Colin McGrath
South Down · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“Minister, regardless of where people stand on the exact figure, surely we can all agree that a health service cannot function without the doctors whom it trains.”
“Minister, climate change is happening, and extreme weather events are taking place. We saw that in Downpatrick a number of years ago when the town centre was ravaged by flooding, and it has taken the businesses affected many years to try to get over that flooding.”
“Minister, given that capital funding is, generally, being decimated, the extent of which may increase as a result of the Executive's not agreeing a Budget, what impact will that have on any final road maintenance strategy, and are any contingencies being put in place to manage that?”
“<BR /> <BR />Since March 2025, the parliamentary excellence programme has delivered dedicated sessions with the Executive Office on the strategic framework and its delivery plan, enhancing Members’ understanding of the cross-government approach and their role in scrutiny, legislation and constituency engagement.”
“<BR /> <BR />More broadly, the Assembly Commission supports Members and Committees in carrying out their scrutiny functions, including in relation to the Executive Office’s work on that framework.”
“As the Member mentioned, one example is the Assembly's Women's Caucus, which has a particular focus on supporting women in public life and highlighting the increasing challenges that women face in the digital sphere, including online abuse.”
The complete record
Every one of 2,662 lines we hold for Colin McGrath, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 53 of 54.
“Does the Minister agree with me that having meetings with Education Ministers from other legislatures in relation to youth service provision would be a worthwhile exercise? Will he be able to keep the provision of youth services on the agenda for discussion with those other Ministers, to share good practice?”
“The Minister in England said that it was a devolved issue; the local Minister said that it was something that we did on a parity basis with London. It just seems that, as the women were explaining to me earlier, every time they try to get the issue sorted out, they seem to go round in circles. <BR /> <BR />This is a big issue. It affects lots of people in our community. They are being treated very unjustly. They are being left substantially out of pocket. I support the motion so that we can send them a message from here to say that we support them and are on their side.”
“Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. The points raised are exceptionally valid. This was to address a £30 billion gap, as we were told, in the pension pot, but it seems most unfair that to address a £30 billion gap in the pension pot they singled out this one group, this narrow band of people, and picked on them. That seems exceptionally unfair. It is the fact that, when the changes were made, people were not fully aware of what their implementation would mean. That was caught on only in 2008, 2009 and 2010. That is why the issue is being raised now. <BR /> <BR />Some of the matter is devolved. I wrote to the Work and Pensions Minister in England and to our local Minister. With respect to our local Minister, he wrote back to me.”
“It is important that we bring this to the Floor of the Assembly so that we can raise this important issue for all those people. Other figures that are available show that the 1995 rule affected 1·1 million people across the UK and that the changes that were brought in in 2011 increased that to over 2·5 million women, who are having to work the extra year. A massive proportion of the population is being impacted by this. Needless to say, it is no shock or surprise that it was Tory Governments in 1995 and in 2011 who introduced the changes, but we have a local —”
“People feel very hurt and aggrieved that they are losing out on a large amount of money. <BR /> <BR />There is also the insult that, because they have to work extra time, extra years, they have to make the contributions. They can pay the money in, but they do not get the money out. That was the double dose for them. They just do not appreciate the fact that they have to spend extra time paying in without getting the money back. <BR /> <BR />We have also heard today, through the petition and in the debate, about the scale of the issue: 68,000 women in Northern Ireland. If any other sector of Northern Ireland's population were being detrimentally impacted, there would rightly be all the shouting that there should be about the issue.”
“For some people, those changes would come online in 2010 and they were given a year's notice. Back in 1995, when the decision was taken, there was no social media, Facebook or the mass spreading of information. Taking out a few advertisements in a few newspapers was not an adequate way to inform people of these major changes. <BR /> <BR />There is just no sense to the gradual introduction of the change, with people born at different times getting a different retirement age. People who are about two and a half years apart in age have to retire about six years apart. There has been no methodical approach to it. People in the same family — two sisters with only maybe a year or a year and a half between them — have different times to retire. It has just been very unhelpful.”
“I cannot but feel that this is like bringing children into a sweet shop and showing them exactly what they cannot have. What we have here is a group of women who have worked all their days, expecting to get their pension at the age of 60, only to be told that they are not entitled to it and will have to work longer. That seems to be decidedly unfair to these people who, in all fairness, entered into contracts when they started work and started paying their National Insurance contributions. They expected that, at the end, at 60, they would get their pension, but that has been taken from them. It is the inequality of picking on one group with the changes that I find particularly distasteful. <BR /> <BR />When the changes were introduced in 1995, it took HMRC a full 14 years before it wrote out and told people about them.”
