Justin McNulty
Newry and Armagh · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for challenging some of the narratives that are peddled in relation to immigration. <BR /> <BR />Minister, what steps are you taking to support community safety partnerships in addressing misinformation on illegal immigration and to help build confidence in how local criminality is being managed?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. I welcome the progress that has been outlined today on major waterways projects, including the Ulster canal project.”
“Will you commit to throwing your full support and that of your Department behind that effort by backing the establishment of the task force and by working proactively with local councils and partners, including the Department of the Taoiseach's Shared Island unit, to realise finally the enormous economic, tourism and environmental potenti…”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. We have all seen the deterioration of our high streets and streets in our towns and villages with the shift to online shopping. Vacancy and dilapidation are now sadly the norm. Will the review act as a stimulus for businesses on those streets in our towns and villages?”
“Absolutely. The Minister and the Department can never relinquish the reins of proper scrutiny. <BR /> <BR />The reclassification by ONS will mean that all trust ports can borrow, which will allow them the commercial flexibility to invest more in their infrastructure.”
“<BR /> <BR />The trust port model has stood the test of time and has worked well for the North. We can see the economic and social benefits in the local communities around the ports. In 2025, the DFI completed a review of the trust ports in the North to explore how the Department's policy on trust ports could be updated.”
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“If there is an instance of violence in a pub, the perpetrator is charged and goes to jail. If it happens in the home, the perpetrator gets away with it. Perpetrators get legal aid while victims have to finance their own justice, but they never get there. How can that be? The system aids and abets perpetrators. The experience of many women is that of fear, shame, guilt and trepidation. They worry about their safety while in their own homes and live 24/7 under the threat of constant violence and abuse. <BR /> <BR />Those women know that physical wounds can be healed, but emotional and mental wounds are much more insidious, and it takes much more to recover from them. Under that constant threat and coercive control, these women are living in an environment of sheer hell in their own homes.”
“I spoke to Women's Aid. What a powerful force for good and what a wonderful organisation it is. Its representatives say that we need early intervention and prevention, with frameworks for teaching children and young people about trust, equality, respect, consent and healthy relationships. Women's Aid knows that males need to be included in that. It wants men and boys to have the confidence to call out and challenge threatening or abusive attitudes towards women. It says that men should be as horrified by the stats as women are. I am. From that perspective, I wholeheartedly support Judge Gillen's recommendations. <BR /> <BR />Women's Aid says that the system is totally bent towards perpetrators being able to abuse women and children. How can it feel like that in 2021?”
“I thank every Member wholeheartedly for their impassioned contributions today. I rise with a deep sense of sadness in my heart to speak on this sensitive and crucial motion on a strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. It is so sad that the North of Ireland has the highest rate of domestic violence in Europe. Why? There have been eight violent deaths and over 32,000 instances of domestic violence since lockdown began. My heart bleeds for the women and girls who feel unsafe in their own homes. My heart bleeds.”
“I thank the Member for his answer. I think that the Member will agree that we must do more to encourage and empower women to stand for election. In that regard, what plans does the Assembly Commission have to bring forward maternity provision for elected Members? Please outline the decision-making process. Can you provide details of how long that process will take?”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for her statement and her answers. About a month ago, 15 sporting bodies were represented in a correspondence to you and your fellow First Minister relating to the reopening of youth sports. Those sporting bodies have not received a response from you. In advance of the review, there was anticipation, discussion and huge excitement about the potential restart of youth sports, yet I see no detail in relation to that in the statement. Can the First Minister provide clarity on when a return to youth sports will take place?”
“As I said yesterday, the Finance Minister was handing out money hand over fist. Tell us what the obstacles are so that we can all work together to find solutions to help those who need it most.”
