Steve Aiken
South Antrim · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Minister, as well as the move to reduce the cost to the Assembly of vacant non-domestic properties and to increase liability so that we will not have so many vacant properties, you will be aware of the Dilapidation Bill and of the conversations that have been taking place in Wales and Scotland about…”
“Instead, that most dysfunctional Department, under the most inept Sinn Féin Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly and a series of grossly over-superannuated permanent secretaries, gave the money back.”
“We know that her Department spends more on legal cases, fighting judicial reviews and being chastised by judges for legal ineptitude and on vesting land and ripping out hedges and fencing and then trying to unvest it and paying even more money to put back the fences and hedges that it took out.”
“We can hardly blame the current permanent secretary, as she has just taken up her post, but, surely, her predecessors must bear some accountability or responsibility, especially considering the senior civil servants' salary scale of between £146,000 and £163,000, with, of course, their taxpayer-funded pension contribution of 34·2% — £218,…”
“It must be said that £181·3 million is a lot of taxpayers' hard-earned money. It is money that is raised from local commuters, vehicle owners, farmers, local businesses, logistics companies and, above all, our constituents — those vital people whom we are elected to represent.”
“The Minister will be aware that, under the public appointments guide published by the Executive Office, it is clear that she is supposed to take independent advice before appointing board members. What independent advice did she receive, particularly about the board members selected?”
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“Today, I met Helen McEntee, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and we talked about the very anomalous situation that we are in, where Sinn Féin keeps talking about North/South cooperation and having a closer all-island system, but it is holding up the North/South interconnector. I will declare another interest, as I am a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA). I attended a meeting in the Oireachtas not two weeks ago at which Cathy Bennett, a Sinn Féin TD, stated that renewable energy should be kept in the Republic of Ireland. She saw no reason for a North/South interconnector or for an I-SEM. I am confused by Sinn Féin's amendment, because it just does not compute. It is not even connected. That was a bit of a pun. It is not connected at all.”
“That is a significant problem for Northern Ireland businesses because we are not in the best of both worlds — in fact, we are in the worst of both worlds — with extra levels of bureaucracy added because of the Windsor framework. <BR /> <BR />There is one issue, on which I agree with Mr Honeyford, which is the need to move towards an all-island energy market. Members will probably know that, under the integrated single electricity market (I-SEM), we do not have a physically connected market. We have two virtual markets, and artificial price controls are utilised to adjust two systems that do not work in the same way and are not connected in the same way whatsoever. <BR /> <BR />I will make a declaration of interest as a former chief executive of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce.”
“The Ulster Unionist Party opposes the motion and the amendment. Members will be aware that trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of our nation equates to about £33·3 billion a year. That £33·3 billion compares with trade between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, which comes in at about £55·4 billion, with about £32 billion of imports coming back the other way. We do not have good trade statistics on North/South. We hear about it a lot, and we even have an organisation that is supposed to promote it — InterTradeIreland — but we do not have any reliable figures on it. <BR /> <BR />HMRC was recently asked to look in detail at the figures because there is a definite case of divergence happening in trade across the Irish Sea, North/South and east-west.”
“I note the Member's comment about the high chair, but it is more like a double buggy. If it is, does the Member agree that it makes no difference? If it made a difference, why not just call them the "co-First Ministers"? That sends a strong message to everybody that they are not, in some way, in constant opposition to each other.”
“Thank you, Phillip. You have raised a point that I was about to come to in the last 30 seconds of my contribution. We need an indication that we are taking the situation seriously, and one of the ways in which we can do that is by making sure that we have an example. You, Phillip, are one of the people who has talked about having a First Minister for all. We do not have a First Minister for all; that is clear. What we should have are co-First Ministers, so equal weight should be given —”
“<BR /> <BR />In 2016, as we all sat here and listened to a debate just as the Assembly was about to come down, it became clear not only that the positions were coequal but that, bearing in mind the confusion that most people had when talking about the two leaders at the time, it was probably more appropriate to call them co-leaders. We know that most elections in Northern Ireland tend to be a case of voters being told, "Vote for us-uns, or you will get them-uns" or "bitty fest" or whatever people do not want to see. To call them co-leaders would be a clear indication to the people of Northern Ireland that we are serious about getting the Northern Ireland Assembly to work. As I have said time and time again, let us return to the factory settings and the intent of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in order to get consensus.”
