Gerry Carroll
West Belfast · People Before Profit Alliance · Northern Ireland
“Yesterday morning, as others did, I stood alongside our resident doctors as they commenced a 24-hour period of industrial action. We often praise our healthcare workers in the House and more generally, saying things such as that they are invaluable and that we wish them well.”
“If we have learnt anything from the political events of the past week, it is that powerful people — powerful men, in particular — and institutions should always be held to maximum account when it comes to abuse, neglect and victims, and that victims and survivors should be believed and supported on every occasion.”
“Agency spend has, again, gone through the roof and is sky-high; locum spend has gone up and continues to go up — it has gone up by in the region of £0·5 billion over the past few years; and, almost every single year out of the past five to 10 years, hundreds of millions of pounds of public money have been pumped into the for-profit privat…”
“With bills increasing month-on-month and year-on-year, that is true, and those workers need a proper settlement that meets their needs and the ever-increasing cost of living. One striking doctor put it to me starkly yesterday. They said that they left Scotland and took a more senior position in the health sector in Belfast.”
“I commend Stephen and his colleagues in the Bill Office and the Executive Office officials, who worked closely with me to try to support, amend or help along my amendments — whatever way you want to look at it. I also want to commend the Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone who spoke out during the last few stages.”
“I commend people for speaking out on the issue, especially Sharon Burke. I think that she might be in the Gallery. She has been emailing Members on that issue.”
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“We want hospital parking charges scrapped for good, as the Assembly voted for two years ago, and not just for electoral gain, which the Executive parties have shown once again that it was. If the Executive impose this regressive tax on health workers and patients, I will call on the public to organise a campaign to oppose them and to, hopefully, see the charges scrapped once and for all.”
“If he is telling the truth when he says that the necessary technology should or, perhaps, will be in place, there is no good reason why he, his party and other Members should not accept our amendment. <BR />If the Executive parties do not vote for our amendment, we will have called their bluff. A refusal to support our amendment will prove that the legislation was never about technological or logistical issues but was always about squeezing more money from people, including health workers and the public. Our amendment will ensure that patients, health workers and trade unions will know where the Executive really stand on the issue when all is said and done.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Executive want us to believe that the state cannot afford the £10 million or so that it will cost to provide free parking, while handing some £400 million to private agencies for the provision of staff in our hospitals. While the private sector milks our health system dry, health workers and patients are asked to pick up the pieces. That is what it boils down to. <BR /> <BR />I put it on record that, from the outset, I and my party opposed the delay to scrapping hospital parking charges. Most other parties here voted to impose them for another two years. We are prepared to offer an alternative. The Health Minister says that the technology necessary for free hospital parking should be ready by September, so we are prepared to take him at his word. We want to speed up the process and scrap the charges by September.”
“Lo and behold, now that the time has come to pay the piper, they have gone sheepish all of a sudden. They now tell us that there is no alternative and that the big, bad Tories are imposing another austerity budget. Ministers bemoan the devastating impact that it will have on public services, yet have agreed, once again, to do the Tories' dirty work for them. <BR /> <BR />I challenge the Executive today to put it up to the Tories and to say that our hospitals, workers' pay, schools and so much else cannot be weighed against a rotten Tory ledger. I challenge them to spend the money that is necessary to protect patient lives, educate our children and lift people out of poverty and then to tell the Tories that they need to find the money.”
“Some will tell us that water charges, prescription charges and other revenue-raising measures will cost the public only so much. We should add to that rising rents, rising bills and rising childcare costs. I invite the Executive to add them all up and tell us how much health workers, patients and others are meant to pay and how they are meant to cope with the situation. <BR /> <BR />Parties across the Chamber had no problem with voting for free hospital parking charges in the mouth of an election. The then and current Health Minister, Robin Swann, and his UUP colleagues could not wait to welcome them. The now junior Minister Aisling Reilly was seen posing for photos outside the Royal Victoria Hospital and telling voters how Sinn Féin had scrapped hospital parking charges.”
