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.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,411 lines we hold for Alan Chambers, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 26 of 29.
“We are concerned about what those figures will be and want to see them as soon as possible”
“Paragraph 18 of that paper set outs out that the 2020-21 budget:”
“This resource budget amount is the total resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) and includes both ring-fenced and non-ring-fenced departmental expenditure. <BR /> <BR />I will now speak in my capacity as the Ulster Unionist Party member of the Audit Committee. I place on record our appreciation of the work of Mrs Lesley Hogg, the chief executive, and her staff in producing a budget. It cannot have been an easy task, given the recent publication of the 'New Decade, New Approach' document, with all the uncertainties around aspects of it. Indeed, paragraph 7 of the briefing paper to the Committee stated:”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee pointed out that the time constraints of the Executive Budget process meant that, on this occasion, it had only one opportunity to take oral evidence from the Commission. The Committee will follow up on a number of issues, including as part of its subsequent scrutiny of the Estimates, but it is keen to see a multi-year process put in place, which will provide for a more strategic approach. <BR /> <BR />As set out in the report, the Committee agreed that, arising from the scrutiny of the Assembly Commission's budget plan for 2020-21, and having due regard to the evidence provided by the Department of Finance, the Executive's draft Budget document should make provision for the Assembly Commission to have a resource budget of £44·8 million and a capital budget of £1·093 million for 2020-21.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee, as a result of its scrutiny, received a number of important assurances from the Commission, including on elements of its capital plan and on the Assembly's business continuity plans in light of COVID-19. Given the budgetary pressures across the public sector, the Committee emphasised the importance of maximising all appropriate opportunities to generate income and recover costs. <BR /> <BR />Before concluding, I should also flag up issues raised during the Committee's deliberations on pay disparity for Members' staff and necessary security measures in constituency offices, particularly for lone workers. More generally, the Committee encourages the Commission to expedite the consultation process with MLAs and parties on the options for future arrangements for the provision of financial support to Members.”
“These elements of the Commission's budget are determination-driven and not under the control of the Commission. <BR /> <BR />The Committee noted that the Commission's budget includes additional provision resulting from the New Decade, New Approach agreement, including increased staffing as a result of the establishment of new Committees. However, we acknowledge that some financial outworkings of the agreement have yet to be quantified, including the provision of simultaneous translation services, which may result in the Commission requesting additional funding in the future. Similarly, the Committee noted that the budget makes provision for the development of private Member's Bills, Assembly staff recruitment, a youth assembly and increased ICT staff.”
“As the evidence was appended to the published Committee report, I will highlight just a few of the key areas today. First, I should reiterate that the Commission has a legal requirement to meet all costs associated with Members by way of salaries, allowances, expenses, Members' staffing costs and pension contributions etc.”
“I speak today on behalf of the Chairperson of the Audit Committee, Daniel McCrossan, who could not be present today. At the outset, I should explain that in scrutinising the draft budget of the Assembly Commission, the Committee has followed the approach of the previous Audit Committee. In order to reflect the constitutional independence of the Assembly from the Executive, a methodology, or protocol, was introduced in 2016 setting out an approach similar to that adopted by the Audit Committee for agreeing the annual estimates for the Northern Ireland Audit Office and the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman. There will also be a need to codify formally this additional Committee function. <BR /> <BR />At its meeting on 4 March 2020, the Committee took evidence from the Assembly Commission officials on the draft budget 2020-21.”
“Given that deaths while under the care of the Health Service are reviewed by those responsible for that care — the hyponatremia deaths are a prime example — does the Minister believe that there is a place for our justice system in those morbidity reviews?”
“The courts should also have available a range of sentences that recognise and reflect the seriousness of violent conduct.”
“We owe that duty of care to our emergency services. <BR /> <BR />It should be said, by way of reassurance, that the vast majority of our citizens will never fall victim to a violent crime. That is not to minimise the impact on those who have fallen victim. We must ensure that the police have the resources to thoroughly investigate such crimes with full and unfettered access to forensic services.”
“We should ensure that the courts have the tools to make such violence unattractive by allowing them to impose sentences that are a serious deterrent.”
“The common denominator has been that they all have been driven by criminals attempting to obtain money for drugs. That is the catalyst that needs to be addressed. Violent crime is not about getting money to put food on the table, but rather stealing money or goods to settle drug debts. They will always target the softest targets. Their violence is driven by the urgent need to feed their drug habit. Two of the people involved in robberies of my business died suddenly as a result of drug abuse some months after attacking us. <BR /> <BR />Another vulnerable group that is subject to violence is our front-line emergency personnel. Courts should take a zero-tolerance approach to attacks on fire, police, ambulance and medical staff.”