“How do you perform the difficult balancing act of having consensus and a mandatory coalition when, frankly, the parties that are in government are just as much in opposition to the other parties in government as they are with them? It does not seem to work, but, for the people of Northern Ireland, there has to be an idea that they can look to. Our party has thought about that, and Mike Nesbitt as leader talked about that quite a long time ago. All that we are saying is that the First Minister and deputy First Minister posts are coequal.”
“I was then the leader of Ulster Unionist Party, and I was so surprised by what he said that I stood up and said, "I'm Steve Aiken, and I never realised that Peter Robinson was a supporter of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement". There were about 150 people in the audience at that event, including about 100 from Northern Ireland, and all that I heard were guffaws. <BR /> <BR />To claim that improvements were made to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement at St Andrews is false. I do not think that anybody considers the St Andrews Agreement to have made the circumstances better. The beauty of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was the consensus in it.”
“I thank the Member for his remarks. <BR /> <BR />I remember attending an event at Yale University with various others, including the late, lamented ex-Principal Deputy Speaker Christopher Stalford. The event included a series of discussions about the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, and there was a certain person there who, I must admit that I had not realised, had been so central to the discussions leading to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. That was Peter Robinson. Peter Robinson, throughout the discussions at that event, talked clearly about the importance of what the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement did and, indeed, about the influence that he had had on it. He also talked on many occasions about the consensus that grew from it.”
“That was a fundamental shift away from what had gone before. After decades of violence and terror, the Assembly was designed to work with a degree of consensus and with the support of all in it. <BR /> <BR />Unfortunately and regrettably, after almost every other discussion thereafter, particularly since the St Andrews Agreement, much of that consensus has been broken. Frankly, the aim of the likes of the St Andrews Agreement was to turn what had been the intent of consensus through the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement into two-party majoritarianism. Consensus is difficult enough to achieve with a mandatory coalition, but that consensus was broken at St Andrews.”
“The Ulster Unionist Party welcomes the motion but will not support the amendment. We need to look at the true intent of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. I recently appeared in the media with the leader of the SDLP, when we talked about moving back to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement's factory settings. In particular, strand one of the agreement talks about:”
“Thank you very much, Minister, for being so prompt. In her statement today, Rachel Reeves said that, by the next election, people will be over £1,000 a year better off, accounting for inflation. Looking at the figures and at the limited data that we have so far, can the Minister enlighten us on how the Chancellor thinks we are going to be in that situation? I cannot see it.”
“<BR /> <BR />Antisemitism is not confined to protests and demonstrations and the extremist views that are spread everywhere. It is experienced in the places where people work, study and try to access essential services. The digital targeting is particularly offensive and insidious. Holocaust distortion and denial is commonplace. Antisemitic conspiracies are everywhere: not only are they talking about historical issues, they are now talking about contemporary and other active issues. One of the worst things is that people were specifically identified by their accent, by speaking Hebrew in public, by wearing Jewish symbols or by being Jewish. That has absolutely nothing to do with a person's views or accounts; it just shows the degree of antisemitism that is prevalent in the Irish Republic. Something must be done.”
“The saddening but key points about the insidious racism of antisemitism are that, among a population of 2,200 people who identified as Jewish, there were 143 antisemitic incidents. Worse than that, the council believes that antisemitic incidents are being under-reported by 75%. There is no official state mechanism for recording antisemitic incidents, but the most common forms of harm included verbal abuse or slurs, threats and direct intimidation. The incidents occurred in everyday settings and everyday environments. A third were reported in public spaces: in educational settings, such as universities and schools; in workplaces; in healthcare settings; in retail and hospitality settings; on public transport; and in homes and residential contexts.”
“Anyone who has witnessed the vile antisemitic slurs that have emanated from the Republic of Ireland recently, highlighted by two Jewish protesters being dragged out of a Holocaust event, which the then Irish president used as an opportunity to denigrate Israel, and the debacle over the attempts to rename Chaim Herzog Park in Dublin, will realise that Ireland has a particular problem with antisemitism that is made much worse by the fact that people, from the Taoiseach down, deny that there is an obvious issue. <BR /> <BR />Ireland does not officially record incidents of antisemitism, so the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland took on that task and, yesterday, published its findings.”