“I will be even more cynical, but can you imagine a Minister in Dublin proposing such a cut? The Minister and her party colleagues would march on the Dáil lawn. If it was a London Minister, the MP for South Down would be standing outside Westminster twiddling his thumbs, shouting about it and saying, "Do not blame us. Blame the Brits. Blame Tory austerity." <BR /> <BR />I am appalled that we are now weeks away from a cliff edge and there has been no proposal by the Minister. The Finance Minister is struggling to spend money and saying that he may have to hand money back to London. Here is the case for spending it on the most vulnerable and those who need it most. Support them now. Put food on their table and a roof over their head. What are the obstacles to the implementation of the mitigations? Is the money not there?”
“I am so thankful to the advice sector and for community advice. It does work on the ground to help and guide people who would never have countenanced the possibility of being in the benefits sector but find themselves there because of the pandemic. Our Communities Minister is countenancing taking money off that sector at this time. How can that be? The party of social justice? Not likely. <BR /> <BR />I share the concerns about the advice sector in Mr Carroll's amendment, and I share Mr Durkan's cynicism about the proposal to cut support to the sector in the first place. Would any Minister, backed up by their Finance Minister, propose such a cut to those who need the help most in our society? The worst of the health pandemic has passed, but the economic and jobs impacts will go on long into the future. It will get only worse.”
“The DUP is pointing fingers over the aisle, but you two guys are in it together. You have been the parties leading the Executive for the past 10 years. Universal credit, the children cap and PIP are the legacy of the DUP, Sinn Féin and Alliance handing welfare reform back to the Tories. You cannot blame the Tories when you give them the power. You cannot blame the Brits when you give them the power. Let us not forget who trooped through the Lobbies in the House to hand welfare powers to the Tories in London. No more blaming the Brits: you gave the Brits the power. <BR /> <BR />It really beggars belief that you could countenance cutting the advice and support sector at the moment. Those people help families and individuals who are on their knees. How do you possibly countenance taking money away from them?”
“The legislation to close the benefit cap loophole has not yet been passed either. All of the impacted families have children, and 77% are lone parents. By October 2020, 1,000 families were impacted. That number is likely to have risen steeply since. All those who began claiming universal credit at the beginning of the pandemic will have come to the end of a nine-month benefit cap grace period in December. We have no figure from the Department in that regard. <BR /> <BR />The families affected lose an average of £200 per month. In one example, a family with four children has lost £800 per month, which, after housing costs, leaves them with a total income that is 68% below the poverty line. That is all from the party of so-called social justice, the "Blame the Tories" party, the "Blame Tory Austerity" party.”
“A society will be judged, as others have said, by how it treats its most vulnerable people. The pandemic has pushed people into the benefits system more than ever before. You cannot put a number on the people who have been impacted. The Department for Communities failed in its bid for more staff from the Sinn Féin Finance Minister: why? <BR /> <BR />The welfare mitigations extension was announced in 'New Decade, New Approach'. Fifteen months on, we are no further on, despite the fact that we are two weeks away from a cliff edge, when the current arrangements are due to end. Legislation to close the bedroom tax loophole has not been passed. That will impact on over 227 households, which will lose, on average, £50 per month. That will lead to significant rent arrears and increase the risk of housing stress and homelessness.”
“When can that happen, given the success of the vaccination programme roll-out?”
“I thank the Minister for coming before the House. As I said when I was speaking to you outside, Minister, I recognise and appreciate the huge success in the roll-out of the vaccination programme. That is a huge credit to all those involved in delivering it, and huge thanks should go to them. The security that the vaccine has given to so many people and families is phenomenal and cannot be overestimated. <BR /> <BR />Given the success of the vaccination programme roll-out, when do you and your Executive colleagues feel that you will be in a position to recommend the recommencement of youth and non-elite sports? It has been too long since too many children have had a ball in their hands or a puck at the end of their stick. Youth and non-elite sports need to recommence.”