“<BR /> <BR />We are talking about health workers who have had their pay cut, their bills raised and their overall living standards attacked by the Tories and successive Stormont Administrations. The last time I checked, health workers who have a permit were paying £200 a year to park at their place of work. That is high enough, but Unite, which represents some of the lowest-paid health workers in our hospital, has told us that some workers pay £2,000 a year to park at their place of work. That is almost 10% of a porter's wage. It is scandalous. <BR /> <BR />The DUP, Sinn Féin, the UUP, Alliance and others tell us what that figure and the earlier figure are per day. They have worked it out. They tell us that the rates hike that they voted through last month is only x pounds and y pennies.”
“<BR /> <BR />As People Before Profit has said time and again, hospital parking charges are a tax on health workers and on the sick. Health workers are being told that they must pay to work. Patients and their families are being told that they must pay for their illness. What a rotten state of affairs. The Executive tell us that they took in £6·4 million last year from hospital parking charges. That was at the last count. I repeat what I said last week: that is not a huge sum for the Department of Health, but it is an astronomical sum to be made up by health workers and patients who have struggled during the worst cost-of-living crisis in living memory.”
“Every day, at the side of this Building, I walk past a small fleet of gleaming, top-of-the-range cars with a chauffeur in the driver's seat. Those cars, which park for free and are paid for through the public purse, belong to the very Ministers who are imposing — reimposing, rather — hospital parking charges on health workers and patients. <BR /> <BR />In hospitals across the city and beyond are our trust chief executives, many of whom opposed free hospital parking for staff and patients from the outset. At this moment, their cars are parked for free outside their place of work. People in the Assembly should think long and hard about the message that that sends out to health workers and the sick, who are set to face two more years of punitive taxation at the Executive's hands.”
“<BR /> <BR />I support the motion and urge the Education Minister to get on with the job of providing, and funding, age-appropriate, evidence-based RSE.”
“It is using it to bring together a regressive alliance of anti-choice activists, anti-LGBTQ bigots and conservative fundamentalists. Shame on the Upper Bann Member for his dog-whistle approach, not just today but in leading protests against the issue. Why does he not try leading protests against the underfunding of the health service, the underfunding of the education system or any other issue? <BR /> <BR />There are those who yearn for a return to the conservative and reactionary climate, North and South, where the rights of the LGBT community, women and children are up for debate. We will not be dragged backwards. We will not allow the right — the right — to use this issue to infringe on the rights of everyone and anyone.”
“They are the same politicians from parties that have denied the rights of the LGBT+ community and resisted the democratic demand for equal marriage; that deny women and pregnant people the right to choose; and that are currently denying trans people the right to gender-reaffirming surgery and healthcare. It should be no surprise to anyone that the DUP wants to infringe on the rights of the marginalised and to roll back the hard-won right to reproductive healthcare, amongst other things. <BR /> <BR />There may be parents out there who are genuinely moved by this issue and are acting in what they perceive to be their child's interest. They are being deliberately misled. There is a lot of talk about coded language. Yes, the far right is using RSE as a dog whistle.”
“Many who oppose age-appropriate, scientifically accurate RSE claim that they want to protect children with their conservative agenda. How, then, do they justify the fact that 62% of young people resort to asking friends for information and that 55% use social media to find information on sex and relationships? As Alliance for Choice highlights, the scope for misinformation, as well as for harmful narratives and stereotypes around misogyny, coercive control, body image and heteronormativity, is profound. The implicit damage to the health and well-being of young people from that approach should be obvious to everyone. <BR /> <BR />It should also be obvious as to who is leading the charge against making the necessary changes to RSE. The politicians in particular should be familiar to us.”
“It does not take much extrapolation to figure out the harm that the system can cause to young people grappling with relationships, sexual or reproductive health, pregnancy, their gender identity or their sexuality. Those who would deny children proper RSE are not only putting them at risk but, as our friends at the Office of the Children's Commissioner remind us, infringing on their right to:”
“We cannot allow social, political and religious conservatism to be a barrier to our children's education. There should be nothing controversial about providing comprehensive, age-appropriate and evidence-based education on sexual and reproductive heath. It is not enough to say that changes to RSE are well overdue, although they are, but rather that the failure to bring them forward is a risk to young people's health, safety and overall well-being. <BR /> <BR />Our education system falls far short on all sorts of issues, including on sexual orientation, reproductive health, consent and gender identity, and that is not good enough.”