“My experiences gave me no confidence that victims of violent crime are considered as anything more than a number. More care and support for victims should be the trademark of any caring and compassionate government. <BR /> <BR />I had experience of dealing with government agencies through my political activities, but still ran into a stone wall of negativity that I struggled to penetrate. What chance has the average citizen of coping with a system that appears to be designed to knock them back, rather than to recognise what they have been put through by a situation not of their making? <BR /> <BR />The personal experiences I have described are only a couple of examples of robberies and crime that my family business has been subjected to over the years.”
“I thank the Member for the intervention. Absolutely. <BR /> <BR />My claim for compensation was rejected as my injuries did not meet the threshold, and neither had I sought professional help for my psychological ordeal. Furthermore, I had not lost any time off work, and apparently that went against me. Other self-employed businesspeople will know that they do not enjoy the luxury of taking time off work while they are still standing. A High Court judge thought the ordeal was worthy of an eight-year custodial sentence for my assailant after a jury found him guilty of causing me actual bodily harm. Obviously, a pen-pusher in the compensation service did not share the learned judge's opinion, nor that of the jury, of what had happened to me.”
“Those events made us both extremely apprehensive of every stranger who came through the door of the business for months afterwards.”
“My daughter had the barrel of a gun placed into her mouth by an assailant, who was reeking of alcohol, to make her compliant with the robbers' demands. I shared the trauma of her attempting to cope with that incident. She attended psychological counselling for over a year to help deal with it. Her claim for compensation from the criminal injuries compensation scheme was initially rejected and, after appearing at an appeals hearing, she was granted the minimum award. <BR /> <BR />In my own case, I was attacked late one Sunday evening by an assailant wielding a hatchet. The assailant pushed me to the ground and hit me several times around the legs with the weapon, drawing blood. In the meantime, my wife was being threatened by the other robber, who was waving a hammer around her head.”
“That will be followed by a grilling from the defendant's barrister when they enter the witness box. They may then decide to seek compensation, which they are legally entitled to for their injuries, both physical and mental. That can become the biggest ordeal that the victim has had to face up to that point. Suddenly, they may feel that they have become the person standing in the dock, being faced down rather than supported by the authorities. <BR /> <BR />I have been there. My family has been there, simply because we run a family retail business that trades in cash. My daughter, who was 16 at the time, was present in the shop when an armed gang entered the premises and ordered customers to the floor at gunpoint.”
“I welcome this motion, and the opportunity to speak about the important issues it raises. I also welcome the fact that it recognises the effect of such crime on victims. It is easy for victims to be forgotten, as they are often just absorbed into official statistics. <BR /> <BR />A victim of a violent crime does not seek to become one. However, once someone decides to make them a victim, they are plunged into a world that may be completely alien to them. They will be expected to engage with police officers investigating the crime — an experience that some people who are not used with engaging with the police may find a daunting challenge. They may also have to face the ordeal of attending an identity parade, followed by long days sitting in a courtroom if a suspect is charged and a case is made against their assailant.”
“Minister, I place on record my appreciation for the work that you, your Department and your officials have carried out so far in response to the threat of this virus. The Minister will be aware of the decision to postpone Ireland's Six Nations clash with Italy. What advice does he have for organisers of local events and fixtures here in Northern Ireland going forward?”
“Imminent and current Budget decisions will give an indication of whether the House is content merely to play with words around the health of our citizens or whether we are truly sincere about putting our money where our mouth is and bringing about meaningful transformation of what is still the best and most professional "free at the point of delivery" health service in the world.”
“While the Vote on Account is crucial to keep the service ticking along until the Main Estimates later in the year, our health service — or, indeed, the health of our citizens — does not have the luxury of time. Key spending decisions need to be taken and taken now. It cannot afford to wait until later in the year. That is why I hope that the Executive and the House will continue to collectively support the Minister in taking decisions immediately for the next year. <BR /> <BR />I pose this question: are we serious about health reform?”
“<BR /> <BR />Despite that absence of political accountability, our health service continued to function but with ever-increasing pressures. We are now at a stage where simply managing decline should not be the preferred outcome. As the Health Minister has repeatedly said over recent weeks, the ability to start cutting the shameful waiting lists will depend heavily on the budget received by his Department next month. <BR /> <BR />We need to be much more ambitious than just managing decline. We need to start moving people off waiting lists but to do that will require money. To get to a more sustainable position, we will need sustained additional investment over future years to deal with backlogs.”