“Minister, you will be aware that some kids are participating in homeschooling on their mobile phones. What resources have you allocated throughout the pandemic to bridge the digital inclusion gap for young people in education via the provision of expanded IT support for schools and IT equipment for all children who do not have adequate IT at home for schooling?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Will he provide clarity on a couple of points? Will he tell me about applications where a business has multiple properties and where there may be multiple applications? What does he advise in that instance? Will he also consider widening the scope of the localised restrictions support scheme to ensure that sports clubs, such as GAA and social clubs, are not left behind?”
“What is the solution for the properties that are not included in Project Stratum?”
“It is a revolutionary moment for me to talk to the Northern Ireland Assembly via StarLeaf. It is incredible, and I am lucky to be able to engage through the digital inclusion that is possible for me. Some are not that lucky. Places such as Lissummon, Lislea, Crossmaglen, Cullyhanna, south Armagh, Laurelvale, Loughgall and Ballyhagan are not being promised broadband for another three years. Will the Minister tell us what he and his colleague will do to ensure that, as part of Project Stratum, those works will be accelerated so that the digital disenfranchisement that those households and families are experiencing will not continue? Those people need broadband, and they need it now. The Department has said that some properties have 30 Mbps download speeds, which is quite patently not the reality, and those properties need to be included.”
“I could go on, but I know that others wish to speak. However, I will add one final thing. This place has been awash with money to deal with the pandemic, but I fear that much of it will go unspent and that the Minister will go down in history as the Minister who handed back millions to London when families, workers and businesses were on their knees. It will not be a question then of blaming the Brits or Tory austerity if you have handed back millions to the Tory pot. Let us take the opportunity to invest now in the front line, in communities and in those who need it.”
“Can the Minister go back and review this policy? It is not hard to clarify the clubs concerned — there are many in the constituency that we share and, indeed, across the North. That lack of support is in danger of driving many sporting clubs to the wall.”
“The £20 million set aside initially for the redevelopment of Casement Park was welcome, but we need much more than that. We need certainty that the Finance Minister, the Communities Minister and the Executive are committed to delivery of the project. We need certainty that the money is there to meet the projected costs. Casement Park can be the phoenix from the ashes of this pandemic. I urge the Minister to support that vision. <BR /> <BR />Once more, I take this opportunity to press the Minister on the need to support sporting social clubs. Like many licensed premises in sport, tourism and hospitality, sporting social clubs have had their doors shut for almost a year now. Some facilities have had weekly support, but GAA clubs have been cut adrift by the Minister's guidelines, and some face real difficulty.”
“<BR /> <BR />Fourthly, as a member of the Education Committee, I am anxious and deeply frustrated that children with special educational needs are constantly let down. Families and young people have to wait months for special assessment. When they get that assessment, there is no money for the one-to-one support that they need. They just seem to be cast aside and dropped off at every turn. Their families are fed up with the lip service that is paid to them and their children. These children are our most vulnerable and needy citizens. They cannot be forgotten about. It is imperative that educators have the finance necessary to give them the support that they need. <BR /> <BR />Finally, I draw the Minister's attention to support for the GAA.”
“If we do not tackle the necessary emotional and educational catch-up under one strategic banner, too many children will be left behind and forgotten about. <BR /> <BR />Thirdly, as a constituency MLA, one the biggest issues that I am contacted about is the state of our rural roads. Time and again, Ministers have told us of the need for long-term strategic investment in structural and rural road maintenance. In fact, the current Finance Minister said in 2009 that better roads were vital to the North's economic prosperity. You will appreciate my concern at learning from the Infrastructure Minister, who bid for an additional £17·5 million through in-year monitoring last year, that he allocated just £2 million. I want to see the Department for Infrastructure properly resourced and rural roads maintained.”
