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.”
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“I will discuss today the lack of activity to manage the causes of flooding that occurred in Downpatrick last year; flooding that, local people feel, could happen again. Why do we feel that that might happen again? Put simply, it is because nothing much has been done since to address the issues. Our Department for Infrastructure and its Sinn Féin Minister spent massive amounts of public money to produce a comprehensive report that, essentially, told us that the county town flooded last year because there was lots of rain. That will not cut it with local businesses, which faced a difficult time last year. Some of them still have not received the promised financial assistance nearly 10 months on.”
“It is obvious from the debate that a number of the Executive parties are on different pages on this. Does that not underscore the benefit of having some sort of plan that they could all get behind, like a Programme for Government, which all four parties just voted against, including in the vote on the previous motion? At least that would give the clarity and, hopefully, the funding that the various sectors need.”
“The Minister, in his contribution, talked about the importance of a mental health champion. It was his idea, and it was important that we have that independent voice. That independent voice was standing out in the Great Hall today saying that it was a priority that does not appear much in the Programme for Government. If we approve and agree with the amendment, we are removing something that the mental health champion is asking us for. What is the point of having the independent voice if you are not going to listen to it?”
“During the collapse of these institutions, I asked the Department for a resolution to the issues. Since the Minister has come back to office, I have asked him, written to him and spoken to him. Each and every time, we are told that something will happen at some point in the future. What message does the Minister have for the primary-school child who, on 18 September, was pinned up against the railings in fear when a vehicle had to mount the footpath in order to be able to maintain the traffic flow in the street?”
“Let mental health be a priority when the Executive weigh up the question of budget cuts or revenue raising or when they consider working in silos as opposed to working together. Let mental health be a priority in the delivery of the Programme for Government. <BR /> <BR />I look forward to the debate and to hearing from the Executive parties' representatives and the Minister about how we will respond to the crisis. As I said at the outset, let us keep those who are most vulnerable at the forefront of our minds and our decisions today. Let us deliver something positive for them. Let this place offer some hope and not another reason for despair.”
“<BR /> <BR />If we were to support the amendment, we would send a startling message from the House to all those who are struggling with mental health issues and all those organisations, members of which are upstairs in the Long Gallery and alongside whom Members will, undoubtedly, be photographed. The message will be for ever printed above the Building that our Programme for Government does not prioritise mental health, because we are just not going to talk about it. <BR /> <BR />We owe it to the many thousands of people who have lost their lives to suicide, the countless people who are seeking help with their mental health and the many organisations trying to fill the void that we, as an Executive and an Assembly, are not servicing to assure them that mental health will be a priority for the Executive.”
“as does our motion. It calls for the Minister to work with his colleagues to prioritise suicide prevention: so does our motion. It calls for support for those who experience suicidal thoughts: so does our motion. It calls for targets to support children and young people. The original motion does all those things, but the fundamental difference is that the amendment removes the request to include all those things in the Programme for Government. The draft Programme for Government already skirts the issue of mental health. The amendment removes it from the conversation entirely. I will not support that, and the SDLP cannot support that.”
“However, the question of how much money the Treasury provides us is irrelevant if our Executive are not on one page, speaking with one voice in a spirit of commonality and shared purpose and with clear and measurable targets. That is what we seek today. <BR /> <BR />If I may, I will quickly address the amendment. I always welcome the opportunity to debate amendments. Often, they can complement and enhance motions and, indeed, legislation. However, the amendment is essentially a rewrite of the original motion with one strange omission. The amendment”
“I will be unequivocal in my remarks. I do not doubt for one second the Health Minister's commitment to the strategy or his desire to see it succeed. I say that of his predecessor, Robin Swann, as well, because it was the previous Health Minister who told the Health Committee that he had sought a commitment that, as part of any monitoring rounds, Health would be the priority for the Executive. However, the Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Education made the same ask, so no commitment could be given. I appreciate that funding comes from the Treasury and that the inclination of some is to point the finger at the UK Government while saying, "Please, sir, I want some more".”
“If we do not properly fund the strategy, it will fail. Clearly, we need to see it being funded properly if we want it to succeed.”
“To date, approximately 20 of those key actions have started, which is positive and has to be welcomed, but, on the flip side, none of the actions has been completed, and the strategy has been failed and constrained by recurrent underinvestment. In the past year alone, over £24 million should have been allocated to the strategy's implementation; instead, it has received just over 25% of the necessary funding.”