“Is that a part of pan-Europeanism that we should all celebrate? I could tie into that. Those are President Macron's words.”
“The Member will be aware that other countries in the European Union have concerns about defence-related issues. President Macron has decided today to increase the number of nuclear weapons that France has. He said:”
“No, because I in a sedentary position, and the Principal Deputy Speaker would pick me up for speaking from a sedentary position.”
“Thank you very much indeed. You will notice, of course, that that is what the EU presidency has asked for. That is what is on the agenda for the EU presidency, and that is what Ireland is going to do. We did not add anything; that is what the European Union wants from the Irish presidency.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. He will be interested to know that it has just been announced that the EU mutual defence clause is about to be enacted to support Cyprus. Ireland says that it is going to support that, so where is all this neutrality business?”
“I thank the Member very much indeed for giving way. Could he point out to me where, in the EU Irish presidency agenda, there is any mention of a united Ireland? I cannot see it.”
“As those relationships grow, we must also call on the Irish EU presidency to mitigate, as a measure of its good faith on improving UK-EU relations, the divergent and disruptive impact of the Windsor framework. As the United Kingdom increasingly writes the cheque for the defence of the Irish Republic, it will be important for the EU presidency to recognise that the Irish Republic's security during the period of its presidency of the Council of the European Union will be provided by the United Kingdom and France. To those who would argue about Irish neutrality and sovereignty, I say that they have, in effect, given those away by not defending their own territory.”
“The forthcoming directives on digital markets and data adequacy, digital fairness, corporate sustainability, financial disclosure, green claims and more that are coming down the Brussels track will act as impediments to, rather than enhancements of, Northern Ireland's multi-market access. An agreement to protect trade has done the exact opposite. The much-trailed movements on the sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) scheme will not reduce the impact of those fundamentally divergent regulations. They will do nothing to protect the single market but will further undermine competitiveness here. <BR /> <BR />By agreeing our amendment, we can send to Ireland, as it takes on its presidency role, the message that we are enhancing closer EU-UK security and defence and helping Ukraine.”
“The reality is that the inflexible and bureaucratic nature of EU laws, regulations and directives, coupled with the unyielding and overly legalistic interpretation by the Northern Ireland Office and the rest of Whitehall of every rule and regulation, has doomed us to the worst of both worlds in the past five years. It would be impudent of me to say, "Every jot and tittle", but you get the message. <BR /> <BR />Since the creeping extension of the Irish sea border, one thing has become obvious: there is absolutely no risk to the single European market from intra-UK trade. In fact, issues arising from the carbon border adjustment mechanism and the emissions trading scheme are as disruptive to the European market as they are to Northern Ireland.”
“As the Irish Government now officially ask the Royal Navy and the Marine Nationale to patrol Irish waters and the RAF and the Armée de l'Air to patrol Irish skies, formal links are being built. This will also bring about closer cooperation on energy markets — electricity and gas — and cyber relationships, with the Irish EU presidency seeking to bring the UK and the EU into alignment. We can all call on the Taoiseach to accelerate the timeline for a trade and cooperation agreement so that we get it before 2027. <BR /> <BR />That brings us to our critical ask of the Irish EU presidency. Nobody, not even the most rigorous of rigorous implementers, can deny the extra costs, divergence and disruptions in our internal UK market: the Windsor framework is not working.”
“I hope that they will support our amendment and join the rest of us right-minded thinkers in supporting the EU's aim of "Slava Ukraini". <BR /> <BR />The urgent matters of wider European rearmament and bringing the UK into the wider European defence landscape constitute another issue that the Irish EU presidency will address with urgency. Bringing the United Kingdom and the EU closer, using defence procurement, energy security and, through ERASMUS, higher education and research, will be of great benefit to us in Northern Ireland. The Irish Republic's taking the lead on that will open up further avenues for North/South and east-west relationships. That is especially the case as new avenues of trust are being opened.”
“That is why we tabled an amendment to the motion. All MLAs who value our European relationships will welcome as much as we do the renewed emphasis on European security as the central theme of the Irish presidency. I also hope that Members who support the EU presidency’s clear support for Ukraine will recognise the importance to us all of Ukraine's successful prevention of continued aggression from Putin. Unlike when Sinn Féin did not support in the European Parliament the €90 billion loan to President Zelenskyy's Government, we hope that its Members will not identify with those anti-Ukraine parties: such paragons of democracy as Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) and the Rassemblement National (RN).”
