Jemma Dolan
Fermanagh and South Tyrone · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Minister, I am really shocked at that response, because I am not aware of any Western Trust engagement on the vision plan. My question was going to be, "Will you outline how you will ensure that the public are aware of this planning, so that they can engage with it?".”
“Minister, thank you for your statement. Last week, the Irish Government announced a further €30 million investment in the Ulster canal restoration project. That is transformative for the communities along the route and will benefit local economies and tourism. What is the current position of the Ulster canal project?”
“They are the result of years of chronic underfunding by successive British Governments and a funding model that has consistently failed to recognise the real needs of people here. That is the root cause of the problem.”
“Our public services are under immense pressure. Health workers, teachers and community organisations are all being asked to do more with less. Communities that have already endured years of austerity continue to feel the impact.”
“However, the second part of the motion is profoundly flawed and contradictory. On the one hand, it welcomes the efforts of local Ministers to press for more funding for public services, while, on the other hand, it states that the Executive are purposely deciding to "impose further austerity" by not agreeing to a Budget.”
“There is an onus on us as elected representatives to deliver better front-line services. However, we cannot get away from the fact that we are a devolved region with limited fiscal powers. Almost all our funding comes through the block grant.”
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“I welcome my former Committee colleague Paul Frew to his post. I wish him all the best. <BR /> <BR />With my party colleagues, I welcome the introduction of the parental bereavement Bill, and I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. The Bill will provide paid leave for workers who experience the loss of a child, which is the most difficult time in their lives. Facilitating paid leave for those workers can give them the time and space to grieve while not being subjected to loss of income. That is essential. No worker should feel compelled to return to work following the loss of a child, and workers should not face financial penalty for taking the necessary time off in what is an incredibly difficult situation.”
“It could also lead to greater integration of financial reporting and increased accountability and financial monitoring. <BR /> <BR />One area that is not clear is which of the arm's-length bodies will not be affected by the legislation and the reasons for their exclusion. The Department's officials discussed that with the Finance Committee and cited NI Water as one example of an ALB that was not within the scope of the Bill. That was for historical reasons relating to the type of body that NI Water is. There may be further work required to see how we can bring in the ALBs that remain outside the boundaries. <BR /> <BR />Overall, this is positive legislation and another important step in implementing a more efficient and transparent financial process that will be accessible to all.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Bill, which is a small but significant part of the review of the financial process, will enable the consolidation of arm's-length bodies into departmental estimates and, by extension, the accounts. While the full spend and income of arm's-length bodies are included in the Budget, only the cash grant-in-aid for Executive non-departmental public bodies is included in the Estimates. That is one of the main reasons why misalignments occur. The Bill will not have any affect on the arm's-length bodies; rather, it will simply affect the method of how they report the financial information. The NI Audit Office has said that a potential benefit from that change will be a closer working relationship between Departments and their designated arm's-length bodies.”
“Work began in 2010, as it was recognised that the lack of read-across between Budgets, Estimates and accounts had been a source of confusion and frustration for Assembly Members and that a new framework that was user-friendly, fully aligned and helpful to proper scrutiny and transparency was needed. Some important work has been completed to date. The Department of Finance has engaged with other Departments on producing Estimate template documents, along with a guidance manual that will be the basis of the new format. The templates have been tested in various dry-run exercises, and lessons have been learnt from those exercises following engagement with Departments.”
“Another major issue with the Estimates is the misalignment between them, the Budget and the accounts. The Estimates give legislative effect to the Budget, so the figures included in the Estimates are directly derived from the Budget, yet the numbers in the Estimates cannot be reconciled with the numbers as they are presented in the Budget document. We need Estimates documents that are fully aligned and compatible with the Budget document, both in what information is presented and how it is presented. That would be a much more user-friendly and transparent way of considering the Estimates. <BR /> <BR />It is my understanding that that is a key objective of the review of the financial process. As has been stated, that review is long overdue.”
