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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“As far back as December 2021, when we had a working Executive, I submitted a call for parties to suspend the winter recess to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. Back then, that, too, was branded a stunt. The same parties voted against our proposal to cut and freeze rents for private renters, who are being increasingly squeezed by greedy landlords. Given the number of landlords in the Chamber, that might not come as a surprise. The cost-of-living crisis raged for months, and the Stormont Executive simply looked on. The same politicians presided over a decade of austerity, reduced the pay of workers, implemented cuts to public services, introduced the cruel welfare reform measures — the list goes on and on.”
“A recent study by the University of York suggested that over half of UK households will be in fuel poverty by January 2023. I suspect that that will be higher here. The effect that that will have, come winter, will be catastrophic, but the Minister has shown no urgency to address the problem. We have an 11-year-old outdated fuel poverty strategy, while people will freeze in their homes this winter. That fact alone is a glaring indictment of the record of successive Communities Ministers. <BR /> <BR />Although it must be said that we in People Before Profit believe that the DUP should end its boycott of the Assembly, we do not believe that the restoration of the institutions will be the silver bullet to solve the multitude of problems that we face.”
“This week, the Education Minister disgracefully backed plans to cut the salaries of striking teachers who are taking action to defend their basic right to have a decent wage. That is disgusting and straight out of the Tory playbook. <BR /> <BR />The DUP is not alone in presiding over that approach of kicking working-class people in the teeth. Previously, the Health Minister, endorsed by Executive colleagues, decided to offer health workers a below-inflation pay offer. The Assembly may not be fully functioning, but Ministers can still make important decisions. The problem is that the ones that they make are not in the interests of ordinary working-class people. We also have a Sinn Féin Communities Minister who has done nowhere near enough to get money into the pockets of those who need it most.”
“They are also aware that the political Establishment in this Chamber has refused to lift a finger to challenge this. <BR /> <BR />Worse still, the DUP has used its ministerial platforms to launch direct attacks on working-class people who have the temerity to fight for better wages.”
“We have only to look at the sitting DUP Economy Minister, Mr Lyons, who has sat on his hands while energy companies have made record profits. He has not even opened his mouth. Just today, we see that oil giants BP and Shell's profits, between April and June this year, have outstripped the entire budget for the North for the year. Those costs are being passed on to our constituents by the very companies that the Minister and his department are supposed to regulate and keep in check. He has utterly failed to do so. That the Minister has refused to implement energy price caps and reductions is a scandal, but people are becoming increasingly aware that the hardships they face are directly linked to the profiteering of a grotesque and ultra-rich minority.”
“Once again, the DUP have shown themselves to be completely and utterly self-serving in their approach to politics here by their actions today. At a time when a cost-of-living crisis is driving people into destitution, their cynical phrase-mongering around the protocol simply does not wash. The reality is that they are wilfully ignoring the plight of the vast majority of people who are struggling to keep their heads above water due to spiralling costs and political inaction. They have abdicated from their responsibility for tackling the current crisis and have done so to suit their own narrow political interests. <BR /> <BR />While the DUP refuse to do business in the Chamber, they also refuse to do business outside it.”
“Regardless of whether an Executive are formed today or whenever, urgent action needs to be taken on those questions. Waiting for a resolution or an agreement in this Building does not cut it in this period for me. Change is always slow in coming from this Building. Repeatedly and often, it has been a block to progress and advancement. We need to follow the likes of the Caterpillar workers in west Belfast and Larne, who are going on the offensive and challenging inadequate pay deals and changes to their job that will see them forced into completing compulsory overtime without having any say-so. Workers are right to take action now to fight back, and we should stand in solidarity and encourage every one of them to do so.”
