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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“I am pleased that the initial Budget allocation for my Department in the next year includes £42·8 million to allow those schemes to continue, and they will continue. <BR /> <BR />I want to be clear that my Department will continue to deliver existing mitigations. I recognise, however, that we can do more. That is why I will soon introduce legislation to strengthen the mitigation schemes for people affected by the bedroom tax and the benefit cap. The measures will ensure that the increasing number of people who are denied mitigation payments under the current legislation will be protected and the loopholes closed. <BR /> <BR />I am aware that there is considerable interest in the review of mitigation measures. I assure the House that I am committed to progressing the matter.”
“<BR /> <BR />Throughout the pandemic, my Department has continued to deliver the welfare mitigation scheme. The payments provide support for those who lose benefit as a result of changes to the social security system. It is a unique package of financial support, and I am determined not only to have the current mitigations extended but to look at where we can strengthen and provide other mitigations. In the four years of welfare mitigation schemes up to March 2020, my Department has paid out £168·4 million to almost 85,000 households. That includes £68 million that was paid to over 47,000 households that were affected by the bedroom tax. The importance of the mitigation schemes is recognised across the House.”
“I also requested that urgent consideration be given to restoring local housing allowance rates to the 30th percentile to ensure that individuals and families continue to be supported during this time. <BR /> <BR />Members spoke about labour market interventions. I recognise that, as we move to the recovery stage of the pandemic, such interventions will be an essential part of that social return. All our interventions — Job Start, the work experience programme, expansion of the discretionary support advice service and the work-ready employability service — are aimed at helping people who have lost their job to find employment. However, the launch of schemes was paused pending the outcome of the Budget allocation. I have given a commitment that I will continue to fight to protect the interests of those affected by the pandemic.”
“I also allocated £3 million in funding to bolster existing programmes and new interventions aimed at supporting people over the winter. To date, 40,000 people have engaged with the Warm, Well and Connected programme, with more than 4,000 helped directly through the warm element and £330,000 made available for direct fuel support. <BR /> <BR />I continue to push for support for people in our communities. Last week, I met Justin Tomlinson MP, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, to request that consideration be given to increasing the rate of statutory sick pay and that business and advocacy groups in the North be given the opportunity to input into the reform of statutory sick pay.”
“<BR /> <BR />In March 2020, I introduced a discretionary support self-isolation grant, rather than a loan, to help with short-term living expenses where a claimant or a member of their immediate family was diagnosed with COVID-19 or advised to self-isolate. There are no restrictions on the number of COVID-related grants that a claimant can receive. Since its introduction in March last year, my Department has processed over 21,000 applications, with over 78% of cases resulting in awards and over £2·3 million being paid out. <BR /> <BR />As the pandemic continued and in recognition of the additional support that people needed in the winter months, I introduced a COVID heating payment at a cost of £40 million. As was said, that impacted on 200,000 households across the North.”
“In response to that unprecedented demand, the universal credit standard allowance increased by £20 per week, resulting in an additional £86·67 a month. At a time of increased financial hardship and uncertainty, it was acknowledged that many will need to rely on universal credit. While I welcome the extension of the standard allowance uplift, people need to know that they can continue to rely on it beyond the next six-month extension. Carál Ní Chuilín, when standing in as Communities Minister, worked with other devolved Administrations. They met Thérèse Coffey, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and pressed her to make that uplift permanent.”
“Given the acute financial pressures that many households were experiencing as a result of the pandemic, I focused on measures that could be implemented quickly and introduced packages of additional funding assistance to support people through this difficult time. The changes included removing the seven-day wait for new claims for employment and support allowance; making changes to the rules under statutory sick pay and maternity pay; the funeral expenses schemes; and other measures to ensure that the social security system is more flexible so that it can relieve hardship and ensure that the people most in need get the help and support that they require. <BR /> <BR />A total of 57,890 people were claiming universal credit in March last year. As of November past, 118,510 households were claiming universal credit.”
“Everybody in the Chamber recognised the challenges that our staff faced at that time. They really stepped up to the plate to ensure that payments flowed. <BR /> <BR />I put in place measures to mitigate the social, economic and well-being effects of the pandemic on our communities, helping to protect the most vulnerable and safeguarding the organisations that they depend on. That included setting up a dedicated COVID-19 community helpline. That was working with Advice NI, which is, I recognise, a commendable group, as are the community providers of advice support. The helpline was to ensure access to food and medicines; establish measures to protect the homeless and protect tenants; and establish access to advice for those facing financial hardship.”