“<BR /> <BR />The second issue that I want to touch on is Education Restart, the restart of physical education and children and young people's emotional health and well-being. Our children and young people have been forgotten about in this pandemic. For very sound reasons, we turned our attention to the elderly and vulnerable; they were at greater risk from coronavirus. However, that has been at the cost of our children's education, their access to physical education and sport, and their emotional health and well-being. The Restart programme does not go far enough. It is a piecemeal approach supplemented by the 'Children and Young People's Emotional Health and Wellbeing in Education Framework', costed at £6·5 million. Bluntly, that does not go far enough.”
“We are all too aware of the need to tackle the long waiting lists for surgery across the different specialities. I fully appreciate that we have just come through a worldwide pandemic. In addition to the obvious health pressures associated with coronavirus, it has added to our problem of massive waiting lists. We have people waiting years for routine surgeries. They are waiting far too long for first appointments with a specialist and, then, waiting even longer for surgery. New Decade, New Approach promised action; it promised finance for surgery. What is being done to address the pending epidemic of growing waiting lists and delayed operations and screening — the epidemic after the pandemic? Where is the action? Where is that finance? People on waiting lists are dying. People and families just want action.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak in today's debate on Budget matters. As Members of the Legislative Assembly, we have three key responsibilities: shaping public policy, shaping public spending and representing constituents' concerns. In my engagement with various Departments, public bodies, arm's-length bodies and those who depend on the public sector for work, I have heard a real frustration about the way that we manage our finances and plan our spend. Government spending here has been too focused on the short term and too last minute. It does not facilitate better, longer-term strategic thinking, long-term planning or value for money. <BR /> <BR />I want to touch five on areas of spend, the first being hospital waiting lists.”
“Will the Minister acknowledge that the only thing that he has stopped is the publication of his Executive's plan for the opening up of the economy and the return of life to some sort of normality in the weeks and months ahead?”
“I thank the Minister for coming to the House today. Like others in the House and the communities that we represent, I express my frustration around the Minister's stunt on Friday evening. I am not sure who he took his legal advice from. Was it Sammy, Arlene, Jacob or Gregory? It is a smokescreen; it is a farce. You did not halt any building, as building has not commenced. You did not halt the protocol, as there is recognition from the UK and the EU that the protocol is going nowhere. Will the Minister acknowledge the harm and confusion that he has caused? Will he agree that this is a Brexit protocol and a direct consequence of Brexit?”
“I cannot refer to the Standing Order, but it is completely inappropriate.”
“On a point of order, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. My colleague Daniel McCrossan will not appreciate the description of his contribution to this important matter as being akin to comments from a seance. The Chair should reconsider those comments.”
“On a point of order, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker.”
“Minister, what discussions you have had with the Minister for Infrastructure and the Minister of Finance about upgrading existing waste water treatment capacity to enable the construction of social housing in places like Newry and elsewhere?”
“Will the Minister give an update to his recent announcement of the £500 payment to NHS staff and say when he envisages all payments will be made?”
“The Minister must give them that guidance and tell them when they can get back to youth sport. The plan must be data-led, clear and unambiguous and give people hope and a sense of renewal in the months ahead.”
“It is every bit as much about emotional and mental health and well-being. I shudder to think what my youth would have been like with six months with no sport. I implore the Minister to give those children and young people the gift of sport in a safe and controlled way. <BR /> <BR />Finally, I ask the Minister to outline in his remarks his thought on the return of schools, the return of children to sport, the return of sport in general and, indeed, the economy. The English CMO has said that there is little residual risk for schoolchildren. That risk is lower again for youth sport. I know that the concern is about parental behaviour, but the sports have expressed clearly that they want clear guidance. They are willing to work with the Minister and will put in place mitigations.”
“They know, you know, and I know that sport is much more than physical recreation and well-being.”
“The back kitchen, living room or front hall are no substitute for the sports pitch. Minister, can you give me reassurances that you will look at that? Will you write to me with your assessments? <BR /> <BR />Letters sent to the First Minister, the deputy First Minister, the Health Minister and the Minister for Communities contained 80 signatories representing 15 sports, including ladies' Gaelic football, soccer, rowing, rugby, camogie, boxing, triathlon, judo, hunting — hunting? Sorry, that should be hurling; I cannot read my own writing. Some will, of course, classify hunting as a sport, but that is not one of the signatories — handball, athletics, football and Gaelic football. Fifteen sports are represented, and the Sports Forum has also written to you, Minister. They want clear direction on how youth sports can return safely.”