“As part of our response to the crisis, the previous Health Minister and the Executive launched a 10-year mental health strategy. The scope of that strategy, the associated action plan and the funding commitment were unprecedented and, like today, offer a unique opportunity to improve people's lives. <BR /> <BR />In that strategy sat 35 high-level actions for the development and transformation of services, with five standout actions identified: an action plan for early intervention and prevention; increasing the funding for child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS); changing the structure of service delivery; integrating the community and voluntary sector in that delivery; and developing a regional mental health service across our five health trusts.”
“We propose one solid outcome that the Executive could take forward to help the most vulnerable in our society. That is the journey that we embark on today through our Opposition day motions. I say to every Member that this is not about blame, point-scoring or pontificating. With each contribution that you make, please keep to the forefront of your mind those who are struggling with their mental health and those families who have lost someone to suicide. <BR /> <BR />Today is an opportunity to improve people's lives. Let our responsibility, as legislators, and our empathy, as fellow human beings, be the twin lens through which we approach today's debate. I have mentioned that over 200 people lost their lives to suicide in 2022. Even one life is too many.”
“Two hundred lives lost: countless family members left to pick up the pieces of a life that was cut short; innumerable friends, colleagues or even strangers left wondering why, and whether they could have helped in any way. As an Assembly, we, too, must ask why. We also must ask whether there is something that we can do to help. That is the first step of the journey that we embark on today through our debates. <BR /> <BR />I have mentioned the many groups and organisations that are working in the crisis that are here today. Many of those organisations struggle, year-on-year, to put a proper budget in place. Recently, some have seen their core grant slashed by 50%. Addressing that has to be the second step of our journey. The third step is to examine how other Departments have a role to play.”
“Thank you very much, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I welcome the opportunity to open this Opposition day and to present this motion on mental health. <BR /> <BR />I pay tribute to the many organisations, groups and professionals with whom the Opposition engaged ahead of today. I am delighted that a number of them are here today with the mental health policy group (MHPG) in the Long Gallery. Many of those groups and organisations are truly at the coalface of the continuing mental health crisis across Northern Ireland. I do not say that lightly; we are truly in the midst of a crisis. The most recent data tells us that, in 2022, over 200 people lost their lives to suicide. Since 1998, more people have lost their lives to suicide than those who lost their lives in the Troubles.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. It is on an issue that I have not heard raised at this stage. I understand that lots of people are in areas where they cannot receive a signal, but I do not know whether, in rural constituencies, people have the frustration that I have that, when driving from point A to point B, you used to have a signal and you used to be able to have a phone call, but, all of a sudden, the phone signal drops right across areas. I had one phone call with a constituent, and, in the space of about five miles, the phone call dropped eight times. That did not happen before, and I hope that the Minister might be able to put some pressure on the phone companies to find out why they are reducing the services and making them worse in areas rather than better.”
“Does the Member agree that many 16- and 17-year-olds are frustrated by the lack of progress? While there are good intentions behind the motion, it simply calls on the British Government to do something. Why are we not mandating our Executive and First Minister and deputy First Minister to act? As an Assembly, why are we not telling the Executive that they must seek the powers to make the change, instead of simply leaving it, once again, as a debate that might lie on the table for another eight years?”
“It is not set against strategic outcomes. It does not look to the long term, and it is wanting in many places. However, the Opposition recognise the specific circumstances that exist. It could have been different. The Executive will deliver stability and be able to set priorities properly with their spending plans. We expect to see the deficiencies in this year's process addressed from next year's Budget onwards.”
“That often brings relief to Departments' very tight budgets, and it enables the delivery of public services that might not otherwise have been delivered. It is well recognised that that is popular with the public because things that may not have happened suddenly do happen. I reiterate the Opposition's perspective: it was shameful that the Executive delivered a monitoring round in the week of an election. That could have been perceived as an abuse of the process of these institutions to win favour with the electorate at election time. It is right and proper that the process for that decision-making, as part of our financial cycle, is fully examined by independent eyes to determine whether it could have been done differently. <BR /> <BR />The Budget is not what we want it to be. It is not the right amount of money.”
“<BR /> <BR />I repeat that we cannot lay all the blame at the door of the Finance Minister, but the Budget required accelerated passage, which is not a good form of government. However, the collapse and chaos of the Executive's stability, delivered by Sinn Féin and the DUP, have resulted in stop-start government. That has had an inevitable impact on the finance-planning process and the delivery of Budget Bills over the past decade. <BR /> <BR />An important process and part of any budgetary cycle is the delivery of the in-year monitoring rounds. Members will be aware that that means that the little cash pot that accrues is divided among Departments at various points during the year to help them with their work.”
