Pat Catney
Lagan Valley · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“I am delighted that he will get his own private Member's Bill through, which will bring equality, again, within teaching. He had to do a huge piece of work on the back of that. <BR /> <BR />It makes me proud to be part of this Assembly.”
“I am excited for the future. I will go back to the Minister. I have done so twice and will do it again. I do not know how the relationships required by the Bill's cross-cutting nature will go or which Department will hold the powers that the Bill provides to ensure that period products are available as widely as possible.”
“I have done that with every single Member whom I have met out there and talked to. I thank Members across the Chamber for their kind words to me personally today. This is not electioneering, folks, but I will tell you this. As we walk out and face the general public, no one knows what way they are going to go.”
“When I started out, I did not know the whole process of where or how it goes, but I know the process now, and I know that there is a lot of work, including from the civil servants. Mr Deputy Speaker, I will go back to tell you about when I had the little pub next door to Churchill House.”
“I will not be much longer, folks. I want to say that, as I was coming down this morning, I had the radio on, and I heard about an art project that is going on in Belfast. This may well be my last opportunity to speak about the ring of steel.”
“There was a bit of toing and froing, and I did not know which Department was going to lift the Bill and take up the chalice, which some people may have thought was a poisoned chalice. I thank the Minister, Deirdre, for taking that chalice. It was brave and correct to do that.”
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“I can understand how costs can increase, but these are big companies and experts in the field. A five-fold increase surely cannot be justified in any way. The increases will have a huge impact on border companies but also on the number of world-class artisan and small businesses that work within the EU. Those are unique and specialist companies, which are at the heart of our local economy and which we should all be encouraging. <BR /> <BR />Commerce has moved online, but so has the processing of transactions. We hear all the time about the cost-saving opportunities that occur with technological advances. Why, then, do those massive companies need to impose such over-the-top charges on consumers? Any argument that the charges are required because of Brexit does not hold water for me.”
“The pandemic has had a profound effect on how we do business across the world. The consequence of that is that the use of cards and contactless systems has increased exponentially. It is incredibly important that, coming out of the pandemic, we do all that we can to help our businesses to recover, to facilitate improvements that lead to business being conducted more effectively and to remove barriers to recovery and allow businesses to thrive. <BR /> <BR />The decision by Visa and MasterCard to increase fees as soon as the EU cap did not apply to the UK was opportunistic, short-sighted and almost predatory. To increase card fees when contactless transactions and e-commerce are rapidly accelerating will result in stifling the economy just as we are trying to bounce back from the past year: it simply cannot be acceptable.”
“Minister, will you give me an update on the abolition of the right-to-buy scheme? The house sales scheme in the housing associations has been abolished. Since the passage of legislation last year, what action has the Minister taken to extend that policy to NIHE properties?”
“I congratulate the Department and the trust on the work that is being carried out at the day-procedure centre at Lagan Valley. Minister, will an overall assessment be made of the increased number of visitors to the hospital and how that will impact on the traffic and parking issues along the Hillsborough Road? It is great to welcome what is coming in, but we have to look at how successful it is. Will you call for some sort of investigation of parking around the hospital?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your statement. I, for one, will support you. I know how difficult it is, and I know about the policy of "Not in my back yard". When I applied for my vaccine, I went to Ballymena because that was the first place that was offered. Everything about it was efficient. <BR /> <BR />Mr Speaker, like you, I have my little card to show that I have had two vaccinations. I know that my features are a little more rugged than yours. If you want to be known in the boxing arena as "Two Jabs Alec", I will be known as "Two Pokes Pat". <BR /> <BR />On a serious note, Minister, I look at the work that is ongoing at Lagan Valley Hospital, where that old Victorian facade opens out. I was treated in the day-procedure centre there.”
“We have listened, rightly, to all sides of this Chamber express condolences in unison. Now let us move forward together and do the job that our communities so desperately need us all to do.”