“I have endeavoured, like others, to lead by example and to follow the guidelines. Once again, thank you for the gift. I am asking you, Minister, to give a gift to our children and young people. The scales have tipped. The evenings are getting brighter and the days warmer. Children are getting itchy feet. Where I live, the kerbside kids are bringing joy to the neighbourhood, and it is fantastic to hear and see. Now is the time to tell children, families and sporting organisations when they can return to sports safely. <BR /> <BR />Minister, I know that you share with me the view about the importance of the health and well-being of children and young people. I know that you agree that a critical part of that is opening up youth sports. It has been said that the kitchen table is no substitute for the classroom.”
“School leaders, teachers, parents and children need clear direction on the way forward. They need consistency of message and certainty. Their flexibility cannot be stretched beyond breaking point. They need a vision and a clear pathway of what lies ahead. They need a plan for educational catch-up, a plan for emotional health and well-being renewal, and a plan for the return of physical education. They need a properly funded restart programme. <BR /> <BR />As we look at the success of the vaccination programme, people involved with sport are seeking a detailed plan for its safe return, beginning with children's outdoor sports and then the return of all outdoor and indoor sport and places such as gyms. <BR /> <BR />Minister, you gave every MLA a gift: a reminder to tell us to keep following the guidelines. I thank you for the gift.”
“They know that, on the horizon, they can see beyond the pandemic, but they can see the epidemic, after the pandemic, of health issues related to delayed diagnoses and treatment. Minister, what plans do you have to support those people, who have nothing more to give? <BR /> <BR />Members alluded to the plan for easements in the months ahead and stressed the need for decisions to be data-driven and science-led, and I support that principle. <BR /> <BR />On my way here this morning, I listened to Diane Dawson, a school principal, eloquently and passionately articulate the desire and need for children to get back to school. She was critical of statements made since the Prime Minister's statement yesterday. She expressed frustration at the sudden change in direction from the top of our Executive in just four days.”
“I acknowledge those who are on the front line in health, education, retail, business and all of our front-line services. I also acknowledge the community at large: the families, the sporting organisations and the children who have stayed away from school, sport and engagement with friends. We should also acknowledge the changed role that teachers have taken on and, indeed, that of parents, who have become at-home educators and have been juggling between doing their job and educating their children. <BR /> <BR />Carers, in hospitals and in the community, have put their lives at risk to keep us safe. Healthcare staff are exhausted, fatigued, and mentally and emotionally bruised. They are punch-drunk from fighting the pandemic, caring for patients and saving lives.”
“I thank the Minister for coming before the House with regard to these statutory rules. I join others in welcoming Mr Poots back to this place. It is great to see him looking so well and healthy, and I wish him well on his potential return to the AERA hot seat in the days ahead. <BR /> <BR />It is a matter of, "Here we are again". Weeks after regulations were introduced, we are giving consent to them. Like others, I hope that we will soon be at the end of these restrictions and debates. That brings me to the announcement by Boris Johnson in London yesterday and the anticipated plan from the joint First Ministers that is due to be published next week. I acknowledge the effort and sacrifices that have been made by all of our community to help to drive down the infection rate.”
“I thank the Minister for her statement and for her continued great work and strong leadership. I am assured of your commitment to North/South relationships and also your ambitions for our island. Can more be done by the North/South Ministerial Council and other bodies, such as the British-Irish Council, to help us to rebuild after COVID and Brexit and to tackle our shared ambitions of addressing the climate crisis?”