“As I have said before, a deal below the rate of inflation is a real-terms pay cut. Officially, inflation is at 10% and is set to go higher, but we know that even that percentage does not truly reflect the cost-of-living increase, as food items are up by 20% and 50% in some aisles. <BR /> <BR />At the same time, we see the profits of big supermarket chains such as Tesco literally double. What are Ministers doing now about capping the cost of food so that people can afford their weekly shop and eat food that is good for their health? If anything has been especially clear in the past two years, it is that leaving it up to the market does not work and only bolsters the profits and strength of shareholders and already super-rich individuals. <BR /> <BR />We need government action now. We need ministerial action now.”
“That is not just my assessment and that of my party. A recent Ulster University study found that many households here were struggling before the recent cost-of-living crisis. As part of a life and times survey, research conducted last year found that 62% of people did not think that the Executive were doing enough to address poverty. I therefore ask the parties in the House that would potentially form an Executive what guarantees they will give workers, especially everyone who was on the front line during the pandemic. I ask that they not plough ahead again with pay offers that are below the rising rate of inflation. Inflation is sitting at 10% — the highest in 40 years — and is set to rise. If that is the case, nobody in society should be left to stomach pay offers below that rate.”
“There can be no scabbing in a cost-of-living crisis. In truth, if an Executive were formed today or tomorrow, it could — I emphasise "could" — act on all those issues. However, Ministers and Members had a chance to act on the issues before but refused to take the required action in the previous mandate or in the mandate before that. <BR /> <BR />Truth be told, the past record leaves a lot to be desired, to put it mildly. On every measuring stick, the big parties here have failed miserably to reduce poverty, increase wages and tackle wealth inequality. The previous Executive endorsed pay cuts across the board for workers, disgracefully sided with landlords when they had the chance to reduce private-sector rents and have left the wealthy unscathed during the pandemic. They failed to protect people.”
“We have an unbelievable situation: the average rent in Belfast is extortionate, and people are struggling, but most landlords are raking it in. Furthermore, consider the fact that rent went up again last year and continues to soar while landlords in student areas such as the Holylands and the like are pulling in £1·8 billion from renters, making this city — Belfast — the most lucrative for landlords. They are putting profit before people and decent housing conditions. Teachers in one of the biggest unions — the NASUWT — are balloting for strike action over inadequate pay and poor terms and conditions. Assembly staff in this Building are still challenging changes to working conditions and inadequate pay offers. I stand with them in that fight. I urge every MLA to do so and to refuse to cross their picket line.”
“Some three weeks after the election results, it is clear, more than ever, that the actions of the DUP are causing more and more people to be furious with its refusal to form an Executive. People have been left to the wolves of monopoly energy companies to charge whatever they like for the necessities of life and are rightly asking what Ministers here will do about it. What will they do to tackle the fact that heads of companies such as BP are arrogantly bragging that their organisation and industry is a cash machine for shareholders and the wealthy? People are languishing in jobs for which employers are not paying a level that allows them to live with some enjoyment and dignity without being forced to count every penny. People are asking what Ministers here are doing about it.”
“<BR /> <BR />The DUP has been a continual barrier to progress in this place, and there is no democratic rationale or reason for it to boycott the position of deputy First Minister. Sinn Féin should not be blocked from the position of First Minister because it is a nationalist party or because of the games being played over the protocol. However, let us be honest: real change in our society will not come from within this Building. It will happen out in the streets and on the picket lines with workers who are Catholics, Protestants, migrants and people who are classed as "other" in this part of the world. That is where I will be next week regardless of whether this place is reconvened.”
“Our message is simple: if bills are rapidly rising, so should workers' wages. No more below-inflation pay offers. They are unfair and unacceptable. <BR /> <BR />Today, we have to call out the actions of the DUP and its obstruction. For all its talk about the protocol, poll after poll has shown that it is not a priority nor the number-one issue that people are vexed about, whether they class themselves as unionist, nationalist or other. In many ways, it is a manufactured crisis. Where was the DUP crisis about the decades of divergence on women's rights in this place from those in Britain? The DUP tried to cause panic and fear and to whip people up on the basis of fear and division in order to save its seats. The vast majority of people did not vote for this and should not be held to ransom by the DUP's self-serving actions.”