“I welcome the Second Stage of the Bill brought forward by the Finance Minister. This is an important part of the review of the financial process. Like other Members who have contributed, I wish to voice my frustration with how the Main Estimates are presented to us as MLAs. We all benefit from proper scrutiny. We are all aware of various pieces of legislation that have passed through the House that have been greatly added to and strengthened during the process of scrutiny. When it comes to our Budget Bills, however, it is a challenge to ensure that there is proper oversight. <BR /> <BR />The Main Estimates are scant on detail. They show the headline figures of resource and capital DEL and AME requirements for each Department, but there is no detail on what individual Departments are spending their budgets on.”
“Minister, will you clarify where employees who have incurred extra costs can find out more about what support is available to them?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. What input has the joint agency task force had into the Department's legislative proposals for additional powers to tackle organised crime? Do you believe that those proposals will provide better opportunities for cross-border cooperation on tackling organised crime such as drugs crime and financial crime?”
“Given the disparity between urban and rural and the impact that that has, does the Minister agree that all Departments must fulfil their rural needs duty to ensure that rural communities are not disadvantaged when accessing government funding?”
“Will the Minister provide an update on the steps that her Department has taken to adopt the Ravensbrae waste water treatment plant in Garrison?”
“Sinn Féin has campaigned on the issue for too many years to count. It is now time for the Minister to listen, if not to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, ICBAN, me or my party, then, please, to Fermanagh's residents, businesses and its native sons and daughters who have to live in Belfast, Dublin, London and New York, to name a few, because of decades of underfunding of infrastructure.”
“Some people snigger at how Fermanagh has been ignored, but I find it downright disgraceful and an insult to the people whom I represent. We have the worst broadband, the worst roads and possibly the worst sewerage infrastructure, all of which has a detrimental impact on the local economy and the opportunities available to us. The A4 upgrade and the Enniskillen bypass are not a magic bullet that will cure all the ills affecting Fermanagh. However, they would be a massive help and a significant boost to the area. <BR /> <BR />Fermanagh and Omagh District Council recently adopted a position calling for the upgrade of the A4 to dual carriageway. The Irish Central Border Area Network (ICBAN) has highlighted the socio-economic benefits of improvements to the A4-N16 transport corridor.”
“Extending the dual carriageway from Ballygawley to Enniskillen would improve business confidence in Fermanagh and South Tyrone; encourage the skilled pool of workers currently resident there to remain and encourage others to return; facilitate and support the regeneration of the local economy; assist in the development and growth of indigenous industries; and reduce the misconception of peripherality, particularly amongst tourists and businesses. <BR /> <BR />Hundreds of people leave their Fermanagh homes for work elsewhere and never return. That results in rural depopulation, which leads to several other consequences that affect rural communities socially and economically. Fermanagh has been neglected for too long, and we will not stand for it any longer.”
“Any road infrastructure improvements have to be accompanied by investment in broadband and mobile coverage, Invest NI investment and education and skills development, which we are beginning to see with investment in the South West College in Enniskillen. Transport improvements, however, are vital to the economic sustainability of Fermanagh. The upgrading of the A4 is a necessity that the Department and the Minister for Infrastructure cannot ignore any longer. <BR /> <BR />As I mentioned, Fermanagh does not have even one mile of dual carriageway. We must be the only county in Ireland in that position. We are not getting a fair allocation of the Department for Infrastructure's budget, and that needs to change.”
“The two stretches of road, with the bypass in between, are like a three-legged stool. The bypass is welcome, but a one-legged stool will not stand on its own. It is well known and statistically proven that border areas perform poorly in comparison with other areas on the island of Ireland. The standout facts of that are economic productivity lagging behind the national average; a lower share of high-value economic sectors, which are more resilient in economic downturns; a higher share of manufacturing and construction sector jobs, which are more likely to be hit by economic downturns; and a so-called brain drain of young and talented people from the border areas. <BR /> <BR />Improving the A4 transport link would have a transformative effect on Fermanagh. Obviously, transport itself cannot resolve all of Fermanagh's economic difficulties.”
