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.”
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“I do not want to prolong this, but, in my speech, I indicated that it was clear that, when legislation was introduced in Wales, there was a dramatic increase. There are therefore jurisdictions not far from here that have demonstrated that, when legislation is introduced, organ donation goes up, so I do not get your point.”
“Their input has been incredibly valuable as well. Lastly, I thank the departmental officials and others throughout the health and social care family for their work behind the scenes to get us to this point. <BR /> <BR />The draft legislation has my party's full and unreserved support, as, indeed, does Organ Donation Week.”
“It is essential that we have a strong publicity package ready to go imminently when the legislation is passed. I note again that awareness raising should also cover the potential for anyone of any age, even if not covered by the Bill, to opt in. We may need to consider how that could be made easier. <BR /> <BR />Others have mentioned some of those who have campaigned for the legislation. I am grateful to have had direct discussions, going back many years, with our former colleague in the House Jo-Anne Dobson. I am thankful for the determination and guidance of the Mac Gabhann family. I also applaud the work of the British Heart Foundation and Chest, Heart and Stroke, both of which have campaigned diligently for many years. Many others have pushed for this quietly behind the scenes. Obviously, some of them will be watching the debate.”
“<BR /> <BR />Two questions arise from the debate. First, why does it take so long for the Assembly to get around to passing even simple legislation such as this? There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that makes obvious and life-saving steps take much longer than they need to. Those who threaten the ability of these institutions to pass literally life-saving laws over the next few months need to reflect on that. Secondly, what form will the awareness raising take over the year that has, understandably, been set aside for it, as well as for preparing for the legislative change? Previously, I have raised concerns about how the public have been left unclear about decisions that are made here, such as on the COVID regulations, and how they are affected by them.”
“In Wales, that figure increased from 58% to 71% after similar legislation was passed, demonstrating not only the value of the legislation but the need for further work. That is made more significant by the fact that the comparable figure in Northern Ireland lagged behind at 64% pre COVID. That is why we have no time to lose. We need to move on swiftly with the legislation and get on with the awareness raising that is implicit in it. <BR /> <BR />The Bill has a set of exemptions that cover any concerns that have been raised with the Health Committee and Department over the years. It applies only to deceased adults who are resident full-time in Northern Ireland at the time of death and makes other allowances; in fact, in many ways, the legislation in and of itself will be less important than the awareness raising that comes from it.”
“I rise, appropriately at the start of Organ Donation Week, to support the Bill strongly and urge that it be passed swiftly. Although it should be uncontentious, it contains a provision for a delay of one year until it takes effect. I start by joining others in the Chamber in encouraging those listening to the debate to take two minutes to register on the organ donation register and to share that decision with their families. Parents may wish to consider that their children, though unaffected by the Bill as it stands, can also opt to be donors. <BR /> <BR />The Bill is essentially an amending Bill to do something that we really should have done a long time ago. It is in itself just one step of a journey that, I hope, will see Northern Ireland reach the international target rate of 80% of transplants from deceased donors.”
“<BR /> <BR />In supporting the motion, I emphasise that this is a call for us to get on with the job and transform our health and social care system without delay. Thank you.”
“Many local businesses should be so proud of what they did. <BR /> <BR />In closing, we must remember that we are not obliged to follow England in how we spend the money that will be added to the Northern Ireland Budget as a consequential. We have specific needs not just for rebuilding, as noted in the motion, but for a comprehensive transformation of health and social care that will deliver a more patient-centred, specialist approach and ensure that we can maintain a system that is truly world class and free at the point of access. It is easy and, in my view, essential, to criticise the pernicious workers' tax as the means and a lack of allocation to actual social care reform as a consequence. However, we also have to do the hard bit and assess how we will swiftly proceed to grasp this opportunity for a comprehensive reform of our system.”
“Even after the 2008 financial crash, there has been an unwillingness to look seriously at issues such as free prescriptions, which, in practice, benefit those who are better off, because those who are less well off get them for free anyway. <BR /> <BR />Devolution means self-government, and self-government means taking responsibility for allocating spending and raising revenue fairly and appropriately. We need to be careful about who we include in the companies and individuals mentioned. Many local businesses took significant risks to shift their production and services to help people during the pandemic by, for example, producing PPE and monitors or whatever else was necessary. They were entitled to do that, and they are also entitled to some reward for the risks that they took and the hard work that they put in.”