“Mr Speaker, I wish you well. I was going to say "in your retirement", but, somehow, I think that you may not be able to retire from this place or politics. I wish you well and thank you for your service. <BR /> <BR />I also thank the good people of West Belfast for returning me to the Assembly. I am proud to take up the baton as the socialist opposition in the House and to hold any incoming Executive to account. Boy, will that be needed if an Executive are formed. <BR /> <BR />Our communities are struggling with soaring energy and fuel bills. Truth be told, when the Executive were sitting, they ignored the plight of workers and those who were struggling. That is why Translink workers will take strike action next week and why we are likely to see Assembly staff go out on strike in the near future.”
“Does the Member accept that the Bill, if passed, will allow anti-choice organisations, not that I am encouraging them, to protest outside Stormont, councils and government buildings, and that the restriction is limited only to healthcare settings?”
“Therefore, as the law stands, restrictions, written and unwritten, are already in place. <BR /> <BR />The restrictions in the Bill are limited, but that, as much as I vigorously oppose anti-abortion organisations and the way in which they conduct themselves in their activities, is as it should be. I have been on many counter-protests, as has the Member. Those organisations will still be able to demonstrate and put their point across, just not outside healthcare clinics, and that is as it should be. They should not be and are not banned from protesting in cities and towns across this place. I commend the Member on the Bill and am happy to support it.”
“There has been some talk about freedom of speech and the right to assemble, but the truth is that there already are general restrictions in place for protests but not people who are anti-choice. I have been on anti-racism protests. Several years ago, a diversity carnival, no less, was not allowed to go through Belfast city centre and was redirected so that people could take the back roads, the excuse being sensitivities around the Primark fire and potential threats to businesses' profits. We hear nothing about that from people who oppose the Bill. Black Lives Matter protesters who had no freedom to assemble on 5 June were, despicably, targeted and fined.”
“Anti-abortion laws and laws or policies that do not commission abortion services do not stop abortions; they merely export the health issue, which is exactly what abortion is.”
“I am happy to speak on the Bill today. I have supported it all the way through and am happy to do so at its Final Stage. I commend the Member for getting to this stage with the Bill. Hopefully, it passes today. <BR /> <BR />It is also welcome news today that the Secretary of State will intervene if the Health Minister and the Department do not move to introduce legislation to allow abortion services. It is a real shame that the Minister did not move to commission services earlier in the mandate. His party is obviously rebranding as progressives but has not moved to allow basic services for women to access terminations in this part of the world, which, as we have heard, has forced thousands of women to travel for terminations.”
“Thanks to the Minister — not the Deputy Speaker — for letting me come in late, as it were. I just want to say briefly that I support the Bill at its Final Stage. I have supported it throughout its various stages. I commend the Member. I do not want to tempt fate, but it looks as though it will be passed today. If that is the case, it will lift one burden off the shoulders of our health workers. However, the burden that I raised this morning with the Minister of pay and below-inflation pay still stands. I hope that that will be addressed soon. I support the Bill at its Final Stage. Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and Minister.”
“I was proud to stand with RMT workers and former P&O workers at Larne harbour on Friday past against that despicable decision. Minister, their union is calling for the public ownership of P&O and its fleet so that the jobs can be kept and the service allowed to continue. Do you support that call? People will find your talk of making employers do the right thing a bit hollow considering that you and your party voted against the trade union freedom Bill only a matter of weeks ago.”
“Does the Member recognise that it is not just nationalists who support and stand for Irish language rights but liberals, those in the centre ground, socialists and people on the left? Will you take that point on board?”
“I will vote against this disgraceful prayer of annulment today.”
