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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“Today, I would like to reflect on the opportunities for the Executive Office to make a difference in people's lives in the year to come. I would like to talk about the hopes that we have as a Committee to see the good work undertaken through Together: Building a United Community (T:BUC) to continue to foster hope and good relations in our divided society. I would like to talk about the dedication of officials and community workers alike, which will be continued into the future. I would like to say how delighted the Committee is that support will continue for victims and survivors of the conflict or, indeed, about those further developments for our minority ethnic communities.”
“I thank the Minister for her response. We have welcomed the introduction of the incredibly important legislation and would like to see it implemented as quickly as possible. An important aspect of that is the messaging that goes with it. Will the Minister confirm that no budgetary pressures will hinder the roll-out of the important campaign to make sure that there is full awareness in the community of all aspects of the legislation?”
“A key component of the racial equality strategy that has yet to be delivered is a refugee integration strategy. Given that I was today sent a social media ad for a vacant house in Northern Ireland that included the line, "Foreign nationals need not apply", where are we with that much-needed integration strategy?”
“Will the Minister commit to an urgent review of antisocial behaviour in Downpatrick, where arson, assaults and interruption to business have occurred during the COVID period? Is the Minister prepared to commit extra funds to the community safety work in the area, if that is needed?”
“Last week, at the Executive Office Committee, we received an update on the high street task force. While that task force is very much connected to the recovery from COVID, can I get an assurance from the First Minister that it will also remain a separate entity? It will be required beyond COVID, because many of the problems that the high street faces predate the arrival of COVID and will be here for a long time.”
“What will be the principal policy areas in the new Programme for Government?”
“I am so glad that those institutions were closed down a long time ago, but the stench of their legacy hangs over us all until this matter is appropriately, sensitively and finally addressed. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the inclusion of a substantial co-design process with survivors, and I wish to ask the Minister when that will begin. Does she agree with me that it is essential that, alongside that co-design, which could take up to six months, and any inquiry that follows from it, there will be appropriate support services and redress for survivors to help them? They have waited long enough for this conclusion of a public inquiry; another six-month wait would just be too long.”
“I thank the Minister for the statement today. This was, indeed, a shameful chapter from our past. It was a time that caused much pain and much hurt and has left much anger, and it was a time that has neither been addressed nor appropriately acknowledged. One cannot begin to comprehend the trauma that those mothers were subjected to or the lifelong suffering that resulted for them and their babies. Those precious babies were subjected to such hard conditions, and their life chances were hampered to begin with. How many children in this world go to bed every night wondering who they are, where they are from and what their life history is? They were ripped from their mother's arms, and many were sent to far-flung places.”
“There was an example in my constituency of a business that sells home heating fuel, which is essential, and has a small car wash to the side being fined by the police, because the regulations say that car washes cannot open. Yet multinational companies that do essential retail are allowed to sell their unessential retail, which is also listed in the legislation. Does the Member agree that that really does make small local businesses feel as though it is one rule for the big companies and a different rule for them?”
“What did we see from our joint heads of government? We saw petty politicking, pride and reaction. At this stage, I think that the public have frankly had enough of that. Get your heads in the game, get over yourselves and show leadership. We have had enough of reactions, enough of bickering and enough of division. It is time to start forward planning and looking for an exit strategy from the virus.”
“and washed clean old grievances like this one. While our public have had to socially distance and separate themselves from loved ones, they have been brought closer together, but they have not reneged on what they have had to do. When businesses were faced with a terrifying virus, they put in the manpower and responded in such a way as to support the public, and they have not reneged on that. When our healthcare system faced a pandemic that no one had seen the likes of before, the staff stepped up to the mark, went over and above the call of duty and issued a fearless response with the courage and relentless energy that a gladiator would be envious of. Not once have they backed down from that challenge.”
