Deirdre Hargey
South Belfast · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“His double standards, including his condemnation of and opposition to equality and rights for our LGBTQ+ citizens, have caused real harm to others. The revelations about his double life expose the staggering hypocrisy of the DUP's moral facade. We need to know whether failing to act sooner left more vulnerable people at risk.”
“One week ago today, Jeffrey Donaldson was found guilty of 18 child sexual offences, including rape. That conviction was made possible only by the strength and resilience of the two victims who came forward and reported the abuse. Donaldson was an abuser. He abused children, but he also abused his position in politics and faith.”
“They now say that they knew about his behaviour, but, crucially, they did nothing to expose his inappropriate hypocrisy and double life. The 'Spotlight' programme and other reports have shown that senior members of the DUP — its most senior figures, including the then leader, Edwin Poots — were aware of serious issues and allegations abou…”
“It is therefore not credible to suggest that the intelligence agencies were blind to his compromised double standards and double life. <BR /> <BR />Those questions demand answers from the DUP leadership. They demand answers in the House from the deputy First Minister, who was closely associated with Donaldson.”
“It is clear that there is a huge disconnect between Whitehall and the reality that is being felt by people on the ground. A British Treasury policy that is managing decay, real-terms cuts and disastrous policy decisions such as Brexit or the funding of wars over public services comes on top of existing disparities between how public servi…”
“The answer is not the short-term fixes or cash injections that we have had in the past, which have allowed for the repeated Treasury script of record settlements and inability of the Executive to manage their finances — scripts that are often parroted in the Chamber.”
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“In some ways, the system is that seamless that they do not realise that they have received a mitigation payment until it has been removed.”
“What Mr Durkan did not mention is that in the same year I bid for over £283 million. My Department received that money in additional payments, and it went out to protect the most vulnerable and those who have been struggling over the past year. I secured that additional money in the past year. It is interesting that the Member did not point out that figure. <BR /> <BR />I think that it is known that I did not want an end date. I do not see an end date; the mitigation needs to be continuous, but it is clear that I would not have received Executive approval for that. I engaged with the Cliff Edge Coalition and others that have campaigned excellently on these issues and engaged people at a grassroots level. Many of the people who receive those vital payments do not realise that they are receiving them.”
“I would not like to think that anybody would consider ending the bedroom tax mitigation in the new mandate, because even contemplating it would be catastrophic. <BR /> <BR />The review is ongoing, and I await its work. It is chaired by Les Allamby, who is a former human rights commissioner. When I came into post, he was one of the first people whom I met, and mitigations was one of the first items on his agenda at that time. I will leave that issue to the review panel, which is conducting its work independently. <BR /> <BR />There was some comment about budgetary processes and money being returned. I do not know whether some Members do not understand the Budget processes — for example, with ring-fenced budgets, you cannot reallocate money — or whether they are just being mischievous because we are running into an election.”
“Many other Members also know their impact. The Committee has been very supportive of my proposals. <BR /> <BR />Some Members spoke about a review. That dovetails with some of the comments about an end date. I have appointed a new panel to review mitigations, which was a commitment in New Decade, New Approach. That is not about stopping any of the existing mitigations. That is my view and it is consistent with the reports that the likes of the Human Rights Commission did almost two years ago. It is about additionality because of the need that exists, particularly around the two-child rule, and looking at all the other mitigations. Our housing situation was, quite rightly, pointed out.”
“Thank you to everyone who contributed. In relation to earlier comments, I confirm that the Communities Committee has been very supportive of me over the last two years. As I said in the accelerated passage debate, I came in as a Minister when the Assembly was re-established in January 2020, and I had a paper in front of the Executive within two weeks of the institutions being re-established. As somebody who comes from a community development background, I have campaigned on these issues. Living in a working-class, inner-city community, I know first-hand the impact that welfare reforms have.”
“The Bill represents an important step that we can take now to deliver meaningful change here before the end of the Assembly mandate. I believe that we can all support this Bill to allow mitigation payments to continue to be made to vulnerable households who would otherwise face increasing rent arrears owing to the imposition of the bedroom tax. I hope that Members are content with the broad thrust of the Bill, and I am happy to deal with any point that they may raise. I commend the Bill to the Assembly.”
“The report must include an evaluation of the need to amend, revoke or introduce legislation on the various welfare mitigation schemes. That will include, in particular, a view on the provision of a statutory extension of each mitigation scheme.”
“A recent review report is to be laid in the Assembly no later than 31 March this year, or before purdah kicks in.”
