Colin McGrath
South Down · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“Minister, regardless of where people stand on the exact figure, surely we can all agree that a health service cannot function without the doctors whom it trains.”
“Minister, climate change is happening, and extreme weather events are taking place. We saw that in Downpatrick a number of years ago when the town centre was ravaged by flooding, and it has taken the businesses affected many years to try to get over that flooding.”
“Minister, given that capital funding is, generally, being decimated, the extent of which may increase as a result of the Executive's not agreeing a Budget, what impact will that have on any final road maintenance strategy, and are any contingencies being put in place to manage that?”
“<BR /> <BR />Since March 2025, the parliamentary excellence programme has delivered dedicated sessions with the Executive Office on the strategic framework and its delivery plan, enhancing Members’ understanding of the cross-government approach and their role in scrutiny, legislation and constituency engagement.”
“<BR /> <BR />More broadly, the Assembly Commission supports Members and Committees in carrying out their scrutiny functions, including in relation to the Executive Office’s work on that framework.”
“As the Member mentioned, one example is the Assembly's Women's Caucus, which has a particular focus on supporting women in public life and highlighting the increasing challenges that women face in the digital sphere, including online abuse.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,662 lines we hold for Colin McGrath, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 14 of 54.
“We need to see decisions being taken fairly across an area, but, when it comes to what is being requested for Craigavon Area Hospital, it is very difficult to disagree with anything that has been said.”
“We need to stop the drip of transformation through collapse. We need to see planned strategies that are actually delivered, and we have to stop pretending that decisions are not being made when the services are being allowed to deteriorate beyond the point of return. <BR /> <BR />I know the response that we will get. We have heard it all before. MLAs raise genuine concerns and shine a light on these issues, and suddenly we are accused of fearmongering, feeding conspiracies or scaremongering in our communities. I recall one director in the health service referring to a "self-fulfilling conspiracy theory". I do not think that that is what we need to see or do.”
“Whilst we need progress at Craigavon, we also need transparency and clarity about the timelines for the funding and for the work that will take place. We also need proper support for the network, including Daisy Hill Hospital, because the system works best when all our sites are pulling together, not when one is prioritised to the detriment of the other. Let us put it another way: if you have two children, you do not invest all your energy and money in one child and hope that the other one will just muddle through. No, you make sure that both of them are supported, that their needs are being met and that they get the care and attention that they deserve. That is what we are asking of the Department: allocate the resources on the basis of need, not on the basis of convenience or quiet centralisation.”
“<BR /> <BR />I also draw Members' attention to the serious adverse incident report from 2023 and to the Audit Office report that was published just yesterday, which makes for grim reading. It shows that our imaging services, which, from diagnostics to eventual care, are fundamental, are falling dangerously behind. Equipment is outdated, staff are stretched and 16% of the machinery is over 10 years old and thus considered obsolete. That is neither normal nor sustainable. If we do not face up to such problems and instead continue to ignore them, we will create only more problems.”
“We are told of a £400 million redevelopment — a major investment — but, although we saw the paediatric ward be delivered in 2017, and credit where it is due for delivering that vital facility, what about the rest? What about the upgrade to the emergency department? What about intensive care, imaging theatres, recovery, cardiac services and critical care? They are still missing, still incomplete and still just promises that are on a bit of paper but have not happened. <BR /> <BR />I ask the Minister, albeit he has been in post for only the past period, what has happened since 2017? What progress has been made? In this economic climate, costs do not go down, so has the Department secured the additional funding required? Do we even know what the figure looks like? Crucially, is the money still there?”
“It is deeply concerning that, almost a decade after Craigavon Area Hospital's master plan was published, we have still not seen much progress made on it. That is not just an issue for Craigavon but a systemic issue. The same story could be told about many other facilities across Northern Ireland. How many times have we seen flashy strategies be launched and glossy brochures be published, only for them to gather dust or not to be fulfilled? How many of the so-called Executive flagship projects have gone over budget and remain undelivered, with our constituents left waiting, wondering and losing faith? A number of Members have referred to that today. <BR /> <BR />Craigavon Area Hospital follows the same tired pattern.”