“They have said that the old "us and them" politics does not speak to their beliefs or needs. It does not speak to the young men in their communities who are dying every day from suicide. It does not speak to the lack of educational standards that prevents their communities from prospering and developing. It does not speak to the overbearing deprivation that leads the young people in their communities to feel like there is no future, except for the old ways of the past. <BR /> <BR />When I was elected, I was asked what it was like to be the only nationalist elected in Lagan Valley. I spoke of the need to represent and work for the one community of Lagan Valley and to help face and tackle the issues that we all feel, regardless of background. This is truer today than ever.”
“I am a nationalist and no supporter of the monarchy, but, from an early age, every Remembrance Sunday, I went to the war memorial in Moira. The Prince's house, used when he came to visit Northern Ireland, is in that constituency. My Uncle Laurence's name is on the memorial. He died on a ship bringing munitions to South Africa. This false dichotomy of Protestant or Catholic, unionist or nationalist, us or them has always been false. We are not one side or the other. Our personal histories are intertwined, connected and eternally bound in the one community that we are all trying to survive in. <BR /> <BR />In recent months, I have been struck by the conversations that I have had with loyalist and republican ex-prisoners, because they have both told me the exact same thing.”
“This is no more so than for someone like Prince Philip, who devoted his life to public service, made his presence felt across the world and devoted himself to the development of our young people with his Duke of Edinburgh's Award. <BR /> <BR />My own mother passed away just a year ago, before her ninety-fourth birthday. She was the one constant in my life, whose wisdom and courage I was able to rely on for as long as I have had my memories. We all have family members who are no longer with us, and we all continue to grieve for them. <BR /> <BR />I speak out of a common sense of human decency; it is something that we have been completely lacking in here over the last few weeks. Twenty-three years after the Good Friday Agreement, we have entrenched ourselves in the old nonsense, talking about points and stereotypes of the past.”
“I give my condolences to Queen Elizabeth and her family, who are grieving the loss of a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Suffering a loss during these times, when families cannot come together to support each other in the grieving process, is something that many in our community have had to go through. It is not something that you would wish on anyone. This comes down to the common decency of humanity, where we like to comfort those in this situation by talking about 99 years as being a good innings, a life well lived and all anyone could hope for. In 99 years, you build up a huge community of human connections, lives touched and people who have lost a pillar of their own lives. The sense of loss is deeply felt by those for whom Prince Philip was a constant companion over his long life.”
“What information have you received from the Executive Office on the recommencement of driving instruction?”
“Thank you. I hear what you say, deputy First Minister, but this is the only place on these islands without a specific strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. What is the timeline for the completion and implementation of a strategy?”
“Will the Minister provide an update on vaccine supply? Will we reach the targets that were set out in the vaccination timetable?”
“We could lift thousands of people out of fuel poverty and give them more money in their pockets.”
“A €9 billion refitting programme is to provide half a million buildings with insulation, and installing 400,000 heat pumps will have a huge impact on the efficiency of buildings. This is a key cornerstone of the green economy that we should be working towards. It has implications not just for the climate emergency. We, of course, must do all that we can to make our environment greener and reduce our impact on it. It also has huge implications for how we tackle fuel poverty. An estimated 42% of households in Northern Ireland are affected by fuel poverty. That is the highest in the UK. A huge number of people spend a significant proportion of their income on heating their home. We have winter fuel payments, and we have set ambitious regulations for the building of zero-energy homes.”
“I have no issue with the statutory rule. It follows changes that have already occurred in England and Wales. There is a question of why the fee for non-domestic certificates needed to be as high as £9·84 in the first place. If we have been able to reduce it by 81%, was this being used as a source of income generation for the Department? <BR /> <BR />In broader terms, the Department needs to urgently carry out a wider review of how building regulations can further improve the energy performance of buildings. At the start of the year, we had discussions about what the Department would bring forward to reduce the energy needs of buildings to nearly zero. While the rest of Europe has moved on, Northern Ireland and the Republic have set highly ambitious targets.”
