Alan Chambers
North Down · Ulster Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“<BR /> <BR />A relatively recent piece of important character that was added to the village some years ago was the addition of a number of trees along Main Street.”
“It is my pleasure and privilege to present a petition signed by more than 1,500 people calling on the Department for Infrastructure to drop plans to chop down a number of mature street trees in Main Street, Groomsport. <BR /> <BR />Groomsport is a beautiful village with a strong community spirit.”
“Indeed, in the past week, it has been adjudged to be the best-kept town on the island of Ireland. It has many outstanding characteristics, including three lovely beaches with clean and pollution-free bathing water; a well-sheltered harbour that is reputed to have been first constructed by the Vikings; a modern children's playground; and t…”
“Minister, I sent a question for written answer in May 2025. You told me that your officials had identified a problem on the A48 in November 2024 and that a works order had been issued.”
“The Department's approach to the problem, however, has been to fire up the chainsaws. That is a shameful and unacceptably lazy plan. There are many engineering solutions that do not involve such crude environmental vandalism. Government policy, rather than to chop down healthy mature specimens, is to encourage more tree planting.”
“For many, the ability to start or grow a family is a major priority; for others, it is not a priority at all. When fertility problems stand in the way of that dream, the emotional toll can be immense. There has already been reference to the commitment in NDNA, which was one reason why my party very much welcomed that agreement.”
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“While for many pay has, thankfully, been resolved, the implications of the disruption will be felt for some time yet. That is particularly so in the health service, with not just cancelled consultations or procedures but the loss of so much precious capacity meaning that so many fewer appointments are even booked. <BR /> <BR />I appeal to the workforces that are still holding out for a revised pay award.”
“The collapse in February 2022 came about only weeks before the Executive and the Assembly should have been agreeing a Budget with future allocations. That made it even worse. Instead of Departments having financial certainty and the scope to deliver on even the most important of the independent pay review recommendations, the ability to decide on anything was robbed from them. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate that there may be a difference of opinion as to the rights and wrongs of holding the people of Northern Ireland to political ransom, but I am categorically in the group that thinks that the pain and disruption inflicted was far too high a price to pay. The animosity felt by our public-sector workers boiled over into record levels of action.”
“<BR /> <BR />We all remember what happened in late 2019 and early 2020, with what were, then, wholly unprecedented scenes of widespread industrial action. Equally, we remember how, after the restoration of the Executive in January of that year, Robin Swann secured political unanimity around the Executive table not only to restore pay parity but to maintain it. For a while, it appeared that things were going well. Pay awards were being honoured and, when finances permitted, our health workers were even awarded additional in-year uplifts over and above what some colleagues elsewhere received. Then, barely two years after that restoration, the Executive once again collapsed and public services were pushed to the brink.”
“Given that medical staff in Northern Ireland are signed up to the wider UK terms and conditions of the NHS, my party's long-standing position has been that when the independent pay review body recommends a percentage increase, it should be implemented — no ifs, no buts. It is a simple matter of fairness. Yet, regardless of whether individual pay awards were based on the recommendation of pay review bodies or the internal deliberations of individual sponsor Departments, very little was possible in the absence of an Executive, as we all came to see. In particular, it was an absolute travesty that, once again, our health workers felt that they had no choice but to take industrial action. It is simply not in the DNA of our valued HSC staff to cause any disruption to those whom they serve.”
“Over recent weeks, a lot has been said in the Chamber and on the airwaves about public-sector pay. The debate will likely replicate much of that. Thankfully, in recent days and weeks, real progress has been made on resolving many of the public-sector pay disputes, and many unions are consulting their memberships on the respective offers on the table. I hope that those offers will begin to be accepted very soon. <BR /> <BR />While we await the outcome of those processes, it goes without saying that the almost two-year absence of this place, from March 2022 to February this year, inflicted real damage. No public service escaped unscathed. Among the people most greatly impacted were so many of our public-sector workers.”
“Has the lack of an Executive over the past two years contributed in any way to the current situation that we find ourselves in with Nexus?”
“I especially welcome the continued operation of the two rapid diagnostic centres that the Minister opened in 2022. Can he provide an update on any plans to make the centres available across Northern Ireland?”
“Minister, thank you for your response. Has the Minister had to issue any ministerial directions to the permanent secretary of the Department of Finance, as there does not appear to be any resolution to the issue of revenue raising?”
