Caoimhe Archibald
East Londonderry · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Taken together, that points to a scheme that is operating effectively in its early stages, while, of course, remaining under review as further evidence becomes available. <BR /> <BR />I therefore commend to the Assembly the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026.”
“I seek the Assembly's approval for the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026. The statutory rule was made on 1 April and came into operation on 6 April. It is before the Assembly today under the confirmatory procedure.”
“The 2026 regulatory impact assessment estimates one-off employer familiarisation costs of up to £1·36 million, with wider HMRC implementation costs forecast at £1·5 million and annual systems maintenance costs of around £10,000. It may assist Members to note that early implementation has gone smoothly.”
“The amendment ensures the continued operation of those regulations and forms part of a wider package of legislative measures establishing statutory parental bereavement pay as an entitlement for bereaved parents.”
“The regulations before the Assembly today are a key part of that implementation and ensure the continued operation of the statutory parental bereavement pay framework. The policy objective is clear: to support bereaved working parents at a time of profound loss and provide a minimum standard of protection in law.”
“<BR /> <BR />The confirmatory procedure means that the regulations before the House today have come into operation before the Assembly debate has taken place and must then be approved by the Assembly within the relevant statutory period. In this case, the deadline for approval is 20 September 2026.”
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“We therefore continue to support the extensions, in order to give businesses and the Department the ability to respond appropriately.”
“They are scheduled to be considered by the Committee at its meeting tomorrow. As the Committee has not considered the statutory rule, I am therefore not able to support the motion on its behalf. The Committee has no view, and, on that basis, I will not be opposing the motion. <BR /> <BR />I will now make a couple of comments as the Sinn Féin economy spokesperson. As the Minister said, the SRs are two of a number of regulations being made in respect of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act that we have supported. Obviously, businesses need the flexibility to respond, and we are cognisant of the impact that the restrictions are having on businesses. The crisis has continued a lot longer than many of us, and this legislation, had anticipated.”
“<BR /> <BR />As the Minister indicated, under section 32(1) of the Act, the power that the Department or the British Secretary of State has to make regulations under section 28 is set to expire on 30 April. Section 32 includes provision to make regulations that substitute a later expiry date for the one currently specified. It specifies that the new date has to be within the period of one year from the current date, and must be within the two-year period following the date on which the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act was passed, which was 25 June 2020. <BR /> <BR />The Committee considered and agreed the SL1 for the draft regulations at its meeting on 23 March 2021. The Committee has not, however, considered the draft regulations in the Order Paper today.”
“I support the motions on behalf of the Committee. <BR /> <BR />As the Minister indicated, the regulations to amend the relevant period in schedule 8 to the Act extend the period during which the Department can exercise its power to make regulations under section 28 of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 that amend or modify the impact of corporate insolvency or governance legislation. <BR /> <BR />The Committee considered and approved the SL1 for the regulations at its meeting on 3 March, with members agreeing the SR itself at the Committee's meeting on 23 March 2021, subject to the Examiner of Statutory Rules' report. On behalf of the Committee, I support the motion to approve the regulations.”
“Has any consideration been given to ways of enabling essential workers who need a vehicle to carry out their duties to be able to access a driving test safely? I have been contacted by a number of constituents who find themselves in that situation.”
“I thank the First Ministers for their statement. First Minister, the business support schemes, for which there is a whole raft of acronyms, have been really important in helping businesses during the restrictions. However, families and businesses will also need practical support to rebuild once we are able to reopen our economy and society, which, obviously, will be guided by the pathway. One of the support schemes that has been proposed is the high street voucher scheme. Will you give an update on that?”
“I appreciate the Member taking the intervention. Will the Member agree that this problem is not going to go away? Students are going to continue to face financial difficulties, and the Department should look at how it can, potentially, put support in place and make payments.”
“Sorry, I do not have much time left. As the Minister who has responsibility for students, she has the opportunity to stand up for them. I hope that she will heed the calls in the motion and finally do that. <BR /> <BR />In closing, I want to thank the student organisations, representatives and all students who have been in touch. I ask Members to support the motion and reject the amendment, which waters down what the motion calls for.”
“I want to recognise, in a small way, that this has been a really difficult and disappointing year, and it is not the experience that you hoped for when you signed up for university or college". The Minister has the opportunity —.”