“Thank you, Minister. I welcome the statement. I am still aware, however, of many businesses that have been refused support. In order to fill the funding gaps and better tailor future support schemes, is your Department reviewing the data from the sectors that are still impacted on by the pandemic but have not yet received support?”
“I want to bring the Member's attention back to Casement Park. I remember that, some years ago, that stadium for Northern Ireland was going to be built out by Blaris and out by the Maze. That would have been a far better decision than doing up the three stadia — rugby, soccer and GAA — that got the money. If my memory serves me right, your party blocked that stadium.”
“The move to digital has been huge. Without investment in our infrastructure, Northern Ireland will be left behind. The pandemic has speeded up the need to take stock of the skills that we create for young people in the future. We need to consider the gaps, where we are behind the wider world and where we are doing well. A lot of that information already exists, but still we lack a well-funded, coherent skills strategy not only to improve the lives of our young people but to close the gaps between east and west and low and high income. <BR /> <BR />A future Budget must be ambitious and linked to strategic priorities that have been properly consulted on and scrutinised to make them cost-effective. That is the way forward, and I hope that we get there.”
“I have already spoken about the key projects in my area: the M1; the A1 link; the extension of the Blaris greenway to allow active travel across the area; and work on the Knockmore rail halt. Investment in infrastructure also means investment in broadband and digital infrastructure. I welcome what was announced this morning on the roll-out of the broadband. The pandemic has changed the world in many ways, but it has also ramped up change that had already begun.”
“I know that Claire Hanna and Colum Eastwood have been pushing the Northern Ireland Secretary, but we all must work together in order to make sure that those commitments are met. <BR /> <BR />We must have long-term strategic thinking about our economy, tackling poverty and climate change. We must realise opportunities in the UK, the EU and further afield. Long-term strategic thinking requires multi-year Budgets. I know that the Minister said that those are difficult to get to, but we long for the day when they are possible. It is not all in his control. Those Budgets must be implemented to allow value for money on long-term Government projects. We need a firm commitment from the Minister that he will implement them. <BR /> <BR />We must invest in infrastructure. That means roads and active travel.”
“It is difficult and very slow-moving, but we find ourselves moving on anyhow to agree on the Budget that will come forward in the next few months. <BR /> <BR />In the short term, we need to see real movement on the 'New Decade, New Approach' commitments. Without movement on waiting lists, impactful mental health strategies and victims' pensions, we will all face an electorate that will say to us, "What's the point?". I repeat that they must be impactful. It will be difficult, but those commitments cannot be treated as secondary or a waste of time. That is what we have signed up to do. Not delivering must be out of the question. Where that requires buy-in from Westminster, we must remain persistent. It supported the agreement, so it must also follow through.”
“You can come up with the best strategies in the world — we know that this place needs to work on that — but there are issues if the priorities and outcomes of those strategies are not adequately resourced. I was going to say that they are not worth the paper that they are written on, but these days it is more correct to say that they are not worth the cloud storage that they take up. We need to be sympathetic, with priorities matched to specific lines in the Budget. In fact, the Minister said that, if we take money away from one Department, we give it to another. We have to make those hard decisions. We need to look at that as best as we possibly can. I joined the Finance Committee thinking that I could come up with some ideas or help the Minister. I was not going in there to make it difficult; I was going in to see what was what.”
“We thought, "We will get hope, and things will get better". <BR /> <BR />On 16 September 1992, which was Black Wednesday, interest rates rose to 21%. Imagine telling some of our children today — those who are paying 2% or 3% on a mortgage — about that. I had just bought Ferguson's pie factory. I am not going on; it is just to let you know. Through no planning for the future, all of a sudden, I found myself with £400,000 of debt to be serviced at 21%. It was impossible. You could not do it, and no business could sustain it. However, we got through it, and we lived to fight another day. <BR /> <BR />I intend to be brief in case Paul says anything. The lack of consultation has been well rehearsed in the debate, so let me talk about solutions. First and foremost, Budgets need to be better linked to a robust Programme for Government.”