“We also have to face up to the reality that, since 2007, the DUP- and Sinn Féin-led Executive have failed to properly embrace the need to reform and fund the health and social care system. I welcome the Health Minister's announcement today that he will soon go out to consultation on the full package for the reform of social care. <BR /> <BR />In the last decade, health funding has risen by less in Northern Ireland than it has in England. That reduced rise in spending has been directed by DUP and Sinn Féin Finance Ministers. In the first part of the last decade, it was common for an uplift in funding to health in England to arrive in Northern Ireland through Barnett consequentials and to not be allocated fully, or, in one case, even partly, to health here.”
“As my colleague said, the Alliance Party will support the motion, although there are some gaps in it. First, we totally share the view that, while it is not unreasonable for the UK Government to face financial reality by seeking to raise moneys specifically for health and social care after the pandemic, that should not be done through a pernicious raid on National Insurance, which, as has been stated, amounts, essentially, to a workers' tax. In fact, when it is all worked back, we see that less than £3 billion is being allocated to social care reform across the UK. Frankly, that is a piddling amount across a population that is approaching 70 million. <BR /> <BR />There are two aspects to the matter. First, if money must be raised, that must be done fairly. Secondly, once that money is raised, it must be spent on the declared purpose.”
“Thank you, Minister, for coming to the Chamber to provide some clarity on the issue. My question is about the eligibility assessments and those who conduct them. You said that there is only one trust doing those; do you know why the other trusts are not doing them? What sort of backgrounds do the assessors have? What is built in regarding a review of the assessment? I ask that because we know that people's situations can deteriorate quite quickly.”
“Thank you, Minister, for your response. As you said, the second part is about protecting the bovine community, so to speak. Are there any plans to test whether potentially infected cattle slurry spreads TB from one piece of land to the next?”
“Strengthening existing protections for that age group should reduce the overall incidence of sexual exploitation, through effective consultation and targeted legislative intervention. That is exactly what the Chamber should be doing, and I am sure that the provision, if it passes, will be warmly welcomed by those involved in youth sport and community-based activities. <BR /> <BR />The Minister outlined some of the areas that are not included in the Bill, and that is, naturally, frustrating. However, I hope that I have outlined the importance of what is included in the Bill and that the Chamber will unanimously get behind it to ensure its passage.”
“It bears repeating that the review concluded that unrestricted access for the public to trials of serious sexual offences deterred, humiliated and intimidated complainants. That is an astonishingly huge failing, particularly given the right to anonymity. The benefit of the clause is to make the process of accessing justice less harrowing for complainants and that of attaining justice less harrowing for victims. No one should be deterred from seeking justice, and we must ensure that the system itself does not act as a deterrent. <BR /> <BR />I also put on record my appreciation of the hard work of campaigners who work to strengthen legislation around the abuse of positions of trust around 16-to-17-year-olds.”
“<BR /> <BR />I also welcome the amendments to the Justice Act, in line with legislation in England and Wales, that ensure that not only the commissioning of the offence but the threat to commit the offence can be adequately tried and thus likely lead to the prevention of more instances of so-called revenge pornography. Again, we should not underestimate how harrowing that can be for victims and how important it is that we do all that we can to deter it. That aspect of the law will need to remain under review to ensure that it works in practice, and I have little doubt that it will merit further consideration in the next mandate. <BR /> <BR />With regard to the Gillen review and the delivery of justice in serious sexual offences, I draw particular attention to clause 15.”
“<BR /> <BR />Other areas of the Bill are more about bringing Northern Ireland into line with neighbouring jurisdictions, but they are no less important. One example is the implementation of key aspects of the Marshall report, which is overdue and highly important, as it is primarily about protecting and respecting victims. The changes in terminology brought about by clause 3, for example, are clearly about ensuring not just that the punishment fits the crime but that the crime is properly described and thus the victim properly respected. Clauses 18 and 19 are also specifically about preventative orders.”
“Practitioners have been clear that there is a serious gap in that Order as regards sexual grooming and that the range of offences outlined in clause 2 will offer significantly enhanced public protection, particularly to children. That will take Northern Ireland ahead of other jurisdictions in the UK, although the Irish Government introduced similar provisions in 2017. It is worth emphasising at that point that that change, in line with many in the Bill, is designed to reduce the incidence of the offence taking place, not just to ease and ensure convictions when it does. The House really should aspire to lead the way more often, particularly when it comes to the victims of such blatant, unpleasant and unsavoury misconduct.”