“<BR /> <BR />My officials are making preparations to extend all existing welfare mitigation schemes, and, until Royal Assent is received for the Bill and until the draft Welfare Supplementary Payment (Extension) Regulations 2021 have been approved by a resolution of the Assembly, my Department will continue to make non-statutory welfare mitigation payments to all those who are eligible, based on the existing policy. That arrangement, whereby mitigation payments have continued since 1 April 2020, has been provided under the sole authority of successive Budget Acts. That process is currently set to expire on 31 March this year, hence the urgent need to make this legislation before then. <BR /> <BR />The Bill also provides for my Department to monitor and report on the ongoing operation of the welfare mitigation schemes.”
“The Housing Executive and housing associations have made strong arguments for the continued mitigation of the bedroom tax in order to counter the threat of increasing rent arrears and the impact that that would have on their funding to deliver social housing. Housing Executive research has shown that the social housing stock is not available in the North to allow tenants to avoid being penalised by the bedroom tax. That is one of the reasons that there has been consistent cross-party support in the Chamber for not applying the bedroom tax here.”
“My Department's budget for 2021-22 included an allocation of £42·8 million to continue existing mitigations until 31 March this year. Subject to Executive agreement, I propose that the cost of providing continued mitigation for the bedroom tax until 31 March 2025 be met in the Budget 2022-25 settlement. The estimated cost will be £25 million per annum. <BR /> <BR />The legislation will ensure that that vital financial support continues for an estimated 37,000 households across the North, providing a long-term assurance to vulnerable people that they will not be penalised by the bedroom tax.”
“The Bill that I bring before the House today will provide much-needed continued support to some of the most vulnerable in our communities by shielding them from the financial impact of the bedroom tax, which was introduced across the North back in 2017 as part of Westminster's welfare reform legislation. The New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) deal includes a commitment to extend the existing welfare mitigation schemes, a package that was secured back at that time, and the Bill is a key step in realising that aim by providing for mitigation payments to continue until 31 March 2025 for those households affected by the bedroom tax. <BR /> <BR />In 2020-21, welfare mitigation payments totalling almost £32 million were issued to approximately 43,530 people, covering 36,400 households affected by the bedroom tax.”
“I will not keep the House too long. I thank all Members who spoke for their contribution. I thank the Chair of the Communities Committee and its members, who have been supportive when I have gone to the Committee to progress this legislation over the past two years. I am glad that we are in the position that we are in now. Hopefully, with the votes today on accelerated passage and Second Stage, we can get the Bill done by the end of the mandate. I urge all Members to support my motion for accelerated passage.”
“<BR /> <BR />In accordance with Standing Order 42(3), I appeared before the Committee for Communities on 13 February 2020 to explain accelerated passage, as I said, and, again, I thank the Chair and members of the Committee for their recognition of the need to progress the Bill as quickly as possible and, indeed, for their support in seeking Executive approval to introduce the Bill. Members will have the opportunity to look at that at Second Stage. I, therefore, urge Members to support my appeal for accelerated passage.”
“<BR /> <BR />Accelerated passage will enable my Department to plan for the operational implementation with a degree of certainty that the legislation will be in place on time, given that processes and systems will need to be updated in advance. If we cannot proceed on that route, the consequence will be a real risk that legislative passage will not be completed during the current mandate. That would mean that the Bill would fall and that an estimated 43,000 households across the North could face a cliff edge on 31 March this year, when their welfare mitigation payments would stop, unless the Assembly moves to avert that.”
“Details of my proposals to extend the remaining mitigation schemes and strengthen the benefit cap and bedroom tax mitigation schemes by closing the loopholes have been shared with Executive colleagues, and I hope to secure Executive agreement on those two sets of regulations shortly. The regulations are draft affirmative and will come to the House for approval. I have previously assured the Committee for Communities that it will be given the time to undertake its formal scrutiny role. Importantly, the legislation on that can be taken forward at the same time as the Bill, and I want to be clear that I am seeking to use accelerated passage only for the Bill.”
“I very much hope that it will reach its Final Stage before the end of the mandate. Clearly, any further delay would impact on that timeline. <BR /> <BR />I propose to introduce two new sets of regulations in the coming weeks. The first set is required to extend the remaining welfare mitigation schemes, and the second will strengthen the existing benefit cap and bedroom tax mitigation schemes by closing the loopholes in both of them. An estimated 640 families with children are impacted by the benefit cap but do not receive a mitigation payment, and around 199 households are subject to the bedroom tax and do not receive mitigation payments. The proposed changes will ensure that they become eligible for those mitigation payments.”