“It is also about recognising that students from the North who study in the South or Britain have been impacted on in the same way, have not had similar support where they study and have had the additional burden of travel costs and being away from their families at this difficult time. <BR /> <BR />I know that the Minister will have been inundated with calls from students and MLAs to extend the payment. My party colleague John O'Dowd recently presented a petition signed by over 3,000 students asking the Minister to extend the payment, but, as yet, the Minister does not seem to have listened. However, there is still time for the Minister to say to students, "I hear you.”
“What message does the exclusion from those payments send to students from here who are studying in England, Scotland or the South? How does feeling disregarded by the Economy Department make them want to come home and contribute to the economy? I recognise that funding has been made available to universities and colleges to help to support students, and for additional hardship fund support and digital support. Extending the COVID disruption payment is about recognising that every student who studies in the North has, in some way, been adversely impacted on by the pandemic.”
“They are away from their families, and they feel left behind in not receiving that support. <BR /> <BR />One student in England said:”
“I want to reflect some of the issues that students have raised with me over the past view days. I could have reflected on many more issues when it comes to students who contacted me about landlords and accommodation providers, such as those that Mr Stalford mentioned. I have addressed that issue already. Over the past couple of days, I have received dozens of emails from students, as, I am sure, have other MLAs. Students have told me about their personal experiences. Part-time and further education students do not understand why they are not getting the payment. Postgraduate students who study in the South do not even get a loan to help them with their fees. Those in England have pointed out that they already get less student loan support than English friends studying the same courses, despite their having to travel to study.”
“What does it say to students in further education that they are not getting the same payment as those who are in higher education? Does it say that they are viewed as "less than" by the Department?”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister also set out that further education students do not pay fees and that that is why they have not had support. Further education students have been impacted in the same way, and many are in the same situation as higher education students in having to continue to pay rent and bills with few income opportunities. <BR /> <BR />Every time that we discuss education and skills in the Chamber or Committees, we talk about the need for parity and about the importance that is placed on academic and vocational education.”
“We all very much welcome that payment, recognising that it does not pay all bills, but it is recognition that this year has been a difficult one and students have not got what they signed up for. Unfortunately, however, the payment went to only some students, and not all who study here are from here. <BR /> <BR />In setting out her reasoning, the Economy Minister said that the payment was in recognition of the impact of COVID and the restrictions put in place by the Executive on students here. If that is the case, why are part-time and international students excluded? The Minister said that there are legal barriers to making payments to students in other jurisdictions. What are those barriers and what alternatives have been explored? Has a legal mechanism been explored that would allow the payments to be made?”
“I have engaged a lot with student representatives over the last number of months and with individual students, and I have found that not only the impact of the financial pressure on mental health but the isolation and worrying impact of COVID generally have been raised consistently. My party colleagues will speak to that further. We must not underestimate the need for further support for students who are struggling with poor mental health. <BR /> <BR />Student organisations and representatives should be proud of their role in ensuring that student issues have become a priority for MLAs and Ministers. The COVID disruption payment that is being put in place is testimony to the impact that campaigning loudly and consistently has.”
“<BR /> <BR />However, the feedback from students in the months following was that the application processes and barriers to those funds meant that students were not getting the support when they needed it. Bureaucracy that was designed for non-COVID times was making it difficult, and, frankly, that also needs looking at in the longer term, but that is for another day. <BR /> <BR />Student representatives highlighted the issues impacting students, such as the financial difficulties, the difference in the education experience from what they expected, the loneliness and isolation and the mental health impact.”
“I agree with the Member, and that is something that I am going to address in my contribution. A lot of landlords need to look at their role during the pandemic, how they have or have not supported students and whether they really have all been in it together with their student tenants. <BR /> <BR />Since last year, John O'Dowd and I have been raising with the Economy Minister the need for students to be supported. Sinn Féin Ministers have supported our calls for support. Last June, I think it was, additional money was allocated to the student hardship funds in recognition of the fact that many more students were facing financial difficulty, and that money was much welcomed.”
“Students come from all walks of life and have a variety of financial and other responsibilities. <BR /> <BR />It is important to recognise the nature of our higher education system, which is increasingly marketised and where students are seen as customers. With fees here second to only England and Wales as the highest in Europe, students struggle financially while studying and after they begin work. Understandably in the current circumstances, our students feel exploited and short-changed. <BR /> <BR />Coming out of the pandemic, as we look at rebuilding our economy and society, we also need to look at how we support and fund education and training.”