“It is not about online banking, and we must not confuse the two. If we ended up with superfast broadband across the North, we would still have bank branches closing. We say that that is not good for footfall, for our communities or for our elderly people. The amendment does not address all those issues, so we will not support it. We commend the motion to the House, and we hope that we can get full support for it.”
“What are we going to do to encourage those people to use banks if we are starting to reduce the visibility of banks in our community? I hope that the meetings with the banks can continue so that the elected representatives of Northern Ireland can impress on them the need for those banks to be in rural communities. <BR /> <BR />I will turn quickly to the amendment. We do not want to confuse the issue, and that is why we are not going to support the amendment. This is not about broadband. I take the spirit in which the amendment was tabled, but the opening line of the motion is:”
“The Minister mentioned that he had met a number of banks and the issue is across the whole platform of banking services. Mr McGlone also referred to the gradual retreat of the banks from rural areas. That is something that we want to reverse. We do not want to sit back and allow a gradual retreat of anything from our rural communities. <BR /> <BR />The Minister acknowledged that there had been changes in how we carry out our banking and, therefore, it is something that the banks may have to address. However, he also acknowledged the impact of bank closures and the effect that they had. I liked the fact that he mentioned the "unbanked" community — those who are not bank customers — who represent 10% of the community, which is a very high number.”
“If the banks had carried out a true and proper consultation in rural areas they would have heard, loud and clear, all these issues over and over again, which might have made them think twice about what they were doing. <BR /> <BR />Steve Aiken said that 68% of customers had attended a bank in the previous month. We got a couple of statistics from Members that highlighted that the branches are being used; it is not that they are lying empty. People are going to them. They want to use them, and the banks are not losing profits. Really, then, what is this all about? <BR /> <BR />My colleague, Patsy McGlone, said that this was not just a Bank of Ireland issue. That is important: all banks seem to be reducing their provision in rural communities, and we need to address that.”
“If that was any other service, we would all be getting quite exercised. That a network of 77 of anything would be lost across the North would be a big disappointment, and it will have a big effect. It is timely that the motion was brought here today. <BR /> <BR />We also discussed online banking and those who do not have the skills. It is not just the elderly; there are maybe people with poor literacy and numeracy levels who are not able to use an app to sort out their banking as quickly as others can. As was mentioned, if those people are then left with big journeys to undertake, there is a sense of unfairness. As well as that, we talked about the lack of consultation.”
“William Irwin highlighted the issue of the loss to rural areas. Again, the feeling among rural communities that they are losing out is a common theme. He also talked about the large profits that the banks make. If they are making those large profits, what are they going to give back to the community? Where is the social responsibility of big businesses to local people? <BR /> <BR />Declan McAleer said that the community had been let down and talked about social responsibility and how important it was that many people in deprived areas were going to lose out. It seems that the banks are picking on the most vulnerable. Is that really a responsible thing for banks to do? <BR /> <BR />Gordon Dunne highlighted that 77 branches had closed in Northern Ireland in the last number of years.”
“It is not necessarily an easy task for younger people either; sometimes, they have to go to a branch to get issues sorted out. Members raised an important issue: when it is required, you like to have the face-to-face contact. If it is not a profit issue, why can that service not be passed on?”
“It is important for us as an Assembly to say that we will not just sit back and let the private sector turn its back on the rural community; we want to do what we can to service and support those in rural areas. Kellie also raised an issue that will resonate greatly with the public: we stuck by the banks when they made huge profits and bust just about everything else. Rural people stuck by their banks, and we now ask the banks, given that it is not an issue of profit, to stick by their customers. That is an important message: the people did what they could, and now they are asking the banks to do their bit. <BR /> <BR />There was a reference to older people interacting with technology. It is not an easy task for older people to move to online banking.”
“That really is not serviceable for people, and I know that she has called on the Executive to meet the Bank of Ireland. I know that the Minister said that he had met a number of the banks, and I hope that that can be extended. <BR /> <BR />Kellie Armstrong highlighted the Federation of Small Businesses issue and how branch closures were disproportionately impacting on rural areas. That was another theme picked up by a number of Members who contributed today. Declan brought up the requirement for rural proofing under legislation passed by the Assembly about a year ago. He said that, with government services, we should be careful not to walk away from the rural community.”