“However, one has to wonder how long it can be credible for the Executive to have a policy of high-level spending aspirations that are not met by the level of their Budget and simply bemoan that we do not have enough money. While it is accepted that the levels coming from London have not been enough in the past, and may not be enough in the future, I cannot help but wonder whether the Executive and Finance Minister are preparing the inevitable plan B that needs to run alongside such a reality. You need to be honest with the public. Are you prepared to revenue-raise or cut budgets? In the face of insufficient funds from London, one or other of those will have to happen.”
“The first thing for us to welcome today — yes, we welcome it — is that we are actually at the Final Stage of a Budget Bill. Unfortunately, it is not a three-year strategic Budget that will be aligned to the priorities in a Programme for Government. However, it would be unfair to land all the blame for that at the door of the Minister. What we have instead is our tenth single-year sticky tape Budget in a row. We need to recognise that this is not the way to deliver proper or sound fiscal policy, and we really need to overcome that. <BR /> <BR />We appreciate that this is a tight Budget. It would be foolish to think, or even try to portray, that the amount of money that has been given to us to deliver public services is at the level that we would like to see it at. The amount that we have in our Budget is not enough. That is a fact.”
“That is why the Peace Summit Partners are issuing a call to action, asking all of us to join them in that work and asking Departments to embed peace and reconciliation at the heart of Executive policy. We must all work together to tackle the lingering effects of the past while striving to build an inclusive, safe, reconciled and prosperous society.”
“We welcome the inclusion of peace in the Programme for Government as a positive development, but the true test will be how the Executive work to achieve it. <BR /> <BR />The Peace Summit Partners, including the John and Pat Hume Foundation, YouthAction NI, Holywell Trust, Ulster University, Integrated Education Fund and the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, have a clear and urgent message. Their work, through conversations and events with communities and stakeholder organisations over the last two years, has revealed the extent to which issues caused by the conflict still sadly affect our society and, in particular, our young people.”
“Saturday past marked International Day of Peace, and, while we are mindful of the conflicts happening around the world today, it is an opportunity for us to reflect on our conflict and journey towards peace and a prosperous society, which has yet to be realised. Our peace process stands as a testament to what can be achieved when communities choose unity over conflict. While much has changed and been achieved in Northern Ireland since 1998, sadly, deep-rooted division, violence and mistrust continue. <BR /> <BR />The riots in Belfast over the summer made it clear that there is still a way to travel to deliver a peaceful and integrated society. We must ensure that all voices are heard and no community is left behind in a truly reconciled and peaceful society. The benefits and dividends of peace must deliver for everyone.”
“If they feel stressed and unhappy in their work, they will want to go somewhere else where they do not have those pressures. Then you end up with practices that collapse. <BR /> <BR />We all know that MDTs are a game changer, and we can see what they do. I hope that the Minister can give some feedback on how quickly we can get them rolled out even further so that we can provide those services where people need them.”
“<BR /> <BR />Another important point that the GPs in that practice raised was that they felt that they were getting work done. They felt that they were directing patients to the services that they needed and that they were therefore getting to see the patients that they actually needed to see. They felt a bit of satisfaction in their work because they were able to do the signposting to other services in their health facility and get people appointments much more quickly. That gave them a sense of reward in their jobs, which is what makes people want to go into work each day. By contrast, in health centres that are just trying to get through long lists that they never catch up with, the GPs never get enough of their work done and start to feel stressed.”
“<BR /> <BR />The GPs in that practice spend a bit of time each morning populating the timetable for the rest of those professionals. That means that people get the exact care that they need, which is better care, and are not blocking appointments in the GP practice only to then be sent somewhere else. Those GPs said that that system works fantastically for them. In a rural community, you need to be able to go to a primary care facility and get the treatment that you need there, rather than be signposted somewhere else, which may be a hospital that is 25 or 30 miles, or even further, away. The experience of those MDTs was very positive, and they work well for people in a semi-rural community like the one that we have in South Down. I think that those teams would be of great assistance to existing services.”
“They are a game changer. <BR /> <BR />In one of the health centres that I visited, the doctors take between half an hour and an hour in the morning to triage all the calls that come in. Depending on what is needed, they then send the patient to the relevant profession, be that social work, physiotherapy, counselling or pharmacy. One of the GPs said to me, "If somebody rings me up and says that they have a sore elbow, there is very little that I, as a GP, can do". If that GP can send the patient straight to the physiotherapist, however, that person will get the exact care that they need, without having to spend 10 to 15 minutes in a GP slot, only to be told that they need physiotherapy: they can be directed straight on to the physiotherapy list.”
