control, this is where we find ourselves with Boris's oven-ready deal: still copying and pasting EU law into unambitious domestic law.”
“I thank the Minister for not answering the question. Further to that, we know from your stats, Minister, that in some of our special areas of conservation, ammonia levels breach our current regulations by up to 350%, year-on-year. That is exacerbated by those AD plants at times. What enforcement or regulation powers does his Department have to take action?”
“Build a framework to look beyond this year, and meet the opportunity to build back better.”
“Schools are left to their own devices, and parents are left to navigate a complex system of post-primary admissions that makes little sense. Our Education Minister holds up his hands and claims that it has nothing to do with him. It has. Minister, you are in the privileged position of being able to stand up and sort this out and to do right by every 10- and 11-year-old child across Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />We are failing children. We are not upholding the right of many to an effective education when we cling to an inequitable system that is on its last legs, and when we refuse to step in, step up and create an integrated education system that is fit for the 21st century. Our system is a mess. Let us take action now.”
“Even with the return of schools, children have had varying degrees of face-to-face teaching due to the coronavirus outbreaks and lockdowns among teachers and pupils. The Green Party finds it unconscionable that a child is required to sit these unregulated tests, unprepared and ill-equipped, under any circumstances, and, now, during a pandemic and lockdown. <BR /> <BR />Every year, without fail, parents come to me, distraught that their child has not been accepted into any school, never mind their preferred school. We have a ludicrous system in which some schools accept one test, some accept another, some accept both, some look at what primary school you went to, some look at your siblings or your parents, and some look at where you live.”
“Let us stop pretending that alternatives are not possible, because they are, and they are working. <BR /> <BR />The Committee for Education's online survey into post-primary transfer testing was clear. Parents and teachers are deeply concerned about the prospect of children undertaking unregulated tests this year. The current cohort of 10- and 11-year-olds has endured much upheaval in the past eight months, with the disrupted school year and every other pressure that COVID-19 has brought. We already know that the test creates a two-tier system that wrongfully disadvantages too many children from low-income families. To allow unregulated tests to go ahead for another year risks making the divide even wider. Who wants, willingly, to stand over that? Not every child has the same access to computers and home-based support.”
“We allow children to be instilled with a feeling of failure and low self-worth at 10 and 11 years of age, all the while knowing that some will never regain their confidence. <BR /> <BR />I clearly remember sitting my transfer test, back in 1980. As far back as that, my results did not matter, not because I was not impacted on, or because of my results, but because I went to an all-ability school that streamed pupils according to their ability. Some people might still say that that is not a possible or a viable system, but that school is now one of the most oversubscribed in Northern Ireland. It was also our first planned integrated school. Many said that that would never work either, and, to this day, say that it is not possible to extend that transformation throughout our system.”
“The Assembly has had 12 years since the last regulated 11-plus test was carried out. Failure to take action on the issue in normal times is nothing short of a disgrace. For 12 years, we have had extensive feedback from wider civic opinion and expert recommendations for change, and here we have it again. <BR /> <BR />The issue is the failure of successive Executives to sort this out. The Green Party is a long-standing supporter, and proudly so, of the abolition of the academic selection process. To allow children of 10 and 11 years of age to be subjected to that level of stress and worry should not sit well with any of us. Moreover, it is a system that overwhelmingly favours those with the means to be coached and tutored.”
“In conclusion, I welcome and support the motion. I will use this opportunity to pay tribute to every single victim and survivor of human trafficking, to every person who works to support them and to those working to tackle this crime head-on. We know that we have a very real challenge ahead of us. Modern slavery must be tackled by providing robust support for victims, by preventing of re-trafficking and by redoubling our efforts to secure the prosecution of the traffickers.”
“Furthermore, as we have talked about, returning a survivor to their home country can result in re-traumatisation. Survivors can experience stigma, be blamed for their victimisation and face discrimination when seeking housing or employment. We listen to them, we hear them, and we know this.”
“The Green Party also calls for a system to identify child victims of trafficking that is non-discriminatory, child-centred and uses a model that effectively identifies trafficked children without considering their nationality or immigration status, builds on existing child protection structures, recognises child trafficking as child abuse and recognises that a child cannot give informed consent in relation to exploitation. <BR /> <BR />As we have discussed, the Modern Slavery (Victim Support) Bill will give victims of trafficking a guaranteed right to remain for a minimum of 12 months. As we know, that is also intended to allow victims to receive support and, perhaps, give evidence in court. Court cases can often take an awful lot longer than a year to complete. We know that very well here.”