“My speech will be very brief. When I first came in, I saw my colleague Mr Givan. He has not come in. I was afraid of an intervention from him, so I am glad to see that he has left, anyhow. <BR /> <BR />On Saturday, we went to a little place called Duncan's dam. A community went out together and picked up rubbish. There was one young family there with a 16-year-old and an 11-year-old. I thought about me working in a pub and how difficult it had been. The greatest asset that we have is our community here. A lot of us tried our best — I am not lecturing anyone — during the Troubles. We put our children out to school, and we tried to work and to keep the economy going as best we could. Those are the important things. Those were the winning days. That is how we survived as best we could.”
“First, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker, I apologise to you that my phone sounded. I had the phone on airplane mode, and I hope that you noted that I owned up to it fairly quickly. Having been in the Chamber for about the past year, I have noticed that there is not much that goes past your eyes, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />I wish the Chair of the Finance Committee, Mr Steve Aiken, a speedy recovery. I hope that we will have him back as quickly as possible.”
“Minister, do you consider the expenditure allocation for the greener economy to be sufficient to enable Northern Ireland to meet the UK's 2050 net zero target, or do you intend to approach the Finance Minister to bid for additional funding? What we sow now, we will reap in the future.”
“I wish all the women in the Chamber a great International Women's Day. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that any reclassification does not lead to insecure tenure, higher rents and less accountability for Housing Executive tenants as we have seen happen with the transfer of public housing in Britain?”
“I noted with interest yesterday that £1·3 million had been allocated in the spring Supplementary Estimates to Maze/Long Kesh. Maybe this is the year when we will come together to unlock the potential of the land there. Maybe this is the year when sensible heads will prevail, and just maybe I will not have to raise Maze/Long Kesh year in, year out in Budget debates. I live in hope.”
“Further strategic infrastructure projects like the M1/A1 bypass are needed to promote a post-Brexit all-island economy, while work on the recently approved Knockmore rail halt just outside the centre of Lisburn unlocks access to public transport for all those using or going through Lisburn. <BR /> <BR />Of course, the areas where completely new economic hubs can be created are limited. For me, though, I can just about stretch myself to think of one key area that is yet to be developed, one key area that has the potential to enhance the economy at a sufficient level regionally and one key area that, due to infighting and indecision, has been a black hole for lack of funding and missed opportunities. I refer, of course, to Maze/Long Kesh.”
“In my area, with sufficient long-term thinking, funding for the expansion of greenways and the Lagan canal would completely transform our use of active travel and how we work and live. Behavioural change caused by the pandemic will create the need to transform our commercial centres. Regional towns will become hubs of our economic activity. This can be facilitated only with sufficient investment in infrastructure and, as I hear everybody saying, especially about rural areas, in broadband. <BR /> <BR />We need to provide allocations to tackle the growing housing crisis. We must look at where we live and at how to bring more people into town centres. That can create micro-economies and low-carbon hubs, with everything located within walking distance of our homes.”
“We need to develop in our young people the skills that make them fit for purpose for future employment opportunities. Without adequate funding for schools and training, we will condemn yet another group of young people to low-skilled jobs and lose others to the brain drain. Strategic thinking needs to be long term, and it is incredibly difficult for Departments to plan strategically and improve on what they deliver when faced with a single-year budget. Single-year budgets also encourage the continuation of existing allocations, rather than facilitating a more fundamental review. <BR /> <BR />What should effective funding look like? Multi-year Budgets are central to enabling long-term planning and to facilitating value for money, capital programmes and sufficient public-service reform.”