“My response to those who claim to have concerns about the ghettoisation of a language is that we can see how ridiculous that comment is. Despite this being open to everybody to use, there is still opposition to it. <BR /> <BR />In my view, people should not be asked to keep their head down or keep their Irish ciúin. As I said, there should be more of it. Níl mé líofa; tá mé a foghlaim le cúpla bliain. My son was born four months ago, and I would have liked the option to register him in Irish. He has an Irish name, and I hope that his céad teanga will be Irish: that is my aim and that of his mother. <BR /> <BR />The fact that, in reality, there is an attempt to stir up hatred around this issue is disgraceful and despicable. It does not fill me with despair; it fills me with anger. It should be robustly challenged and called out.”
“I was not going to speak, but I think that I have to. It is pretty absurd to be speaking on this issue, to be frank. We are discussing it in the context of a cost-of-living crisis and workers' wages being cut. Seriously, will people be asking why the Assembly spent whatever the amount was? Yet we are talking about this prayer of annulment. <BR /> <BR />To pick this issue, highlight it and have a debate on it is a blatant attempt to shift politics generally and the election to the right. Disgracefully, with the DUP's response, the Member may have got what he wanted here today. We are talking about an amendment to a form. What an embarrassment that people have caused so much outrage and bluster on that basic point. I say more Irish language — gach áit — all over the place.”
“I thank the Member for raising the issue. My thoughts are with the young people who have been failed and put at risk. The Minister practically stated that the recruitment and retention of staff may have exacerbated some of those inexcusable failures. What assessment has he and his team made of the suggestion that such services should not be supplied by charities but by the state and the NHS, to avoid a repeat of any of these cataclysmic and heartbreaking failures?”
“<BR /> <BR />We needed to put housing before private profit, but the Bill has failed to do that. It is disappointing in that regard.”
“I know that Housing Rights raised some issues with it. I am not aware whether Renters' Voice did, but I am happy to be corrected. However, the point stands: parties in the House voted to reduce rents and then did a U-turn. It was laughable and embarrassing stuff. <BR /> <BR />The message that has been sent out is that there are no restrictions on landlords' ability to continue to make profit and to squeeze private renters at a time of unprecedented crisis. It is not good enough to say or to imply that the issue will be dealt with at some stage down the line when we may not even have a Communities Minister, an Executive or an Assembly to speak of. People need the help now, and they needed it many years ago. The Bill has failed to protect those people from being hit by extortionate rents, and I do not use that word lightly.”
“In the last two years, during COVID, we saw legislation that limited people's ability to leave their house, implementing effective curfews and restrictions on people's ability to move. However, when it came to cutting and freezing rents in an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, we heard cries of horror from the House. They were louder from some of the landlords who are represented on the opposite Benches.”
“Reading the Bill at its Final Stage, there is not much in it that I would oppose; indeed, as I said at Second Stage, there is stuff in the Bill that I generally welcome and believe to be positive. However, on the whole, the Bill is absolutely a missed opportunity for those who are in private rented accommodation. The message that is being sent to the hundreds of thousands of private renters is this: "Do not look to the Minister. Do not look to the Executive if you are looking to get a cut and a freeze in rents". My amendment was not just well intentioned; it was well supported by those who are in private rented accommodation. <BR /> <BR />Many rules went out the window during COVID, but one thing that remains now and throughout is that landlords have the ability to operate with impunity when it comes to setting rents for private renters.”
“Thanks, Mr Speaker. Does the Member agree that it is very concerning to hear quotes of legal advice? That certainly has not been presented to me; I do not know about the Member. It is very worrying and suspicious to hide behind that to oppose a vote on a Bill.”
“Groan all you want. Does the Member agree with me —”
“The Minister needs to ensure that it receives all the support and funding that is required. She also needs to ensure that those youth organisations that have been threatened with cuts and closure, like Glór na Móna, get the funding that they deserve. I am happy to support the Bill.”