“I welcome the debate and thank the Member who proposed the motion on the hospital in her constituency. It is important that we all look to the facilities in our areas to make sure that they can provide the best opportunities and best health outcomes for people and are able to serve the people. In this instance, the area stretches from the Member's constituency to my constituency, albeit the people whom I represent have a much greater distance to travel to get to that facility and pass a number of other facilities on the way. <BR /> <BR />There is little to disagree with in the motion. Yes, we absolutely need sustained, meaningful capital investment in our hospital network. We have to address the chronic inequalities in how that funding is allocated.”
“It is obvious that it is not going to get the support of the Department. I suppose there was a sense that, if it was going to happen, it should be part of another Department, and that, again, really just gets to the heart of what we do. One Minister says, "Nah, we don't want anything to do with it. Pass it over to another Minister". Then you get another Minister saying, "It's nothing to do with my Department. Could somebody else not deal with it?", and it is on that merry-go-round that we go round and round, but there is never any action. <BR /> <BR />We are proposing a land agency because a separate, dedicated agency in its own right with its own staff, to reach out and bring in the sector and work with it, would be better than another down-the-corridor door where the nameplate is changed. That is why we proposed the motion.”
“<BR /> <BR />I just fear that, because we are doing exactly what we have done with other issues through the Civil Service, we may get the same outcome, and that is where we are at the minute, with very little happening with housing. That is why we are calling for the creation of a public land agency, a body that would be responsible for identifying the land, working across Departments and partnering with housing associations. I do not know how many times I have spoken to housing associations that told me that the biggest thing that they cannot get is land. Those are housing associations that are there today. They can tap in and out of the Civil Service and the Department to try to get work done, and we go nowhere, yet we have huge amounts of land that could be used. <BR /> <BR />That is why we suggest a separate agency to deal with that.”
“I wonder which sectors will be brought in to work alongside that agency. I wonder which experts will be brought in to the Department to sit at desks alongside those people to be able to do the job. I would guess none, because if it is a Civil Service-led project, it will be filled with civil servants pushing papers around and trying to do Civil Service things. <BR /> <BR />It we were to have an agency that could reach out and bring in construction experts and experts from outside the field to work alongside its staff, we might get more done. I think that we are going to fundamentally disagree on this. You have a unit that you say is going to solve all the issues with social housing, and it is starting tomorrow. If we are not supported today, and that is what we get tomorrow, we will be watching, and we will see how successful it is.”
“Let us be trailblazers. Let us set our sights higher. If we begin it here, others might be able to join in. Your party's manifesto suggested that we should have such an agency, rather than simply having people do a different job somewhere else.”
“It would be dedicated to the task — it would be completely dedicated to it and nothing else. If we continue to simply do things in the way that we have done them before, and if we shuffle around a few civil servants and say, "If you lift yourself from this desk and go over to that desk, everything will be solved", I have no faith that we will get anything done. Having a dedicated agency, with its own aims, objectives and goals, which uses the money that would otherwise be spent in other ways, will make sure that it achieves that. The problem is that tinkering around the edges will not fix the problems that we have. If we set up a dedicated unit whose specific job as an agency is to do that, it would be sorted out. <BR /> <BR />I remind the Minister that his party's manifesto said that it would like to see a UK-wide agency.”
“By maximising the use of public land, we can free up hundreds of millions of pounds for reinvestment in further housing developments. To make things happen —.”
“Public land could be, as we have said, the key to unlocking the housing that we need. Our figures show that, by using just 10% to 20% of the public estate, we could build between 68,000 and 136,000 new homes. That is not a far-off dream; it is a very real possibility if we take action now. The need for a more strategic approach to land use cannot be overstated. The public land available for housing development presents an opportunity that should not be overlooked. By using public land, we can build homes faster. without the financial burden of expensive land acquisition, which typically accounts for around 30% of the cost of building a social home. Without the cost of purchasing land, money could be pumped back into building homes.”
