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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“Does that mean that people can get tested the minute that they arrive back and that a negative result will work for them, or does it mean that they must wait until day two to take that test?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement and his update to the House. I echo his remarks that this is not a time for "panic or despair". We can work together to contain this if we all stick to the things that we know to do for the best, such as washing hands, observing social distancing and getting ourselves checked out if we have any symptoms. <BR /> <BR />I will ask the Minister about some of the changes. Minister, you suggested that the planned changes to the international programme will hopefully come in early this week. Can you tell us about the process by which that will become something that needs to be followed? I also note that you said that a PCR test will be undertaken "on or before day two".”
“I am content to support the Second Stage of the Bill.”
“Absolutely. My notes were written before the speech was made. I am sure that it is something that the Committee will be able to address. It will want to get that type of clarification so that it can get full support for the Bill's progression. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, if the past eighteen months have taught us anything, it is that money can be found for essential legislation, and quickly. It can be done. If the political will exists, and given that we are approaching the legislation with the right intentions, there is no reason that the funding for it cannot be found. It would be appreciated if we can get clarity on the points that I have highlighted. I look forward to further scrutinising the Bill in the Health Committee. I wish its sponsor well with its progression. She has certainly hit the ground running since becoming an MLA.”
“It would be helpful if we could get some clarity about from where those costs are coming. It would be particularly helpful for the Department to see where it might need to find additional moneys and what it might ask Finance Minister Murphy to provide to help alleviate those costs. Today's report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, however, has shown that we have incorrectly paid out £9 million through the localised restrictions support scheme. If we can claw back some of that money, it will help if that could go to the Department. <BR /> <BR />The final area on which I seek clarity from the Bill sponsor is how we ensure that the scheme is not abused. Essentially, how will we prevent our hospital car parks from becoming free park-and-ride facilities? Some of them are located very close to town and city centres —”
“I appreciate that there is a financial cost for operating and maintaining the car parks. The Bill's explanatory and financial memorandum notes:”
“In the South Eastern Trust in my area, there are no costs if you work at the Downe Hospital, but there are costs if you work at the Ulster Hospital. During the pandemic, many staff were relocated from the Downe Hospital to the Ulster Hospital, which meant that, when costs were reintroduced, staff had to pay car parking charges that they would not have had to pay had they been working in their original workplace. Although the Bill will be of great benefit if enacted — I hope that it will help people — there is still much work that needs to be done for our healthcare staff. <BR /> <BR />I have no doubt that the Bill will be of tremendous benefit to patients and visitors to hospitals. If we look at the period 2016-19, however, we will see that visitors paid almost £13 million to our trusts for car parking.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. In a debate in which we are all coming from roughly the same direction, it is great to see that he did not take the option to be divisive and political. Any significant drain on the budget required by Translink and others would require a whole-Executive approach and funding to be made available to the Department. I am sure that the Executive can have that discussion. <BR /> <BR />Support, however, for the abolition of car parking costs at hospitals should in no way be seen as a substitute for implementing the proper pay increase that is needed. There are some internal trust imbalances, and the Bill sponsor has referenced and highlighted the fact that there are issues in the Belfast Trust.”
“<BR /> <BR />Looking back at those really awful days last year, however, we see by comparison the position that we are in now. Car parking charges have been reintroduced, and staff are living with the physical, psychological and emotional effects of the pandemic. For some, it has been noted, it has been akin to the symptoms of PTSD. Anything that we —”
“Yes, and I know that we are rehearsing issues with nurses' pay and conditions that many of us know about. We want to see improvement, because we can see how that directly impacts on the amount of money that nurses have and their ability to pay for things such as car parking that add to the drain on their money. <BR /> <BR />On any given day, our nurses may have to get their kids up in the morning, get them washed and fed and drive them to school. They then have to travel to work, and, depending on the trust that they work in, they may have to park on-site. In considering the conditions that healthcare staff had to work through during the pandemic, it should be noted that Minister Nichola Mallon led the way by establishing a free parking facility for NHS staff at Crumlin Road Gaol and by providing free public transport for staff.”