“Children who have been trafficked do not have to go through that mechanism. Sectoral organisations have expressed major concerns about the National Referral Mechanism. It involves poor decision-making; a worrying lack of child-specific knowledge and child safeguarding; an inappropriate focus on immigration; and a lack of training, formal recovery and a reflection period and specialist support for children. I add my voice to calls for support beyond the end of the NRM.”
“They require justice, legal redress and compensation. Victims of trafficking and slavery still face significant practical barriers to obtaining compensation, for example, for the abuses that have been committed against them. Current systems have to be adjusted to accommodate a victim-centred approach that ensures legal remedies and compensation for victims. <BR /> <BR />The National Referral Mechanism is a framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to ensure that they receive appropriate support. It grants them a 45-day reflection and recovery period. However, a caseworker then decides whether those individuals get a referral and should be considered to be victims of trafficking. All children, irrespective of their immigration status, are entitled to safeguarding and protection under law.”
“As we have heard, human trafficking is the fastest-growing trade and the second-largest criminal trade in the world after arms dealing. The trade in people and weapons is global and has huge profits. As was mentioned, it is estimated that, at present, 40 million people live as slaves across the world. I thank Mr Beattie for giving us a vivid and powerful picture of the lived reality for many of those people. Members, we should never let that picture go. If I could do anything to add to it, I would invite Members to consider the animal who pays to abuse those victims. <BR /> <BR />We do not have a true picture of the extent of this evil in Northern Ireland, but it is here. We know that, in 2018, 59 victims of trafficking were identified in Northern Ireland. Fifteen of those victims were children. Those victims require our support.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. I fully agree that all-age apprenticeships are absolutely critical, particularly in the current environment. <BR /> <BR />The Minister spoke about the energy sector and the changes and upgrades that we will be expected to meet. Is she developing networks with our universities to support innovation and skills development in the energy sector so that people might be able to feed into apprenticeship schemes?”
“Will the Minister let us know how many times the group has met to date and whether the strategy will be published so that we can see it in the form of a report?”
“The abortion regulations were laid before Parliament and came into force in March. They provide, as the Minister said, the new legal basis for medical professionals in Northern Ireland to terminate pregnancies lawfully. Will the Minister tell the House the other lawful medical services for which his Department has refused to provide funding or resource?”
“To date, there has been no formal contact from the care companies involved or from the track and trace system. Does the Minister feel that that is good enough for protecting our vulnerable people? Will he commit to ensuring that better systems and protections are put in place immediately?”
“Thank you, Minister. I am in contact with one of my constituents whose mother receives domiciliary care and who has now tested positive for COVID-19 and is in acute care. We have heard, informally, that up to three domiciliary carers who have attended that client have tested positive.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Are we getting a guarantee from him that he will set the legislation to ensure that overfishing does not happen in our waters in the future and that quotas will be set by scientific evidence?”
“<BR /> <BR />As we head towards the end of the transition period, we await a much-needed deal with Europe. The EU is the main market for what our fishers catch, and the prospect of having no access is worrying. It threatens jobs, incomes and communities that are already under stress. Our fishermen need a deal, and they need it now as a matter of urgency. The Green Party is happy to support the LCM, and we look forward to a robust Bill that tackles the needs of Northern Ireland.”
“I am very concerned about the moves from the UK Government. For a way forward on an all-island basis, we need to be pushing, with the North/South Ministerial Council, the common frameworks across the island to build better relationships. That is something that can be done quickly, and should be done immediately. The Member raises many issues. Thank you. <BR /> <BR />If we are to have a fishing industry in the future, the Bill should have environmental protections at its heart. It is vital that the sustainability principle is made the prime objective of the Bill and that REM is introduced as an affordable, reliable way to monitor catches if we are truly to put sustainability at the heart of our fishing policy going forward. I hope to see those amendments returned to the Bill as it completes its journey through the Commons and the Lords.”
“Marine protected areas are intended to safeguard vital marine ecosystems and create a healthy marine environment. A well-managed network of MPAs will align with objectives to ensure that our fisheries are managed sustainably. I am calling upon the Minister to introduce robust management plans for all designated marine protected areas to ensure the long-term survival of habitats and species. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, although proper time to scrutinise the Bill has been missing, as has been pointed out —.”
“Among the issues with the common fisheries policy are its inflexible approach and its inability to take local context and environments into account. Those concerns are keenly felt by many fishing communities. That is why I am pleased to see that DEFRA has confirmed that it plans to amend the Fisheries Bill to allow Northern Ireland to have jurisdiction over management measures in our offshore waters so that the specific needs of our local marine environment can be addressed.”