“<BR /> <BR />The motion recognises the critical role that social and affordable housing plays in reducing housing need, supporting communities and strengthening our economy and presents a pragmatic course of action to resolve our challenges. We must not forget that the Department for Communities has committed to delivering at least 33,000 social homes under the housing supply strategy. That commitment is commendable, but we are talking about this Executive, so it is just a commitment. When does the commitment become a reality? We must see land being made available if we are to realise those targets. <BR /> <BR />That is why the SDLP is proposing something transformative. That is why we recognise the untapped potential of public land — land in public ownership that is sitting unused or underutilised.”
“Through their inaction, the Executive have fed a culture of cynicism that is now embedded in our society. I urge anybody to walk down any street in any town and say, "Is the housing crisis being dealt with by our Executive?". The majority of people will laugh, such is the cynicism. <BR /> <BR />For too many young people, homeownership has become an unrealistic aspiration, because, as wages fail to keep pace with rising house prices, the disparity between income and housing costs is creating an insurmountable barrier for the next generation. As it stands, we are at risk of seeing the social contract being broken, and we cannot stand by and let that become the new normal.”
“<BR /> <BR />People across the North are losing hope and faith in the ability of the Executive to deliver.”
“With waiting lists for social housing ballooning to over 47,000, the situation is nothing short of a crisis, and, if urgent action is not taken, it will be nothing short of a scandal. The number of individuals in temporary accommodation — Members referenced them during the debate — has risen by an alarming 132% over the past five years. As Members have said, our constituency offices are inundated with people who are in dire situations. We have distraught mothers, highly stressed and anxious people who are living in poverty and burnt-out families, all of whom are at their wits' end. They are desperate in their pursuit of a place to live, and, unfortunately, they get no assistance with that. In the private sector, rents are soaring. It now regularly costs more than £1,000 a month in many areas.”
“Thanks very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. Having had conversations with members of the press, I know that they might think that that bunker is used for Executive meetings, because they say that there is a lack of information and press conferences after Executive meetings and they are in the dark. Maybe the Executive would like to see the press put in the bunker. I am glad that we are coming up with possible uses for it, because it is not doing much for anybody if it lies empty. <BR /> <BR />There can be no more delay, inaction or excuses. Our people demand progress on social and affordable housing, and they rightly demand that that progress be made now. It is clear that the housing crisis that we face has long since reached a critical point.”
“The point that I would make about the SDLP amendment is this: let us start to find focus and the issues that we can challenge and do something about. If we constantly take a step back and say, "No, but there are all these big problems. Here is a whole list of them", and if all we ever do is look at those lists, we will never change anything. Therefore, let us not dismiss it when there are opportunities in and suggestions for single-item things that we can do that will help. We are 27 years on from the Good Friday Agreement. We should be working much more collectively with a much more joined-up approach and delivering for people, saving that money up and allowing it to be put right back into the public services, which so desperately need it.”
“I therefore call on Members to support the SDLP amendment, which would place a duty on Departments to work together, thus helping them deliver on the ambition that the Executive have outlined in their Programme for Government. Far be it from the Opposition to help the Executive to deliver their agenda, but this is what constructive opposition is about. It is about offering solutions and saying, "We will support you if you deliver those aims, and we can work together to help people in our communities". That would reduce duplication of services and funding and free up much-needed money for the biggest challenges that people across our society are facing right now. <BR /> <BR />As I mentioned, there are two amendments, and one is mutually exclusive to the other.”
“Although I will not be behind the door in calling out carve-up politics, which is one of the biggest blights on our Government, I do have some sympathy, because the system in which they are operating is clunky and sometimes works against them as a result of the siloed structures. <BR /> <BR />On an individual level, each and every one of us has come to the Assembly to do our best to represent our constituents: the people who elected us. We are all frustrated at just how bad things have got for those living in chronic pain as a result of lengthy waiting lists, for those living in emergency accommodation as a result of a lack of homes and for working families struggling with the cost of childcare. We see you and hear you, but that is not enough. <BR /> <BR />If we want to do something about such issues, we need more than words.”
“We see that in our Budget, which is allocated for political expediency rather than be based on a recognition that, in order to fix the biggest problems that we face as a society, we may need to pool resources and change how we do things. <BR /> <BR />By introducing a duty to cooperate across Departments, we could remove some of the barriers that prevent more cross-departmental working. Given that so many of the issues that affect people across society are logjammed as a result, the SDLP believes that it is imperative that we find ways in which to help support delivery. That is something that the big parties can get behind.”