“It seems very strange, and maybe the Department can discuss that with the Bank of Ireland to find out what the motivation is. <BR /> <BR />Rosemary Barton acknowledged the change in our banking world but said that the onus should be on banks to provide at least one bank in each village. It feels as though they are all running away from the rural community. Can they not get together and try to maintain a network of branches across the rural community? She also highlighted the fact that residents of Belleek will have to go 25 miles to the nearest bank and 25 miles back — a 50-mile round journey. My bank is about a third of a mile from my front door, and I detest having to go down to it and go through the whole process, but it has to be done. Imagine having to make a 50-mile round journey to lodge a cheque.”
“<BR /> <BR />Mr Buchanan referred to the emotive issue of how closing services in a rural area led to fear, particularly among our older population. What we are asking is this: do we want to be seen to be sitting back and doing nothing when a sector is consistently closing services, resulting in fear among our older population? Just sitting back and doing nothing does not seem a very good thing to do. At that stage, there was an intervention from my colleague Daniel McCrossan, who referred to the eight additional Bank of Ireland closures. He highlighted the fact that the eight additional closures are not for profit reasons; those eight branches are managing to deliver a profit for the bank. If it is not for profit reasons, why is the bank taking those services out of rural areas?”
“There is nothing in there that one could disagree with initially, but one has to ask how it sits alongside the motion. She mentioned important things for rural communities, such as access to transport. We know that transport in rural areas is a big issue and that starting to move banks 20 or 30 miles away from people would have a direct impact. Another issue mentioned by Caoimhe was footfall. The people coming into towns and villages to use the banks also, we hope, use the shops next door or across the road. As representatives of our communities, we all aspire to attracting people into towns for one reason and getting them to spend for other reasons, and that would be impacted on if services started to reduce.”
“The most striking thing in the debate was how consistent the remarks were across the House, which goes to show that the issue affects the greater population of the North. It affects many people, and most of us, as representatives, know people in our community who are directly affected by this. I look back to the beginning of the debate and the contribution from my colleague Richie McPhillips. He talked about 7,000 people in Belleek being mobilised to sign a petition. That is a huge population in a rural area who are concerned that they will lose out on services. <BR /> <BR />I will summarise some of the issues raised. Caoimhe Archibald talked about how the broadband issue added to the problem. I will probably come back to that in a little more detail towards the end.”
“Some women who have not been working in later years and were expecting an income from the state pension are now, aged 60, 61 and 62, having to turn to jobseeker's allowance and zero-hour contracts to make ends meet. Just think how many of us knew our grandmothers when they were that age. Would we have liked them to have had to have a zero-hour contract just to survive? <BR /> <BR />To conclude, I submit this petition and ask that the House supports the Opposition day motion tabled by our Ulster Unionist friends later and sends a clear message that, if the clearing of the national debt mantra of "We are all in this together" means anything, we must do what we can to help prevent this inequality and the severe impact of these changes on Women Against State Pension Inequality.”
“The majority of those impacted are now in their 60s. It seems to me to be a cruel policy that merely attacks older women. <BR /> <BR />Mr Speaker, you might ask, "As long as they know and can prepare, what is the big deal?" I would agree with you but, when us men were asked to work an extra year to the age of 66, we were given six years' notice before the policy was implemented. Some WASPI women were given just one year's notice. That means that men were given six years' notice for a one-year addition whilst women were given one year's notice of a six-year extension. It hardly seems equal. <BR /> <BR />It must be remembered too that some women were often not permitted to enter company pension schemes and other benefits of employment until the 1990s. Such changes to their plans and pensions are having a major detrimental impact.”
“On the face of it, that seems fair and equitable, but it masks the number of women affected and the impact that it will have on them. With the introduction of these Acts and the fact that it was not done in a more gradual, incremental and timely way, some women who were born just three years apart have to retire six years apart, whilst women who were born five years earlier only have to work an extra nine months. To add insult to this injury, whilst some of the women who were born just a few months apart are required to work many years more, they are impacted doubly: once as they are required to work extra years compared to their peers, and again because, during their additional working period, they are required to pay National Insurance. Deprived of pensions on one hand, they are forced to contribute on the other.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It may seem strange that I am presenting a petition on this issue, given that I am a 40-year-old man, but I want to petition the Assembly about the plight of the WASPI women, or, to give them their full title, the Women Against State Pension Inequality. For me, the most important element is the term "Inequality", and that is why I am raising this issue. <BR /> <BR />In 1995 and 2011, the British Government passed pension Acts that moved the retirement age for women to bring it in line with that of men.”
“Does the Minister agree that it is difficult for principals to effectively budget in area learning communities when some of the funding has to be claimed retrospectively? Will he undertake an investigation into this to ensure that risks are not taken by principals, and that all support that can be offered to them is offered to them?”
“that the infrastructure is there and that there will be peril in the future when that funding is in jeopardy?”