“Thank you very much. <BR /> <BR />I welcome that Northern Ireland is taking the lead in the UK in finding the means to do so. It was criminalised as long ago as 2015 in parts of Australia and other common-law jurisdictions. There has been debate about whether privacy or photography laws would suffice and whether the specific offence was necessary. Legal research this century has demonstrated that specific upskirting or downblousing laws are desirable and necessary to determine indisputably that an offence has been committed. It is likely that other UK jurisdictions will follow Northern Ireland's lead on downblousing in due course. <BR /> <BR />It is also clear that the 2008 Sexual Offences Order has served a significant purpose in protecting victims but, sadly, is not specific enough for the world in which we live.”
“No problem. Thank you. Is that a bit better now?”
“I warmly welcome the Bill and the fact that we are moving on swiftly with this vital legislation. Much of it updates practice in Northern Ireland in line with that in neighbouring jurisdictions. It is frustrating that, for the reasons outlined by the Minister, the Bill has not been able to do a little more in terms of that alignment, but we welcome what is contained in it. <BR /> <BR />I turn first to the areas that take Northern Ireland ahead of the rest of the UK. The first, at clause 1, is the criminalisation of downblousing. I sincerely hope, given the contributions that have been made already today, that there is no doubting the merit of establishing that offence. It is not easy to do it in legislation, but it is to be welcomed that Northern Ireland is taking the lead in —.”
“<BR /> <BR />In closing, I thank Amnesty International, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Relatives for Justice, the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), the Pat Finucane Centre, the WAVE Trauma Centre and former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers and their families for their engagement with the Alliance Party over the last few weeks. A feature of the debate in the UK Parliament was that the past is a constant shadow: it certainly is. Engaging in an expedient plan to deny justice only impedes the light.”
“We simply cannot draw a line under the past when our past remains embedded in our society in the higher levels of mental anguish, in the ongoing control of communities by paramilitaries and in maintained segregation along sectarian fault lines. The fact is that drawling a line benefits only those who carried out atrocities, while those who suffered will be re-traumatised. Moving on requires dealing with the past, not pretending to forget and simply writing justice out of the process.”
“<BR /> <BR />We need to add that, since the proposals follow on from similar proposals concerning veterans who served abroad, the Command Paper is an insult not just to victims but to the many veterans who served honourably. The proposals leave untouched the distinction between those who served with astonishingly heroic bravery in the interests of peacekeeping here and those who oversaw or committed actions that were unjustified and unjustifiable. Many veterans who served honourably now feel that they will not be distinguished from those who were responsible for pain and suffering. The UK Government are being tripped up in their rush for political expediency. <BR /> <BR />This is exactly why the rule of law is a basic tenet of democracy.”
“The proposals will merely mean that those who ruined lives will be even freer to justify their actions openly, perhaps even to the point of justifying specific instances in public without fear of prosecution. Is that really the legacy that the Secretary of State wishes to leave? Those consequences may be unintended, but they show how poorly thought-through the proposals are. They will serve only to, potentially, traumatise victims further, thus hindering their recovery and harming wider societal reconciliation. Indeed, not all the victims are resident in Northern Ireland. Many live in Great Britain, and thus we see Conservative MPs failing to act in the interests of their constituents.”
“First, the proposals are all about something that looks like an amnesty and barks like an amnesty, even if that word is inconvenient for the UK Government. Far from putting in place a proper, comprehensive truth recovery process, the UK Government have failed thoroughly in their analysis. What they propose to put in place will hinder truth recovery and will serve only to tip the balance in favour of the offender over the victim. After all, with an effective amnesty in place, what will be the motivation for anyone to tell the truth? That speaks to a profound failure on the part of the UK Government to recognise that the prime reason that the current system is not working is that those who carried out the atrocities, by and large, believed and still believe that they were justified in what they did.”
“I support the motion and welcome the opportunity to speak today. The Alliance Party has always sought an approach to dealing with the past that is based primarily on the interests of victims and survivors. What we see in the UK Government's Command Paper is precisely the opposite. The interests of victims and survivors are cast to one side for the sake of political expediency. The Secretary of State, in presenting the Command Paper in Parliament, claimed that the proposals in it would support recovery and reconciliation. It is clear that they would do the reverse. <BR /> <BR />I wish to outline why the proposals serve neither the interests of victims, who are supposed to be central to all this, nor even, in fact, those of the veterans whom the UK Government think they are helping.”
“Last night, we had a meeting with a victims' organisation. It indicated that its conversations with victims who had been injured showed that their main concerns were their quality of life now and whether they were getting their pension and adaptations to their houses. Legacy came further down the list when they drilled down and engaged in qualitative and quantitative research with them. The Member is indicating that their primary objective is a legacy inquest, but I say that our understanding, in many ways, is that they want to make sure that their life is full of quality now. Does the Member agree?”