“<BR /> <BR />Since March 2020, my Department has responded swiftly and effectively to support individuals, communities and sectors that have been affected. That has involved revising complex legislation and making easements to benefit application processes; redirecting resources on delivery of essential services; and introducing new ways of working, all at a pace that would ensure that benefits were paid and money was delivered to people who needed it. As Members will remember, that was in a context when staff felt uncomfortable, the message was "Stay at Home" and there was a lockdown. The number of staff in the Department reduced to under 30% of those who could go into work. We did not have the technology at the outset of the pandemic, because nobody could have foreseen it. A lot of work had to go into place.”
“That is particularly important as we continue to experience some of the worst social and economic downturns in recent years, which have been caused not only by the COVID pandemic but by the financial crash that happened over 10 years ago. <BR /> <BR />When I came into this role over a year ago, the pandemic had not begun. One of the first visits that I made was to the Human Rights Commission and Eileen Evason, who had taken forward the first set of mitigations. That was about an urgent review of new mitigations that we could bring forward, as committed to in 'New Decade, New Approach'. At that point and in that political agreement, nobody could have foreseen that we would be impacted by the biggest global health pandemic that we have seen in our lifetime. People need to recognise that.”
“I thank all the contributors to this important debate and welcome the opportunity to speak. <BR /> <BR />A couple of people made the claim about there being a cliff edge at the end of this month. I assure people listening that the money for the existing mitigations will continue to flow beyond the end of this month. As with last year, there will be no cliff edge and no stopping of those payments. They will continue to be made. It is important that I say that from the outset. <BR /> <BR />In the response to the COVID pandemic, my Department's work and health group delivers benefits and employment services to around 350,000 people in the North, including the Department's financial support service. The very nature of those services means that we support the most vulnerable citizens across the North.”
“If the DUP is seriously telling us that it cares about rights, will it support my proposal for an urgent commissioning of the services without further delay? Will the DUP address the long-standing human rights gaps that still exist, the tackling of which were committed to in the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements? Or, will it continue to block the rights and services, forcing women to travel? <BR /> <BR />The current position disproportionately impacts women who suffer from socio-economic disadvantage, thus compounding their hardship and further denying their rights. That cannot continue. Sinn Féin's priority is about ensuring that women receive compassionate healthcare, which they are entitled to under the law and have been for over a year. Those services must be commissioned now.”
“That is not compassionate healthcare for women. <BR /> <BR />The DUP has talked about rights, yet it is the DUP, aided by others, who have consistently opposed the extension of rights to people in society. This Bill is a crude attempt to pit vulnerable women and couples against people with disabilities. It is a crude attempt to roll back on the legislation that is in line with international human rights requirements. <BR /> <BR />In spite of the law being enacted to advance women's healthcare, it has not been implemented by the Health Department or the Minister. In my capacity as the Minister who has responsibility for taking forward the strategy on gender equality, I will be raising the issue at this week's Executive meeting and calling on the Minister to commission the services without further delay.”
“I am speaking in a private capacity from the Back Bench as a Sinn Féin MLA. It is clear that this debate is an attempt by the DUP to distract from the fact that women are still being denied the compassionate healthcare services that were promised with the introduction of legislation over a year ago. One year on, women are still being failed. Whilst there is deliberate blocking of attempts emanating from the legislation to commission modern and compassionate healthcare services for women, the DUP is also intent on unpicking the legislation. We must not allow the debate to detract from the fact that women are still being denied services. Women are still being denied care. Women are still being forced to travel to England, which is inhumane and traumatic, especially in the midst of a global health pandemic.”
“As I said, part of last November's housing statement looked at a supply strategy and at dealing with the financial restrictions on the Housing Executive's ability to borrow, not just to upgrade existing properties but to construct new properties. Those plans are being costed, and the supply strategy is being developed. Before the end of this mandate, I will bring forward timelines and costings for how we will take that work forward. I commit to doing that and will update Members on the specifics in the time ahead.”
“I will continue to look at whether any of the payments that have been made can be backdated and also at the wider historical debt that is there as well. Those conversations will continue, but it is a huge help to the Housing Executive in managing its existing stock and investing in future stock.”
“That is a huge amount over those six years that could go into the provision of new housing and into updating existing housing. That has been a really good news story, and I thank the Minister of Finance and the officials who have been working on that. With the Chancellor's announcement last week, we finally have it over the line.”
“Over £56 million has been paid to the British Treasury in corporation tax duty over the last six years.”