“I am well aware that the party bringing the Bill may not agree with me on this, but the only way, or the main way, for integrated education to be delivered is by closing or merging schools. There are areas across the North where schools are oversubscribed, and we do not see closures of schools and integrated education as having the same aim. In attempting to improve education on the whole, integrated education is only one step, and investment is, obviously, another crucial step. Therefore, the reservation that I held previously is gone, and I am happy to endorse the Bill. <BR /> <BR />Obviously, the Irish-medium sector was not mentioned in the Bill, but it is an important sector that is non-denominational. It is growing, but it faces huge barriers and obstacles.”
“Our preference is that academic selection at the age of 11 would be abolished and that children of all religions and abilities should be catered for, ideally in the school that is closest to them or in the one that they should go to, rather than further segregating them on the basis of ability at such a young age. <BR /> <BR />While we would probably go further than the aims set out in the Bill, we support its going forward, because we agree with promoting and funding integrated education so that we can begin to end the outdated and divisive segregation of children and to educate them alongside their peers, regardless of background or religion. <BR /> <BR />I am also glad that any reference to the "effective use of resources" has been removed from the Bill.”
“That is in no way to impinge on the rights of people to practise religion, of course, or even to end religious tradition being taught in an academic manner in schools, but it is to say that education through the prism of religion should not be standard. Religious ethos does not belong in a modern education system. <BR /> <BR />All children, regardless of religion or any other factor, should be welcome to the same standard of education as any other school across the North. It is important that we recognise the growing number of people who do not subscribe to any religion and for whom there is no option for secular or integrated education in their local area at all.”
“It is important to note that, despite claims to the contrary for years about a shared future, both blocs of unionism and nationalism have much to gain from communalism and division. <BR /> <BR />People Before Profit would prefer to see a wholly secular education system. We have seen the impact of religious influence in schools already, whereby young people are ill-equipped for the formative years of their lives and taught that whom they love is wrong and that abortion is a sin punishable by God. That may chime well with a certain Christian ethos, but, in 2022, it is outdated, ignorant of basic science and outright dangerous, given the danger that the lack of education on consent and safe sex creates for young people.”
“We thank the Bill sponsor for bringing it. During a period when sectarian tensions have been artificially heightened for months, it could not be clearer why we need an end to division in our schools. The heightened tensions in the run-up to the election have been fuelled from the very top, and I fear that it will potentially get worse as 5 May approaches. That same kind of divisive politics has maintained segregated education, dividing children along religious lines into one camp or the other before they can even understand what camp they are supposed to belong to and why. It is incredible that that continues in 2022, and, frankly, both sides of the Chamber must foster some of the blame for that, whether that is by opposing an end to segregated education or maintaining it by default.”
“I am happy to speak at the Final Stage of the Bill. As we waited to hear whether the UUP would throw its weight behind a petition of concern from the DUP, I did not get any sensible justification as to why either party would oppose integrated education and the Bill in that way. No one is really surprised that the DUP would try to block the Bill, of course — I will come on to that — but it is another hit to the progressive facade of the UUP. <BR /> <BR />To be frank, with respect to the Bill sponsor, the Bill is pretty tame. Its language has even been refined somewhat as it progressed through the House. It is even more baffling why any party that tells the electorate that it wants to see a progressive future here would contemplate blocking or voting against it. <BR /> <BR />On the contrary, we will support the Bill once again.”
“The Budget does not have money for that or the other issues that I mentioned, and for the reasons that I outlined, I cannot give the Bill my support.”
“<BR /> <BR />Since the DUP withdrew from the Executive, there has been a real focus on three-year and one-year Budgets. That is a relevant debate. The DUP's actions must be called out, as it is trying to protect itself from electoral annihilation. However, to those who think that the three-year Budget is the magic solution, I will say this: it is not. It does not scratch the surface of what we need to see implemented in order to protect jobs, communities and services more generally. <BR /> <BR />If the crucial issue of public-sector pay were resolved by being uplifted, for example, that could help to resolve the cost-of-living crisis overnight. Nothing that is in the Budget Bill concretely addresses that, and, once again, workers are faced with another year, if not longer, of pay freezes and cuts.”