“Does the Minister agree that European Union funding has been of great benefit to the fishing ports, certainly in my constituency”
“May I just ask again, because we do not feel that we got a full answer earlier, whether the whole Executive have met to discuss the implications of Brexit from the result, given the massive impact that it will have across the North?”
“On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I offer apologies for missing a topical question earlier.”
“I welcome the announcement from the Minister this morning. Were schools thoroughly consulted regarding these changes, given that one sector — the IME — was outside this morning and felt thoroughly disappointed about not being consulted about changes that impacted it?”
“The impact that the tourism industry can have on our local economy is massive. That is certainly the case in South Down, where so many jobs, businesses and households rely on the income from tourists. If we cannot maximise that benefit, it is families in my area that will be impacted. <BR /> <BR />The Budget is for eye-watering amounts of money, and I know that Members from all sides will make their case for priorities, but I have focused on the few that are priorities for my constituents: health, education and tourism. I hope that those can be reflected in the final out-turns to the Departments. Northern Ireland can be better if the funds the Executive distribute are allocated and spent correctly. However, I fear that this Budget will do little to achieve that.”
“I hope that the Budget can direct much-needed additional funds to tourism sellers to equip them to do our area justice.”
“We also roll right the way through to Murlough and Newcastle and down to Carlingford bay. <BR /> <BR />South Down does indeed have it all. We have the forest parks, hiking, world-class golf courses and tourist centres. I am doing a good advertising job for the area. The population in Northern Ireland is small, however. We must be outward-looking, and I hope that we can adequately resource Tourism NI and charge it with bringing in visitors from these islands and beyond. Our product is unique in Northern Ireland, and I do not need to rehearse it. Unless we make the effort to reach out and sell our area, however, the return is going to be low. I accept the maxim that you have to speculate to accumulate, and it is so true with tourism.”
“They are filled to capacity, and this decision is like a pin, and it is going to cause them to burst. It will impact on education and on our children. It is a bad decision and is being implemented without any help. As I said, it impacts on our children and their future, and for the Budget and this Executive not to address that is unforgivable. <BR /> <BR />I also hope that the shortsighted and ill-thought-out campaign by the three Brexiteers of England, Wales and the DUP does not mean that we will not see a direct and detrimental impact on tourism in Northern Ireland. It is the jewel in the crown. In South Down, we are well aware of that. We have Saint Patrick's Country around Downpatrick and the fantastic Saint Patrick Centre in the town centre, with St Patrick's grave at Down cathedral.”
“Schools are stripping away the curriculum support that our children get, in the form of field trips and study visits, and diluting classroom resources that complement learning. We are taking the additional out of education and leaving stressed teachers with little support in the classroom and increasing class sizes, yet we throw in the Education and Training Inspectorate inspectors and expect them to see a miracle. <BR /> <BR />We must adequately resource our schools and allow our education system to deliver children's fullest potential. The current debacle of passing on the superannuation and pay increases to school budgets is so shortsighted that whoever decided that the Department should not step in and help should be sent to detention. School budgets are definitely like balloons at the minute.”
“I welcome the intervention, which further highlights the pressure that our staff are under. If staff in a call centre are not able to deal with the pressure, that too needs some resolution. I know that staff there are dealing with immense pressure, as are staff in the ambulances. <BR /> <BR />I was saying that the few extra quid for education that may have greased the odd ministerial visit in the previous mandate is not going to help, because our schools are at breaking point. This week, probably even today, they have been taking decisions on whether to let staff go. They have been contemplating letting more-experienced staff go so that they can employ cheaper, newly qualified staff, and they are shedding classroom assistants, who are critical to the delivery of tailored education for some.”
“<BR /> <BR />I want to see an education budget that goes much further than the one that we have at present. A few extra quid periodically may have helped grease the odd ministerial visit —”
“I thank my colleague for her intervention. I know that some reports published in England have stated that it is a necessity to try to provide mental health coverage as close as possible to patients to enable them not to have to travel long distances, as that can have a detrimental impact. There therefore needs to be financial intervention to help the mental health services in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />We have to resource our Ambulance Service adequately, and I would like to see this Budget specifically mention that. I ask the Minister to consider additional funds for the Ambulance Service. I do not mean just a few quid to sticky-tape over the problem. It needs wholesale financing to allow it to respond to our rural population in particular.”
“In a case that I had, for example, a young lad who had broken his leg had to wait two and a half hours for an ambulance to come and provide basic care. <BR /> <BR />The service is staffed by some of the most competent life-saving individuals in our health system, but they are pushed to their limits. They miss meal breaks and stay late after work. That is unfair.”