“I thank the Minister for his reply. Minister, the strategy details the requirement for capital investment of £461 million per annum from 2021. Can the Minister detail how much of that investment has been delivered to date?”
“I thank the Minister for his responses thus far. I agree that our junior doctors are an essential component of the local service. Despite no dedicated funding being immediately available to the Minister, is he considering contract negotiations, and, if so, what would those look like?”
“The public of Northern Ireland will not thank us for doing so.”
“They can see the needs of their patients, yet, all too often, they know that the patient is not getting the support that they need and that, their skills and judgement tell them, is necessary. That is why it would be unforgivable if we did not maximise every opportunity that is available to us in and outside the health service. <BR /> <BR />The proposer, in her opening remarks, referred to "uncomfortable truths". There should be no doubt that our absence from the Chamber for five of seven years has not been helpful to any of our public services. We owe it to the people of Northern Ireland to work together to pull our health and social care system back from the brink. We will achieve that only by working together and not making health a political football. However, I have a sense that we may drift into that situation.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am fearful that, in the time ahead, we will look back to the most recent two-year period of political stalemate and the three years from 2017 to 2020 and see just how much enormous physical and mental harm was inflicted on so many of our people. Whilst there has been some hugely welcome progress made with the strategies and action plans that were published in 2021 and 2022, like so many other important areas of work, they have suffered as a result of funding uncertainty. <BR /> <BR />Of course, it is not just the people who are stuck on waiting lists who have to endure the fear and concern of delay. We should never forget the moral distress being felt by clinicians.”
“<BR /> <BR />Whilst I note that the motion asks for an action plan within the next six weeks, with respect to the Members who tabled it, we do not need any more words down on paper; we need focused and targeted delivery of what has already been said to be deliverable, to which all political parties previously gave their support. <BR /> <BR />The proposer mentioned the capacity that is available in the private sector. I suspect that the Minister would love to take up the offer over the next six weeks, if he had the money. Whilst, every so often, there is a glimmer of hope, such as the restoration of pay parity in January 2020 or a big expansion in training numbers, sadly, the failure of politics often gets in the way of permanent improvements, and regression creeps back in.”
“I absolutely concur with those remarks. <BR /> <BR />Whilst I understand that the Executive were facing financial constraints of their own, such unilateral cessation of funding put many waiting lists into a tailspin. As I said during the Budget debate yesterday, what would benefit the health service most is longer-term funding certainty, but, in the absence of that, specific waiting list initiatives would have been critical in slowing the tide. <BR /> <BR />Secondly, an equally damaging slate of decisions or steps was taken on workforce. Critical training positions were either reduced in number or did not keep up with the necessary rate of expansion. Unfortunately, that left the workforce too small and fractured to be in a position to reverse what quickly became a rapidly deteriorating waiting list position.”
“The first is that decisions were consciously taken at that time by previous Ministers and senior officials to no longer bridge the gap between limited capacity and increasing demand with additional funding allocations.”
“It is as outrageous as it is morally intolerable that we have so many people on waiting lists. We must never forget that it is recognised that, with the passage of time, some patients come to even greater harm while they endure the stress and pain of delay. I am sure that every MLA will know a friend or family member who is on a list for a consultation, a test or a procedure. Similarly, we will all have been shocked by the stories, experiences and, sometimes, delays that have been encountered by our constituents. <BR /> <BR />As the motion rightly puts it, waiting times have been falling behind for the past decade. There are lots of reasons for that, but I will mention only two.”
“I welcome the chance to participate in this important debate. It has been two and a half weeks since the restoration of the Assembly and the Executive, and today's debate will, I hope, act as an important early opportunity for all parties in the Chamber to put on record their commitment to making tackling waiting lists one of their greatest priorities. <BR /> <BR />The position with Northern Ireland waiting times is utterly abhorrent.”
“<BR /> <BR />We could spend hours talking about our health service, as needs must, but as the outcome of the spring Estimates laid out, what the health service really needs is certainty about what is and is not deliverable and about what funding is available, not just today or next week but next year and the year after. Annual budgets will not provide the foundations required for the genuine and sustainable health and social care transformation that the people of Northern Ireland deserve.”
“It is a matter of huge regret that the previous optimism, when all parties agreed the principle of restoring and retaining pay parity, was so cruelly dashed only two years later with the collapse of the Executive and any prospect of a multi-year funding settlement. <BR /> <BR />The health service, like so many other public services, has been hugely affected by rolling industrial action, but that action could have been avoided if we had had a functioning Executive and Assembly in place. I very much welcome the confirmation of funding from the UK Government for public-sector pay, but, as an Assembly, we urgently need to realise that, until we are able to put in place a more coordinated approach to pay, there will be a huge impact not just on staff morale but on patients' welfare.”