“However, since I briefed the Committee on that occasion and despite my best efforts, I have not been able to progress the legislation and was unable to secure Executive agreement to introduce the Bill until 2 December 2021. <BR /> <BR />The delay in securing the agreement to proceed with the legislation means there is a real risk that there will not be sufficient time to secure approval of the legislation in the current mandate. That could have serious consequences for the thousands of families that depend on mitigation payments. If the extension of the mitigation scheme is not secured, those families will face another cliff edge of worry and uncertainty this March, which would be unacceptable. That is why it is now necessary to progress the Bill via accelerated passage.”
“In February of that year, the Executive agreed to extend the existing welfare mitigation measures for the bedroom tax. At that meeting, the Executive also agreed to the drafting of the required primary legislation to effect the extension, that the Bill should be admitted to the legislative programme and that Assembly approval could be sought for the use of accelerated passage. <BR /> <BR />I then appeared before the Communities Committee on 13 February 2020 to explain that I was proposing to use accelerated passage for the Bill. That was important, as I wanted to extend the bedroom tax mitigation scheme before the cliff edge on 31 March that year.”
“Securing approval for the Bill in the current mandate is important to provide certainty to the thousands of people that will be impacted by it. <BR /> <BR />As required by Standing Order 42(4), I wish to explain my reasons for seeking an agreement to use accelerated passage and the consequences if it is not granted. I had hoped to bring forward the legislative proposals much earlier in the mandate. However, a number of issues significantly impacted on the progression of the work. I have always been clear that the continuation of the welfare mitigations is a priority for me. After becoming Minister, one of my very first actions was to instruct the team in the Department to prepare for the extension of the mitigation schemes. <BR /> <BR />I first sent a paper on the issue to the Executive on 24 January 2020, almost two years ago.”
“In January 2020, that was a cliff edge that, all political parties agreed, should be avoided and was part of the New Decade, New Approach agreement. The Executive committed to extending welfare mitigation measures beyond March 2020. <BR /> <BR />The extension of the mitigation schemes will require two new pieces of legislation, both of which must be approved by a resolution of the Assembly. The Bill is necessary to extend welfare mitigation payments for all who are impacted by the social sector size criterion known as the "bedroom tax". I will outline the proposals in greater detail at Second Stage. The plan is to bring the changes into operation on the day after the legislation receives Royal Assent.”
“I welcome the opportunity to address the Assembly on the motion. The decision to use accelerated passage is not taken lightly. I know that I keep saying that, but, with the circumstances that we find ourselves in, with a shortened mandate and a pandemic, I know that every party is keen to see the mitigation payments completed within this mandate. It is on that basis, in these exceptional circumstances, that I ask for accelerated passage. Normally, we would do it clause by clause and allow for full Committee scrutiny, but we do not have the time to do that. In the case of this legislation, however, there are compelling grounds to depart from that and for accelerated passage to be considered. <BR /> <BR />The existing welfare mitigation schemes came to a statutory end on 31 March 2020 in accordance with the relevant legislation.”
“The strategy is important, and it was important to put a figure in it. We could have put in no figure, but we need to be ambitious and provide people with a figure for what we can do. I will continue to work with the Department for Infrastructure and others on looking at the issues of connection and critical infrastructure that we need for housebuilding going forward.”
“Once those analyses are done, I can give a more specific breakdown.”
“The Member will know that, with the strategy, I am saying that, if the processes and mechanisms for the development of homes are put in place, we can be ambitious and deliver over 100,000 homes. A section of the strategy will be a social housing development programme. Over the past year, I have increased the budget for that programme. Other analyses need to be done to provide more detailed information on where those homes will be. Not all of them will be in the social rented sector; it will be made up of our whole housing stock in the time ahead.”
“The overall budget that we get from the block grant allocated through the Barnett formula is a difficult one. The prioritisation of Health also presents challenges. When looking at the budget, my approach will be to protect the most vulnerable in our communities by ensuring that services that meet people's needs are targeted at those individuals and communities. That is what I want to prioritise. The Committee has had briefings on the funding cycles, and I am looking at that. I will continue to make bids in monitoring rounds, and I am hopeful that whoever takes on the role in May will continue to do the same.”
“I do not have those details at hand, Andy, but I can communicate with you formally on the easements that have come up. I wanted to make sure that the money that I was putting into the scheme would go directly into people's pockets. Working with the Utility Regulator, the Consumer Council and, indeed, some of the utility companies, thankfully, the Department was able to find the money to support Bryson in the implementation of the scheme, which means that the £2 million that I am putting in will go directly to families. I will get you the specific details.”