“There should not be one law for people in this Building and another for health workers, patients and people who need to use the health service and its facilities.”
“In the not-too-distant future, the Executive need to subsidise public transport to provide free travel for health workers and others, as was done during the pandemic. The law to abolish car parking charges has already been on the books for two years — two years — and there should not be any excuse to delay its implementation any further. To row back on that at this stage flies in the face of the existing legislation and the views of workers, patients, trade unions and the vast majority who want the charges scrapped. We will not support the penalisation of health workers and patients. Shame on the Minister and the Executive for doing so. I get free parking at this Building. Other MLAs get free parking at this Building. The Minister gets free parking at this Building.”
“Last month, we revealed the fact, from an answer from the Minister and the Department, that the health service agency staff bill has doubled in five years to almost £400 million — an astronomical figure of £400 million. While the Executive take from health workers and employ many more agency workers on precarious contracts, they continue to hand eye-watering sums to private agencies that are profiting from the crisis in our health service. Compare that £400 million to the paltry £6·4 million or so that it will cost to give health workers and patients free parking at hospitals. <BR /> <BR />We will not support the Bill today. The Executive need to get on with the business of providing free hospital parking to health workers and patients. It was promised to people. It was voted on in this Building and it should be implemented.”
“The delay comes in the context of a wider austerity Budget, which will be paid for by our communities, and the Minister referred to that in his comments. The £6·4 million taken in hospital car parking charges last year is small change to the Department of Health, but it is a huge amount to expect health workers and patients to make up during a cost-of-living crisis, particularly when health workers have had their pay cut in real terms by the Executive year-on-year. The Health Minister and others might repeat the charge that there is no magic money tree and that the Executive have no choice but to penalise health workers for parking at their place of work. Unfortunately for the Minister, the socialist opposition is keeping receipts.”
“Hospital parking charges are attacks on health workers' wages and on the sick. There is no other way to describe it, and that is what the Health Minister wants to revert back to. Wages are down, bills are up across the board and this Executive are once again telling health workers and patients to suck it up. We have heard all sorts of excuses, from the Minister and colleagues, as they have tried to justify this regressive measure. We have heard points about technological issues and so-called practical obstacles, but they cannot hide the fact that this is yet another cut aimed at working people and people who are unwell. <BR /> <BR />The explanatory memorandum to the Bill, received by MLAs, spells it out in black and white.”
“When do the Minister and his officials expect the technology for parking to be available and its implementation completed?”
“I am opposed to the Bill. I will go into detail on that later, but logic follows that, if you oppose the Bill, you should oppose the plan to fast-track it. If the accelerated passage motion is passed, Members will have until half past nine tomorrow morning to table an amendment, which does not allow time for anybody to consider or engage or to speak to unions or anybody else about the problems with the Bill. From listening to the Minister and Members, I do not see a sound reason to bring forward the Bill or to fast-track it, and I will therefore try to vote against it. <BR /> <BR />I would like a clarification from the Minister. The Chair of the Committee mentioned September 2024 as the date for the technology to be available. Is that an exact date?”
“I do not think that any landlord should be allowed to vote on anything that might penalise their tenants —”
“One in six MLAs is a landlord, which is a shocking figure that should give everyone an indication of whose interests the Assembly and Executive represent.”
“The average rent in the North is now £850, which is a staggering figure. It is no wonder that people live in poverty, when the bulk of their earnings go on lining landlords' pockets. <BR /> <BR />I hope that those at the sharp end of this crisis will remember how parties here voted against my proposal to cut and freeze rents. We were told that it could not be done. Lo and behold, Scotland did it a few weeks later. People voted against it because they were afraid to challenge landlords, and because many of them are landlords. I will not shame anyone here personally, but, in front of me, I have a list of some 15 MLAs who are landlords, from all parties across the Chamber. The information is on the Register of Members' Interests, and I urge the public to look at it.”