“The British Government announced two years ago that they would ban it. Nothing has been done, for exactly these reasons. I want to make sure that I work with the community to assess the need and the breadth of the problem, but I will not wait for the end of that work. I want to draft legislation as we move through that process, to ensure that, once the assessment is done, we can move on the legislation. I give a commitment that I will not wait around: I want to do this as soon as possible. If you want to sit down with me at any time, I am more than willing to do that.”
“When you look at other jurisdictions, you see that what they have brought forward is not good enough. The expert panel has recognised that there have been huge gaps. That is what the panel has been telling me. If I could, I would legislate to ban this practice tomorrow, but I have to listen to those who are impacted on by it on a daily basis. I agree with you. In meeting people both privately and openly on the issue over the last couple of months, I have seen how people have been affected by it. It has completely changed their lives and their family dynamics. It is a cruel treatment that must be banned and ended as soon as possible. <BR /> <BR />I have to make sure that we do not make the same mistakes as other jurisdictions, which have held up their implementation of the ban. You will be aware of the campaign that there has been.”
“We will establish how widespread the practice is and be able to include that in the drafting of the legislation, and, by the end of the mandate, we will have legislation ready to come before the House.”
“We know that legislation was going through in the South of Ireland. They tripped up on their legislation partly because of their assessment of how widespread the issue was. We will look at that, working with the co-design group on the sexual orientation strategy, to ensure that we have up-to-date data and information on the practice. I do not want to leave any loophole that would allow the practice to continue, which would make the legislation meaningless. I will take that forward. <BR /> <BR />I will look at drafting legislation at the same time as we make that assessment of need. We will not wait for that to be completed before drafting legislation. I hope that, over the coming months, we will start to formulate that.”
“Thank you very much for raising this important issue. <BR /> <BR />Just over a week ago, I met a group of doctors, some of whom were involved in the 'Spotlight' programme on the issue last September. I have also met some political parties to provide an update. In 'New Decade, New Approach', the Executive agreed to a sexual orientation strategy. The expert panel's report on that draft strategy was published on Friday. The issue of conversion therapy is part of that, so, first, I make a commitment to bring forward draft legislation to ban it. <BR /> <BR />The expert panel has looked at the issue. Rather than rushing to legislate now, we need to assess how widespread the practice is. We need to look at the levels and the different names by which the practice is known. Britain made announcements over two years ago.”
“I will make a further submission to the Executive shortly on bringing that forward before the end of the financial year.”
“Yes, the regulations or the changes that are needed are ready. I had a meeting with officials last week to discuss some of the proposals that need to go through the Committee and the legislative changes that then need to be made.”
“As someone who was a community worker in the past and from working with people who avail themselves of the advice service in the area that I live in, I see the value of the independent advice sector. As I said earlier, we have been given a flat budget. It did not include the £1·5 million, but I have given a commitment that I value the role of the independent advice sector. I acutely see the need to continue independent advice, particularly for those who are going through the welfare changes that we face. I will find that money in the budget as we come into the new financial year.”
“The first report is 10 years out of date, and, when I came into office, the second report was four years out of date. The last consultation that was done will be published as soon as possible, and, when you read that consultation, you will see that not everybody was in agreement on the previous scheme. As Minister responsible, I wanted to take a fresh look at that, and that is why I have engaged in the short review process. My aim is to bring forward that scheme within this mandate to ensure that the money finally reaches those who need it.”
“Yes, definitely. The subregional stadia will do a lot of good for grassroots football and will have an impact on the ground. I am keen to see that progress as soon as possible. We are working through the advisory group to look at the subregional stadia, and we are working with the sport's governing body and with the organisations that are involved. I want to bring proposals to take that forward as soon as possible and to get the money that has been allocated out as quickly as we can.”
“The awards are looked at in terms of backdating from the date of appeal, yes. That is one of the issues that are considered. Our focus now is to make sure that we get appeals looked at as soon as possible, and we will work through that with the Appeals Service and the independent advice sector, which is supporting many of the individuals.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Appeals Service has suspended face-to-face meetings, and that has been extended to the first week in April to take into account the current health regulations. We are keeping it under review and looking at more online options such as Zoom interviews and telephone appeals. If people are looking for face-to-face contact, we will have to look at how we can accommodate that once the restrictions begin to ease. We will work with the Appeals Service to see if we can create a timeline as to how quickly we can reduce that waiting list as much as possible. I cannot give you all the answers until we know more about the regulations, which are being reviewed on 16 March, but I am hopeful that I can supply more information to the Committee and the Chamber in the time ahead.”