“Definitely, given the powers that the British Government have and particularly the reserved powers that I spoke about, such as tax credits and VAT. From their discussion last week, I know that the Executive want to continue to push the British Government on those measures; indeed, as I said, Gordon Lyons and I will be going to the meeting of the British-Irish Council on 4 February to discuss those issues.”
“As I said earlier, last week, all the Executive, thankfully, signed off on £55 million that will see payments of £200 made directly to the bank or post office accounts of over 280,000 people. That will include those on means-tested benefits, the lowest-income families in our communities: those in receipt of pension credit, universal credit, income-related employment and support allowance, income-related jobseeker's allowance or income support.”
“We are proactively looking at that, but I would be lying if I said that it could be done in this mandate. Physically and legally, it cannot. More analysis needs to be done, and that is what we are doing at the moment. We are seeing what legislation can be crafted on rent caps. All Members will be keen to scrutinise that legislation and rightly so. My officials are trying to benchmark against measures across other jurisdictions. It is something that I am keen to see in a private rented sector Bill in the new mandate.”
“We want to engage proactively with local development plans, the planning function and, importantly, the housing supply strategy, which is out for consultation, in order to see what additional measures we can consider. Many seaside towns across these islands are affected, particularly as people spending holidays at home increases the pressure. We continue to look at other measures. There will be a private rented sector Bill in the next mandate of the Assembly, and I am hopeful that it will include rent caps.”
“You will know about the legislation on the private rented sector that is progressing. That deals with some areas around rent and says that there cannot be an increase more than once a year and there has to be notification of that. More work is being done on looking at what powers there are here. A rental cap could not be achieved in time for that legislation, and, as we have to try to get legislation through quickly, it could never have been done. An assessment of that is being looked at. <BR /> <BR />I visited the area around Portrush towards the end of last year. I had a discussion with the chief executive of the council and looked at those issues.”
“Can we look at other ways of extending the criteria for the scheme? The difficulty will be in getting the data in order to make the payments, but we are looking at that. We are happy to have officials engage. I know that they have met a number of MLAs, as have Bryson representatives, in order to look at those issues. As with any scheme of scale, we have targeted means-tested benefits at this point.”
“We offered to extend the payment and to give the money to HMRC in order to make that payment of £200 to those on tax credits. We were told that it could not do that, that it would need primary legislation and that the payments could not be made. One of the difficulties for the Department in this is that we do not hold the payment data. We asked for it and whether there was a way that we could extend the payment. Again, because of data sharing, primary legislation is needed, and none of that could be done in time. We will look at that in the longer term so that we do not end up in this predicament again. However, because those are reserved tax powers, I have no legal control and no way to pay them. <BR /> <BR />We are keeping the Bryson scheme under constant review and are trying to get the support out there. Is there a need to ramp it up?”
“I initially had the proposal for the £55 million scheme in last year. Unfortunately, it did not get on to the Executive agenda until last week, so there was an automatic delay in progressing it. It is for others to answer for the fact that it did not make it on to the Executive table. <BR /> <BR />I covered some aspects of the Bryson scheme. That money is additional to the £200 direct payment that will go to 281,000 individuals. It was never going to be a large scheme; it was meant to be additional to other supports to try to reach out to those who would not get the direct payment. I recognise that the working poor may fall below the poverty line but not be on a means-tested benefit. As I said, I looked into tax credits. Around 50,000 people here are in receipt of them, but, unfortunately, that is a reserved matter.”
“I do not have the exact figure for the amount of money that has been allocated so far by the Bryson scheme. We have paid out to 1,098 applications and given approval to 1,323 applications. I will get you the exact figure for how much has been paid out because I do not have it in front of me. <BR /> <BR />The larger £55 million scheme was announced by the Executive last week, and I could not progress it until I got Executive approval to do so. We are engaging with the Department for Work and Pensions to look at how quickly we can make those payments. Once I have a date for payments to be made, I will let the Committee for Communities and the House know. I am trying to get those payments out as soon as possible.”
“<BR /> <BR />We will continue to keep the situation under review, in order to see what other measures can be introduced to alleviate some of the stresses. Obviously, VAT is a quick way to potentially do that, but we will need to see the Treasury's response. I am not aware of the Treasury responding on the basis of the protocol, nor have I heard any indication that it will be. However, we continue to engage, and I am sure that the Finance Minister will give an update on the situation because he has been in direct contact with the Treasury.”
