Paula Bradshaw
South Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“They were places where those who were vulnerable were concealed, young mothers were stripped of their babies and children were stripped of their identities. Let us be resolute in our remembrance of what happened behind the doors of those institutions.”
“At all stages, the Committee has set out its clear support for the legislation's overarching aims and principles, which are to establish a statutory public inquiry into the systemic failings associated with mother-and-baby institutions, Magdalene laundries and workhouses between 1922 and 1995 and to create a statutory redress scheme for t…”
“Again, I refuse to call them "mother-and-baby homes", for we now know that there was nothing homely about them. What the Bill can and must do is offer a tangible declaration that the state accepts its responsibility.”
“As Chairperson of the Committee for the Executive Office, I welcome the opportunity to speak at the Final Stage of the Inquiry (Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses) and Redress Scheme Bill.”
“Key points were also made in relation to redress: the need to ensure that the Executive Office introduces clear guidelines for the scheme as soon as practicable; the need for the Executive Office to widely communicate and promote the scheme to all victims and survivors, including those who live overseas; and the need for the Executive Off…”
“The First Minister and deputy First Minister tabled a number of amendments that gave effect to the Committee's intent across a number of clauses. In several instances, the Committee chose to withdraw its amendments in favour of the Ministers' wording, where that better reflected the broader book of the law.”
The complete record
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“Thank you. I fully endorse that. <BR /> <BR />Ms Dillon talked about her experience of menopause, and she called for age-appropriate education in schools around menstrual issues to also include this area. <BR /> <BR />Diane Dodds talked about this debate providing an uncomfortable truth about the state of services and said that we need action on this issue. She talked about the link between deprivation and poor health and went on to talk about the 17,000 women affected by the cervical smear test review in her Southern Trust area. She talked about the question of —.”
“I turn to today's contributions. My colleague Nuala McAllister proposed the motion and called for a strategy to be fully costed and fully developed in a holistic approach that is co-designed with representatives across many sectors. She also highlighted the fact that it is Sexual Health Week. <BR /> <BR />Linda Dillon raised the issue that, in 2022, 2,000 women lost their lives to heart disease, calling it the leading cause of death for women. She called for more timely and effective awareness raising among women. She spoke of her personal experience —.”
“However, it is the human story that truly tells the tale. The story that I have been told countless times is one of women seeking support and not just being denied it or left to languish on a seemingly endless waiting list but being made to feel like a burden. Female pain and exhaustion are too often overlooked in medical care everywhere, and, when you add in our waiting lists and lack of specialist support, the situation here is, plainly, even worse. At this stage, I wish to pay tribute to the Northern Ireland support group for Endometriosis UK, without which many women would be in an even worse position. Its work is invaluable.”
“It is evident from the figures alone that it is long past time that those who are suffering such distress have the support that they need.”
“Many women have told me that, in some cases, the entire journey from initial distress to surgery has taken nearly 20 years. As if the pain and exhaustion were not enough, there is the additional strain of uncertainty around diagnosis and a lack of clarity about the likely options for treatment and support, and then the seemingly interminable wait for the appropriate intervention. <BR /> <BR />We have already heard that, comparatively, far more women face that uncertainty, lack of clarity and wait in Northern Ireland than elsewhere in the UK. In fact, we are not even sure how many. When I asked a question in the Assembly, during the previous mandate, about exactly how many women were waiting for diagnosis and treatment for endo, three trusts were not able to provide an answer.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I wish you well in your new role. I support the motion and the amendment. I will focus my remarks on long-term specialist support for endometriosis. Before I make my comments, however, I say that I agree with all the Members who spoke and have covered a wide range of issues. If I have time at the end, I will cover a lot of those. <BR /> <BR />I will start by focusing on figures and statistics relating to endometriosis, which are, indeed, shocking. Endometriosis is a painful and exhausting condition, which can lead to immense stress and discomfort, yet it is not only when diagnosed with endometriosis — I will call it "endo" — that women suffer a lack of support and recognition; it can take over a decade for the condition even to be diagnosed in the first place.”
“Does the Member agree that we need to remove the stigma of HRT? If you have any other condition, you will go and get medication, but there is that reluctance in women to go forward to get their patches.”
“I wish you well in your new role, Minister. You will be aware that Marie Curie has been calling for a new palliative care strategy. When will you take a decision on that? When will you announce whether you will continue funding for the cancer charities support fund?”