“The points were reiterated last week at Queen's University by Thomas Byrne, the Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, who stated:”
“The EU president was very cognisant of the drone attacks and cyber sabotage conducted in Poland, of the cyberattacks in Denmark, the Netherlands and France and of recent incursions into Ireland's air space. All are European countries and members of the EU. The attacks have all been attributed, in one way or another, to Russia. She has also stated that Europe's neglect of its own security is now an "uncomfortable truth" that now "has fundamentally changed". Indeed, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said that high on the agenda of the EU presidency's themes for 2026 is a focus on defence readiness, support for Ukraine and economic competitiveness in light of a rapidly changing transatlantic relationship. He also underlined the importance of the EU's role in addressing international issues, particularly the war in Ukraine.”
“I thank the Member for her intervention. She has obviously had previous sight of my speech, as I will raise such issues as we go along. Thank you very much, indeed. Great minds think alike. <BR /> <BR />She has also carefully noted that article 42(7) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) calls for all member states to provide:”
“<BR /> <BR />In the words of the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, maximising opportunities in those areas will significantly allow Europe under the Irish presidency's leadership — note the word "leadership" — to start delivering a much changed European Union. She recently stated:”
“The Ulster Unionist Party welcomes the fact that Ireland will take the helm of the presidency of the Council of the European Union later this year. It comes at a time of great strategic opportunity, not just for Northern Ireland but for the rest of our nation, Ireland and the European Union. It also comes at a time when strategic leadership is needed in a complex and unstable Europe and in our near neighbourhood. Our amendment identifies with the key themes of the EU presidency, as articulated by the EU president, the Taoiseach and the Council of Ministers. Those key themes, as our fellow Europhiles in the Chamber will note — I am looking for our fellow Europhiles — are defence, security, infrastructure, research and innovation, energy and skills.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I make a declaration of interest for Mr O'Toole: I call myself a "John Hewitt-ist". I am British, Northern Irish and Irish, and I am a European as well. I am also a member of the incurious Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee, and that might account for some of the language as I go through.”
“Thank you, Minister, for your remarks so far. On the issue of the decarbonisation agenda, at a recent meeting that I attended in the Oireachtas, I was surprised that Cathy Bennett TD stated that there was no need for renewables to be transferred out of the island of Ireland, particularly out of the Republic of Ireland, and that, therefore, there was no need for the North/South interconnector. Did you and the Irish Government Minister who attended discuss that issue? Is the North/South interconnector still a priority for both Governments?”
“Minister, you will be aware that some of the banks are removing themselves from some of our small towns and not-so-small towns. As a result of their doing so, they are supposed to work towards creating banking hubs and related processes. Is there any indication of why they are not doing that? I refer particularly to the town of Larne, where that has happened.”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. Of that £130 million, minus £9 million, why did the Department for Infrastructure not bid for extra funding for all the other problems that it has? That seems strange. I am looking at just the accounting process, because I do not have the big book in front of me, but it seems that that money has gone straight back to you, Minister — into the centre — apart from the £9 million, which seems to be the only thing that has been spent.”
“Thank you very much indeed. Your predecessor was always clear in pointing out what was or, indeed, was not in the "black box", but, on this occasion, the reduction from over £1 billion to £17 million shows a bit of progress.”
“I declare an interest as chair of the all-party group on aerospace and space. <BR /> <BR />Minister, you will be aware that Airbus seeks to expand in Northern Ireland. Will you outline what your Department can do to reach out to it, specifically in the area of skills, which relates to the previous comments from Mrs Dodds about tapping into that Ministry of Defence money?”
“<BR /> <BR />I notice that we are looking at some special accounting processes for financial transactions capital in the future. I do not have the in-depth Estimates in front of me, and it has no doubt been addressed that, sooner or later, Members, at least those on the Finance Committee, will get a copy of the cream book so that we can spend the next week or so going through it with a fine-tooth comb. There is a question about how we account for FTC in its new form, and I would be delighted to work out where that comes from. That concludes my remarks, but there will be more from me tomorrow.”