“Are we prepared to just shrug our shoulders and tut-tut about lengthy accident and emergency waits for treatment for our citizens, with perhaps family members lying for hours, running into days in some cases, on trolleys parked in busy corridors? <BR /> <BR />While our health and social care staff have worked tirelessly over the past year, the frustrating reality is that for nine months — indeed, for many months before — our health service was largely leaderless. There was no clearer indication of that than the unprecedented decision of our nurses to go on strike. Had the Assembly not been mothballed for three years, relationships would likely never have been allowed to deteriorate to such poor levels.”
“If we are to transform our health service and reduce or, indeed, eliminate unacceptable waiting lists, that attitude of common purpose must continue. <BR /> <BR />The Bengoa report will challenge us all. Are we prepared to accept the re-profiling or downgrading of our local hospital? Will we demonstrate the leadership that is required to transform healthcare to make it sustainable going forward, or will we all retreat to our silos? Minister Swann has said that he needs £492 million to stand still. That includes £170 million to meet the pay parity that has already been agreed. He requires an additional £169 million to meet points in the 'New Decade, New Approach' document. Will we find all this money delivered in our new Budget, or are we happy just to talk the talk?”
“Well, certainly, my understanding is that we had plenty to say, but we did not see very much of it in the document when it was produced. <BR /> <BR />Anyway, Minister Swann will now endeavour to deliver all the elements of the wish list, and there have been promising noises of full support from around the House to help him to deliver the targets that were set in the 'New Decade' document. The Minister has been frank and honest about what he needs to meet the targets. He has already settled long-standing wages issues in the health service that, in themselves, presented huge and immediate challenges. I acknowledge that that was achieved with cooperation from the Minister's Executive colleagues.”
“<BR /> <BR />Our subsequent decision to take a Ministry was not an indication, nor should it be considered as such, of support for all that is contained in the document. It was however, a commitment to work for the well-being of our population. The Ministry taken by my party colleague, Robin Swann, was considered to be the most challenging and difficult portfolio to claim. It is significant that, despite its importance, others who could have taken it were happy to bypass it during the selection process. <BR /> <BR />The Health Ministry wish list was not written by Robin Swann, but, rather, it represents the health priorities of the DUP and Sinn Féin, who were the main authors of the 'New Decade' document. Minister Swann will now endeavour to deliver all the elements of the wish list.”
“<BR /> <BR />The 'New Decade' document has been widely quoted as being fully supported by the five main parties in the House. The Ulster Unionist Party does not support many parts of the document. Our well-documented concerns are around issues such as legacy and Irish language legislation, which is in no way softened by money being spent on Ulster Scots. <BR /> <BR />I sat in a room in Stormont House alongside party colleagues on a Thursday evening in January, having been called in at short notice, reading a copy of the document as the Secretary of State appeared outside announcing it to the media. That was hardly a satisfactory way to bring people on board. The NIO official in the room even tried to take the partially read copies from us just prior to the press conference commencing outside.”
“It is one thing to have a wish list of perceived must-have projects and services but entirely another matter to find the budget to deliver them. Part 1 of the 'New Decade, New Approach' document majored on the challenging issues facing our health service. Those challenges are not just faced by patients on a long waiting list for treatment but involve the mental and physical health of our dedicated NHS staff, at all levels, who struggle daily to cope with working conditions that are overcome only because of their loyalty, dedication and willingness to go the extra mile and work the extra unpaid hours to provide compassionate patient care. It is easy to forget that they work in a high-pressure, life-and-death environment. The dependency on their goodwill is not sustainable and neither can it be justified.”
“I suspect that, ideally, the Minister would prefer all our health facilities to have sufficient space to allow visitors and staff to park for free, but, unfortunately, for some, the space is so limited that it is just not an option. Can the Minister give us a flavour of how much income is raised by car parking charges?”
“Thank you for that, Minister. Can you give a commitment that there will be no undue delay in commencing payments to the victims?”
“Clifton School is a relatively new build. Did the Department underestimate the school's accommodation needs when the original plans were submitted?”