“Many Members were proud to stand with them. We can be certain that we were shoulder to shoulder with them there. Many argue that those staff were the impetus for this place to come back after three years. <BR /> <BR />Unfortunately, we have not seen the pay increase that staff require. At present, I understand, a nurse's starting salary in the North is about £24,000, and the average salary is about £31,000. Given their vast workload, that is not much. Compare that with the UK average salary of £40,000. In the South, it is £35,000. In Luxembourg, which is first in the OECD by that measure, the average salary for a nurse is about £78,000. The recent pay increase of 3%, which was lauded as magnificent, works out as a pay cut in real terms. <BR /> <BR />We now see that the typical age of staff is approximately 45 to 55. In many days —”
“We face two important considerations: how the Bill will impact on and affect staff; and how it will affect visitors. Our healthcare system is in a precarious position. The issues that we face predate the emergence of COVID-19. They stem from the mid-2000s. If we look at our nursing sector in particular, we see that several themes are raising their head. Nurses' pay is low, and their career progression is restricted; however, nursing workload just goes on and on and builds. When I say that, to be clear, I know that trusts are doing their absolute best to meet the needs of our nursing staff. We need to look at how to complement that and support the trusts in their support of staff. <BR /> <BR />Healthcare staff stood on picket lines from 25 November 2019 to call for an increase in pay and improvement in working conditions.”
“There may be some issues with translating that principle into practice, but I am sure that they are not insurmountable. There will be an opportunity for us to discuss them in Committee and other ways of finding solutions.”
“I do not think that anyone would object to that principle.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is important legislation and, if enacted, will go some way to addressing the major issues that our healthcare staff, in particular, face at present. <BR /> <BR />The Bill's straightforward principle is to:”
“Does the Minister agree that what he said hits on a point that many of those who attack us as MLAs go to? You can have a COVID certificate or passport. If you do not want to have a vaccination, you can go down the lateral flow avenue, or if you have had coronavirus, you can use that evidence. Nobody is being forced. Nobody is having their rights suppressed. That large crowd out there is making a lot of noise and cherry-picking the bits of information that they want to throw back in our faces for the decisions that we are making. You are accommodating all people. That being the case, what is their problem?”
“Grown-up, mature politics may also mean that the Justice Minister and her Department will have to take the lead in managing compliance around face coverings. It will probably not be popular, but it is the right thing to do. Grown-up, mature politics would also mean that we get out of the situation where we enact legislation first and debate it afterwards. Regrettably, however, that is what we have to work with right now. I will support the amendments that have been presented to us today in the spirit of protecting the public and our healthcare service.”
“No one in this place is trying to coerce anyone into taking the vaccine, so let us park that line. What we want is for our regulations to help to prevent our health service from being overwhelmed. We have a health service that has been decimated as a result of 14 years of the DUP and Sinn Féin running it down. Unless we take the hard decisions, things will only get worse. You can call that politicking if you want, but that does not change the fact that it is true. It is time that we had some grown-up mature politics in this place. As political parties, we do not have to agree with each other. However, we do have a responsibility not to contaminate the legislation that we are enacting with ill-thought-out messages or tweets, or messages that just play to people's fears but do nothing to quell them.”
“He also said that businesses would be encouraged to request proof of vaccination when people tried to enter an event, so I do not know why he did not support the introduction of COVID certificates last week. It is, after all, the same thing. <BR /> <BR />Let the message to those who call us Nazis and say that we are promoting apartheid be very clear: your civil liberties are not at stake. Nobody is trying to coerce you into anything. You insult the memory of those who died as a result of the holocaust and the South African genocide by the parallels that you are shamefully drawing. It is pathetic, it is factually incorrect and it is dangerous, and I ask people to stop. <BR /> <BR />Let me come back to the issue that we are discussing and it, as I said, being a matter of public health.”