“Students have been left in a situation where, despite the best efforts of lecturers, teaching assistants and other staff, the university or college experience is not what many had expected or signed up for. They have had to keep paying bills despite not living in houses, and they have had to support themselves with no work opportunities. <BR /> <BR />It is, of course, important to point out that students are not a homogeneous group. The majority of students, particularly undergraduates, might be young people, but they might also be young parents, young people with caring responsibilities, and young people with disabilities. They might also be mature students with families and other responsibilities and part-time students paying for their courses while working to pay bills.”
“Some were told that they would get some classroom time; others that it would be remote learning for at least the first semester. However, last summer, no one could tell them, "Do not sign on for rental leases, because there is a good chance that you will not be living in those houses". <BR /> <BR />Since last March, there have been very few opportunities for students to get the part-time jobs that are, unfortunately, necessary for most students to supplement their student loans and help them to scrape by.”
“This has been a really tough year for very many people. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the lives of so many. Thousands of people have lost loved ones, others have been seriously ill, and some have lost jobs. To save lives and to reduce the pressure on our health service, we have had to stay at home, our workplaces have closed, and our movements have been restricted. Businesses have received hundreds of millions of pounds of support to help them to survive and to try to protect jobs and livelihoods for the future. Workers should have been receiving support where they are unable to work through the furlough scheme, and self-employed people, for the most part, have been supported. Albeit there are exceptions. <BR /> <BR />Students, on the other hand, have signed up for courses.”
“It is time that we all trusted women to make decisions about their lives and their health, and trusted doctors to do their jobs.”
“Is it simply for electoral purposes, or is it, as I and others believe, also the case that this Bill is just the beginning of its attempts to unravel the legislation that is in place? <BR /> <BR />As a woman, I am tired of having to debate the right of women to access appropriate healthcare. I am tired of being lectured about morality. I am tired of women being held to a different standard, and I am tired of hearing about women and girls being subjected to abuse and violence. Anyone who thinks that those things are not related is deluded. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Women's rights to modern, compassionate and appropriate healthcare should not still be up for debate. Instead, the Health Minister and the DUP should quit obfuscating and ensure that the health services that have been legislated for are put in place as a matter of urgency.”
“Moving this Bill may well be an exercise in futility because the British Government have made it clear on a number of occasions that, while abortion is a devolved matter, any abortion legislation that is passed here in the Assembly must comply with the CEDAW recommendations in the 2018 report, and this Bill clearly does not do that. <BR /> <BR />Knowing that this Bill will not make any material difference, why is the DUP cynically pitting people with disabilities against vulnerable women and women in difficult circumstances? Why is it deliberately conflating the issues while standing shoulder to shoulder with the UUP Health Minister in failing to implement the legislation that is in place?”
“However, it has no such principles when it comes to human rights, as our LGBT+ citizens, Irish-language speakers and victims of the conflict can all well attest to. The DUP certainly has no regard to the disparity in the rights of women here when accessing health services. <BR /> <BR />Of course, it is also worth remembering why Westminster has legislated for abortion, and marriage equality for that matter. It is because parties here — not just the DUP, but it predominantly — failed to deal with this issue. They left women to fight through the courts for access to healthcare. It is contemptible that the DUP would now attempt to roll back on the hard-won rights of women.”
“The Health and Justice Ministers need to look at ensuring that there are safe zones around clinics. The Health Minister has also, disgracefully, failed to put in place adequate facilitation for women to access abortion services through telemedicine in the context of the pandemic. <BR /> <BR />There is a deep irony in what the DUP, which is never done demanding the same treatment as Britain when it suits it, is trying to do here. It has spent the past 10 or more weeks cosying up to loyalist paramilitaries and ramping up tensions to try to undermine and roll back an international treaty because it is so exercised at the North being treated differently when it comes to trade arrangements.”
“No, thank you. The utter hypocrisy in the Bill seems to have escaped a lot of scrutiny. The DUP is trying to amend legislation that it is, apparently, opposed to in principle while being complicit in the UUP Health Minister's failure to implement the legislation that has been passed. The DUP, along with the UUP, is failing women. Amidst the lack of leadership from the Health Minister, health trusts have been left to pick up the slack and put in place early medical abortion services that have, at times, led to a postcode lottery in access to them. That is unacceptable. As my colleague Liz Kimmins pointed out, women who access those services are subjected to protests and harassment. Disgracefully, a male Member of the House — he is a former Health Minister — is at those protests.”