“However, I got an Assembly answer this afternoon that said, "No, it will not." Once again, we will have to do without. <BR /> <BR />One of the vulnerabilities most keenly sensed comes from the lack of appropriate ambulance cover, especially in rural areas. My community has had waiting times in excess of an hour for emergency ambulances when somebody has rung 999, which is deplorable. We are failing our elderly population when they must lie, as a constituent of mine had to, for an hour and a half with a broken hip, waiting for an ambulance to come. We are letting our community down when a constituent of mine, who is in the midst of a severe mental health episode and cannot be injected by a paramedic, has to wait two hours for a doctor to come out to help her. We are letting people down.”
“In that time, we have had life-saving and critical services downgraded or removed from our facility. At times, the trust told us that it was down to personnel issues and that the sunnier climes of Bondi Beach were much more attractive than Newcastle, something that is, I might add, without foundation. On other occasions, we were told that the cuts were financially led. That was the case in the stripping of our coronary care facility, which provided much-needed local heart services, often to the most ill in our community and the elderly. That facility was shut by the trust to make in-year savings of just £300,000. I noted that, in the June monitoring round, nearly £200 million was going to health. I was going to say that I hoped that some of that would trickle its way down so that the Downe Hospital might be able to reopen the facility.”
“I want to talk about the many constituency-based issues and priorities that I would like be in the Budget. I was raised on the old maxim of, "If you don't ask, you don't get", so I would like to take this opportunity to ask. The things I am asking for are relevant to all of Northern Ireland and are the very basic things that we should have. They are the things that protect life, educate our children, help our elderly to feel safe and make our communities better places. In short, they are the things that we should be asking for. <BR /> <BR />As you all know, I hail from South Down, a rural community that feels exposed and vulnerable, especially when it comes to health matters. I have been an active participant for nearly a decade in the Save the Downe campaign.”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. I know that part of that plan was to see a resolution to the problems in Edward Street in Downpatrick and to deliver that resolution as part of the overall plan. I ask him to give particular attention to that issue, which sees articulated lorries on the footpath as schoolchildren are trying to get into a primary school; a situation which cannot continue and needs to be resolved long before the implementation of this plan.”
“Does the Minister fully accept the content and findings of the Police Ombudsman's report into the Loughinisland murders, and does she agree that the remarks made by the Secretary of State were unhelpful and deeply disrespectful to the families and the victims?”
“Does the Minister accept that some people in rural areas have an existing connection that is not as good as the new connections and the telecommunication companies are not allowing them to transfer? Whilst there are improvements for new customers in rural areas, it is the existing customers not being upgraded whom we would like to see help for. Will the Minister's Department work with the companies to address that issue?”
“If the House is to have faith in any future consultations carried out by the Education Authority, will the Minister agree that, given that we have had misleading information presented to the House, we have dissatisfaction from a major stakeholder in the process — the parents — and there was a consequent extension of the deadline to the process to accommodate a different outcome, an internal investigation will be required to learn lessons from this?”
“Could the Minister explain whether, given the reduced responsibilities of his Department, it is still justified in having two Ministers, two junior Ministers, a fleet of ministerial cars and the largest collection of special advisers that our Government has? Are there any plans to reduce that burden on our taxpayers?”
“— I hope that he does say something that will actually sort the problems out and that it does not become just another expensive method of kicking the can down the road. I support the motion and would like to see resolutions to the problems highlighted quickly in the interests of patients.”
“It is the catch-all excuse that is used for cuts to services. I would say to Members that they should be aware when they actually hear it that it may not be the actual reason. I cannot help but think that solutions must be found. The population, as significant contributors through their taxes and national insurance payments, deserve to have the well-paid officials at the top remove their heads from the sand and start solving the problems. <BR /> <BR />We await the results of the review by Professor Bengoa. I was part of the political panel that met him earlier this year. Whilst he did not say anything that we could disagree with —”
“As has been mentioned, we have the £65 million Downe Hospital, which was built and opened only a few years ago, yet, time and time again, the trust has removed services from that hospital: 24-hour accident and emergency cover was removed; coronary care has been removed; most of the non-elective surgery is gone. Again, it goes on and on. The hospital has never really had a chance to get opened. As an enhanced local hospital, it could be fantastic support as part of a network of hospitals providing specific care and easing the pressures on our level-1 hospitals. <BR /> <BR />We are, from time to time, regularly told that it is the safe delivery of services that counts, not the buildings. To me, that is Civil Service speak for, "We could not be bothered to come up with a more imaginative reason".”