“Individuals have come into the constituency offices of elected representatives to serve written notices on them for crimes against humanity. At this stage, I express my solidarity with the Health Minister and other colleagues who have received substantial abuse from people as they go about their work. It is not acceptable, and it can never be condoned. <BR /> <BR />While those who oppose our COVID-19 regulations, such as those that we are debating, remain, thankfully, a very small minority, because of the messaging that has come from some quarters, their conspiracy nonsense has been given room to breathe. When the First Minister said at the Executive Office Committee back in October that some people may not receive the vaccine because of ethical reasons, it did not do anything to help us to increase our rate of vaccination.”
“Just last week, we had agreement at the Executive table for the COVID certification scheme, which included the use of lateral flow testing or recovery from COVID-19. That is a fair compromise, yet, because the DUP opposed it — though the DUP did not provide any substantial alternatives — the public messaging on it has been somewhat contaminated. <BR /> <BR />We have all seen the abuse that elected representatives have had to take in the past 18 months. Staff in my office, who deal with people in dire need on issues such as housing or universal credit, are having to do so while taking phone calls in which we are called Nazis, communists and traitors to the people, and told that we are promoting apartheid and that John Hume would be turning in his grave.”
“Somehow, after 18 months of living with the virus and the pandemic, we still find ourselves in the absurd position where we enact laws and then debate them. It is a bit like the process in the TV series 'Married at First Sight'. It flies in the face of logic, and I have been consistent in saying that for the last 18 months. Because of the process of enacting laws first and then debating them, elected representatives are not given the opportunity to scrutinise the legislation and make sure that we are enacting the right legislation. Had we debated the amendments before enacting them, I would have opposed them without the proper mitigations being in place. <BR /> <BR />In legislation, communication is key.”
“It is because of that desire to protect life that, when the amendments were brought before the Executive in October, the Infrastructure Minister, Nichola Mallon, said that we could not support them without the necessary mitigations being in place to protect life. The mitigations were straightforward. We were talking about COVID vaccination certificates. Regrettably, we find ourselves in the position where the amendments were agreed by the Executive and we are now being asked to rubber-stamp them. While the mitigations have been agreed and put in place, the introduction of the COVID certificates will not be enforceable until 13 December. Who knows how things may change by then? <BR /> <BR />As I said, the amendments that we are discussing date back to 21 October. Some of them came into operation on 31 October.”
“We are talking about protecting life in the face of a virus that has swept the world.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2021 (Amendment No. 18) Regulations and the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Wearing of Face Coverings) (Amendment No. 7) Regulations. Although those amendments were made back in October, daily infection figures have been over 1,000 per day every day since the beginning of July. On Friday past, there were 1,690 infections and seven deaths. We remember those who have lost their lives to the virus and the families that they have left behind. <BR /> <BR />Amidst all the political discussions here, the protests at the weekend and the messaging and tweeting from political figures, we must always remember that the issues that we discuss are matters of public health.”
“Minister, as we saw at COP26, commitment to carbon reduction needs action plans, and action plans require financing, whether that is for retrofitting homes, overhauling public transport or a just transition for workers who are affected. Will you guarantee that the multi-year Budget that you will set in the coming months will have specific funding streams for the transition to net zero, so that the public can judge the level of Executive commitment?”
“They include rebuilding and supporting primary care, GP, dental, optometry and pharmacy services; rebuilding children's paediatric services; recovering cancer services; supporting and reforming adult social care services; and supporting the transformation of urgent and emergency care services. A lot of work needs to be done, and, while I and the SDLP will not be found wanting, I hope that the Department is up to the job and will drive forward the radical transformation that our health services so urgently need. <BR /> <BR />I support the amendments and the Bill.”
“However, what I hear from those in the sector is concern that, by giving up several smaller fences of bureaucracy, we are substituting them with a greater wall of bureaucracy, that being the Department of Health. Therefore, while I am content, at this stage, to support the amendments, I do so with caution. I would really like to get reassurance from the Minister that the new system will be as open and transparent as possible. <BR /> <BR />We need radical transformation of the health service, not a piecemeal approach. The Bill will save us around £400,000 per year, which is hardly a massive financial incentive. As part of COVID recovery, the Department has issues that have not been funded, have yet to be funded or simply have not been confirmed.”