“All the while, our public are contracting the virus and dying from it, businesses are falling apart, our high street is disappearing and our healthcare staff continue to cry out that they are at their breaking point. <BR /> <BR />In the run-up to Christmas, we were able to offer our public a bit of hope for their Christmas and new year as the vaccine became more readily available, but then the timeline that I detailed rolled out. The response from our Government unravelled, and we witnessed those awful and horrifying spiking numbers. Some may be asking what my final analysis of that will be. Back in March, I said in this very Chamber when we discussed the then Coronavirus Bill:”
“We are almost a year into the pandemic. At this stage, inability or unwillingness is no excuse. Frankly, they never were, but you would like to think that by this stage the two parties would have learnt something. <BR /> <BR />I am sure that my MLA colleagues in Sinn Féin and the DUP will sit there, shake their heads, denounce my words because it is a five-party Executive and say, "Why is someone from the SDLP standing up and saying this?". Although I am certainly not privy to the workings of the Executive and their meetings, I do hear about those meetings from local broadcast reporters on Twitter, and they give the impression that the papers on the restrictions that we debate are not being distributed in good time. Meanwhile, the cross-community vote has been employed in the past, and we all know where that has left us.”
“25) regulations, which concerned taxis and the limiting of operating hours and came into effect on 29 December. That is quite the timeline, but what is it a timeline of? Is it a reflection on our healthcare system or staff? Is it a timeline of the public adherence to the regulations? Perhaps it is a timeline of how businesses have responded to the virus. No, the timeline that I have detailed is a reflection on the joint heads of Government, who allowed petty politicking to get in the way of public health, public messaging and local businesses. <BR /> <BR />However they try to spin it, the long and the short of it is that their dysfunctional relationship has resulted in where we have ended up today. Instead of any sort of forward planning, they have reacted to every iterance of the virus and how it has impacted on our daily lives.”
“We are debating the amendment (No. 19) regulations, which concerned the easing of restrictions and came into effect on 11 December; the amendment (No. 20) regulations, which amended Christmas bubbling and the length of time that people had to stay in self-isolation and came into effect on 16 December; the amendment (No. 21) regulations, which concerned entertainment venues and came into effect on 17 December; the amendment (No. 22) regulations, which, again, concerned Christmas bubbling and came into effect on 18 December; the amendment (No. 23) regulations, which made Christmas celebrations a one-day event and came into effect on 23 December; the amendment (No. 24) regulations, which concerned the reintroduction of restrictions and came into effect on 24 December; and, finally, the amendment (No.”
“As has been noted, the health protection amendment regulations that we are debating and being asked to ratify today are the amendment (No. 19) regulations through to the amendment (No. 25) regulations. I have said many times in the Chamber that the way in which we ratify the restrictions seems more convoluted than it needs to be, and today's debate could not be more illustrative of that.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will make a number of points in my capacity as an SDLP MLA. I welcome the opportunity to take part in the debate.”
“The statutory responsibility for scrutinising these regulations lies with the Health Committee, and I look forward to hearing from those Committee members later in the debate. As I have stated in previous speeches on this matter, the Committee for the Executive Office has been consistent in its message throughout the pandemic: everyone needs to comply with the restrictions that are in place to protect themselves, their families and others in the community. The Committee remains committed to the need for strong public messaging, a united front in tackling the pandemic and for us all to do what we must do to keep people safe. The extension of the restrictions last month and last week is indicative of the serious situation that we are all facing. Consequently, the Committee welcomes legislation that is intended to protect the community.”
“Child poverty is at its highest level in years, with one in four children living in poverty here. There was a commitment in NDNA to deliver an anti-poverty strategy. Will the Minister detail when that will be published and what plans are in place to implement that critical strategy to address poverty?”
“As has been mentioned, it would be unthinkable if those who were severely injured and have waited so long have to wait again for a victims' payment. In your statement, you said that the Secretary of State has refused to even meet to discuss the funding for the victims' pension payments, which must be an affront to those in that sector. Is there an opportunity to move the ignorant Secretary of State out of the way and go directly to the British Prime Minister to get this issue sorted for that sector immediately?”
“However, now that we have a requirement in the North and South for those who land on the island of Ireland to have a test completed, can I get an update from the Minister about the sharing of that information North and South? That is so that we can do all that we can to tackle the virus and its spread, and it is for those who would try to use the differences that we have on this island as a way to work around that requirement.”