“Then, add in the fact that Fermanagh and Omagh district has the highest number of outstanding road repairs, with 1,339 surface defects. <BR /> <BR />The Department for Infrastructure is underspending and underinvesting massively in Fermanagh. In response to my question for written answer in March, the Minister stated that she had asked her officials to complete the work necessary to allow her to arrive at a decision on how the scheme should proceed. I hope that the Adjournment debate will help to focus the Minister's mind on the bypass. The project has been ongoing for 15 years: let us make this the final year. <BR /> <BR />I will now address the need for the upgrading of the entire A4 road from Ballygawley to Enniskillen and then onwards from Enniskillen to Belcoo, where it joins the N16 to Sligo.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have a number of questions on the Minister's announcement. How long will it take to make the direction, vesting and bridge orders for the bypass scheme? I remind the Minister that the people of Fermanagh have waited too long as it stands. Moreover, considering the £722 million capital budget that the Department received this year, why was the bypass not included in this year's budget? The scheme is about £30 million and is huge value for money. Very little of that capital budget makes its way to Fermanagh as it is, and the Department has no maintenance budget going to Fermanagh for rail, motorways or dual carriageways, because Fermanagh has none.”
“Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for facilitating the debate today on a topic that my constituents and I feel very strongly about. I start by sending my condolences to my party and constituency colleague Seán Lynch MLA, and his family, on the recent death of his brother Brendan. <BR /> <BR />The Enniskillen bypass, the upgrading of the A4 road between Ballygawley and Enniskillen and the upgrading of the A4 road between Enniskillen and Belcoo are extremely important and need to be delivered without delay. Today's announcement that the Department for Infrastructure is progressing to the next stage of the Enniskillen bypass is very welcome. If anything, it proves at least that Adjournment debates such as this work, putting pressure on Ministers to listen to MLAs and to the people whom we represent.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I secured the Adjournment debate a fortnight ago, but the Minister for Infrastructure waited until this morning to release a statement on the same issue. That undermines the role of MLAs and the authority of the Chamber to hold Ministers to account. I ask the Speaker's Office to look into this to see whether proper procedure and protocol were followed.”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. News of the parental bereavement leave is very welcome. On the issue of hire and fire, will she commit to bringing forward legislation to end this disgraceful exploitation of workers?”
“The stringent criteria applied by your Department for the recent self-employed scheme excluded those who became self-employed after March 2020. In light of the £2·5 million underspend in this scheme, will you now consider widening the criteria so that more newly self-employed people can receive support?”
“Given the serious implications of the protests and their potential to turn violent, does the Minister agree that all political leaders should now call for an immediate end to illegal street protests?”
“Minister, can you outline how the £73·6 million of financial transaction capital will be allocated in 2021-22?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. I appreciate that this might be outside his remit, so I understand if he does not have the answer. Is there an update on the £25 million that is allocated for the £500 payment for health workers?”
“Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister for his answer. I declare an interest as a past pupil of St Mary's. Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon, and Magh Éne College, Bundoran, are both closer to St Mary's, Brollagh than any post-primary school in Fermanagh. I have raised that with the Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB), and, in response to the Donegal ETB, CCMS said that it recognised that parents and children may wish to consider those schools and agreed to have the locality education adviser liaise with the school's principal and Donegal ETB. Can you also facilitate and support that?”
“Thank you. I completely agree with the Member. Obviously, as we are encouraging staycations this year, that is more than likely going to happen. <BR /> <BR />At a time when many businesses have shifted to online models merely to survive during the pandemic, these extra charges will cut even deeper. We should be helping to ease these new trends, not exacerbating them. These unnecessary charges could be the difference in job losses and business closures, and therefore they should be stopped. I support the motion and the amendment.”
“On these card charges, and in many other areas outside the scope of the protocol, we are facing divergence and increased costs for those who work, live and trade across the border. Workers and families simply cannot afford the additional charges and the costs of Brexit — again, a Brexit that the majority of them did not want. <BR /> <BR />Hotels, airlines, travel groups and car rentals could be the hardest hit by this announcement from MasterCard and Visa. Throughout the pandemic, the all-Ireland tourism flows have been instrumental in mitigating the decline in overseas tourism. These card charges put North/South tourism in jeopardy and endanger our tourism recovery.”
“<BR /> <BR />This is Brexit laid bare: an opportunity for big businesses to line their pockets, free of the EU legislation that reined them in. What is to stop the mobile network providers reintroducing roaming charges, for example? My point is: where is this going to end? As a result of this and numerous other Brexit-related threats and loopholes, border dwellers are, once again, potentially the worst affected. Where I come from, people cross the border daily to purchase everyday items such as groceries and fuel. Credit card charges on basic goods and services must be avoided, as workers and families here are typically on lower incomes than those elsewhere. According to NISRA's low pay index, 25% of workers in the North earn below the living wage of £8·21 an hour. The North has the highest rates of low pay across these islands.”