“Approaches that we took in the past may no longer be effective, and new opportunities should be grasped to better serve the public. Although work is ongoing on the development of the economic strategy, there must be adequate budgetary provision for the priorities highlighted by such a strategy. Our economic recovery from the pandemic could be maximised if we considered the benefits of our position, due to the Northern Ireland protocol, as an access point to the EU and UK markets, particularly in the areas of agri-food, life sciences and the low-carbon economy. <BR /> <BR />The need for strategic thinking is apparent across all Departments. Work on investment and anti-poverty strategies is ongoing, but we have other long-term challenges. We have challenges in health and social care and because of climate change.”
“However, without the proper prioritisation of conversations, the 'New Decade, New Approach' document could end up being another fig leaf agreement that sits on the shelf alongside the likes of the Fresh Start Agreement and the Stormont House Agreement, with no plan to tackle health waiting lists. How will the Executive develop a regionally balanced economy with the proposed fiscal council? It is great having ambitious plans, but, if you never implement them, what benefit is there? <BR /> <BR />Going forward, we must get serious about public service reform. Budgets will always be tight, and circumstances will always come up that we think take precedence over this important piece of work. However, the pandemic has drastically changed the landscape.”
“If support is not provided to our young people and their return to school as quickly and effectively as possible, the events of this year could end up having a long-term effect. <BR /> <BR />When the Executive returned last year, they knew that they had to come up with an ambitious plan to get buy-in from the public after three years of disastrous inaction. A year later, Members rightly ask questions about the UK Government's funding commitments in respect of New Decade, New Approach. We need more discussion about and more clarity on progress on the key NDNA commitments.”
“More detail must be provided as soon as possible so that we know what existing spending may continue, what new projects may arise and what funding might stop altogether. <BR /> <BR />If we look at the Department of Health and the Department of Education, we see that those two Departments cannot withstand another year of standstill Budget. Health's spending is predicted to grow by 6·5% every year. In 2015, we talked about Health's spending growing by 5%, so the situation is getting worse rather than better. Without much-needed reform, our ability to fund an effective health service will cease to exist. <BR /> <BR />We all know of the pressures that have been faced by our education system over the past number of years. The pandemic cannot have made anything better.”
“My legs are sleeping. Sorry about that, Mr Principal Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />I understand the Department of Finance's difficulties in bringing forward the Budget; I understand that the Treasury did not confirm the funding envelope until the end of November; and I understand the Minister's difficulties in bringing a draft Budget to the Executive. However, here we are once again, debating a piecemeal Budget that does not address the need for longer-term strategic thinking on the fiscal position of Northern Ireland. That approach does not allow for a full conversation about the issues that departmental budgets face. This year, the financial outlook for Departments will remain largely unchanged from last year, but, beyond that, we have a lack of information on what that means for departmental spending.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I am off drink for Lent. If the Member does not hurry up, he is going to put me back on it.”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for her statement. Additional certainty for businesses is, obviously, welcome. However, many will be disappointed that the statement and accompanying infographic will not allow them to make the important decisions that are needed to protect jobs. Will the Executive Office provide a more detailed breakdown for business owners?”
“What recent analysis has your Department done of the materials that are being illegally dumped?”
“<BR /> <BR />When I was in business, I could not have operated, as we try to do here, with vast amounts of money unless I had projected years ahead. In fact, we tried to work off five-year budgets to do that. That was a small step. I asked about that the first time that I spoke on this subject one year ago, and it still has not been delivered. Minister, I know that you want to get there, and it would be tremendous if we were able to deliver that next year. It is not a big ask.”
“However, another issue is the quality of year-end spending, given that such spending is greatly increased. There is the potential to fund projects that have been rushed through in order to spend remaining budgets. Without clear planning and procedures in place for managing and monitoring budgets, there is huge potential for a lack of value for money in what funding goes towards in such huge end-of-year spikes. Departments must work on creating a better distribution of funding throughout the year, while the Department of Finance and the Committee must continue their work to provide greater flexibility in carry-over budgets from one year to the next. Ultimately, there should be a move to multi-year budgets.”