“The only way that many people can get treatment quickly is if they have the money to pay for it privately. <BR /> <BR />The health workers who carried us through COVID and who were clapped for and applauded are now struggling to live on low wages. Immediate funding is needed to uplift their pay and protect services. It is worth remembering that all the Executive parties have endorsed the below-inflation pay offer to our health service workers. That is unfair and inadequate. I cannot stand by and support it. Of course, that is not to mention the threat to NHS dentistry, which, as we heard yesterday, is going to the wall and does not have sufficient allocation to protect and enhance NHS dentistry work. That will have massive health implications across our communities.”
“Where is the urgency when it comes to addressing the cost-of-living crisis that is faced by people right across our communities today? Money must be found urgently in order to tackle the wages poverty and to give people a fair deal. Politicians must show the same urgency in dealing with those issues and in mental health as they did during COVID. <BR /> <BR />The Minister said that the allocation that we are debating and voting on today does not provide adequately for our health service. Indeed it does not. For years upon years, our health service has been hammered by services being cut, privatisation creeping in and being allowed to exist, and, obviously, by the pandemic. Waiting lists have increased to the point that large numbers of people are languishing in pain without any sign of treatment in sight.”
“When you turn on the news, you cannot get away from the fact that there is a cost-of-living crisis at the moment. People are struggling, and the Executive have failed to stand by them. The Executive are ramming through the Bill, which does not adequately meet what people need or deserve. On average, prices are up by over 5%. The cost of petrol and diesel is up by over 20%. The average home's energy bills are up by around £1,000 from last year, and they are set to rise yet again. People are struggling like never before, and no solutions are being offered to deal with that. <BR /> <BR />For decades, we were told that there was no money to pay for services to fund proper wage increases. Then, during the pandemic, billions were found and spent.”
“Amendment No 2, which is my name, reflects the concerns that Members had in the previous debate about the time and provides greater protection for tenants. <BR /> <BR />Amendment Nos 3 and 9, which are also in my name, make non-adherence to a decision of the Assembly to support reducing rents by 10% and freezing rents for three years an offence and sets out stipulations for the court to make that a reality. I ask Members to oppose amendment No 1, which is in the Minister's name, and to back those that are in mine. As for the amendments that the Minister's party voted for and that, others have said, are incompetent, I ask her to show us the evidence of that.”
“The truth is that there is a powerful lobby for landlords, including a significant number of MLAs. I am here to challenge that consensus. For those reasons, I ask all Members to vote against the Minister's amendment No 1.”
“When rents are increased repeatedly year after year, does that not breach the article 1 rights of struggling people and renters, or does the law work only one way?”
“That is also against the backdrop of uncertainty about the existence of an Assembly after 5 May and Ministers perhaps not even being in place. <BR /> <BR />In the debate, much was made about the balance of rights, which, when you say it out loud, sounds pretty absurd. As for the inference, particularly by DUP MLAs, that my amendment would have had an impact solely on landlords, that is the point. A bias against renters has been operating for too long, and my amendment was an attempt, albeit a moderate one, to tip the balance somewhat back the other way. If it turns out, as I am told by some, that reducing rents by 10% and freezing them for three years may breach landlords' article 1 rights, why is the opposite not the case?”
“Her party voted for that amendment less than two weeks ago, and the Minister did not oppose it. Now, she is moving an amendment to effectively take the teeth out of any attempt to reduce and freeze rents, and I presume that her party will follow suit. <BR /> <BR />Once again, the message to renters is, "You're on your own. Don't look to Stormont and the Executive for any support at this time of unparalleled crisis". That is the problem with the Minister's amendment to clause 7. It removes any mention of or commitment to a rent reduction and replaces it with a whole list of things that the Department "may" do. That does not cut the mustard for me. For 20 years, nothing has been put in place to protect private renters, and a significant attempt to do so causes panic.”