“I know that Minister Swann is totally committed to delivering what is required, however he must receive the budget required to enable this delivery. <BR /> <BR />The provision of this treatment being debated today may not seem relevant to those on lengthy waiting lists for surgery and other treatments, but it is a declaration of hope for people experiencing difficulty in trying to start a family. I am confident that the discrimination towards parents in Northern Ireland in relation to fertility treatment will be addressed by the Department from today, but that hope will only materialise if the Minister is allocated the budget and resources that he will undoubtedly need to honour this heartfelt cry for help and hope. It should be no surprise to the House that the Ulster Unionist Party supports this motion and both amendments.”
“I am confident that the Minister from the party that secured the commitment, the current Health Minister, will be dedicated to trying to make the key progress. That having been said, a lot of words of support have come from all the parties in the Executive towards addressing the many problems and pressing issues that are faced by the health service in Northern Ireland. I know that my colleague Minister Robin Swann will be working hard to solve all these issues in a timely fashion. However, his job will be much more difficult if the required resources are not made available to him. I have said that there have been many words of support around repairing our health service from other parties in the Executive, but these words must be translated into action.”
“That is why this party secured the inclusion of this matter in the 'New Decade, New Approach' document. On 3 January, almost a week before the final document was published, the Ulster Unionist Party submitted the request to the Northern Ireland Office and the local Department of Finance, and we were delighted to see it in the final document. Whilst it is positive to see cross-party support in the Chamber today for the policy, regrettably the reality is that both Sinn Féin and the DUP previously had the opportunity to move Northern Ireland to three cycles but chose not to make a public commitment. <BR /> <BR />Of course, the reality is that it will require additional funding, however this is something that the Health Minister is likely already pursuing with the Finance Minister.”
“For far too long, women in Northern Ireland have faced discrimination in the provision of IVF treatment. The NICE guidance clearly states that a woman should be offered up to three cycles of IVF. It does that for very good clinical reasons. It is just a reality that IVF is not always successful the first time round. The success rates vary with the age of the woman, and, for many women, there is usually a 20% success rate after one cycle of IVF treatment. That means that, for every five women and couples that place so much hope on a one-off procedure, four will not get pregnant after one cycle. That is the heartbreaking reality of fertility treatment. <BR /> <BR />It is an injustice that the Ulster Unionist Party has long felt needed to be addressed.”
“I am delighted to be able to congratulate my colleague Robin Swann on his appointment as Minister of Health. I know that he will conduct his duties with efficiency and, more importantly, with compassion. <BR /> <BR />When can the staff who reluctantly and with heavy hearts took the decision to stand on picket lines to highlight their pay parity injustice expect to see the money that the Minister secured for them this morning placed into their accounts?”
“Minister, Gavin Robinson MP was on the radio this morning, and he claimed that the DUP had come along to your party in the middle of December with a mitigation plan for the RHI scheme. Can you confirm whether that was the case?”
“Minister, the permanent secretary addressed the Economy Committee yesterday. He told the Committee that the formation of the mitigation plan, which formed part of the statutory rule that passed through the House yesterday, started on 30 December. He told us that it was a SpAd from another Department who came forward with the idea, but he refused to name that SpAd. I wonder, Minister, can you share that information with the House today?”
“What a way to govern. What a way to run a country. This is all a monumental mess of the DUP's making. The taxpayers and the rest of us in the House are being asked to do the heavy lifting to sort it out. Some things never change. <BR /> <BR />Mr Frew referred to the fact that we should not attack the concept of the scheme and so forth. I remind the House of some comments that I made in a recent debate when I said that the RHI was a good concept, damaged by poor administration and lack of ministerial control.”
“Had that success materialised, I am sure that we would have heard from many authors, and the kudos would not have been shared, like the blame for this scandal being thrown in every direction open to the political policymakers — in this case, the DUP. <BR /> <BR />The permanent secretary expressed his disappointment this morning that, during the spike in applications, nobody told him that it was potentially a licence to print money, but did the whistle-blower not do that very thing some time ago and, in one case, directly to Mrs Foster? <BR /> <BR />The House is in an impossible situation today on whether or not to support the statutory rule, given the lack of information. We are damned if we do and damned if we do not. No doubt, if it all subsequently goes sour through legal action, we will be reminded that we all supported it.”
“They then asked him whether he ever brought work home from his business or visited his company's computer from home. They suggested that they could be creative with paperwork to get him into the scheme. He told them to close the gate behind them on the way out, as he recognised the whiff of fraudulent behaviour. Were these salesmen being judged on how many people they signed up, with weekly targets to meet? It seemed to me to be so. Was the thinking behind the renewable heat incentive scheme to make it a political success story at any price? A lot of what we know now certainly points in that direction.”