“That is why the SDLP tabled an amendment that places a statutory duty on the Executive to cooperate on the delivery of public services, which, we believe, will help reduce the cost of division. <BR /> <BR />Division is at the heart of our political structures. The ugly scaffolding of the Good Friday Agreement persists. Although it secured peace, it has not evolved to deliver reconciliation. Our Departments are carved up. They are shared out rather than shared. That often leads to inefficiencies in spending and to an inability to deliver an outcome that extends beyond the boundaries of one's own Department. We regularly see that manifested in frustrating circular debates that may identify the problem but that then go nowhere in their attempts to find a solution.”
“<BR /> <BR />The SDLP welcomed the inclusion of "Peace" as an underpinning commitment in the Programme for Government and believes that it should act as the basis for reducing duplication and, critically, delivering reconciliation. Although we know that the Executive may say a lot of the right things, the same cannot be said when it comes to delivery. Events last year in the Minister of Education's Department, where despicable politicking from Sinn Féin and the DUP on Derry City and Strabane District Council and on Belfast City Council saw them try to reduce a bid from a charity that supports children with special needs by 97% by way of a carve-up, tells us that those two parties prioritise their own needs over everything else.”
“We therefore cannot be surprised when carve-up politics goes beyond this Building. It has infected communities across the North, keeping people apart, creating fear of the other and, in its worst manifestation, keeping sectarianism well and truly alive. With duplication of our crumbling public services absorbing a significant amount of money, is it not time to look at removing the walls that are costly in monetary terms and to changing our society for the better? Carve-up politics fails to reflect the diversity of our society in 2025. For minorities and marginalised groups, that separation can make Northern Ireland feel exclusionary rather than inclusive, thus limiting access to opportunities and equal treatment.”
“Although our party's priority when we held power was to build on peace in order to deliver that reconciliation, it has not been the modus operandi of the two parties that have been at the helm over the past two decades.”
“Without going into the detail of the point that has been made, it is imperative to do something rather than nothing. Our constant battle — I will reflect on this a little later — is that, when we say, "Here is a specific response" to something, the rebuttal is, "Yeah, but there are all these other problems over here, so let's not do anything". That goes to the core of the difference between some of the amendments and the motion. <BR /> <BR />The problem is that, whilst peace was secured here, reconciliation was not.”
“That needs to be investigated. It tells us that the Government are failing to provide the leadership that is required for the sort of society that, people say, they want: a shared one that celebrates diversity rather than separating it.”
“The SDLP welcomes the opportunity to debate this important issue, and we commend the Alliance Party for bringing it to the House. It is timely, given the constraints on our public finances, that we look critically at the cost of division in our society and reflect on how, in 2025, the ambition to create a more shared society in 1998 has completely flatlined. It is not as though we have the luxury of being able to finance a divided society, which comes with a price tag, as the motion outlines. The 2016 figure of £833 million, indeed, is undoubtedly much higher in today's money. <BR /> <BR />As an example of that, a Pivotal report released last week highlighted the fact that 90% of social housing is still segregated, in contrast to the finding that 73% of people say that they want to live in a shared neighbourhood.”
“I raise the matter because the issue of Treasury reserve funding will have an impact on PSNI resources. The issue of resources was mentioned in the Programme for Government consultation by the Chief Constable, who said that the resource for neighbourhood policing is shrinking. Will the Minister confirm whether she intends to make any application under June monitoring to help develop and provide resources for neighbourhood policing?”
“Will the Minister update us on how many times her Department has used enforcement powers against NI Water over the past year to ensure that it complies with its legal obligations, including those relating to water quality?”
“I do not know how amendment No 2 was accepted, when it completely rewrites the meaning of the motion. We all understand and are passionate about the issue, and we are generally moving in the same direction. We want to see our Ambulance Service be able to be responsive in our communities and to be there when people lift the phone and dial 999. We want people to know that help is coming, and I hope that that can be the case.”