“Gender inequality is one of the root causes of gender-based violence, which can manifest itself in rape and sexual violence and have devastating consequences. The DUP is seeking to perpetuate gender inequalities. It still seeks to control women through limiting their access to modern, compassionate healthcare. It is still holding women to a different standard. <BR /> <BR />Let no one be in doubt about what is happening here. The Bill that we are debating may be focused on one aspect of provision, but that is the thin end of the wedge. It is a transparent attempt to reopen abortion provision as a whole.”
“Sarah's murder touched many other women who have experienced harassment and violence, and when those women turned out in solidarity to say, "No more" to violence against women, they were subjected to a disgraceful and disproportionately harsh response from the police. <BR /> <BR />My party colleague Emma Sheerin referred to the publication of the mother-and-baby homes reports, North and South. They are a stark reminder of the result of the institutionalised misogyny of our not-too-distant past. The continuing impact of those homes is still felt by too many people. Mother-and-baby homes were how the establishment of the Church and state exerted control over women's lives and bodies in the past, showing how women were held to a different standard then.”
“Nothing that we debate and discuss in the Chamber is done in a vacuum. It is done in the context of the time. In years to come, if anyone is minded to look at what we have done in the Assembly, that is how it will be judged. Last Monday, as alluded to by a number of Members, we celebrated International Women's Day. International Women's Day began as a campaign for women's rights. It is a reminder that gender equality remains elusive. In the week since, the lack of equality and how women are subject to different treatment has become all too apparent. Unfortunately, we all came to know who Sarah Everard was, for the worst possible reason. Sarah was walking home and never made it. Instead, her life was brutally ended by a man.”
“Will the Minister, following on from Mr Muir's question, provide an update on the progress being made on the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower inquiry?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. The money is going to some business sectors that have had no specific supports and that I and others have been highlighting for months. I am really glad to see the Minister put this support scheme in place, because I have been frustrated at the lack of further business supports being proposed by the Economy Minister, despite the need and despite the funding being available. <BR /> <BR />Minister, the previous business grant schemes last year — the £10,000 scheme and the £25,000 scheme — were jointly administered by the Department of Finance and the Department for the Economy. What role does the Department for the Economy play in these schemes?”
“Beyond rates, those powers amount to the ability to impose usage charges, such as water charges, prescription charges and student fees on citizens and households. Those would all disproportionately impact on those on lower incomes. In the context that we have the lowest household income, less disposal income, lower levels of savings and higher household debt than elsewhere in these islands, a focus on the things that would hit hard-working families most cannot be the start and end point of the discussion. It is a timely opportunity for this work to take place. It is also a positive debate and discussion to have, and it is one that should be given the space to be properly informed. For that reason, I welcome it.”
“If we are to deliver the recovery needed to address the inequalities exacerbated by the crisis, help businesses to rebuild and generally improve people's lives and opportunities, we need the fiscal and borrowing powers to do that. It is about the Assembly and the Executive being able to plan and to respond to the needs and ambitions of people here, to deliver for people here and to encourage investment and job creation here. The current budgetary situation and the lack of meaningful funding to meet current pressures, never mind to deliver on COVID recovery, bring a new impetus to moving forward with that work. When it is raised, we often have quite a narrow focus on the limited revenue-raising powers that we have. Mr Frew referred to that.”
“We also need to strengthen the rights of workers and put an end to the scourge of poorly paid work. I have said numerous times that implementing the New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) commitments on employment would be a good start. <BR /> <BR />I will finish, as Mr Frew finished, by welcoming the Finance Minister's initiative on a fiscal commission to look at the powers devolved to the North. I was not sure whether Mr Frew was arguing for or against it, but it has been well rehearsed here on many occasions that the current situation of being at the whim of a British Tory Chancellor does not make for good budgetary planning.”
“As we look forward to recovery and coming out of the pandemic, it is important that there is a focus on supporting young people. I urge all Ministers with responsibility across that area to work together, including through allocating COVID funding, to ensure that there are education, training and work supports for young people. Youth unemployment is growing, and we cannot have a situation in which young people, for the second time in little over a decade, face the brunt of an economic downturn. The last recession resulted in a prevalence of low-paid, precarious work for many young people, and things such as owning their own home now seem like a pipe dream to them. That is simply not good enough. We need to address that from all sides to ensure that there are opportunities for young people.”