“Students coming to study at Queen's University Belfast, which is in my constituency, have told me about their inability to find a GP who will allow for the continuation of prescriptions for their medication, which has stabilised their condition for many years in their home country. <BR /> <BR />It is worth reflecting on what happens when we get it right. One man recently told me that, when he was able to find the correct medication for his condition, he was able to significantly grow his business and take on more staff. We have to get the issue sorted in order to allow the trusts to recruit and/or train suitably qualified psychiatrists and to get their services up and running. We cannot lose any more time in the commissioning process.”
“The people with private diagnoses are forced to pay privately again for their review appointments and their medication. <BR /> <BR />I have spoken to the leadership of all the health and social care trusts about the issue. They would all like to deliver an ADHD assessment and treatment service. However, it has not been commissioned by the strategic planning and performance group (SPPG), which is the commissioning body in the Department of Health. <BR /> <BR />The societal impact from the lack of diagnosis, treatment and care is far-reaching. Parents have told me about their struggle to support their children through their primary and post-primary education and to deal with high levels of anxiety and difficulty with concentration.”
“We know that that option, when delivered in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, can cost up to £1,800. Many people have told me that they have had to borrow that money, causing great financial hardship to themselves and their family, just to obtain a diagnosis. It should also be noted that even many private providers have closed their books, such is their backlog for new assessments. Those with a private diagnosis are not that much further forward. They then require a shared care agreement between their GP and their private consultant. The vast majority of GPs are reluctant to enter into those agreements, as there is a substantial risk from the medication, which is on the amber list.”
“I rise to talk about an issue about which I receive a lot of communication in my constituency office: the lack of commissioned services in health and social care trusts for the diagnosis and treatment of people with ADHD. <BR /> <BR />I am sure that many others in the Chamber will also have been contacted by people who are frustrated that they have been unable to secure a diagnosis through their local trust, leaving them with two main options. The first is that they can go on a waiting list. In my area, a child or young person can expect to wait for five and a half years in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. Last week, I heard from a constituent that they had been advised that the waiting list for adults has now grown to eight years. <BR /> <BR />The other option for people is to seek a private diagnosis.”
“On behalf of the Alliance Party, we will be taking Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and we nominate Andrew Muir.”
“She believes in devolution and that the people of Northern Ireland are best served by a locally elected Government who are responsible and responsive to its people. Naomi's long history of public service in the Chamber and in many other political institutions along the way has proven her commitment to delivering a shared society that works for everyone. <BR /> <BR />I ask the Assembly to support the nomination of Naomi Long and vote for her as the next Justice Minister.”
“It gives me great pleasure to nominate my party leader and friend, Naomi Long MLA, as Justice Minister. <BR /> <BR />Members who sat in the last Assembly will have seen the impressive number of Bills she brought through in partnership with the Justice Committee. Each Bill fundamentally changed justice policy and is already impacting positively on people's lives, and we can see improvements in public-sector delivery. Naomi Long still has many more areas of work in the Justice Department and with its delivery partners that she would like to tackle, and I know that she will do that with the same passion and drive as before. <BR /> <BR />Naomi proved herself to be a hard-working member of the Executive during the last mandate, when her strong sense of collective action shone through, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfed our society.”
“Goodness, what is going on today? Deputy Speaker.”
“<BR /> <BR />I ask Members to support our nomination of John Blair and vote for him as deputy Whip.”
“I am not sure I can follow that. As a fellow South Belfast MLA, I congratulate you and wish you well in your new role as Speaker. <BR /> <BR />I am delighted to nominate my colleague and friend John Blair to the position of Deputy Speaker. I first met John over 20 years ago on a district policing partnership, and I saw then, as I have seen since, a hard-working individual who is committed to making Northern Ireland a better place for everyone to live. For those of you who have served on a committee with John, including the Policing Board, you will know that he is fair and considerate and likes to get on with business. I know that he will be perfect for the role of Deputy Speaker and that he will treat every Member of the Chamber without bias or favour.”
“On behalf of the Alliance Party, I nominate my colleague John Blair.”
“I note as well that they are long overdue pay rises that an Executive need to sign off. Perhaps people do not believe that Stormont will sort it out, but it will not be sorted out without Stormont: without ministerial direction, local accountability, democratic scrutiny and legislative intervention. <BR /> <BR />Those who vote to elect a Speaker are voting to begin the process of turning our Health and Social Care service around and giving the public the care, support and treatment that they need, not least in this time of economic uncertainty. Those who do not vote to elect a Speaker are voting to crash and burn public healthcare provision in Northern Ireland. That is the choice for all of us here today. Let us be in no doubt about that.”