“We are approaching the fourth month after the end of the transition period, and some of the implications of that that are already affecting my constituents on a day-to-day basis are the loss of the EU directive on cross-border healthcare, the need for a green card to drive in the Twenty-six Counties and mainland Europe, and the presentation of several challenges and uphill battles for our already struggling agri-food sector. Now we have this announcement from MasterCard and Visa that they are increasing credit and debit card fees fivefold. It is all because of a Brexit that the majority of people in the North voted against. It is clear that these major companies are cynically using the loss of EU consumer protection laws to overcharge customers.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. The Minister's proposals do not commit us to net zero by 2050. There is a wealth of expert advice that the North is capable of reaching true net zero by 2050 without unfairly affecting sectors such as agriculture. Given the severity of the climate crisis, does the Minister think that it is appropriate that we do the legally required minimum when more ambitious alternatives exist?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Minister, will you outline your intention on entitlements? Will you continue those in the development of a future agricultural policy?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. Will she give us an update on the commencement of the civil legal aid provisions of the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act 2021 and an update on the work that has been done, as was promised during the deliberations on the Bill, to look at having better access to legal aid for domestic abuse victims and limiting perpetrators' access to legal aid?”
“I appreciate that the Minister has to strike a balance. Will the pay award prioritise those who are on the lowest pay?”
“Minister, thank you for your statement. The announcement of the £25K support grant for manufacturers will be warmly received by that sector, particularly as manufacturers were not included in previous grant support schemes. How many manufacturers will benefit from this support grant?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your statement. As the Minister is aware, Estonia is often hailed as a country that has had an extremely successful digital transformation in recent years. Has the Minister looked into the potential economic benefits that could be gained by following the Estonian model of delivering public services online?”
“Caring for young children limits the number of hours that a person can work and the distance that they can travel for work, which leaves many women locked in poverty, especially when jobs are low-paid. <BR /> <BR />The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2021 is "Choose to Challenge". Therefore, we should be challenging ourselves to implement the changes necessary to become a gender-sensitive Assembly and society.”
“That crucial data is needed here to determine the extent of gender inequality. However, NISRA data is not disaggregated by gender. Publishing gender-disaggregated data is one of many measures that can be taken by the Assembly to make the labour market more equal. <BR /> <BR />Women are more likely to be engaged in informal, temporary or precarious forms of employment, including employment with zero-hours contracts. To tackle that, I am bringing forward a Bill that will end zero-hours contracts and replace them with banded hours contracts. That will provide stable employment for women. In the North, many of the women in poverty work. This is connected to reduced working hours for women. They are more likely to work part-time and struggle to increase their hours of work due to caring responsibilities.”
“That compares unfavourably with a wider average across these islands, where women constitute 74% of part-time employees and 25·6% of those deemed economically inactive. Structural inequality disadvantages women through the persistence of a gender pay gap in the North. Research by the Association for Real Change (ARC) and Ulster University shows that the gross median weekly female earnings are £127 less than men's. All employers must work to end the gender pay gap in order to advance women's rights and workers' rights. <BR /> <BR />In Britain, gender-disaggregated data shows how many women are claiming universal credit and how many redundancies have been of females.”
“If we are serious about getting more young women into political life, we need to make some serious but very doable changes. As far as I am aware — I stand to be corrected — the permanent secretary of the Department of Finance was looking into allocating space on the estate for a childcare centre and/or a family room for MLAs and Assembly staff. That would be a positive step and should be pursued. <BR /> <BR />The low percentage of women in elected roles here is a microcosm of the under-representation of women in sectors across society. NISRA statistics show that, in 2020, women constituted 79% of those in part-time employment in the North, and one third of working-age women are economically inactive.”