“We likely all agree that skills will be an important driver of economic recovery. Yesterday, we had a debate on that issue, and the motion was unanimously supported. The Economy Minister talked about a ring-fenced skills budget. We all look forward to getting a bit more detail on that.”
“<BR /> <BR />Last week, the Minister also mentioned a potential scheme to support travel agents to be brought forward by TEO. Again, that is welcome and will be welcomed by those hard-hit businesses, but it is disappointing that it was not brought forward by the Economy Minister, given that tourism and business are within her brief. <BR /> <BR />Looking forward to the incoming financial year and the additional COVID funding that has been announced, I share the Minister's concerns about the lack of resource budget in order to plan properly for economic and societal recovery, to deal with Brexit and to support businesses and citizens through that. The Economy Minister has published her economic recovery action plan, for which a budget of £290 million has so far been requested.”
“The Minister will be pleased to hear that, having contributed a number of times already, I intend to keep my contribution short. I have spoken many times — I am sure that the Minister is almost as sick of having to hear me say this as I am of having to say it — about the need to support businesses that have either been excluded from support schemes or have received very little. I know that, last week, he expressed his disappointment, which I share, that a broader hardship scheme has not been developed for those businesses and said that he intended to address that as far as he could through LPS, which obviously means that it will be only for businesses with premises. That was welcome, and I wonder whether the Minister could provide an update on that.”
“If only the Minister and her party had been as exercised about economic impacts when they were cheerleading for a hard Brexit. Does the Minister agree that stunts like that from the DUP AERA Minister and solo runs by the British Government are causing even greater uncertainty and instability for businesses and that, since it is clear that the protocol is here to stay, efforts should instead be focused on working through the structures of the protocol to resolve issues?”
“Go raibh maith agat for the answer. Will the Minister provide an update on her overall plans to increase social and affordable housing stock?”
“Skills underpin so much. The new skills strategy will be key in helping to drive the economic recovery. I look forward to its publication. I commend the motion to the House.”
“Sinn Féin wants every young person to have the opportunity to be in work, training or education.”
“There needs to be a particular focus on opportunities for young people, who are in the most badly affected demographic.”
“As is highlighted in the report, it is very important that, to support sustainable economic development, people have the opportunity to access flexible, agile, motivating, satisfying and properly rewarded work. Strengthening workers' rights is the other pillar for helping to achieve that, and delivering on the commitments in New Decade, New Approach would be a good start in that regard. <BR /> <BR />It is widely recognised that, coming out of the pandemic, ensuring skills development opportunities will be very important in supporting those who have lost jobs to find new work opportunities, to help those who are in roles that have irreversibly changed because of the new ways of working adopted and to support new business development and work opportunities.”
“We need to remove barriers to learning and training and ensure that those who are far from education and work have pathways to achieving. It is really important that young people who face additional challenges have the type of support that they need. That goes beyond training and teaching, to mentoring and well-being support. <BR /> <BR />Where there are models of best practice, those should be mainstreamed and adapted. Community education has a really important role to play and needs to be supported appropriately. Removing barriers also means ensuring that the additional challenges that are faced by women are recognised and addressed.”
“<BR /> <BR />We must deliver on the policies that are needed to help stabilise the economy right now and to make it grow in future in a way that improves its responsiveness to the needs of our communities and businesses. The skills strategy is an important bedrock for achieving that outcome, and it must fit the needs of citizens now and in future. <BR /> <BR />I will now make some brief remarks as Sinn Féin's economy spokesperson. The new skills strategy has to find a way in which to bring together priorities, objectives and strands of delivery in a coherent way, remembering that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for delivering skills. For me, one of the key things from the inquiry report is the need for inclusivity and the skills-for-all approach.”
“<BR /> <BR />When we look at how government delivery currently works between the public and private sectors, we can see that the pace needs to be quicker and more agile in order to limit the disconnect between the two. The Committee has recognised that the Minister for the Economy's recently published economic recovery action plan focuses on skills as one of its four key pillars. In keeping with that, our micro inquiry has also highlighted the fact that investment in skills will help businesses rebuild and grow their markets, protect and strengthen their supply chains and maximise new opportunities for job creation. It will also help people to avail themselves of new and better employment opportunities and accelerate the growth of sectors that are of strategic significance.”