“Thank you, Minister, for answering the questions for written answer that I submitted about South Belfast, where there are a lot of very keen cyclists. Thank you also for the information on the Belfast cycling network. You mentioned stakeholder engagement. I would appreciate a bit more detail on that. Also, how will you cope with arterial routes, especially in South Belfast, where cars are parked in the middle of cycle lanes at present?”
“Some of those victims are able to apply under the redress scheme, but others are not, including those who were forcibly adopted. I would like the Executive Office to take on board concerns about the potential expansion of the scheme to cover those institutions.”
“To victims, that looks like another barrier, another delay and another piece of evidence that their interests are not being adequately prioritised. The review needs to be concluded quickly, and it needs to do two specific things. It should seek to learn from other processes, as others indicated today, and it should assess whether the legislation needs to be amended on the basis of the experiences thus far of victims applying for redress. <BR /> <BR />In closing, I put on record my exasperation that the formal apology and the memorial, three years on from the inquiry report, are taking so long. I am concerned that we are now entering into this process for those who have been impacted upon by mother-and-baby homes.”
“The requirement that applications may only be in writing or, in practice, by someone else in writing not only adds to the sense that the whole thing is distant but may re-traumatise the people whom it is supposed to be assisting. It could be very different. Just on the other side of the border, there is an example of a process that relies much less on the written word. By enabling people to present evidence verbally, we could remove much of the impersonality, and we could restore the sense that the redress scheme is meant to serve victims. <BR /> <BR />It is not just that the design of the process is troublesome for some people; implementation is taking too long. There are too few panels and recruitment has been slow.”
“For many, it is almost as though the application is assessed by a crude, distant, emotionless system that has little understanding of what they went through and how it has affected their lives over the many decades since.”
“Thank you. Mr Stalford, I totally agree with you and will come on to that shortly. <BR /> <BR />The sense of the whole process being adversarial and impersonal is exacerbated by the sense that, although many well-qualified people are involved in assessing applications, people with direct knowledge of areas such as child protection or trauma are not necessarily or even regularly involved.”
“The process is made to appear more adversarial, as communication can only be via a solicitor. There is no direct line for victims. Indeed, there is not really even an indirect line. The sense that that creates for them is one of being kept at a distance while decisions that affect their lives — predominantly financially but also emotionally and socially — are being made behind closed doors.”
“<BR /> <BR />In my eyes and those of many victims, there remains a deep insensitivity to the emotional reality of what they have been through. I place on record my appreciation of the hard work of all the victims' groups that have lobbied so hard for many years to have victims' voices heard. Victims have faced barrier after barrier just to get this far, and there is a very real sense that more barriers are being put up in the process. Although any such scheme must be robust, the fact is that victims are understandably tired, frustrated and angry at the hoops that they have to jump through. <BR /> <BR />One issue that is very prominent in discussions with victims' groups is that of communication, or, rather, a lack of it. Other Members mentioned that.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak about the issue in the Assembly. Like others in the Chamber, I have spent many years working with the victims of institutional abuse. I therefore share others' concerns that the process as currently constituted is proving to be somewhat less than optimal. <BR /> <BR />In general, the redress aspect of the implementation of the Hart inquiry recommendations has become too adversarial. There is a strong sense that victims are being asked to do or provide things that are simply not reasonable. Just one example that was brought to my attention a few months ago is that victims have to pay to access their medical records and then be refunded. That shows a complete absence of understanding of the social and financial circumstances in which many victims and their families find themselves.”
“Thank you for coming to the Chamber today, Minister. I also put on record my deep-felt sympathies to the families. I very much appreciate the distress that Friday's decision has caused. <BR /> <BR />What do you think needs to happen, going forward, to improve confidence in our judicial system's handling of legacy cases?”
“Minister, I was contacted by a constituent whose teenage daughter has only had her first dose. Will you clarify what the period between the two doses is? My constituent is worried that they will be unable to go on holiday.”
“We need to show our recognition to all health workers that they are truly valued, not just through one-off recognition payments but by paying them proper salaries to ensure that those who qualify for those vital roles are encouraged to remain in them here in Northern Ireland. Therefore, let this award be the first step to a bold and true recognition of how much we value those who took risks on our behalf to keep us all safe.”
“Words are important, but they are small in comparison with the contribution that they made. Recognition is more important. It shows health workers — even more than the notes in house windows or the clapping on the doorsteps — that their role was appreciated by us all and that, when we look back, their heroism and courage will be something on which we will all look back with pride. Sadly, a number of Health and Social Care staff also lost their lives to COVID-19 while working in our wards, and we must never forget their ultimate sacrifice. <BR /> <BR />It is important to add that, in Northern Ireland at the outset, there was still an ongoing pay dispute, and we know that the nurses set that aside to rejoin the front line.”