“Thank you very much indeed, Principal Deputy Speaker. Minister, I am glad that you think that we are not under special measures. I just do not think that everybody else thinks that. <BR /> <BR />The real issue that we have is this: what are the implications when it comes to our future budgeting and how we manage it? We are now in a situation where, thank goodness, we have the Vote on Account back down to where it normally sits — at about the 45% level — rather than at the previous 65% level, which was completely unprecedented. In this period, does that give us the necessary vires to spend future moneys during the next part of the budgeting process? What I am trying to say, Minister, is that Treasury got a block on us budgeting, and, if there is, thanks for confirming that, Minister.”
“We have been put under special measures because, quite frankly, the Treasury does not trust our bookkeeping. Many of us have concerns with the open-book approach, and I have questions that I would like answered, but I have not had those answers yet. Does the open-book approach mean that this will continue ever more and that we will always be under close scrutiny from the Treasury, or is it another case of, "Just on this one occasion"? What are the likely implications of that?”
“Bearing in mind the issues that we have with potholes on the roads, Northern Ireland Water, the A5 and road safety, it seems rather strange that we have a £133·9 million underspend in the infrastructure sector. <BR /> <BR />I am also glad to see that the black box has reduced considerably. When other Members used to sit on the Finance Committee, it was, at one stage or another, sitting at close to £1 billion. It has now reduced considerably to £17·2 million. That is much appreciated, and I encourage the Department of Finance to keep its fingers very closely on it to make sure that that continues. <BR /> <BR />However, with disclaimed as well as qualified accounts, it is not surprising, Minister, that we have now — albeit the Treasury is being very polite — been put under special measures.”
“Thank you very much indeed, Minister, for bringing the Estimates before us. <BR /> <BR />Members will notice that we have a £32 billion Budget for 2025-26, with £18·8 billion in RDEL, £2·14 billion in CDEL and £10·6 billion in AME. That gives us £20·94 billion in RDEL and CDEL combined, which is, by any recommendation, the largest Budget that Northern Ireland has ever had. We also note the £9·46 billion in health costs and the costs in various other areas. <BR /> <BR />I will draw attention to infrastructure, particularly the £1·6 billion budget. In the way that I read it, it looks as if there was an underspend of £133·9 million in capital when it comes to infrastructure.”
“I declare an interest as the chair of the all-party group (APG) on aerospace and space. Will the Member agree with me that it is vital for our ADS sector to have a skilled workforce and for it to have the ability to invest heavily in that workforce in order to make the sector work?”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. The issue about mapping is fundamental. I have written to you and to the Finance Minister about updating the mapping. Has the recent flood inundation been looked at against the flood maps? My understanding is that they do not match in any way, because of the recent volume of rainfall. That brings me to the question about when the data was taken. Will the Minister please investigate when we were able to update the modelling and the flood mapping? I understand that the insurance industry has updated mapping, but our concern is that it is not available to planners or residents.”
“The most interesting thing, perhaps, from the Minister's perspective, is that while, previously, areas that were thought to be flood-prone might, at least, have included those beside culverts, ditches and small streams, they are now much wider. Estates are even being flooded in Ballyclare that are nowhere near rivers and are on higher ground.”
“It was noteworthy that, in Ballynure, of all places, one of the problems was that, due to the height of the river, water could not drain away, and there was flooding around the school and that area. That has not been seen before, but it was actually predicted.”
“Minister, that is not an act of unpredictable, extreme weather; it is a failure of policy.”
“The floods are also a wake-up call to you and other Ministers to stop ignoring the responsibility to ensure that you have updated policies and, above all, modelling of what is happening and what is likely to happen. The so-called 100-year events will not be 100 years apart, as some think; they will not even be annual events. As we have seen from the rainfall that we are having, we are looking at extreme weather events happening four, five or maybe six times a year. We will be affected not just in the winter but in all seasons, including the summer. <BR /> <BR />The flooding events are not unpredictable. My constituents and other people across Northern Ireland cannot be refused the best guidance and planning policy because officialdom has not updated its basic information or policy for a quarter of a century.”
“<BR /> <BR />Minister, the Six Mile river also offers an opportunity for environmental and flood management. As local organisations such as the angling association have said, use the river to help us. We should replant suitable vegetation along its banks and create natural sustainable drainage systems (SuDS). After all, the bog meadows in Ballyclare were called that for a reason: the area used to absorb the flooding. We should create biodiversity buffers. We should take the Six Mile river and turn its natural amenities into something that all can enjoy and make much of the river a contiguous park across our council areas.”