“Based on what we saw in London, we estimate that a couple of million pounds would address the problem. I know that everything that we suggest requires money and that the Minister asks, "Where will it come from?". If we can be told that a couple of million pounds cannot be found to enable us to lift a 95-year-old grandmother off the ground and that we cannot help people in our community who suffer a heart attack or who collapse from a stroke but that people can be told, "About an hour is time enough to get to you", we have even bigger problems than patient flow and other issues. <BR /> <BR />We will support the amendments, because how could we not vote to support fixing all the problems? We have, however, brought a little bit of focus to one specific issue.”
“I welcome the Minister's saying that, because I know that he is not waiting. I know that he constantly says that he does not have the money to deliver the projects that he needs to deliver to be able to fix the whole system. That is why I say that if he is not going to get the money to fix the whole system, there is no point in parties tabling amendments that state, "Fix all of the system". <BR /> <BR />It is important to put into context why we are suggesting the W45 model. It is not that we are saying that we should ignore everything else. I am a realist. I know that the Health Minister is not going to get £200 million, £300 million, £400 million or £500 million simply to address the issues that need to be addressed in order to sort out all the problems that exist.”
“Do I want to see the whole system fixed? Yes. Is the whole system going to get fixed in the next three or four months? No. I was told in London that it took three weeks to introduce the system.”
“One part alone of that solution will cost over £40 million. <BR /> <BR />That is why we have been driven to the point of talking about what has happened in London. Its Ambulance Service recognised that a problem existed, and it said that it could not wait any longer to resolve it. It has now managed to reduce its category 2 response times. It has cut them in half, from 50 minutes down to 25 minutes. Members may not know what category 2 cases are. Category 2 cases comprise acute strokes, heart attacks, significant breathing problems and serious trauma. The London Ambulance Service introduced the W45 policy and cut its category 2 response times in half. Our category 2 response times are worse than what London's were, and it managed to cut them in half by introducing its model. Is it a perfect model for the whole system? No.”
“What happens as a result of our still waiting, and why are we debating the Ambulance Service today? People are dying. It is not just me who is saying that. The Audit Office is saying it as well. People are dying because they cannot get an ambulance. Ninety-five-year-old grandmothers are lying in the street for six or seven hours waiting for an ambulance, yet our Executive say, "Let's fix the whole problem. It's about patient flow here, and we've to fill domiciliary care there, and we've to train staff there". I cannot remember the exact figure, but I think that it would take over £40 million to resolve the issues with domiciliary care. We are being told that we cannot get £2 million or £3 million for our suggested model, yet we are being told that the whole system should be fixed.”
“That speaks to some of the problem. It is possible to fix some of the problem and let that contribute to solving the overall problems that there are. If the other way to look at this is to say that you cannot fix any of it until you have a solution for the entire system, we will wait years and years before there will be any solution. Why will we wait years and years? We have been waiting for years and years. How many of us here were a lot younger — much younger than we are today — when we first heard that there were problems with people getting out of hospital, with domiciliary care and with patient flow? The issue is nothing new. It is not something that has arisen in the past year or two. It has been happening for more than a decade. <BR /> <BR />Where are the solutions? We are still waiting for them.”
“In some respects, they offer a bit of grandma and apple pie to the situation and will not result in anything being changed. <BR /> <BR />I am a bit bewildered that the amendments were accepted, because our motion clearly asks for one thing and one thing only: it is about the Ambulance Service and the W45 policy. We said, "Let us deal with ambulance handovers. Let us smooth that process and get them back out on the road and into the communities".”
“The Northern Ireland Audit Office did a wonderful job of putting lots of flesh on that bone and telling us exactly what the cost to the system is. <BR /> <BR />There were two amendments to our motion. From an Opposition perspective, they do, somewhat, speak to the situation that we see in our Executive. The Executive are our Government. Our Government are charged with coming up with solutions to the problems that we face and with the proper and effective delivery of public services. In this matter, however — a matter of life and death — it is about health outcomes and responding to urgent calls. We have one Executive party producing one view in an amendment and another party producing a different view in another amendment. Both amendments obfuscate the matter.”