“As Bengoa, Donaldson, Compton and all the others warned us, healthcare provision is changing around the world. Services are much more specialised; conditions are much more complex; and medicines are much more specific than was the case even a decade ago. What was required was a consistent transformation programme with clearly measurable outcomes and clarity about why any of those outcomes had been missed. Instead, what we have had since 2017 following Bengoa are protracted periods of political stalemate. As a result, we now see some reconfigurations of services being carried out as a panicked response rather than as a planned programme. <BR /> <BR />The supposed jewel in the crown of the Union — the NHS — is on its knees in Northern Ireland. Our Health and Social Care workers struggle to keep it upright as best they can.”
“We now have a service that is often inaccessible, accompanied by diagnostics or treatment that can take many years or are effectively unavailable in many branches of medicine, while money is spent on public inquiries and severe adverse incident reviews, the recommendations of which go pretty much unimplemented. As a result, patient safety is compromised, and improvement is rarely truly sought, leading to an endless cycle of more inquiries and reviews, more scandals and more quests for justifiable redress but no significant transformation of the service. <BR /> <BR />The fact is that many of the failings go back to previous devolved Administrations. The DUP often held the Health and Finance Ministries at the same time, while failing to embrace reform and the need to fund and resource it adequately.”
“DUP MLAs can, in fact, deliver that scrutiny right here, right now, by electing a Speaker. They always could. The fact is that the DUP's desperate quest for leverage by refusing to elect a Speaker is not just causing material harm to households, which are not receiving payments during an energy crisis, but is imperilling one of the very institutions cited as a reason for unionism to exist, namely the National Health Service. <BR /> <BR />The failure to take the time to pass relevant legislation to allow the transformation of our health service to proceed and to communicate to the public why such reforms are necessary have seen a calamity unfold in our health and social care system, not least in recent weeks.”
“Before I begin, I place on record my deepest sympathies to the family of Stella-Lily McCorkindale. I am sure that they are devastated by her loss this week through strep A infection. I also thank the Public Health Agency, GPs, community pharmacists and school leaders for their swift response to this health emergency. <BR /> <BR />I urge all Members in the Chamber to elect a Speaker. I will be blunt: I do not care which Speaker is elected, but we need a Speaker and an Assembly. Only one party is blocking the election of a Speaker, yet, even by its own logic, it shows that we need to elect one. Recently, the DUP sought an amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Bill at Second Reading in Parliament to give MLAs scrutiny rights over what permanent secretaries do.”
“Does the Member agree that it is utterly delusional of the DUP not to realise that its stunt is going to have a long-term impact on the 38,000 children who are languishing on waiting lists for healthcare and intervention?”
“We met each other years ago when I was a lowly community worker in south Belfast and you were an MLA for my constituency. I have always really enjoyed working with you, not least in recent months on the Business Committee. I wish you and your family all the best for the future.”
“I pay tribute to Sean O'Connell from Queen's University for his sterling work, to the truth recovery design panel, which worked with Birth Mothers and to the truth recovery NI group. <BR /> <BR />This is an important Bill, but it is only the start of the journey towards delivering the recommendations in the truth recovery design panel's report. I look forward to, I hope, getting re-elected, and we can come back on the far side and push for redress, for the apology, for the inquiry and for everything else that is in the panel's report. We owe it to those people, and, as has been said today, many of them have passed away, and we have to get on with the work as soon as possible. It is a great day, and I thank the Minister, his officials and the Bill sponsor. <BR /> <BR />In closing, Mr Speaker, I wish you well for the future.”
“I am delighted to speak on the Final Stage of the Bill. I congratulate the Bill sponsor on getting it through so quickly. I thank you, Mr Speaker, and the staff of the Speaker's Office for facilitating it. <BR /> <BR />Six years ago, Birth Mothers and their Children for Justice came to my office on University Street, and what they told me that day brought me to tears. I remember the words of Eunan Duffy, whom people will know as a fierce campaigner on the issue. He said to me, "Paula, we have knocked on a lot of doors, and we are now drowning in tea and sympathy". I am so delighted that Department of Health officials have worked with him and others over the years to get to the point at which we commissioned research.”