“That most obviously applies to those on the front line working with victims of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic but perhaps most notably right at the start, when we were faced with a virus that we did not fully understand. The speed with which decisions had to be made and implemented meant that many in our health service, from those who had just joined it through to those who had come out of retirement, operated in the most stressful circumstances. We should never forget, however, that many health workers then had to carry on with regular roles, also under the most immense stress. Workplaces literally became smaller, prioritisation more rapid and challenges more difficult. <BR /> <BR />Few of us in the Assembly will ever truly grasp the astonishingly challenging conditions in which our health workers had to fulfil their duties.”
“I thank Mr Beattie for raising the issue in the Chamber today, and I think that it is entirely appropriate that the honour from Her Majesty The Queen extends to health workers across the United Kingdom. <BR /> <BR />The George Cross is awarded for acts of the greatest heroism or the most conspicuous courage, and I think that we can all agree that both of those apply here. Not only did many Health and Social Care workers have to work in exceptional and difficult circumstances, they often had to take on new roles quickly, working together, often in areas and situations that they had never imagined. They did so with dedication, heroism and courage to save lives and see us through the pandemic.”
“Minister, you will recall that, when the neurology recall process took place, the Belfast Trust was 20 neurology consultants down. I heard it said on the radio this morning — I think that it was said by Dr O'Brien — that that trust is seven or eight urology consultants down. The neurology recall put so much pressure on the existing service. What extra measures or resources are you putting into the Northern Trust to make sure that the system does not collapse in its entirety because of the review?”
“I welcome the Bill's prohibition of loyalty schemes. <BR /> <BR />In closing, I thank the departmental officials, the Communities Committee, the Communities Minister and all the pubs, businesses, hotels etc that contributed to the evidence gathering. I am sure that their contributions were well received and made a huge contribution to the Bill that we have here today.”
“I have no doubt that they will be looking forward to getting back to work when the furlough scheme ends. They will very much contribute to making Belfast and the whole of Northern Ireland an even more desirable tourism destination. <BR /> <BR />I recognise that there were concerns from some quarters about additional drinking hours, but they have been addressed here today. There was concern that the Bill would contribute to increased alcohol consumption, but my principal concern, as Alliance Party health spokesperson, is more around, as others have mentioned, the increased consumption of alcohol at home. I look forward to the Health Minister bringing forward, later this year, his consultation on the minimum unit price for alcohol. I know that that is something that the Committee touched on in its scrutiny and evidence gathering.”
“I do not think that I will need the 10 minutes, Deputy Speaker. I welcome the Bill's reaching its Final Stage today. Like the Communities Minister and Mr O'Toole, I represent the South Belfast constituency. In that capacity, I add the thanks of the businesses, bars, restaurants, hotels, licensed premises etc for the long-awaited changes in the Bill. I am sure that they will be delighted to see it receiving Royal Assent. <BR /> <BR />The changes will, no doubt, be welcomed by the businesses to help them to rebuild following the COVID pandemic and to contribute to the sustainability of our city centres and arterial routes. They will provide additional much-needed jobs. We know that a lot of people lost their jobs or were placed on furlough.”
“Thank you, Minister, for the statement. I look forward to reading the blueprint in more detail later today. <BR /> <BR />You mentioned mental health hubs. Before I entered politics full-time, I worked in the community sector and was aware that mental health hubs were being set up. Part of the issue was that there was a lack of resources and support when people came forward. Are you satisfied that enough money will be put into the hubs to make a difference? What engagement have you had with the Minister for Communities on additional funding for the community and voluntary sector? The sector has a vital role to play in dealing with issues such as isolation.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. I am well aware that the statistics are being published. My concern is more about the analysis of where the clusters are, how the regulations are working and whether more interventions are needed in those particular areas.”
“Without the knowledge of where the high risks have been shown to lie in Northern Ireland, it is hard to assess the merit of any of these regulations in detail. For example, has there been a change in the common features of outbreaks since the emergence of the delta variant? Can we identify a specific reason for its increased transmissibility — for example, is it a longer period of infectiousness? We should have some idea about that from contact tracing, but we hear very little at present. <BR /> <BR />In closing, I repeat my call for clarity from all sides. This is no time to be playing around with whether we should even have self-government. This is a time for taking collective responsibility and collective action in our collective interest.”