“I hope that more paths will be developed in the near future and that they may be connected with greenways and, eventually, the canal. That will transform our ability to utilise active travel and bring us into line with not only the Republic but many of our European neighbours. <BR /> <BR />My final point is on the end-of-year surge in spending. I do not want to labour the point. However, going into the last three months of the current financial year, Departments had, on average, more than half of their capital budget remaining. Eight of the nine Departments forecast that their highest expenditure would occur in March. There has been a lot of discussion in the Chamber about the potential for funding to be lost and having to be returned to Westminster. Members are rightly concerned about that.”
“If not, where is the funding that is required for those pensions? Victims have waited too long for that support. They should not have to wait any longer. <BR /> <BR />I welcome allocations of funding that will support projects in my area, Lagan Valley. I am sure that all Members will be pleased to know about them and share in my gratitude. Part of the £4·5 million for the flood alleviation scheme will go towards the area of Lisburn along Prince William Road that has been impacted greatly by flooding for a long time. Since my days on the council, I have fought for works to be carried out to resolve the issue. I am absolutely delighted that this work has now begun. There is also work to develop cycle paths at Blaris and other places in my constituency. Particularly during the pandemic, we have seen the benefits of active travel.”
“<BR /> <BR />Over £1 billion of headroom has been built into the spring Supplementary Estimates by the Department of Finance to give the Executive the ability to spend funding that has not yet been allocated. There are clear differences in the amount of headroom that is provided to each Department, which is understandable. Departments need the ability to use any Budget allocation that may come forward. However, there is a lack of information on what a lot of that headroom could be used for. That needs to be cleared up in order to allow further scrutiny of the use of any extra allocation. <BR /> <BR />The Executive Office has indicated that it has the provision of £13 million for victims and survivors. I would like some clarity on what that provision is for. Does it provide pensions for victims?”
“Four Departments, Finance, Health, the Executive Office and Communities, were allocated more than 89% of the funding that they requested. However, Economy, Infrastructure and DAERA were allocated less than 36% of the funding that they requested. <BR /> <BR />I know that those figures include multiple bids for the same thing over many monitoring rounds. However, there needs to be a clear understanding of what makes a successful bid and what factors into the decision-making on financing one project and not another. That is not a judgement on decisions that have been made. More clarity on that area would allow us, as Members, to understand better the thinking of Departments. It would also provide cover for the Department of Finance by allowing it to stand over the decisions that have been made.”
“The huge changes to the Estimates over the past year have been not only because of the large amounts of extra funding for COVID-related matters but because of the unprecedented position that all Departments found themselves in. This year has shown us the deep need to regularise our Budget process and create more transparency in how Departments bid for funding, which criteria they use to determine whether a bid is necessary and how the Department of Finance then decides which bids to grant and which are unsuccessful. <BR /> <BR />This year, Departments submitted 263 bids, the bulk of which were for COVID-related matters. Of those, 141 were unsuccessful, and a further 56 were only partly successful. That equates to a shortfall of nearly £1 billion — £966·4 million — between what was requested and what was granted.”
“Thank you, Minister, for coming to the Chamber and for all the times that you came to the Committee. I thank your officials for coming to the Committee and giving us as much information as possible. I know that it was difficult at times. <BR /> <BR />A pigeon visited the Committee last week. I am tempted to say, Minister, that this is a turkey of a Budget because there is a lot of gobbledygook, but I will not do that”
“I thank the Minister for that very comprehensive answer, and I welcome the cooperation between North and South. Minister, do you foresee any challenges to cross-border cooperation, specifically in the context of the post-Brexit environment?”
“Will the Minister provide an update on how the additional £18·1 million that was announced in January will be spent and whether any of that funding will be carried over in the next financial year?”