“The Minister will know that I have been like a broken record on the need for a more comprehensive programme than that being delivered under the restart programme. We need a recharged programme that helps kids to recover and to catch up physically, academically, socially, emotionally and mentally. A major focus of the children and young people's strategy is on mental health and well-being. Given that we are now facing a crisis in mental health amongst our young people, what immediate commitments can the Minister give to provide additional funding or resources to help to tackle that?”
“People in our communities have looked to him to guide the way when things have been tough, and when issues relating to the pandemic have been in the melting pot, more than they have looked to the head of Government. He has done that. When the Minister reviews the regulations, next week, I ask him to seek to give people hope and sight of the light at the end of the tunnel.”
“Restrictions in other areas of our economy, such as barbers and hairdressers, which operate on a strict appointment-only basis, or car washes, could be eased. When can dance and music lessons resume safely? In education, school leaders and parents are crying out for certainty. Minister Weir has indicated that he will give a period of notice before schools open for face-to-face learning, but let us give them certainty as soon as possible. Set a date, provisionally. Give them a timeline or a staggered programme of when schools can resume safely and for which year groups. <BR /> <BR />Everyone appreciates the challenges that the Minister has faced and the way in which he has led throughout the pandemic. He has not been afraid of making difficult decisions. Whilst others were at each other's throats, the Minister remained steady and stable.”
“A strong campaign is being launched this week in which some sporting organisations and high-profile figures will share those concerns. I am completely sympathetic to those concerns. I want to hear the Health Minister and the Chief Medical Officer's view on that. I want to know when they think it will be safe to open up youth sports, in a safe and managed way and at no risk to the children or their families. Outdoor activities, such as children's sports, can and should be permitted at an early stage, given that they take place in outdoor, open spaces. That is imperative for the physical and mental health and emotional well-being of our young people. As are many Members, I am dying to get back into the gym. It has been too long since I have had a bar on my back.”
“I appeal for a stage-by-stage pathway to be set out that will see different sectors and activities ease out of restrictions. In calling for this, I do not see it as an undermining of the health message. I fully appreciate and acknowledge that any easements will be slow, staged and permissible only if the infection and hospital figures permit. We need to look at easing areas of the economy and society that can be eased in a managed and safety-compliant way. <BR /> <BR />On multiple occasions, I have raised my concerns about the impact of the cessation of youth sports for prolonged periods. I raised it with the mental health champion last week at the Education Committee and have raised it on many occasions with the Minister. I am really concerned about the impact on their mental, emotional and physical health.”
“The most up-to-date hospital admission details will also be included in those considerations. <BR /> <BR />So many people and their families are sitting at home sick with worry about delays in surgery and the lack of access — perceived or otherwise — to screening. There are also simple things, such as the drive-in test site in Newry, in the Albert Basin, where, given that there is a storm coming this week, people have to walk long distances to the testing site. People want answers and solutions to that situation. There was a drive-in testing site, and they want that replaced. <BR /> <BR />I ask the Minister to use this opportunity of his review to signal a path for the future and give people a sense that hope is on the horizon.”
“As others have stated, what is before us today is a mere extension of the regulations that were previously put in place. We have been here on many occasions, where the regulations are almost at review stage before they get to the House for consideration, debate and approval. I supported the extension at the time and want to take this opportunity to speak on the review of the regulations that will come next week. We know that the regulations have worked and continue to work. Whilst the infection rates and the number of positive cases continue to fall, they remain high and, most importantly, the pressure on our health service, our hospitals and our healthcare teams also remains high. The review will take into account the impact on hospitals, healthcare staff, cancelled surgeries, delays on screening and the roll-out of vaccinations.”
“Ádh mór ort. Big luck on you, Minister. I hope that it is just a caretaker role and that Minister Poots overcomes his latest challenge. We wish him and his family well in their new battle. <BR /> <BR />Minister, will the disruption of checks at Larne or Belfast delay the delivery of goods to shops, farms or garden centres in the days, weeks and months ahead?”