“Hawk-eyed Members will have noticed that I am not from Fermanagh or South Tyrone, but I am happy to speak on behalf of the SDLP in the Adjournment debate on the important issue of getting rural healthcare services right for people. Fermanagh is a great example, so if we can get it right there, we will be able to get it right in any rural community across the North. <BR /> <BR />All that I want do is offer my reflections. Over the summer, as a member of the Health Committee and someone with an interest in health, I visited a number of the bigger GP practices in my constituency to catch up with them, find out how things were going, see what pressures they faced but also see what was working well for them. I know that I am echoing remarks that have been made, but we are really lucky in South Down to have the MDT teams.”
“You propped up the Tories. You delivered the cuts.”
“No one here doubts that this is a terrible decision that will be devastating for pensioners here. It will not be supported by us, here or in Westminster. <BR /> <BR />Does the Minister agree that the UK's finances are in a mess as a result of 14 years of Tory Government Budgets, which were often shoved through Westminster with the votes of his party enabling them to get through? If you are looking for a solution, Minister, will you consider amending the discretionary support that is available to people, enabling them to avail themselves of it should they find themselves trapped as a result of this decision?”
“<BR /> <BR />Included somewhere in the debate was — when I reflect on all the contributions, I think that it was there — agreement that we all support policing, that we want to see adequate policing here and that what is important is that we should be supporting that today, collectively. I believe that the aim of our amendment was to cool things. I think that it was constructive opposition, and I hope that, on that basis, we might receive cross-party support for it.”
“Think about some of the other public bodies that we have. As has been referenced, we have heard from the Housing Executive that there is not enough money for what it does. I think that just about every trust chief executive has been on the airwaves to say that they do not have the funding for the work that they do. I think that every head teacher has said publicly that they do not have the funding to do the work that they do. In this instance, another head of a public organisation was saying that they need to get more money to be able to do the work that they do.”
“The officers build up a relationship with the community, and it is an opportunity to try to break down some of the barriers that there may have been in the past between policing and some communities. If we are left with just response officers, or, by and large, with response officers, we shift the focus from proactive community policing to reactive policing. <BR /> <BR />Like everyone else in this place, I watched the storm that brewed over the summer. In all honesty, I cannot fathom why the Chief Constable was not allowed to say and do what he did. Did he write an open letter to the newspapers? No. Did he go on to any of our media broadcasters to shine a spotlight on the problem? No. He wrote to the Prime Minister to see whether there was an opportunity for some additional funding for the work that he does.”
“We will regularly use any influence that we have to get additional funding here to support our public services. I do not think that we can take any more money off our public services. They are as strained as they can be. We have to do all that we can to try to support the public sector in the work that it does. <BR /> <BR />As I was saying, as far back as 1999, the Patten report told us that we needed a Police Service complement of 7,500. At the start of this month, there were only 6,298 officers, which is a reduction of 436. That cutback is most evident in community policing. It is difficult to see that, because that is often the public face of policing. It is an opportunity for the public to engage with officers whom they see regularly.”
“I am going to frame that. Thank you very much.”
“<BR /> <BR />I reiterate that we should take the opportunity in this debate to show our collective support for the police, and for those officers who work in some of the most difficult situations with resources that are stretched beyond imagination. Of course, I said that we had that opportunity today, but what we have — I will take this opportunity to have one quick Opposition dig — is a four-party Executive in which one party is criticising another one, another party is amending that criticism, one is not supporting any of the criticisms, and a fourth is having to defend itself to everybody. We are only a few hours after the presentation of the Programme for Government, when we were told that youse all work together greatly.”
“Thank you very much, Principal Deputy Speaker. It was the hope and intention of the SDLP that, in moving this amendment today, we would try to provide a bit of space for slightly cooler heads to prevail and demonstrate to the public at large, and particularly to the PSNI, that we collectively in here support the work that it does. It has to be a priority for us to have a Police Service that is fit for purpose and has our full support, given the many challenges that it has faced in recent times. Some of the comments that have been made in the debate today may be people's interpretations, rather than necessarily being fully fact-based. The summer recess meant that we did not have the opportunity to address those matters a little bit more quickly, which might have taken some of the heat out of the issues.”