“Currently, in the Dáil, general election guidelines require candidate quotas of 30% women. The introduction of gender quotas before the 2016 general election to the Dáil increased the proportion of female candidates by 6·5%. Sinn Féin has been working to increase its female representation. An example of the benefit of that is that its Assembly team now has more female MLAs than males, and its two party leaders are women. <BR /> <BR />A political career path is deemed as being not family-friendly due to long plenary sittings and the varying demands that are placed on Members' time. It remains true that women are the main carers in our society, and, as such, we need to explore strategies to improve the work-life balance and consider childcare issues and other caring responsibilities, issues that have already been touched on today.”
“Happy International Women's Day to everybody. Women should be respected and appreciated every day, but their impact on and contribution to our lives should be particularly celebrated today. I commend the staff of the Women's Caucus for keeping us in check and putting the motion together. <BR /> <BR />It is internationally recognised that society's needs are better served when there is diverse political representation. While the recent increase in the 2016 and 2017 Assembly elections is welcome, women are still under-represented in the Assembly at only 33%, despite constituting 53% of the population. That is the lowest female representation compared with other devolved legislatures. The North of Ireland also has the lowest percentage of female councillors with only 26%.”
“We need sectoral agreement between government, employers and unions to update and agree standards so that employees are continually reskilled and they can maximise their personal development while ensuring that workers' rights are at the forefront.”
“<BR /> <BR />The points are well made in the inquiry report that we cannot look at skills in isolation and that we need to look at affordable childcare, guaranteed financial reward, providing appropriate training and progression plans and the option for flexible working in order to meet the demands of caring responsibilities. <BR /> <BR />While not covered in the report, it is also important that the Department continues to address rural broadband and digital hardship, as those are barriers to upskilling for rural residents like the people I represent. To that end, the Department must ensure that the digital hardship fund is accessible to the students who need it.”
“On this, International Women's Day, the Department for the Economy should look at skills programmes that will specifically assist women to reskill and re-enter the workforce. Women in Business recently launched a returners programme that is designed at getting females who have been out of work back into skills programmes and job opportunities. The most recent programme was oversubscribed, and it is clear that if the Department provided specific schemes for women, they would avail themselves of them and re-enter the labour market. To allow more women to return to work, stakeholders also urged revisiting the childcare strategy, as it plays an important role in giving parents the opportunity to work or to avail themselves of training.”
“After doing a degree and knowing what I know now and having engaged with South West College on several occasions, I would reconsider my educational pathway if I were to do it again.”
“It is important that councils continue to look for those gaps and work with local colleges and training providers to help fill them so that people can find work close to home. <BR /> <BR />In my constituency, we have the top-class South West College, which has the state-of-the-art Erne campus ready to open to match the existing and innovative South West College skills centre. Facilities like that not only help to reskill and upskill our workforce but have the potential to fight back against the brain drain. One point in the report that links to that is the requirement to change the cultural mindset here that leans towards a university degree as the only or the superior option on the pathway to employment.”
“<BR /> <BR />One of the primary aims of the Minister's economic advisory group will be to assess future skills, reskilling and upskilling needs in the context of a new skills strategy. We need a skills delivery framework that can help workers of all ages, employers and communities to adapt, and one that helps to build an economy that delivers for everyone. <BR /> <BR />The points in the micro inquiry are well made around needing to look at skills matches. The needs of the workplace are changing at such a fast pace, which has probably been accelerated by COVID-19. Digital skills are becoming more important, with the majority of jobs requiring a certain level of expertise. The Department's skills barometer has been useful in identifying skills gaps.”
“Sinn Féin welcomes the findings of the micro inquiry on skills. With unemployment rising, it is essential that we have a skills-based recovery that can help support and train our people for new jobs and industries. Although we welcome the Department's various initiatives, such as skills academies and apprenticeship programmes, there needs to be a conscious effort to help underrepresented groups to access skills. The Department's new skills strategy will be a key driver of economic output, particularly as we emerge from COVID-19. The strategy's design must support individuals, communities and industries to adapt to the demands of the global economy, as well as meet the changing needs of the local economy.”
“Minister, you have touched on this slightly. We have heard of increasing difficulties with costs and conditions for tenants in the private rented sector. What measures can the Minister put in place to address that?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. I understand that the chief executive officer of Waterways Ireland has been in the role on an interim basis since 2019. What does this appointment mean for the timeline of the delivery of the Ulster canal, which is a highly anticipated project with huge benefits to the local area and the local economy from tourism?”