“Thousands of people missed out because of the reduced activity, and, unfortunately, despite the system's best efforts to protect people and prioritise red flags, it is a simple matter of fact that some patients will have come to greater harm. <BR /> <BR />Although I am certain that the Minister has been urgently reviewing what is possible in the short time that remains of this financial year, in reality the scope and scale of what is deliverable before 31 March is limited. Fundamentally, however, if we are ever to get to grips with the challenges weighing down on our health service, we will need a workforce that is appropriately remunerated.”
“<BR /> <BR />As health spokesperson for the Ulster Unionist Party, it would be remiss of me not to make a few comments on the situation that faces our health service. A debate on waiting lists will take place in this place tomorrow, but we need to bear in mind the huge, sometimes life-changing, consequences of the disruption that gripped the Department of Health's budget this year. Really difficult decisions were taken, some of which, I suspect, none of us as politicians would ever have taken. For instance, the reduction in quarter 4 funding for targeted waiting list initiatives has been hugely damaging.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. <BR /> <BR />The Audit Committee has a statutory function to consider and agree the Estimates for the NIAO, the NIPSO and the Assembly Commission. As the 2024-25 Budget will ultimately be reflected in the Main Estimates, it is clear that the Audit Committee will still be able to carry out its scrutiny role. However, for the record, the Audit Committee expects to be afforded the opportunity to deliver its functions as part of ongoing and future budgetary processes. With that in mind, I look forward to early engagement between the Minister's Department and the Committee. That concludes my remarks in my capacity as Chair of the Audit Committee.”
“Given the Minister's request for accelerated passage for today's Bill and the timescales for the 2024-25 Budget, it is likely that there will not be time for full and proper consultation on this Budget or the next Budget. Although I understand that much of the background to the timescale for today's Bill and the short timescales for the Vote on Account and the Budget process for 2024-25 does not lie at the door of the Minister, it is still her Department that has brought today's Bill forward without proper consultation. I hope that that will not continue in the future.”
“I welcome you to your new role, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />I rise as the Chairperson of the Audit Committee. As the Committee has not yet met — our first meeting is planned for 6 March — I wish to make it clear that I am not reflecting the views of the Committee today. However, I feel that it is necessary for me to make a short contribution about the Bill, as well as about the wider budgetary process. <BR /> <BR />The main role of the Audit Committee is to scrutinise and agree the budgets and estimates of the Northern Ireland Audit Office, the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) and the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission. The Committee fulfills that function in place of the Department of Finance in recognition of the independence of those non-ministerial bodies.”
“I welcome the Minister to his post. Can he confirm whether his Department is aware of any issues around agricultural run-offs or overflows from Northern Ireland Water outlets into the Cotton river, which enters the sea at Ballyholme bay, Bangor?”
“Does the Member agree that, despite the regrettable situation in the Southern Trust area, it should not put off any women in Northern Ireland from seeking an appointment for screening?”
“<BR /> <BR />I suspect that there will be broad political unanimity in the Chamber for the motion, and we should all welcome that. In particular, I suspect that there is also unanimity in the need to adopt a whole-life-course approach, a phrase that, I suspect, we will start to hear more of in the Chamber. <BR /> <BR />Our health service belongs to us all, so it goes without saying that it must also serve us all. Particularly, that must see the fundamental principle of equal access to treatment, prioritised on the basis of clinical need and not of either personal circumstances or gender. Therefore, I and my party fully support the motion and the amendment before the House today. I look forward to seeing work on the action plan and the strategy getting under way soon.”
“With so many problems already weighing down on our health service, we can scarcely afford to be making the situation any worse. Yet, that is exactly what is happening with such profound health and social inequalities. Those inequalities sometimes directly contribute to high unplanned pregnancy rates, a clear gender gap in cardiovascular outcomes, poor maternal outcomes and high obesity rates, to name just a few. <BR /> <BR />The case for a women's health strategy is well made. Listening to the media last week, I was reassured by the commitment of the Health Minister to move at pace in that regard. The development of an action plan will immediately focus minds and should deliver progress now in the areas where that is possible, while the development of a much higher-level and more strategic women's health strategy runs in parallel.”