“<BR /> <BR />We know that fisheries management plans will set out how we are to achieve sustainable fish stocks.”
“I take the opportunity to call on the Minister to consult on the roll-out of REM with CCTV across the NI fleet. <BR /> <BR />We have heard much about the failures of the quotas designated under the common fisheries policy and of that inflexible system. Whereas the majority of UK fishing boats are small-scale, the small-scale fleets hold only 2% of the UK quota. I hope that the Bill provides the opportunity to rectify that and to produce more equitable systems. We know that coastal communities have lost out on employment and investment as a result of the lack of access to fishing opportunities. We urgently need to reform and rebalance fishing rights so that smaller, more sustainable vessels get their fair share of the quota and so that fishing can be a viable way for families and communities to make a living.”
“<BR /> <BR />The House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee has recommended that urgent steps be taken to put in place robust mechanisms to monitor and enforce compliance. It has stated that REM is the only way in which to monitor compliance with the landing obligation. It is only natural for crew on vessels to be concerned about how that would affect their privacy, so it should be pointed out that REM with CCTV would be triggered by motion sensors on gear when catch is landed, as opposed to being 24/7, and that there would be no monitoring in any living quarters. I should also point out that CCTV is mandatory in abattoirs across the UK. REM would ensure that our fisheries sector too is monitored to ensure robust enforcement and fully documented catches.”
“I was therefore disappointed to see the Public Bill Committee yet again tabling amendments to remove cross-party House of Lords amendments and taking away the amendment that would have ensured that remote electronic monitoring was rolled out for all vessels fishing in UK waters, despite the benefits that that would entail. REM is a robust and cost-effective tool for supporting sustainable fisheries management. As it stands, less than 1% of activity at sea is monitored. The benefits would be numerous: helping to end overfishing through better monitoring; improved stock assessments; the setting of quotas in line with scientific advice; and the provision of valuable data on the capture of marine wildlife such as seabirds and dolphins, essential to achieving the ecosystem objective.”
“If that is an indication of the direction of travel post Brexit, it does not inspire confidence, if there ever was confidence to be had in this UK Government. The Bill is ambitious: that much is clear and very welcome. To achieve that ambition, however, the sustainability objective must be in place as the prime objective; otherwise, the wide range of opt-out provisions in the Bill is set to allow trade-off objectives, with the potential for short-term economic or political decisions that lead to overfishing and to a long-term decline in fish stocks. <BR /> <BR />The accurate recording of catches is vital to managing our fishing activities and to ensuring the favourable conservation status of fish stocks.”
“That amendment had been supported by a coalition of environmental NGOs and major retailers, and it had cross-party support in the House of Lords. If the Bill is truly to create a sustainable fishing industry and marine environment, sustainability must be enshrined in law. I note, however, that there is no legal obligation to achieve any of the Bill's objectives. Without legal duty, I worry that the Bill will fail to deliver on its ambition. Boris Johnson's Conservative Government promised in their 2019 manifesto that they would deliver a "legal commitment to fish sustainably" — there is another Boris quote for you — yet the same Government have now taken active steps to remove sustainability as the prime objective in the Bill.”
“Overfishing also prevents us from tackling climate change because it damages crucial marine habitats that store carbon and distribute food chains throughout the ecosystem. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the inclusion of the fisheries objectives in the Bill. It is encouraging to see the inclusion of ones such as the sustainability objective, the precautionary objective and the ecosystem objective. I particularly welcome the inclusion of the climate change objective, obviously, given the current climate emergency and the role that ocean recovery has to play in tackling that problem. It is, however, regrettable and somewhat alarming that the UK Government have stripped out the House of Lords amendment that would have made sustainability the prime objective in the Bill.”
“According to the UK marine strategy, the UK is failing on 11 out of 15 indicators of marine health. Only 58% to 68% of our fish stocks are fished at sustainable levels, with our quotas consistently being set above scientifically recommended sustainable levels year after year. Less than 1% of fishing trips are currently monitored at sea, making it impossible for us to get an accurate picture of exactly how much fish we currently take out of the seas. We know that our fishing stocks are not secure. UK waters are among the most heavily exploited in the world. The UN intergovernmental panel report on biodiversity indicates that commercial fishing has been the biggest cause of marine biodiversity loss globally in the last 50 years.”