“I thank the Minister for her very detailed report on the institutional and plenary meetings. I echo the remarks that she made about the attack on the multicultural association building. We must redouble our efforts to tackle racism in our society. I know that the Committee will stand by to help in any way that it can to develop those strategies and initiatives and to do all that we can in society to try to stamp out racism. <BR /> <BR />Most people will accept that those who are best placed to tackle coronavirus are those who are on islands, given the specific measures that can be put in place. There may have been some hesitancy at the beginning by the Executive to embrace this approach.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. We hear time and time again from the sector that it is too little, too late. They are not being given the time to prepare and deliver. If you engage with all those sectors, you will hear what they are saying, and it is the same as us. We want schools to reopen but we want them to be safe. We want our children to learn but not to compromise their safety to do so. We want them to be educated but not in a manner that endangers their educators. We want them to learn, and the Minister needs to learn too. Stop failing the education sector, learn to listen to it and do the right thing.”
“I suggest that the Minister goes out and engages with the principals, teachers, unions, parents and even the pupils. There is a secondary-school students' union that is headed up by one of my constituents Cormac Savage. Listen to what those students are saying.”
“The SDLP is not here to shut schools; quite the opposite. We want to see schools opened, but done so safely. For those that must reopen, as directed by today's ministerial decision, how do our principals prepare to reopen safely on Monday? Today is New Year's Eve, tomorrow is New Year's Day and then it is the weekend. One principal contacted me today and said, "Pass on our thanks to the Minister for managing to wreck whatever New Year's Eve principals were going to have with their families." Failing the sector, once again, with last-minute, knee-jerk reactions, rather than being planned and strategic. <BR /> <BR />The Minister would do well to remember an old adage: he has two ears and one mouth because he is expected to do twice as much listening as talking.”
“Figures released yesterday indicate that three times as many cases of COVID in special needs schools are among the staff than are among the children. So, what is being done to protect the staff in that sector? As ever, we see half a decision from the Minister, which leaves us with more questions than answers. <BR /> <BR />What of the children who have special needs but attend mainstream schools? What protections are in place for them? When do they restart? What will they do next week? If they do not attend next week, what do they do at home? What extra support is in place for them? Again, we get half a decision that leaves us with more questions than answers, which is totally failing the children of Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />It is worth remembering that we do not want to see schools closing.”
“I thank the Member for her intervention. That is pretty much the mantra of the Minister: too little, too late. That is what we have seen throughout the 10 months of the pandemic. <BR /> <BR />The special needs sector is a specific strand of the educational establishment and is quite bespoke in its delivery. Parents, principals and teachers from that sector have raised their concerns and want to see them addressed too. I welcome that the special needs sector will open on Monday, because much of its work is as much therapeutic as it is educational, but it needs to have its questions answered too. What protections are there for the staff in that sector? Are there any special mitigations for them? Is transportation being delivered correctly and safely?”
“His argument for delivering education in the classroom could work if he and his Department did something — anything — to help make those schools safer than anywhere else.”
“I fear that, in this instance, we have a Minister who is out of touch, out of his depth and out of tune with the thoughts and concerns of the people in the education sectors, namely the parents, the teachers, the support staff, the unions and, indeed, the children. <BR /> <BR />The Minister told us up until 7.30 this morning that schools are safe places. He said that schools are the best places for our children and that hard-working parents need somewhere to send their children. The Minister stated at the last meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee that schools were not safe places, yet he has now introduced a number of changes that go nowhere near far enough to address the issues that parents, principals, teachers, unions and children have highlighted. Minister, you are failing them all.”
“First of all, I want to highlight that I am saddened, dismayed and somewhat depressed that we are having to have this debate. The Minister has had to be proverbially trailed here, kicking and screaming. This is the third time that the Minister has had to be brought back to the House to discuss the decisions that he has or has not taken, much to the dismay of those who are working in the various sectors. That reflects that the Minister is failing the sector that he is here to protect <BR /> <BR />A recall, as we know, is used when a Minister is not listening, is not doing what is reasonably asked of them and is refusing to listen to logic and sense.”
“The Member speaks about the three-year funding cycle, but many groups in Northern Ireland have an annual funding cycle, which comes from the Executive and not from Europe. Some of our local authorities ask for more monitoring forms to be filled in.”