“In 2022-23, the loss of private rented accommodation — evictions, in other words — was the second most common reason for people presenting as homeless to the Housing Executive. That should never be the case. It should never be the case that so many have to rely on private rented accommodation. That is why it is important to recognise that the Stormont Executive's failure to build social homes has been the primary driver of homelessness. It has forced too many people into substandard rental accommodation, where landlords are allowed to squeeze every last penny out of working people. You will have seen, Mr Deputy Speaker, some of the houses in which my constituents and those of others in the House live. Many of them are riddled with mould, damp, mice and worse. Across the board, rents are up by around 10%.”
“Tenants can be legally evicted if they ask for repairs; if a landlord decides to increase the rent and the tenant cannot afford to pay it; if a landlord decides to convert the home into student, HMO or Airbnb accommodation; if a landlord decides to sell the tenant's home; or if a landlord just does not like their tenant. I thank the activists in the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) for briefing us on those points ahead of the debate. I commend them for their work in resisting the evictions, legal and illegal, of all people in our communities, including asylum seekers and refugees, and I have stood with them previously on those issues. <BR /> <BR />Housing is a human right, in theory if not in practice. The fact that a commodity has been made of it is a damning indictment of the capitalist system.”
“There are too many landlords in the Assembly. It is no wonder that so many people can be evicted on a whim. The housing crisis is multifaceted, but, ultimately, it boils down to the refusal of the Executive parties to do anything about it. The reason why they refuse to do anything about it is that they have absolutely no material interest in doing so. It suits them and their agenda to allow people to be at the mercy of greedy landlords. <BR /> <BR />When I say that people are at the mercy of landlords, you have only to look at the reasons that they can use to evict people.”
“Has the Member considered doing this? The energy companies' profits are out of control. British Gas's profits rose from £72 million to £751 million in a year. Tax the companies or introduce public ownership, and then prices can be reduced.”
“While we welcome the fact that the Department for the Economy will soon launch a renewable electricity support scheme, it is absolutely unacceptable for the Government to leave the delivery of green energy to the private, for-profit sector. <BR /> <BR />Any strategy for eradicating fuel poverty needs to get real about the renationalisation of energy provision — public ownership. Ultimately, of course, that is within the gift of the British Government, but it is unacceptable for the Executive simply to leave them to their own devices. The Assembly and Executive need to stake out a position that aims to take energy — a basic human need — out of the hands of corporate profiteers. The Executive should join the majority of the public across these islands in calling for the provision of energy on the basis of need, not greed.”
“We need to see the regulation of oil companies to take money out of their hands and put it in the pockets of ordinary people. This is a devolved issue. A real energy price cap that challenges the profits of the energy firms can and should be implemented to cut bills. The Executive need to strengthen the hand of the Utility Regulator to properly check and investigate the spending and pricing of local energy providers. The Communities Minister should roll out an ambitious scheme to insulate homes and make them energy-efficient to address the obscene damp and mould that are destroying the houses and health of people in my constituency and beyond. Badly insulated homes face average bills of £124 per month, compared with £76 in well-insulated homes.”
“I urge the current Economy Minister to urgently reconsider if he is serious about protecting people from fuel poverty. The current Communities Minister, in his previous role, has a lot to answer for for inaction on that and many other matters. <BR /> <BR />I broadly welcome the motion, but, when I hear the words "task force" emanating from the Assembly, it usually causes me concern or nervousness at the very least. People experiencing fuel poverty need this Government to take responsibility for addressing the issue. To be completely honest, what they do not need is another talking shop. The Economy Minister, the Communities Minister and their Executive colleagues could and should make specific commitments to address fuel poverty now before another cold winter.”
“<BR /> <BR />Some months ago, I saw the shocking statistic that energy companies in Britain were raking in £1 billion per week. That is price gouging — exploitation writ large — and it is no surprise to me that half of our population is experiencing fuel poverty when real weekly earnings in the North show the largest annual decrease on record: 4·5%. At the same time, energy prices continue to climb for so many, for everybody. Just last week, oil prices rose for a fourth consecutive week, and 67% of households here rely on oil to heat their home, yet, as has been said, we have absolutely no regulation of the companies that provide it. Successive Economy Ministers have been resisting since 2012 the Consumer Council's call to regulate home heating oil.”