“There has been a huge issue. The Member will understand that the public health pandemic caused the suspension of face-to-face assessments. We have been working with the Appeals Service to look at all the appeals and issues. <BR /> <BR />You are right: there is backlog at the moment. We are looking at telephone interviews and virtual interviews through Zoom. It is important to recognise that the nature and type of appeal need to suit the appellant. That is particularly true of PIP appeals, which look at a person's physical disability or their mental health and well-being. In a satisfaction survey on the issue over 60% of appellants said that they wanted a face-to-face assessment and appeal. The difficulty at the moment is that we still have the COVID regulations, which do not allow for that.”
“The strategies give us a real opportunity to work with communities and young people on the ground in the time ahead. <BR /> <BR />I will convene a meeting with Executive Ministers in April on the issues. I will give an update on the expert panel reports and, importantly, make sure that I have Executive buy-in to the strategies before the final documents are presented to them in December. That engagement is ongoing, and it is important that all Ministers work together. Poverty is not just an issue for me in the Department for Communities. I have given a commitment that I will start to devise and work on the strategies, but all Departments need to work more collectively and align their budgets to the strategies' recommendations. We will do that in the time ahead.”
“As I said, we are at the early stage of developing the child poverty and anti-poverty strategy. The expert panel has been established, and its report was launched last week. Before the report was made public, I communicated its content to all Executive Ministers, including the Minister of Education. Due to COVID, we have been working more closely on child poverty issues such as free school meals. The cross-departmental working group includes representatives from the Department of Education. There is a big role for Ministers and officials in looking at the plans in detail and working with the co-design group to do things differently in government. The key is to change what we have been doing up to now. Things need to change. We need to be more joined-up and break down the silos.”
“I encourage all parties in the Executive to work with me to ensure that we can implement that in the time ahead.”
“I will bring forward proposals to look at future mitigations, and this will be one of the issues considered in the time ahead. I will bring forward costings, and it will be down to the Executive as a whole to look at the financing of that. The matter needs to be raised with the British Government. We have said that we should build back better and build back social. The pandemic has impacted most on low-income families, women and children, and the block grant has not reflected that. We have been given an increase in COVID money, but that is in-year cash, and, as the Member knows, we cannot build that into our revenue base. There is a job of work to convince the British Government of the value of looking at this in the block grant. Of course, I will bring costed proposals to that effect.”
“The Member will also know that we have a flat Budget this year, which, in real terms, means a cut. That has an impact on the whole Executive and, whether it is through the Department of Education, the Department of Health or the Department for Communities, on children and young people.”
“That is a crucial issue, which was also raised in the expert panel when I engaged the Human Rights Commission as part of its work to look at future mitigations. That issue was also looked at. Of course I support bringing forward proposals to end that, along with other mitigations. As the Member will know, the issue will be the Budget and the block grant. We have been trying to get into a cycle of multi-annual Budgets so that we do not come to a cliff edge each and every year around grant programmes right across the board. Unfortunately, that has not happened this year.”
“It has to involve people who can make decisions and align budgets in order to meet needs. It is about costing up the proposals in the anti-poverty and children's poverty strategies going forward. I would like to see proposals that are costed and time-bound when they are presented to the Executive. It will then be for the Executive, when they receive that at the end of the year, to look at it as part of the Budget-setting process going into 2022.”
“We are developing the anti-poverty strategy and also looking at children's poverty. One of the early considerations for the co-design group will be whether those two strategies merge into one. There has been some consideration of that. The expert panel also looked at that issue. We are engaging the Children's Commissioner and others. Therefore, one of the first areas will be about whether that becomes one strategy. <BR /> <BR />The next phase of work by the co-design group is to work with the sector. Children and young people's professionals and advocates who are part of that co-design group will engage with children and young people themselves. The other important strand is the cross-departmental work. That is where there has to be representation from all Departments, recognising that it is a cross-cutting issue.”
“<BR /> <BR />I also note that my Department has invested funding in the region of £304 million on a range of support programmes and projects to respond to the hardships that have been faced during the pandemic. The expert panel on the anti-poverty strategy was launched on Friday. The co-design groups have been established. They have access to that report and will now start the important work of co-designing the strategy, taking into account what the expert panel has said and also other experiences and, particularly, engaging children and young people, children's rights advocates and cross-departmental work. The role of Education and Health will be critical over the next couple of months, and a draft strategy will then go out for consultation later in the year.”