“<BR /> <BR />In closing, I thank the Health Committee and my colleagues for the work that we did on the Bill. I also thank those people who provided evidence to us. I place on record my thanks to Informing Choices NI, Alliance for Choice and the entire women's sector for their role in lobbying and championing safe access zones. Again, I thank Clare Bailey for bringing forward the Bill.”
“It also sends a message from us to those women and the people who are accompanying them that we support them, support their reproductive healthcare rights and support their seeking healthcare provision without the need to have to run the gauntlet and experience harassment when doing so. <BR /> <BR />I put on record my thanks to Brandon Lewis MP, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for his written statement today on strengthening the regulations around the commissioning of abortion services here. I was, however, a bit disappointed that there was nothing in the statement about timescales. That should have been tightened up. He probably could have had the regulations drafted and ready to be laid this week. We are all losing patience in Northern Ireland waiting for abortion services to be commissioned. Women have waited far too long.”
“I congratulate Clare Bailey on getting the Bill to its Final Stage. I very much commend her on her work and engagement with the Health Committee, at which, on many occasions, she listened to the issues that we raised, and on her very constructive work with the Health Department on the amendments that she tabled at the amending stages. I very much welcome the Bill's Final Stage. <BR /> <BR />What a society we live in where these zones are needed, but the passing of the Bill today will send a message from the Chamber that that behaviour will no longer be tolerated.”
“I will speak briefly to congratulate the Bill sponsor on bringing the Bill forward, especially as she came to the Assembly only very recently. It is another example of great work, from the initial idea to the objectives and, then, working through the Committee with departmental officials and the trusts etc, to come up with a well-rounded and workable Bill. I want to place on record my thanks to those people who came to the Committee or wrote to us to provide evidence so that we could scrutinise the Bill properly. It is another great Bill and I look forward to seeing how it benefits the people who work in and use our hospitals.”
“As the Bill sponsor acknowledged, this and the previous debates have allowed us to get some points on the record so that, hopefully, when officials come to look at prescribing the guidance, they can reflect on what is in Hansard. <BR /> <BR />I will leave it there.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister acknowledged the very tight timescales that we have all worked under, not just with this Bill but over the course of the last two weeks, to get some legislation over the line. I always wanted to get things into the Bill, but I would never want to do anything that would have rendered it incompetent.”
“I will touch on some of the comments that were made in the course of the debate. I very much welcome the comments of the Chair of the Executive Office Committee, particularly in relation to the Committee's determination or thoughts on an investigation into this issue. Hopefully, that will be a very worthy piece of work in the next mandate. Ms Dillon talked about the sensitivity around the burials. Obviously, we all get that sense. She spoke well about Maria Arbuckle and the need for those people who suffered abuse while being fostered to be captured in the recommendations and actions going forward from the panel's report. <BR /> <BR />Pam Cameron, the Deputy Chair of the Health Committee, agreed with me that it is right and proper that the records of those young children are preserved so that their voices can be heard in the inquiry.”
“I will leave it there. As I said, I am moving only amendment Nos 1 and 3 today.”
“I spoke at length with departmental officials — I appreciate the time that they gave me — about that issue. They agreed with the sentiment, and they stated that they will prescribe the intent of the amendments in any resulting guidance. <BR /> <BR />A live issue today, and one that speaks to the amendment, is support for those who were in foster care. One of the members of the truth recovery design panel, Professor Phil Scraton, emailed me today about the intent of the panel. With Members' indulgence, I will read that into the record:”
“However, anyone who knows how hard I have worked with birth mothers and their children over the years will know that I do not want to do anything that could jeopardise the Bill, so I will not move those amendments; I just place on record that I am not entirely convinced that the timescale that is laid out in the Bill covers everything that a subsequent inquiry would need. <BR /> <BR />I worked with haste with the Bill Office on amendment Nos 4 and 5. We had Consideration Stage on Monday evening, and we had until 12.30 pm on Tuesday to submit amendments. The Bill Office and I came up with a clause about other institutions. We were not sure whether that was in the right part of the Bill. Again, I do not want to move anything that could have unintended consequences.”
“We have to speak for those babies. Through amendment Nos 1 and 3, we can give them a voice in the inquiry, that was recommended by the truth recovery design panel. I will leave that there. <BR /> <BR />I will speak to the other two sets of amendments that I will not move. On amendment Nos 2 and 6, which deal with extended timescales, I put on record that I am concerned that some institutions were operating on a cross-border basis well into this century — into 2006 — and that some of the records relating to the movement of those children might not be preserved.”