“When asked who requested leaving out the cost controls section contained in the UK model, the permanent secretary replied that it was a policy decision. Who makes policy decisions? It is not a Committee or a civil servant but the Minister. Why was it allowed to be left out by the Minister? <BR /> <BR />I believe that pressure was being applied by whatever means necessary to make this scheme a political flagship success. I received information from one businessman who was visited at his home by officials who told him about this wonderful scheme. He thought it was too good to be true and was politely walking them to his gate. He mentioned that, since the scheme was only open, at that point, to commercial users, he would not be eligible.”
“It is obvious that they want to draw this upcoming election back to their comfort zone of a battle between green and orange. From what I am hearing — I suspect that the DUP are hearing it as well — an angry Northern Ireland public will not be falling for that trick. <BR /> <BR />During an Economy Committee meeting, I pointed out to the Minister the dilemma that many people had signed up to this scheme in good faith and were encouraged to borrow large amounts of money from banks that Mrs Foster had written to, in glowing terms, to allay any fears they had around lending money. The Minister replied that, indeed, many people had not signed up in good faith. Surely, if people of ill intent could see the golden egg on the other side of their boiler, why did the then Minister or her staff not pick it up?”
“They felt that they would be unable to simply tear up their contracts with customers in the way that this statutory rule was going to allow. The poultry sector expressed similar concerns and felt that many livelihoods were going to be put in jeopardy if the goalposts were moved. One of the spokespersons for the renewable industry highlighted a point I made to the Minister that, if the Government decided to simply tear up existing contracts, future overseas investors might think twice about coming here to do business with a Government that may not be prepared to see out the terms of a contract. <BR /> <BR />This plan smacks of being a desperate measure by the DUP to bring some level of respectability to a monumental failure of their making.”
“However, a more damning piece of information came to the Economy Committee this morning, when the permanent secretary told us that this latest plan was actually suggested by a special adviser from another Department, whom he refused to name. Why the secrecy? Have we not had enough of this culture of lack of transparency that breeds suspicion in the mind of the public we serve? <BR /> <BR />Last week, the Committee heard evidence from representatives from the mushroom-growing industry, the poultry sector and spokespersons for the renewable industry. The mushroom industry representative told us that large contracts with customers had been agreed for the supply of product based on a price tendered on the basis of the sums that they had done around their heating outgoings.”
“The Economy Committee was told that lots of work was going on behind the scenes to try to come up with a mitigation plan. The permanent secretary informed the Committee that the plan contained in this statutory rule had only been conceived on 30 December last year. Just two weeks later, it was announced to the world as a finished article — an amazing feat of record-breaking administration after seven months of inertia since the audit report of last July. We were told that, because of a lack of any sustainable data, a lot of guesswork had to be employed in its formation. Is this really the way to run a country?”
“It will be interesting to discover, through an inquiry, how much they did know and how they allowed their non-aggression pact with their partners in the Executive to adopt the example of the three brass monkeys, who saw no evil, heard no evil and refused to talk about the evil. <BR /> <BR />I am grateful that the Opposition were able to ask the House to delay the debate for one week to allow some level of scrutiny to take place. The Economy Committee has worked hard since to gather evidence and take some legal advice, without the help of Sinn Féin. It seems to me that this exercise, far from providing answers, has actually raised more questions. Since last July to the end of December 2016, a further £15·5 million of the public purse has gone up in smoke.”
“<BR /> <BR />However, Sinn Féin must equally have known how bad it was, and yet it chose to vote alongside its Executive partner. In my eyes, this poses questions for it to address. It is ironic that a party that played a very bad game of hokey-cokey around a full public inquiry, with its position changing two and three times a day, should now be attempting to instigate such an inquiry and announcing it just a few hours after a senior figure in its party was on the radio saying that it would not and could not support one.”
“All normal Assembly scrutiny processes were bypassed, yet the DUP has unashamedly tried to blame the Committee and Opposition MLAs ever since, with fingers being pointed in any direction that they could think of except towards themselves and refusing to recognise the concept of ministerial responsibility that pertains in most countries outside of North Korea. <BR /> <BR />It is obvious from what is in the public domain at present, with no doubt more to come, that an attempt was being made to keep most of the Assembly in the dark in February 2016. It was known that there was an overspend, but the full financial disaster was not made clear before the Comptroller and Auditor General's report at the start of July. The DUP knew exactly how bad the situation was, and this prompted it to vote as it did last February.”