“The Member makes a point about the lack of clarity and the lack of preparedness. Does he agree that it is farcical that a council in Northern Ireland has employed staff, and, at this stage, it does not know where the funding will come from to pay for those staff and what work they will have to do? The council knows that it needs the bodies, but it does not know what they will be doing. If that funding does not come through, the additional money to pay for those staff will have to come from the ratepayer, which means that the public purse will be hit once again.”
“If it were not so serious, I would call it sad.”
“You have contributed to the creation of problems that will close many businesses and wreak havoc on many lives and communities, all in the midst of a global pandemic and all in the interests of supporting narrow-minded, blinkered English nationalism.”
“The farmers in my constituency and the fishermen at two of the North's harbours need to know what will take place next. Warrenpoint Harbour in my constituency will take on extra importance and workload, but it needs to know what will happen next. The uncertainty is killing it. <BR /> <BR />As I said at the start, Brexit is bad. It will be disastrous, and no amount of spin will make it any better or more palatable. Some in this place advocated it. You must now be honest with the people, the businesses, the community groups and the councils in Northern Ireland, who will all suffer, and explain to them the virtues of your stance. I wish you well in trying to spin your way out of that one. You have let the people of Northern Ireland down.”
“I am certainly not a fisherman, but even I know that there is not much point in having the ability to catch fish if you cannot sell them. However, as long as we were taking back control, that was all that mattered to some. <BR /> <BR />It is welcome that the Finance Minister has agreed to engage with the council leaders via the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) to listen intently to the concerns that they have. That will hopefully allow us, in Stormont, to articulate and problem-solve the many issues that they face and that I have highlighted. I am an MLA in South Down, which is now an interface with the EU. It is critical for businesses and groups in my constituency that they get clarity. They need to know what will happen next.”
“They do not know if they will get the finances that they have become used to and whether with a reduction of finances comes a reduction in the services that they can provide. With this reduction in the service that they can deliver to the communities in their area, they are the ones that will be impacted. We still do not know if the shared prosperity fund will be allocated by the Barnett consequential formula or if it will replace what was previously given. The use of the Barnett consequential would be a bad move for us, as we have always benefited from EU finds well above other parts of the UK. Will farmers get access to the single farm payments? Will there be tariffs for our fish producers selling into the EU?”
“One has to wonder if they knew what they were playing at. In the best of times, departure from the EU would be disastrous and have a significant impact on life here. To be fair, an idiot would see that one coming. However, in the midst of a global pandemic, the impact is increased tenfold. There will be a future relationship with the EU — there has to be — but the shape and tone of that relationship stands unknown, even at this late stage. <BR /> <BR />I feel sorry for councils across the North. They are having to deal with the uncertainty of Brexit and the added results of COVID placing a hit on their incomes and reserves. They are indeed facing some challenging times. They hear about a shared prosperity fund, but the detail is lacking.”
“A number of councils also had concerns about the lack of clarity on the role that councils will play in the management of funding schemes and highlighted the potential for job losses within their ranks. <BR /> <BR />I would now like to make a number of points in my capacity as an individual MLA. Many now accept that Brexit is a disaster. Whether it is a border down the Irish Sea, the threat of a border on the island of Ireland, the impact on the Good Friday Agreement, businesses not knowing what will happen next, community groups not knowing what their future will look like or, as we have highlighted, the real impact on councils, it has been, and looks set to be, an unmitigated disaster. Some promised £350 million per week extra for the National Health Service. They argued that we were taking back control.”
“Following the transition period, the UK will no longer have access to EU structural funds. That is the funding that councils depend heavily on to deliver projects and programmes that bring huge benefits to our communities. In a recent spending review, the Chancellor set out plans for the UK shared prosperity fund, which is designed to replace EU structural funds. He did not commit to fully replacing the funding that we receive from EU sources, and he suggested that funding levels would ramp up over time until they eventually represented full replacement of the EU income, but he did not repeat his commitment for the individual devolved areas. We need certainty on how the fund will operate here. I hope that the Executive will make every effort to get that clarity as soon as possible.”