“My concern is that, if those are not properly preserved and safeguarded, they could become unavailable. <BR /> <BR />I also draw Members' attention to the Commission of Investigation's fifth interim report in the South. Obviously, that report does not relate to here, but it states that many of the stillborn infants whose bodies were donated in the South had with them a note saying, "Not to be interred". In some ways, therefore, there is concern that those infants may not even have been buried and may be:”
“I draw Members' attention to an article in 'The Times' from July 2021, when the story made the headlines. On the anatomical donations, it states:”
“I hope that, when we come to the public inquiry stage, the records that are held will help to tell the story of how and why the babies died prematurely. Hopefully, that information will be forthcoming and will bear testimony to the harsh treatment of the pregnant women and their children.”
“Amendment No 1 is similar to amendment No 3. Members will probably be aware that, in the past couple of years, there has been some media attention on the at least 27 babies' bodies that were bequeathed by mother-and-baby homes to Queen's University for medical research. It is our understanding that that was done without the mothers' consent. I would like Members to support me in amendment Nos 1 and 3, because those babies deserve to have their voices heard through any records held by Queen's University or any other body that may have taken the babies' bodies into its possession. <BR /> <BR />From the research done by Queen's, which was published in January 2021, we know that there is evidence of very high mortality rates among the babies born in the mother-and-baby homes.”
“The Minister will be aware that there is huge pressure for places in our two universities. That will just get worse with the growing demography of young people in that age group. What is the Minister's Department doing on the maximum student number (MaSN) cap? Is a review under way? Are there any plans to raise the numbers for the university intake?”
“Minister, I record my thanks to you and my recognition of over two years of your responding to questions at Question Time. I am sure that you will be relieved that Question Time today is your last one, because they have been quite gruelling. <BR /> <BR />I will pick up the point about the joint letter from the five political parties and the lack of an Executive. If we are without an Executive after the next election, how easy will it be to facilitate Ukrainian families who come to reside and make their home here?”
“<BR /> <BR />The regulations are supplementary to existing provisions, and it is worth emphasising that they make it an offence to disclose information enabled under the regulations or to use that information without lawful authority. It is unlikely that we will see that offence committed, but such regulations must have that protection inherent in them. I strongly recommend the regulations and the intended roll-out over the coming calendar year. <BR /> <BR />I recognise the hard work of the Justice Minister, her officials and the Justice Committee in getting the regulations before us this week before the end of the mandate. They will surely provide yet another important means of support and intervention for children.”
“That is an early-intervention partnership that provides an additional protection mechanism that is exactly about working through problems as soon as possible to restrict the potential for them to broaden and to ensure that appropriate support is made available swiftly. That model has now been piloted, as we have heard today, in the Newry area, and all the evidence gathered from it and from the subsequent consultation supports widening the pilot to the whole of Northern Ireland. Fundamentally, that will enable schools to respond more appropriately to notifications of domestic abuse arising from the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act, which passed last year. It is an example of how the Act is meant to operate — not just as a response to domestic violence but as a means of providing early intervention.”
“I rise to make a few brief points in support of the regulations. This is, naturally, a highly sensitive issue, but Members will be aware that one of the most difficult aspects of lockdown was the inability of school staff to physically see their pupils, particularly those pupils who might be victims, in whatever way, of difficult situations in home settings. Counsellors and social workers often noted, sadly, that, for some children, school is their refuge or place of safety. That demonstrates the need for these regulations and for the information sharing of the type envisaged in them to take place across Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />The last couple of years highlighted a troubling gap in information sharing, which, for a decade or so, has been filled in much of the rest of the UK by Operation Encompass.”
“Potentially at least, therefore, the amendments also make the Bill more environmentally sound. In future, we need to proof legislation and amendments for that type of issue. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the Minister's intervention in tabling his amendments with clear detail about how they will deliver the Bill so that it will do what it was always supposed to do: deliver parking for HSC staff and patients.”
“We also need to consider contractual obligations around car parking that have already been entered into, because the last thing that we want is for part of our health budget to be taken up, over the next year, by money being given to contractors for services that are no longer required or, indeed, even permitted. Amendment No 1 provides useful additional clarity about what constitutes a legitimate user of the hospital's parking facilities, and amendment No 3 is, of course, consequential to the other two. <BR /> <BR />I will make one other point in conclusion. The amendments also help to avoid another potential unintended consequence of the Bill that might have led to people parking in hospital car parks, particularly those in and around Belfast, when they did not need to use their car at all.”