“There have been so many changes over the past 50-odd years, and, thankfully, the contribution made by women to society and to the economy is now better recognised and celebrated, especially compared with how it was so overlooked in years past. Of course, there is much more that could be done. <BR /> <BR />There are not just perceived barriers to better women's health but actual obstacles. The recent Getting It Right First Time report was really important in highlighting the measures necessary to improve access to gynaecology services. Similarly, whilst some really important progress has been made in recent times on broadening fertility support, as well as critical investment in the likes of perinatal mental health, I think that we can all agree that there is more to be done.”
“With such advances in science and understanding, as well as in modern medicine and treatments, there should be no taboo subjects in 2024. <BR /> <BR />As has been said, women make up 51% of the population, yet, as a man, I freely accept that there remains a misunderstanding — perhaps better described as a lack of understanding — of some really important issues. That includes not only the menopause and menopause symptoms but a slate of other issues. I would be the first to acknowledge that more awareness is needed by me and many of my male peers to highlight just how severely the issues can impact on a woman's life.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I take the opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment to your new role in the Chamber. <BR /> <BR />I commend those who tabled the motion for bringing this important topic to the Chamber today. A fact that I often find staggering is that, although women in the UK, on average, live longer than their male counterparts, women spend a far greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability. That is not just a quirk or a coincidence; there are big and important reasons behind it. For far too long, women-specific health issues were often either ignored or openly disregarded. Certainly, it seems that, until only fairly recent times, the issue of women's health received much less public attention and discussion than it deserved.”
“I also welcome the Minister's intervention on Friday, which was gratefully welcomed by the hospice management. Minister, are you hopeful of a positive response to your recent letter to the Finance Minister? Can the Assembly do anything to assist the Executive to find a lasting and sustainable outcome?”
“No one doubts the absolutely critical and unique role of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice, so I pay tribute to everyone who works in it on the amazing work that they do.”
“When, during their engagement with the UK Government, our new First Minister, deputy First Minister and Finance Minister are making the case for additional funding, I urge them to keep to the forefront of their mind the absolutely horrendous position facing so many of our patients and staff.”
“While I acknowledge that funding alone will not be enough, without adequate resources and the necessary workforce we will never turn the situation around. That was a point well made in the previously published elective care framework. As with restoring pay parity, I think that all parties in the Chamber are at one in recognising that tackling waiting lists is an absolute priority. <BR /> <BR />I look forward to our working collectively on that in the weeks and months ahead. Doing so will require sustained investment. While money from the recent package, especially that set aside for stabilisation, will help, we need to recognise that sporadic allocations here and there simply will not work, nor will single-year budgets provide the sustainability that we need.”
“<BR /> <BR />I do not want to make political points today, because, to their credit, I believe that all political parties are now on record as saying that they want to see the reinstatement of pay parity. I therefore very much welcome the fact that significant funding was set aside in the recent package for public-sector pay. While it may be a big figure, it is not sufficient to meet the range of cross-departmental pay demands, so I wish the Executive well in their request for sufficient funding. <BR /> <BR />There are so many areas in the Health Department that deserve and could really benefit from immediate financial intervention: primary care, social care and the slate of initiatives and previously published plans that are ready to go. The one that I want to focus on is the funding needed to tackle our truly appalling waiting lists.”
“While we may be the smallest party in the Executive, once again I am proud that the Ulster Unionist Party demonstrated bravery and commitment by stepping up and taking by far the biggest Department. With Health being so big and so far-reaching, it is perhaps unsurprising that, when there are constraints on public finances, the implications are often felt most in Health. Equally, when pay awards cannot be delivered, it is often health workers who experience the immediate inequity. The 2020 Executive made a clear and welcome decision to support Robin Swann's ask to restore and maintain pay parity for health workers. Unfortunately, owing to subsequent budget and political barriers, that pledge was no longer maintained after he left office.”
“There is little other way to describe the pressures weighing down on so many public services than "crisis". While that word has often been bandied about in Northern Ireland throughout the respective political impasses, on this occasion we really face an emergency and a dire position. Recent weeks have seen unprecedented industrial action and disruption. Even more serious is the perilous state of essential and life-dependent services. That, of course, is nowhere more important and apparent than in our health service; indeed, just this morning, we learned of the pressures faced by our Children's Hospice. <BR /> <BR />As this is my first opportunity to do so on the record, I wish the Minister of Health in particular well with the mammoth task ahead of him.”