“We have heard that around 45% of people here live in fuel poverty, with many choosing whether to heat or eat. I will hazard a wild guess and say that most MLAs, with their big salaries, are probably not in that category. If they were, we would see much more urgency in tackling fuel poverty. The cost-of-living crisis — energy prices in particular — is completely out of control. That is the case now, and it was the case before the Assembly collapsed, so there is absolutely no excuse for the ruling parties here to have sat on their hands for this long. The Executive parties have a case to answer for the stagnant wages, poor-quality homes and unchecked profiteering of energy companies that have compounded the hardships facing families across the North.”
“The Executive have made commitments to improve the visibility of the Irish language. Activists and campaigners cannot be expected to play whack-a-mole with every new building on a case-by-case basis. Will you give a commitment to ensuring that a directive is issued to Translink to implement bilingual signage at all transport centres, including Weavers Cross?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does he share my concern that, when the Executive were down, parties made various day-1 commitments, for example, on an anti-poverty strategy, and, when they have had the chance to vote for those exact commitments, they have failed to do so? Does he share my concern about that double-speak?”
“People Before Profit wants the Executive to scrap the two-child limit — of course I do — but what I really want to hear today is a pledge from parties here and from the Minister that they will never again vote for or allow the British Government to roll out welfare reforms with similar intent. We have heard a lot from the Executive about tackling poverty. Welfare is a devolved matter, so I see no good reason why we cannot have a fairer system that allows children and all people to live with a bit of dignity.”
“What a rotten society we live in. <BR /> <BR />We know what it was about, and we will not forget the role that was played by Sinn Féin, the DUP and Alliance, which implemented welfare reforms, including the two-child limit, in a bid to devolve and cut corporation tax. <BR /> <BR />Communities across the North are clearly still feeling the harsh impact of those awful political decisions. I agree that we need to scrap the two-child limit. In our view, the entire welfare system is not fit for purpose. It has created a society where to be sick, unemployed or born working class has the potential to condemn you to a life of poverty.”
“I really need to make headway. If I have time, I will. <BR /> <BR />The research that was presented to the Assembly shows that the Executive have the power to scrap the two-child limit. More importantly, it shows that the parties that told us that there was no alternative to its implementation told a blatant spoof. Welfare reform and the two-child limit was a choice that the Assembly never had to make, but it chose to make it. <BR /> <BR />People Before Profit vociferously opposed a raft of Tory-designed welfare reforms, because we maintained that poverty in general, and child poverty specifically, does not have to exist in a society with colossal wealth. While letting the wealthy off the hook for billions in unpaid tax, the Tories, with the help of Stormont, brought forward policies to penalise the poor, the sick and the vulnerable.”
“I thank the Member for his point. It is a valid one, because there is a bit of collective amnesia, and some spinning of history is being attempted in the debate. People should know better than that. <BR /> <BR />The research that was presented to us —.”
“Nearly half of all children who are living in relative poverty come from families with three or more children, and while nearly one in 10 children in the North live in households that are affected by the two-child limit — that is some 45,000 — it is important to mention the fact that over 4,000 of those children live in my constituency of West Belfast. That means that 16% of children are affected by the two-child limit in West Belfast, where at least 28·5% of children live in poverty. <BR /> <BR />You can see the damage that has been caused by this disastrous anti-working-class policy. It must be said that that is the harsh reality that has been imposed on our communities by Alliance, Sinn Féin, the DUP and, obviously, the Tories. <BR /> <BR />The research —.”
“I remind the Member that, in 2014 or 2015, I think, in this Building — I was not here, and I do not think that she was either — her party, alongside the DUP and Sinn Féin, voted for welfare reform. You voted for it. I gave way to you, so I would appreciate it if you did not intervene again and shout at me when I am trying to speak. <BR /> <BR />This appalling attempt at social engineering has plunged too many families into poverty and should be repealed as a matter of course. Just yesterday, we debated child poverty. The statistics give only a partial picture of the hardship that has been wrought by the two-child limit, but it is important that we have them.”