“<BR /> <BR />As I mentioned at the outset, we need to do something radical to turn our health service around. Even today's announcement that the Health Minister will introduce a paper to the Executive proposing COVID certificates is a step in that direction in these exceptional times. However, the problems of our health system, as I have said, predate COVID. COVID may have exacerbated those problems, but it did not create them. We still had long waiting lists when Michelle O'Neill left the post of Health Minister. We had people in corridors when Edwin Poots was Health Minister. It is amazing to see that the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. <BR /> <BR />The Bill is a step in the right direction. However, it is not a radical change. Its purpose is to allow for greater transparency and to cut levels of bureaucracy.”
“We both know the importance of the local commissioning groups, which assess health and social care needs. They plan and secure the delivery of health and social care to meet emerging and assessed needs. That local knowledge and input, which is derived from local GPs, nurses, dentists, allied health professionals, social workers, pharmacists, Public Health Agency (PHA) representatives, local government representatives and those from the voluntary sector, is totally and utterly invaluable. It is on-the-ground information that feeds right into the overall shaping of and decision-making on services. As we move to a position of having area integrated partnership boards, it is essential that the local commissioning groups remain in situ to provide that voice to highlight the needs of the local community.”
“However, I have some concerns that this had not been considered in the Bill as initially drafted and that it took the Committee's deliberations to spot what was, quite frankly, a glaring oversight. Our local commissioning groups play an invaluable role in the commissioning of local services. By their very nature, they are responsible for the commissioning of health and social care by addressing the care needs of the local population. <BR /> <BR />The Health Minister knows me and he knows my commitment to local services in the Down area, especially those that are delivered at the Downe Hospital. I know how committed he is to the Dalriada Hospital in his constituency, and I absolutely applaud that. Nobody could ever accuse us of being parochial.”
“The need for it dates back to the days of direct rule, when we saw 18 health trusts cut down to five plus the Ambulance Service. However, when the Minister's predecessor, Michael McGimpsey, assumed the position in late 2007, the question turned very much to the role and future of local commissioning groups. We seem to have come full circle with the issue of local commissioning groups coming up once again with this Bill. It is quite amazing how the more things change, the more they stay the same. <BR /> <BR />The amendments that we are debating are, in greater part, a result of the Committee's deliberations on the Bill. I appreciate that the purpose of the Health and Social Care Bill is to cut out levels of bureaucracy and allow decision-making processes to be much more efficient.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak at the Consideration Stage of this important Bill and, more importantly, on the amendments. There can be no doubt amongst any of us that we need to see radical change in our health service if it is going to survive. That is what the public and those who work in the service are telling us, and it is what all of us are saying as well. The Health portfolio that Minister Swann inherited last year had issues going back some 13 years. I greatly appreciate that the portfolio has been largely dominated by the COVID response, but I welcome that we seem to be reaching a turning point in the road, where we can start to scrutinise legislation that looks at some of the transformation that is required. <BR /> <BR />The Health and Social Care Bill is, as I said, an important piece of draft legislation.”
“While I remain supportive of the consent motion, I entirely agree with Committee colleagues that we need assurances on the use of section 60 by the Secretary of State to wind up regulators based in the North. However, I welcome that, in instances in which there is a direct impact on the North, a new legislative consent motion must be granted. Such involvement from the Assembly only underscores the importance of our institutions and of having transparency at the heart of government. <BR /> <BR />I look forward to the day when this place begins moving on legislation to address our health crisis, but, for the time being, I am content to support the motion.”
“The final consent motion is concerned with the regulation of healthcare professionals. The proposed legislation seeks to achieve the more responsive and accountable regulation of professionals. While the North remains part of the United Kingdom, such regulation is necessary to ensure the smooth movement of regulated healthcare professionals across the UK. We sought and heard how the Executive were briefed on the consent motions via approval that was sought by the Health Minister. <BR /> <BR />It is a positive step that the health service in England is driving forward such much-needed reform. That has been lacking here for all too long.”