“I wish each of the incoming Ministers well. While we as an Assembly have a very important role in holding them to account, ultimately, it is in our interests and those of all the people whom we represent for the new Executive to succeed.”
“The Northern Ireland Act sets out the mechanism for that. That answers your question.”
“<BR /> <BR />Today is a good day for the Assembly, and it is a very good day for those seeking the truth. This legislation is the least that we, as a collective body, can give them. <BR /> <BR />On a personal level, Mr Speaker, I thank you for your service and leadership during this mandate. I wish you well going forward. I particularly thank you for all your help and cooperation. I would not be standing here this evening, and this Bill would not be going through, if it were not for your cooperation over the last two weeks. Thank you, Mr Speaker.”
“I feel immensely privileged to have sponsored this private Member's Bill. We all may have made a little bit of history with the speed at which we have reached this point, without losing any degree of scrutiny. My wife, possibly with a little justification, accuses me of leaving a lot of things to the last minute. I think that she will understand, however, why the Bill that I have sponsored had to go to the very wire. <BR /> <BR />The public would have a better image of the House if they could see the spirit of goodwill that we have seen demonstrated over the last few weeks as we passed a lot of sound and good legislation that will help the people of Northern Ireland. I hope that that spirit of goodwill carries through into the new mandate.”
“The Bill belongs to the tens of thousands of victims who want nothing more than the truth. I hope that the Bill helps bring the day of truth closer for those seeking it. Sadly, many have died without learning the truth about their early life. Hopefully, their families will now get the truth that their loved ones were denied, and I hope that they take some comfort from that. I commend the Bill to the House.”
“As I mentioned earlier, I feel that the Bill is all the stronger following the detailed consideration that it has received. <BR /> <BR />I also take the opportunity to once again thank the Speaker's Office for effectively setting all Standing Order requirements to the side, and I thank the Business Committee and the Whips for allocating the time necessary. I also thank the Minister and his Department, especially the officials Eilís McDaniel and Julie Stephenson. Without them, I simply would not have been able to produce the Bill, so it is important that their huge contribution be placed on the record. <BR /> <BR />On this, the final item of business before the current Assembly mandate ends, I am absolutely honoured and hugely privileged to move the Final Stage of my private Member's Bill.”
“The very least they deserve now is truth, and key to that will be the protection and retention of records, not just for the inquiry and investigation but for all women and children involved, who absolutely deserve the right to know that what information exists will be protected. <BR /> <BR />I am very pleased that the House has shown such a collective will and a desire to allow this important Bill to pass in the short time available. I thank the House first for granting accelerated passage, and then for the helpful contributions made by all Members across all parties in the Chamber. In particular, I thank Ms Dillon for her constructive engagement at Consideration Stage and Ms Bradshaw for doing so at today's Further Consideration Stage.”
“So many women, girls and children, who are now adults, were failed in those institutions. Some suffered appalling abuse, gut-wrenching neglect and the cruellest form of shameful coldness imaginable. Those institutions took so much from so many. Children were removed from parents, and some children were robbed of their true identity.”
“It is my great pleasure to move the Final Stage of my private Member's Preservation of Documents (Historical Institutions) Bill. <BR /> <BR />Even though the Bill was introduced just over two weeks ago, I feel that the House has given it the priority, scrutiny and attention to detail that it undoubtedly deserves. I will not rehearse the contents of the Bill. What I will do once again, however, is note that its overriding intention is to give effect to part 1 of recommendation 4 in the truth recovery design panel's report, namely:”
“<BR /> <BR />That little bit of extra grace time does not completely remove the pressure on the Department of Health's budget, because it will still have to make up the money that formerly came in through car parking, but a period of up to two years for implementation will at least give the Department a chance to be able to budget around that rather than have to scramble to find that missing money out of its budget over a short period like six months. I welcome the Bill sponsor's willingness to accept the amendments. I wish the Bill well and again thank its sponsor.”
“I will be brief. I thank the Bill sponsor, and Mr McCann before her for introducing the Bill. It is certainly well-intentioned, in that it removes car parking charges for staff and many groups of people who attend hospitals. <BR /> <BR />I had a couple of concerns about the Bill in its early days. From the get-go, the main thing that concerned me was the six-month period between the Bill's receiving Royal Assent and its being implemented in full. My party and I have absolutely no difficulty in fully supporting the Bill as amended, because that concern has now been taken account of, and the Bill includes a more sensible and doable period in which the various trusts can examine the logistics around what they will have to purchase and deploy at the various sites.”