“<BR /> <BR />I speak on behalf of the Green Party, specifically about the need for sustainability to be enshrined as a primary objective in the Bill and for accurate and robust monitoring and enforcement. For all the potential that the Bill holds to create truly meaningful change to the way in which we manage our fisheries, one thing is clear to me, and it is vital that we get it right: our seas and oceans are sick. They have absorbed the bulk of the warming that has resulted from climate change. We have seen them becoming more acidic and less oxygen-rich. We are witnessing in real time the first death of an ecosystem caused by climate change, with mass coral-reef bleaching occurring around the world and reports indicating that there could be more microplastics than zooplankton in our oceans. <BR /> <BR />Locally, we are doing no better.”
“The Green Party welcomes the Bill as framework legislation that presents us with a tangible opportunity to do things differently in fishery management at the very time when our seas are under more pressure than at any other time in human history. I thank the Minister for his notification of the UK Government's proposed amendments to the Bill, and I look forward to DAERA being able to work towards making the Bill better for Northern Ireland, should those amendments pass. I also welcome the real environmental ambition in the Bill and truly hope that we use the opportunity to put sustainability first as a means to drive ocean recovery and resilient and thriving coastal communities. I also thank the Chair of the AERA Committee for the comprehensive report that he gave on behalf of our Committee.”
“We need a Bill that scraps the minimum income requirements for family visas, suspends other financial thresholds and acknowledges that migrant families and workers, just like so many other workers, have had their incomes reduced. That is not this Bill, and therefore I cannot, in good conscience, support it. <BR /> <BR />We have witnessed, time and again, that the Tory Government care none for the principle of consent, and today everyone in this House should oppose this Bill.”
“Those rules are retained in UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act. The ending of the rules on free movement will mean that EEA nationals who are not resident in the UK at the end of the transition period — New Year's Eve this year — and their family members will require permission to enter and remain in the UK under the Immigration Act 1971. <BR /> <BR />We should have had a Bill that makes it simpler instead of harder for the NHS, the social care sector and other sectors to recruit the staff that we need, not one that uses financial thresholds as a poor substitute for skills, experience or contribution. We should have a Bill that sets out a comprehensive system of visa extensions for those front-line workers and their families.”
“Pushing ahead with the Bill in the midst of a public health crisis is badly misjudged and shows that the UK Government are completely out of touch. <BR /> <BR />The primary purpose of the Bill is to end for the UK, at the end of the transition period, the EU's role in the free movement of people.”
“The Bill will send a powerful message to people that the UK Government do not consider them to be welcome here — our shop workers, our refuse collectors, our local government workers, our NHS staff, our care workers: not welcome. Of course, they are welcome. Those who were out clapping for the thousands of EU nationals in the NHS and care sector are now sending the message that they are no longer welcome. That is not fair, and I, for one, cannot support it. <BR /> <BR />The Bill will destroy opportunities for future generations and split even more families apart. It will result in many thousands of EU nationals losing their rights in the UK. It will copper-fasten the hostile environment even further. The Bill brings to an end the one part of the UK migration system that works well: the free movement of people.”
“I cannot support the LCM because the Bill repeals the main retained EU law relating to free movement and brings EEA nationals and their family members under UK immigration controls — controls by which, as has been pointed out, the UK Government have deliberately created a hostile environment. It is another reason why Brexit is not good for Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />Let us not forget that we meet today in the midst of a public health crisis that has pulled back the veil on the deep inequalities and unfairnesses in our society and shown the extraordinary value of what so many workers do for our families and communities. Making excuses that we are just too busy or that we cannot foot the bill as reasons to allow this to pass without taking responsibility is pretty shameful.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. Are you aware if there are legal limits? Is there an upper limit to what can be passed in terms of the number of HMOs in an area? If you are unsure, if you could look into it and let me know because I am struggling to find out.”
“I am sure that the Minister will agree with, probably, everyone in the House that housing-stress levels in Northern Ireland are unacceptable. However, given that that is the situation, and the financial hardship being levied with COVID — albeit, I am mindful of the fact that, among the measures put in place in response to COVID was a mortgage holiday for many — can the Minister assure us that no one in Northern Ireland will face eviction due to COVID financial hardship?”
“It is good to hear that the Minister has acknowledged that this is a long-term problem for the area. That problem is heightened by the added pressures and dangers from COVID. The Health Minister told the House earlier today that over 50 notices have been issued in the past few days in the Holylands area. That is good news. I certainly pity the fool who would go ahead with a house party in the area these days. <BR /> <BR />I ask the Minister whether she plans to be on the ground to experience at first hand the true extent of the antisocial and criminal behaviors that need to be dealt with in the area in the long term.”