“It will allow the Secretary of State to enter into bilateral arrangements with other countries from which we can benefit. Such seamless healthcare is important, as it reduces the need for form-filling, especially when people are away from home and in a moment of need. Such arrangements make sense, they are practical and helpful, and the SDLP is happy to support the LCM. <BR /> <BR />We discussed the European health insurance card in our Committee deliberations. With the introduction of the global health insurance card, members felt that we should promote it to those travelling from the North when the European health insurance card becomes invalid. We are happy to support the LCM.”
“Patients from across the North have become used to reciprocal health arrangements, especially with the South, over the past number of years. With the disastrous Brexit that we have been treated to, that and other arrangements have been placed in doubt. Thankfully, the Department has the North/South arrangements sorted, but, as travellers and holidaymakers, we have become used to carrying the blue card across Europe and accessing local healthcare in emergencies when we are travelling. There is no doubt about the security and comfort that having that card offered us, but it was yet another sacrifice on the altar of "taking back control". <BR /> <BR />The LCM will enable us to avail ourselves of the reciprocal arrangements in place in the EU and beyond.”
“If this legislative consent motion and that Bill lead to better and safer practices that will prevent lives being placed in danger and will save lives, the SDLP is happy to support that. <BR /> <BR />I welcome news from the Committee that the registry bears no impact on the movement of medicines from the EU into the North.”
“They amend a number of Acts and have some direct and indirect consequences on healthcare in the North and thus need our consent. <BR /> <BR />The first motion deals with medicine information systems. The purpose is to allow a registry of medicines in use in the UK, and that will extend to medicines in use here. The registry will enable known and potential risks to be recorded and, where necessary, flagged. That will potentially reduce harm. Until now, there has been no mandate for such a registry. <BR /> <BR />The Bill is progressing through Westminster, but it has been noted that there has been very little engagement with local organisations or groups and that the 15-day threshold does not permit us much time to do that. That is undemocratic, and I urge the Minister to make that view known to his counterpart in England.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on these LCMs. I welcome the fact that the NHS in England is making changes and introducing reform to its health service, and I hope that we can do the same here, sooner rather than later. Quite simply, our health system is broken, and we are seeing the evidence of it not coping. What we saw over the weekend at Craigavon Area Hospital was unacceptable. We must always boil these issues down to what they are. If you were in an ambulance and needed urgent care this weekend and lived in Armagh, you had to go somewhere else. That is unacceptable, and it highlights the need for us all to work together for urgent reform of our health service. <BR /> <BR />Today's legislative consent motions relate to the Health and Care Bill in Westminster, which has some 135 clauses and 16 schedules.”
“Sinn Féin seems to be fond of criticising the housing need in one part of this island while presiding over housing distress in this part. The two faces are glaring. The Housing Executive, our housing associations and, most importantly, our citizens deserve better.”
“With 1,606 in housing stress and 1,480 vacant properties, something is just not adding up. How can the Communities Minister stand over that? <BR /> <BR />We have a serious problem in our society, and we need a serious programme of activity to address it, rather than just tweaking around the edges. Just last week, there was a housing conference in South Down. What a message it would have sent had the Communities Minister turned up to be a part of the sharing of ideas about how we address the issue. The Communities Minister has said that she is carrying out the most radical shake-up of the sector in over 50 years, but the only outworking that I have seen is an exemption for the Housing Executive from corporation tax.”
“That totally affected the family's day-to-day life. It affected the children's school travel. It resulted in the family wondering whether they were actually better off in the home that they were intimidated out of; it was, after all, their home. <BR /> <BR />There is a highly significant cost to the process that goes beyond the human story. At the end of last year, the Housing Executive had spent over £26 million on temporary accommodation in the previous five years. That is not a situation that the Housing Executive should be in. Further to that, some people are forced to stay in hostels and hotels as a means of temporary accommodation. As of last year, the longest time that somebody from my constituency stayed in a hostel was 477 days. The average across the North was 244. However, in South Down, we have 1,480 vacant properties.”