“Council areas that border counties in the Republic of Ireland highlight particular challenges, and they fear that they will bear the brunt of Brexit. Cross-border travel and movements between NI and Ireland are extensive and, for many people, a systematic feature of everyday life. People make cross-border journeys for a wide variety of reasons, including employment, study, shopping, visiting friends and family, or as tourists. Particular reference was made to the impact of Brexit on farms and businesses that straddle the border, which include waste shipments, cross-border working and commuting, and the dependence on EU migrant workers. I am sure that Members from border areas will elaborate on those concerns. <BR /> <BR />Funding was identified by 11 councils as a fundamental issue.”
“<BR /> <BR />As was pointed out by some councils, the protocol keeps Northern Ireland in the EU single market only for goods and not for services, so service-sector businesses here are still waiting to find out what lies ahead for them and whether a deal will be struck with the EU. Hopefully, they will get some certainty in the not-too-distant future.”
“Tariffs will be charged on only goods destined for the EU or where there is uncertainty over, or genuine risk of, onward movement. The UK Government have also confirmed that there will be no requirement for export declarations for NI traders moving their goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. A number of councils told us that businesses are not prepared for the end of the transition period, so, hopefully, the agreement in principle has given them some certainty and gone some way to reducing the panic over huge increases in administrative processes and the introduction of tariffs.”
“<BR /> <BR />Many of those issues were raised by councils. Clarification has come at the last minute but is to be welcomed. Time pressures and resource issues still remain, however, and uncertainty still exists in some areas. There is no doubt that the agreement in principle delivers significant measures to support GB to NI trade. By the UK Government's own admission, however, they do not deal with each and every instance of a new procedure that the protocol may create. <BR /> <BR />The lack of a definition of "goods at risk" was highlighted by councils as an area of considerable concern. According to the UK Government, the agreement in principle will mean that goods that can be shown to remain in Northern Ireland and the UK's customs territory will not be subject to tariffs.”
“The ping-pong begins, and, I am sure, it will continue for the rest of the debate. I will take no more interventions, as I know that I will not get any extra speaking time. <BR /> <BR />One of the main messages from councils was that the protocol needs to be implemented in a way that recognises our unique circumstances, in particular the reliance of our economic model on fast and efficient supply chains within the UK and the island of Ireland. On Tuesday past, we got some clarification on the operation of the protocol. We got agreement in principle on entry points, specifically for checks on animals, plants and derived foods; on export declarations; on the supply of medicines; and on the supply of some food products to supermarkets. We also got clarification on the application of state aid under the terms of the protocol.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. This is the Committee part of my contribution. I am sure that such interventions will have more relevance when I get on to my personal remarks later.”
“The addition of COVID-19 to the mix has, in simple terms, made matters worse. <BR /> <BR />Committee members were presented with a detailed picture of the issues being faced by councils, particularly as a result of the lack of clarity on agri-food, fisheries, customs checks, tariff levels and cross-border arrangements. The issue of the lack of clarity on funding was raised, and not just on the funding needed to allow council officers to carry out new duties but on EU funding for the delivery of projects and programmes.”
“As part of its scrutiny of cross-cutting Brexit issues, the Committee for the Executive Office sought evidence from local councils on the issues that they are facing as a result of the UK's exit from the EU. All 11 councils provided written and oral evidence. The Committee's report presents that evidence. It does not make recommendations or come to any conclusions. It simply provides an opportunity for debate and to highlight the difficulties being faced by councils. All evidence received was set against the backdrop of COVID. Councils' readiness for the post-transition period has been hugely affected by the pandemic, with a number referring to the cocktail of COVID-19 and Brexit as the perfect storm. Brexit presents a wide range of fundamental challenges for local government, collectively as a sector and individually as authorities.”
“We know that the travel sector has been hit greatly by the pandemic. In London, Dublin and other places, someone can now isolate for five days on their return and get a test and release. Can the Minister give us any indication of when that system might be brought in here? At some point in the future, when we are over the worst of this but there are still some restrictions, that may unlock and open some routes and help the travel industry, which, at this stage, feels that it has been left behind somewhat.”
“Scrutiny of the decision can be done in Committee, where experts can be called in. That takes time, but the update to the House could be done by ministerial statement by any of the Ministers at the next available time, after which all Members could seek the clarity that they need. Seeking clarity is often not about scrutinising the impact but about getting an update and asking questions. A response to an official email can take weeks to come back, when all that we are looking for is a quick update. The processes of updating the House and scrutinising the policy could be helpful.”