“My Department is leading on the development of the Executive's anti-poverty strategy using a co-design approach. Consultation on the emerging strategy is planned for later this year. It is anticipated that, subject to Executive agreement, the new strategy will be published in December 2021. <BR /> <BR />Recently, it was announced that the 2016-19 child poverty strategy would be extended until May 2022. The purpose of that strategy is to ensure that government works collectively to tackle the issues that are faced by children and families. The reason that it was extended was to allow that poverty work to continue through a co-design approach. As work progresses on the anti-poverty strategy, there will be a number of opportunities for children and young people to engage with the development process.”
“I was referring to the fact that building regulations standards need to be updated. That is a long-running issue. We need to ensure that we future-proof new builds, so we need to update the regulations as soon as possible, taking issues such as climate change, fuel poverty and the need for retrofitting into account. I hope that we will start to look at and engage on those regulations as a matter of urgency. If we are going to reach the targets that we want to reach by 2050, the regulations will need to be updated as soon as possible.”
“On 22 December last year, the Housing Executive issued the draft cavity wall insulation action plan for public and industry consultation. That set out proposals for addressing research findings and recommendations. Responses to that consultation are due on 31 March this year, and we intend to publish the final action plan later in the year. We will have a more definitive date after we have assessed the consultation responses, and I will come back to update Members in due course.”
“Some of that may be superseded by the longer-term work that we are going to look at. However, we are not ready to give an update on where we are because we are at the start of that process.”
“We are starting to look at retrofitting, and a cross-departmental working group has been established to look at the green commitments that we have made and at the 2050 target for carbon-neutral options. We will look at an assessment of properties in the time ahead. There is a huge issue with damp and cavity wall insulation and how the homes that are involved were constructed to begin with. We need to look at building standards, particularly for new builds. We are considering that as part of the wider revitalisation agenda. All that will have to be costed, we will have to prioritise what we need to move on and then we will publish a plan. <BR /> <BR />I will review the action plan on cavity wall insulation once the consultation is finished, and I will consider proposals for the implementation of that plan.”
“We want to look at the issue in the longer term and set it against the financial plan to see what we can do to make sure that the existing stock of over 80,000 homes that are in the Housing Executive's ownership are brought up to today's standards. We also want to look forward to the retrofitting issues that have to be addressed by considering fuel poverty and carbon emissions targets. That will be part of the revitalisation, and costings will be done and will be presented to the Executive before the end of the mandate in order to be taken forward.”
“A cavity wall insulation action plan is out for consultation and is due back at the end of March. We will be looking at the proposals within that as part of the wider revitalisation programme and the funding and sustainability of the Housing Executive. There are critical issues. <BR /> <BR />In real life, the investment challenges mean that people are in homes that are not up to the standard required if you were building a property today, and that is not good enough. We need to deal with and overcome those challenges. <BR />I will look at the action plan and the consultation, and I will listen to what tenants and housing professionals say. I will consider that as part of the action plan at the end of March.”
“In 2019, the Housing Executive published a research report on cavity wall insulation. The findings for the Housing Executive's stock were based on a sample survey of 825 properties. The research found that 63% of those properties had cavity wall insulation installations that were non-compliant with modern industry standards. Although the Housing Executive's data on the construction of its stock is not comprehensive, it estimates that if that 63% were extrapolated, it would represent 40,600 of its cavity wall-constructed properties. So it is an issue that we are looking at.”
“The new chief executive coming into the Housing Executive has extensive experience of housing associations in England and has worked for a housing charity in the South of Ireland, so we will also be engaging with them. <BR /> <BR />All that will be part of the process that we will be looking at over the coming months. The pros and cons will be costed. I want to remain committed to the good values of the Housing Executive in the 50 years since its formation and make sure that we carry those into the next 50 years. However, I want to make sure that we can retain the stock that we have and build even more properties.”
“We are assessing all options at the moment. I would like to do this while retaining the Housing Executive's current classification. Other questions are being asked in Question Time about the standards and conditions in which residents are living. We know what the investment challenge is, given that almost £7 billion is going to be needed. Clearly, the money is not there. That would be nearly my full budget for the next eight or nine years. That is the reality of the challenge. <BR /> <BR />In looking at the classification, the big focus is to get the Housing Executive to borrow so that it can look at long-term investment over many years and use that borrowing function to do that. We want to look at other options, and, as I said, we are continually engaging, across the islands, to see which options work well.”