“The Finance Minister has written to the Treasury in that regard. He has also joined his Scottish and Welsh counterparts in pushing the British Government to respond. Of course, the matter was briefly discussed at the Executive's meeting last week. We want to continue that ongoing engagement. <BR /> <BR />As I said, there will be an opportunity in the dedicated discussion at the British-Irish Council meeting to look at energy costs. The Minister for the Economy will be the main Minister at that meeting and I will be the accompanying Minister. Of course, we continue to engage. Obviously, the Economy Minister has responsibility for energy and he went out to consultation on the energy strategy.”
“My officials are analysing that at the moment. We continue to engage with the Utility Regulator, which has forecast how things will look over the next year and into 2023, as the Member requested. We are waiting for the completion of that analysis. With the Bryson scheme, we are doing more analysis of the types of people who are applying, their backgrounds and the types of predicament that they find themselves in. We are looking at all of those issues, and I am hopeful to get a clearer picture that I can present to the British-Irish Council meeting on 4 February. We will be able to provide more detail as soon as that analysis is complete.”
“In addition, effective from 1 January 2022, funded organisations are no longer required to inform the Department of short-term sickness absences of up to five working days for employees who are in posts that are supported by my Department.”
“That has been focused on allocations to allow employing organisations to ensure alignment with the most recent rate of real living wage of £9.90 per hour; a consolidated 2% increase on the current level of support provided by the Department for salaried posts, which has been calculated after ensuring that the real living wage increase is met; a 7% non-consolidated payment, which has been calculated following applications of the previous two steps; and an increase in support to allow for an increase in employers' pension contributions from the Government's recommended level of 3% to 5%.”
“In line with my announcement and ministerial statement of 15 December 2021, over £2·1 million has been made available to help employing organisations to improve the terms and conditions of the voluntary and community sector posts that are funded through my Department.”
“The redevelopment of Casement Park is not just an Executive priority; it is a priority across the board, particularly for Gaels across Ulster and beyond. I get that message through my engagements with the GAA. I want to get it done as quickly as possible. Obviously, there are now legal proceedings, and we have to wait for the outworking of those. That has had a knock-on effect on completing the business case — we need the planning and all that to be finalised — but, as soon as we know the direction of travel of the legal process, we will move at pace to get everything completed in order to build Casement Park as soon as possible.”
“I will continue to move that as quickly as I can. The funding is still there. It is a commitment from the Executive, and it will be delivered.”
“The funding for the subregional stadia is still there, and that will continue to be the case. I am working at pace to look at the issues. Football and the stadiums make a real contribution to communities. Some are in a state of disrepair, which you see when you visit them, and I recognise that the £36·2 million that has been allocated will not be anywhere near enough. <BR /> <BR />I have always spoken about the potential need for a stage 2, which would look at other sports too, because demand is coming from rugby and other sports and, indeed, Gaelic games at grassroots level. We will continue to keep that under review. I am moving at pace on the refreshment exercise that was done, taking into account in particular the impacts of COVID and any new types of stadia design that may need to be looked at.”
“I will continue to engage with the GAA on a range of matters pertaining to the redevelopment of Casement Park, and I will continue to keep that under review.”
“When Casement is built, it will have positive benefits not just for west Belfast or Belfast but across the North.”
“Definitely. I played in Casement Park as a young camóg, as, I am sure, you did. We see the grounds sitting as they are at the moment, and a generation of Gaels and, indeed, those who play other sports have come up not having had the experience. You can see the wider community benefits that the developments at Windsor and Kingspan have had. There are benefits for the sports concerned and the clubs from a grassroots level right up to a more competitive level, and there are benefits to health and well-being. There are benefits to the local economy not just through construction but through the fact that businesses will be driven to an area like this because of footfall. We can see our transportation system being aligned to developments such as this.”
“I am still considering that information, and I am hopeful that I can move as quickly as possible after that.”
“There is no connection between the two issues other than they deliver sports for local communities. I have a brother who is involved in soccer programmes, so, from his work in Belfast, I see at first hand the role that sport plays for young people, particularly men, in communities. There had to be a refresh exercise of the subregional stadia programme because its initial proposal was over a decade out of date. Even the most recent consultation in 2016 was almost five years out of date when I came into post, so I needed to do a refreshment exercise. We are looking at the analysis of that. In particular, we are looking at the impact of the pandemic because I started that exercise before COVID had fully hit, and, obviously, the pandemic has had an impact not just on football but across all sports.”