“The Minister said in her statement that the Executive make no apology for being ambitious. Given that no new funding is being announced for our health service and the Department of Health continues to run at a deficit, will they at least apologise to the hundreds of thousands of people who are languishing on waiting lists, who will have been looking to the statement for some hope but see warm words and no concrete actions?”
“Thank you. Does the Member agree that the stop-go nature of politics here has impacted on the delivery of many of the strategies and that we can draw a direct line to some of the problems that we are facing today? Does she also agree that we need to see the Executive delivering on strategies and not just announcing them?”
“In doing that, what will we do? We will enhance the economies on both sides, we will encourage jobs and we will bring prosperity. There is absolutely nothing to be lost by connecting the tourism products and selling what we have in spades and what we do best. That is why I support the motion.”
“To do anything less than that would be absolutely ridiculous. We have the products. We have everything in place, but we just are not doing the marketing and making the connections to bring the two halves together.”
“<BR /> <BR />There is much more that we can still do, and we will do it through our ability to bring our tourism product to others, whether that is through improved park-and-ride facilities in Newcastle and Downpatrick or access to the wider island by using the Carlingford ferry or what will soon be available through the completion of the transformative development of the Narrow Water bridge. The opportunities for the further enhancement of our tourism product will be limited only by our ambition. <BR /> <BR />By matching our tried-and-tested tourism brands, which have been referenced in the debate, with those in the South, such as Ireland's Ancient East — of which South Down is an essential part — and Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, I have no doubt that we will be able to inhabit, share and grow in the affections of people the world over.”
“<BR /> <BR />As custodians of this ancient isle, it is our duty to struggle with that most difficult of dichotomies: how do we manage a landscape that is aged and shaped by its natural surroundings and then package a tourism product that is shaped by poets and dreamers that we can market to outside nations? That is an unenviable task, but it is a worthwhile one. It is because of our ability to do that that we have created such well-known tourism brands in South Down as the legacy of St Patrick, the Mourne Mountains, the 'Game of Thrones' tour, historic golf clubs in Newcastle and Ardglass and the world-renowned Fiddler's Green Festival in Rostrevor. That is a only snapshot of what we have to offer in one part of this isle.”
“Whether it is from Downpatrick to Dunmore or Malin to Mizen, the island of Ireland boasts almost 33,000 square miles of natural beauty. It has a heritage and history of many thousands of years and a people known the world over for their humour, generosity and kindness. This shared home that we inhabit has words and wonder and music and mythology woven through its rich history and heritage. All across the world, people make their journeys to this island to visit an ancestral home, catch up with family or enjoy a holiday. Regardless of why people make the journey here — for some, it is even a spiritual pilgrimage — one thing is inevitable: they return home changed for the better, such is our impact on them.”
“I hope that Members across the House will support our motion, remembering that efficiency and, most importantly, compassion are at its core.”
“That reform of services delivers positive health outcomes in the South, but it is also quickly becoming an attraction for healthcare staff from the North. I will set it in context: a primary care doctor in the North could earn around £75,000; in the South, they could earn an average of €130,000, which equates to over £100,000. Think of what could be achieved in some areas if we were to commence cross-border working to help deliver some elements of primary care as well. Meanwhile, again for context, in the past five years, we have spent well in excess of £11 million on GP locum cover alone. <BR /> <BR />As we commence the debate, I look forward to hearing Members' contributions and hope that they demonstrate a willingness to do some imaginative thinking in order to deliver positive health outcomes for all members of the public.”
“<BR /> <BR />The services could provide care to women and families in some of the most emotionally charged and heartbreaking situations. I refer specifically to the perinatal and paediatric post-mortem services that we do not provide here. The absence of a paediatric post-mortem service and the fact that we still cannot access the service in the South result in many women and families having to access the service in England. While it must be said that the service puts care and compassion at its heart, I cannot help but think that it is worth exploring whether we would be able to provide the service on this island. <BR /> <BR />We must give credence to the need for cross-border working, given the increasing reach of Sláintecare in the South.”
“Imagine if we had been without Ministers at the time of making those decisions. I am not so sure that the schemes would have been introduced. There would have just been more uncertainty. That underscores the importance of having this institution up and running so that Ministers can take the decisions that are required to provide services for the community. If we could see delivery of such a short-term scheme, which would deliver positive outcomes for the public, each of us could then consider our capacity for further joint health working with colleagues in the South. Members of the Health Committee and those beyond it know the full range of problems in our health sector. Many segments of the health service are clogged up by long waiting lists, meaning that people are not getting the outcomes that they need.”