“When I was there, there were 21 ambulances sitting outside emergency departments and 22 people waiting for an ambulance. I am not thinking about working through all the solutions; it is not rocket science. Those who were waiting could not get an ambulance because the ambulances were sitting outside the hospitals. By asking a question for written answer, I found out that, in the past five years, 97,000 people's conditions deteriorated whilst they were waiting for an ambulance. In other words, their category was upgraded because their condition got more serious as they waited for an ambulance. One has only to think about the cost to our health service. We are bringing sicker people to hospitals because it is taking us so long to go and get them. Think of the money that could be saved.”
“Ultimately, people are dying because ambulances are not arriving for them in a timely manner and they cannot get access to treatment. I give a big shout-out to our paramedics. They, along with the whole network of staff throughout the Ambulance Service, work to the best of their ability and beyond it, but they are absolutely constrained. Those highly trained, highly skilled individuals in our community log on for work, get into the back of an ambulance, sit with one patient for eight hours and then come out and log off again. That does not utilise the skills that we have trained them to have or give them the opportunity to perform their life-saving techniques. <BR /> <BR />I recently visited the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and got a good snapshot. There were screens showing us exactly what the situation was at any moment.”
“Thank you very much, Principal Deputy Speaker. I am glad that we have had the opportunity to have this debate and that we have heard from all sides of the House on the issue. Perhaps the Health Minister expected me to raise it during Question Time last week, but we went down a different route, because it was better to give the issue a proper airing through a motion that would give us a full hour and a half to debate it. It is really important because, as Diane Dodds eloquently put it, sick people are looking to get into hospital, but they cannot do so. We can all agree on that. <BR /> <BR />I and, I am sure, many Members were contacted by a number of organisations about today's debate. They highlighted the problem that people are getting sicker because they cannot get access to emergency care.”
“I am sure that Sinn Féin Members will not spend a long time reading an SDLP document, but it includes additional staff. That is the purpose of it. The premise is that the model cannot be introduced unless there are extra staff to deal with it, or you could use the cohorting method, which is a well-recognised method in the rest of the UK. This is not mentioned without consideration of staff. It is not the same number of staff. You could not do that.”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I ask the Speaker to reflect on the importance for a democracy of having an Opposition. Given the procedures that we have, is it proper order to silence the Opposition in the middle of their question and move on rather than allow the question put thus far to be answered? Saying a simple "Sit down" and letting the Minister answer the question might have been better for openness and transparency. It would be appreciated if the Speaker could review that matter.”
“Given the severity and scale of the numbers impacted by special educational needs and the number of commitments in the Programme for Government (PFG) for it, would it be beneficial to ring-fence some of the funding that goes to the Department for special educational needs so that there could be a guarantee of that money being directed to those who need it most?”
“We welcome it. The Healthy Child, Healthy Future framework is 15 years old, however. It is currently under review, and we need to nudge it over the line. Safeguarding has changed, for example, as has the family model. Lots of things are evolving daily, never mind having as our guide a strategy that was implemented 15 years ago. Getting that review completed and those changes implemented will certainly do what we are all looking to do: to give our children and young people the best possible start in life.”
“Autism could therefore be identified at the age of one or two, yet nothing can be done about it until children are three, and even then they only get placed on a long waiting list. <BR /> <BR />Many children have the traits of ADHD. Those children cannot be seen until they are seven. At that stage, there is a two-year waiting list. Traits may be noticed at the age of one, two or three, but, again, nothing can be done about them. It is therefore important that the Minister give some consideration to what we could do if we were to identify those traits early. Are there interventions that could be made that would make a difference? It must be deeply frustrating for health visitors when they notice something but know that it may be five years before it can be addressed by an expert. <BR /> <BR />We have no issues with the amendment.”
“Although it is regrettable that 15% of children were not seen by the age of one, there is little that could have been done differently had traits been identified at that age. Even if traits were to be identified at two years of age, we currently see only 93% of children by that age. What can we do at that stage if we do identify traits, however? Health visitors tell me that they notice nuances in behaviour that may indicate autism or ADHD and that may need to be addressed. When children are seen by our expert health visitors, they can identify those particular traits, but there is nothing that they can do about autism until a child is three. By the time that a child gets to that stage, there is a three-year waiting list.”