“I hope that the DUP, Sinn Féin and Alliance Party MLAs who are sitting here are wholeheartedly ashamed of the role that they played in implementing this detested two-child limit. I would be ashamed to be a member of a party that voted through those rotten Tory welfare reforms, which have condemned so many children to a life of stark deprivation.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does she share my concern that parties have had decades to implement anti-poverty strategies and have failed to do so? Does she also share my concern that when parties have the Communities Ministry, they do not implement anti-poverty strategies and then, when another party has that Ministry, from across the Chamber, they urge that party to implement such strategies? Is she concerned about that?”
“They accept it because they believe that the Government's job is to mitigate and manage everyone else's expectation, including that of a child living in abject poverty. <BR /> <BR />If you want to end child poverty, you need to challenge wealth inequality, invest in our communities and invest in our children. If you do not, you can table all the motions and create all the strategies that you like, but, unless parties and the Executive are prepared to act, they will not make a single bit of difference.”
“We can build public homes for children and their families and begin to address the crisis that has been created. We can repeal the two-child tax limit. We can back off from the cuts and revenue-raising measures that people are planning, which, we know, will force more and more into poverty. <BR /> <BR />It is all well and good strategising to end child poverty, but if the actions take you in the opposite direction, you may as well just tell the public the truth, which is that most people in the Chamber accept the existence of child poverty as an unfortunate reality. They accept it because you, the parties, refuse to see beyond the horizon where the wealth of a minority is sacrosanct.”
“They are the working poor who keep our society afloat and create the ever-growing profits of a wealthy few. It is not the millionaires or the corporations that keep our society afloat and functioning. <BR /> <BR />The working poor need to see a strategy to end child poverty come forward urgently. It does not, however, take a rocket scientist to figure out where to start, and, Minister, you can stick these proposals in the strategy. We need to start by providing free school meals to all children. We need to stop cutting their parents' pay. We need to fund the services on which they rely. We need to regulate and challenge the corporate profiteers — the energy companies and supermarkets, among others — who profit while children lie cold and go hungry. <BR /> <BR />We can stop hiking people's rates and rents.”
“A few years ago, I saw a devastating and heartbreaking report that found that Tory austerity had caused over 333,000 excess deaths. That is an unbelievable figure. Why have the Stormont Executive followed their policy once again? Why are the new Executive doing what previous ones did? In my view, it is because the Executive have no alternative. They have accepted child poverty as an inevitable feature of our society, in spite of the obscene wealth that is concentrated in fewer and fewer private hands. <BR /> <BR />I am sure that we have all seen — it has been referred to already — the stat that 62·7% of children living in poverty are from working families. Those are children whose parents and family members staff this very Building, as well as our hospitals, schools, public transport, restaurants, factories, shops and so on.”
“"We despise child poverty", say the parties around me who have spent a decade and more impoverishing children in working-class communities like mine. "Let us reduce child poverty", say some who voted for welfare reforms like the punishing two-child tax limit. "We need a strategy to end child poverty", say parties and politicians who, last week, voted for a new round of budget cuts, including restrictions on workers' pay. <BR /> <BR />Child poverty is a deliberate policy that is pursued by the Stormont Executive. It can only be a deliberate policy that has seen Stormont's Executive parties refuse to bring forward an anti-poverty strategy in the past two decades. It can only be a deliberate policy to follow the lead of a Tory Administration that has overseen the worst drop in living standards since records began.”
“I start by saying that it is deplorable in the extreme that at least one in five children here live in poverty. I say "at least" because I am sure that that is a conservative figure. The figure is around 30% in my constituency. It is not just a stat; it refers to children who go cold and hungry, children who are denied opportunities to socialise, and children whose very development is stunted by the crushing economic policies of the Tories and their abettors in this Assembly. <BR /> <BR />In the debate, we have heard fine words from seemingly fine people who say that they want to end child poverty. Those are fine words because they are abstract, and they are abstract because they are hypothetical in their aims. They are far removed from the nasty policies of the current and previous Executives.”
“There has been an orchestrated campaign against the trans and non-binary community across these islands. I urge you to not follow that, especially given recent comments at the Health Committee. Minister, what commitment will you give to young trans people that they will be able to get access to puberty blockers and gender reaffirming services without any intervention from you, your Department or your officials?”