“I rise to talk about the unprecedented levels of housing stress in South Down. On a day on which we rightly remember the forefather of the civil rights struggle and the champion of non-violence, Austin Currie, it is important to remember that the need for adequate housing and fair housing allocation was part of the groundwork that led to the civil rights campaign in the North. <BR /> <BR />Having an adequate standard of living is a fundamental human right. However, in South Down, we have 2,117 people on a housing waiting list and 1,606 in housing stress. What does that stress look like? I think about one family in my constituency who were asked to leave their home due to intimidation. They were able to get emergency housing, but they ended up in the emergency accommodation for over a year.”
“I think that you will find that it was Brexit to which we were opposed and that there would not have been any problems if that had not progressed. <BR /> <BR />On the issue of Downpatrick, I heard a lot of "I am sure", "I hope" and "might be". We need an Economy Minister who will stand up for the people of Downpatrick. If I ask that question again in the future, will you give me a definitive list of what you are doing, so that I can go back to the people of Downpatrick and say that the Department is doing all that it can for them?”
“For too long, Ministers have been given cover to hide behind cagily worded answers to questions for oral answers, taken too long to answer questions for written answer or simply not answered them. That has been our experience, yet we are told that we are in an Executive together. If that was the case for an Opposition, it would be totally unacceptable. An Opposition must be given access to information in a timely manner. <BR /> <BR />An Opposition are a good thing. They allow for democratic accountability and for an Executive to make better laws, provide sustainability for the institutions and mean that we serve people better. Ultimately, that should be our guiding principle in this place every day.”
“<BR /> <BR />We still have concerns that some of the outworkings of recommendations 10 and 11 may, on the face of it, appear undemocratic, as they could provide a leg up or enhanced status for party groupings of a size that do not warrant it. We continue to urge caution and reflection on those recommendations. <BR /> <BR />Recommendations 12 and 13 reflect the need for appropriate finance for an official Opposition. It is quite clear that, if we want to have an effective Opposition, we will have to be prepared to resource it effectively. Finally, with regard to recommendation 18, we need to see a significant increase in the maturity in and approach with information that is forthcoming from Departments. I mentioned Ministers being asked questions that they do not want to answer.”
“Review recommendations 1 to 5, 9 and 14 to 17 largely deal with the implementation and smooth operation of an official Opposition. We are fairly content with those recommendations. Recommendation 6 caused considerable conversation. Our perspective on it is that if you are going to have an effective Opposition, the first person to speak after the Executive member should come from the Opposition. Recommendation 6 enables that; however, we feel that the first element, which is on questions for oral answer, needs more work. Recommendations 7 and 8 attempt to address the concerns that we have, so we are happy to see that they are there and could be adopted.”
“That is not good governance, it is not good for democracy and it is not good for the people of the North. It is just not good enough. <BR /> <BR />The SDLP welcomes the review, which aims to provide structure and guidance for an official Opposition. That was a commitment in the NDNA agreement, and I welcome the fact that the Committee has worked so quickly to produce the report. I thank Trevor Reaney for his work in completing the body of work for the Committee. The report contains 18 recommendations. We are fairly supportive of the majority of recommendations, relaxed about a number of others and feel that a number do not go as far as they could. However, I accept that it is a consensus Committee approach and that not everybody will get what they want. <BR /> <BR />I will go into the details.”
“I welcome the opportunity to participate in today's debate. It is an important one for the House, and I hope that it signals the maturing and development of the institutions. In the transition to peaceful and democratic means, the best available option of government, so far, has been an all-party Executive. However, having all the parties in the Executive has hindered a key cornerstone of democracy: the role of scrutinising the Executive for the policies that they make, the decisions that they take and the laws that they enact. If we are honest, we have struggled with that role. On far too many occasions in this place, when Ministers have been asked questions that they may not want to hear or answer, the response has been, "But your Minister is in the Executive".”