Matthew O'Toole
South Belfast · Social Democratic and Labour Party · Northern Ireland
“I appreciate my colleague's giving way. Unfortunately, I was not here for all of the Minister's remarks — like her, I have been in the Chamber for a lot of today, so I had to pop out and attend to some other business. I presume that the Member will agree that these provisions could be more properly included in the Sentencing Bill.”
“Clearly, however, the regulatory and enforcement regime for all those watercourses and marine environments is way out of date ecologically and, indeed, economically.”
“We learned about the antics of Jeffrey Donaldson that were not criminal — so far — only after his conviction. Reporters have been able to go and find that information and people have been able to speak — felt able to speak — because Mr Donaldson has been sent to prison, convicted of appalling crimes, and is therefore less likely to seek r…”
“We are pleased, in broad terms, to support it at Second Stage. We welcome the move towards an approach to fisheries management that is ecosystem-based rather than narrowly species-based.”
“We were robust in opposing those who were not willing to deal with the nutrients action plan, for example, which should have been a core part of dealing with Lough Neagh. Of course, the farming industry needed to be engaged, and the Minister has been doing a lot of that work recently.”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. In just a few hours' time, the House will go into recess for more than two months. There are two outstanding and grave matters that the public in Northern Ireland want us to deal with, but we are walking away, so I want your advice on Standing Orders.”
The complete record
Every one of 5,909 lines we hold for Matthew O'Toole, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 21 of 119.
“Minister, it is important to put on the record that you said something on the record and on the airwaves about a barrister's earnings that was entirely inaccurate. That will have set back relations that have already been frayed between you and the Criminal Bar Association. The people who are suffering are victims and witnesses of crime who are awaiting the criminal justice process. Minister, it speaks to a deeper tendency that people have observed in you, which is a desire to win an argument rather than solve a problem. Will you commit now to entering into a process of mediation with the Criminal Bar Association, as suggested by the Lady Chief Justice?”
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to finish that thought, Mr Deputy Speaker. I really appreciate it.”
“It is inspiring, and it can be inspiring. Culture can bring us together in its diversity.”
“<BR /> <BR />As we are talking about the fleadh, there are, hopefully, lots of music lovers in the Chamber. Van Morrison, who was born about half a mile from here in Orangefield, produced an album in 1988 called 'Irish Heartbeat', recorded with The Chieftains. It includes a version of 'I'll Tell Me Ma', which is a famous Irish folk song associated with this part of the world. About two thirds of the way through, Matt Molloy, the famous flautist with The Chieftains, starts playing a reel, and the reel is 'The Sash'. If you ever listen to that bit of music —.”
“Along with other agencies, it has spearheaded delivery of the fleadh, and it will spearhead it in Belfast. There are specific issues that will need to be worked through by statutory authorities. <BR /> <BR />We will not divide on Mr Carroll's amendment. He draws attention to some important points that people will be thinking about. It is important that we get this right to maximise the economic opportunities and the extraordinary cultural opportunities that the fleadh can bring to us. At the core DNA of our party — I hope that it is true of other parties — is a belief in celebrating difference. It is not about being imprisoned by a belief that difference has to divide but about a belief that difference is not just natural but can be wonderful and inspirational.”
“The band tradition in this part of the island is an integral and important part of that cultural inheritance, as are some of the things that will be celebrated tomorrow at the Speaker's event to mark Burns Day and the Scots tradition. <BR /> <BR />Hundreds of thousands of people will attend Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in this city. The current estimate is that there will be 800,000 people, but up to a million people could arrive in the city. That will have an extraordinary economic impact for people and businesses in Belfast. It is an extraordinary tourism opportunity, and I welcome the fact that the Minister for the Economy is here to talk about it. <BR /> <BR />As well as being 75 years since the first all-Ireland fleadh, it is 50 years since the first branch in this part of the world of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was set up in Ards.”
“<BR /> <BR />Although it is important to say it, I do not want to labour the point, but, too often in this part of the world, it goes without saying that our culture — how we express ourselves, how we express what makes our communities and how we express our sense of place and belonging through art, music and song — can be a source of division or, at least, political debate. It really does not have to be. In the real world, most people do not live with cultural binaries; they live in a world where they embrace the richness of their own cultural inheritance and the world more broadly. On this island, we have an extraordinary and unique cultural inheritance that stretches across Irish traditional music, the language and song.”
“I insisted that we all go to experience the fleadh and soak up the atmosphere in Derry in that week in August 2013. To say that it was inspiring and enjoyable is the understatement of the century. <BR /> <BR />The fleadh in Derry was amazing. Part of why it was amazing was that we saw the richness of Irish traditional culture: dance, traditional music, language and all of that cultural diversity. As part of it, we also had the participation of the Apprentice Boys and, more broadly, the band tradition in this part of the island. That is what gave the fleadh a particular note of resonance and, in a sense, what made it so inspiring. We have the opportunity not just to repeat that success in Belfast but — no offence to Derry — to do even more.”
“After a day of heated and, sometimes, fairly oppositional debate, I trust that we can have a debate on something that can hopefully not just unify us around a simple issue but inspire us. I hope that the debate can unify us in our diversity and allow us to celebrate the diversity of the cultural traditions in this part of the world, on this island and, indeed, further afield. <BR /> <BR />Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann has never been staged in Belfast before. This year is the 75th anniversary of the fleadh. It has come north of the border just once: an extraordinarily successful trip to Derry when it was the City of Culture in 2013. That was an extraordinary experience for anybody who participated in it: performers and attendees alike. I happened to be in Derry at the time; in fact, I was on holiday nearby and had some English friends with me.”
“OK, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker: I will get to my point of order. Just a moment ago, the First Minister and other senior Ministers walked through the Lobby to vote for an amendment to our motion that criticised fundamentally the performance of the Executive. I ask the Speaker's Office to give a ruling on the meaning of that: when a motion is passed that means Ministers supporting fundamental criticisms of Executive performance, is there any upshot? Is there any accountability for Ministers who do that?”
“On a point of order, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. First, if I misused the word "literally", in terms of accountability, I will be held accountable, so I should not have done that. I literally should not be misusing. However, on a specific point —.”
“Fair enough. Apologies. I should have said "figuratively".”
“There is this idea that you guys are a unified, coherent Government, when the Chairperson of the Economy Committee and the First Minister were shooting daggers at each other literally minutes ago in the Chamber. I do not know whether you did not hear or see it, but that is what happened.”
“Thank you for giving way, deputy First Minister. You said that I had a big angry head: I am afraid that I cannot do much about that. I was born ginger. I will do my best to look happier and smile more. I do not know if your comment was about that; I am sure that it was not. <BR /> <BR />Anyway, on the point about me being negative, I genuinely think that lots of people will be listening to her and thinking, "Some of that's fair enough", but it appears that it is being said in a parallel universe to what is happening on the Benches around you. You tell me that I am being negative: at Question Time, the gentleman sitting next to you, Mr Brett, and the First Minister had an absolutely vituperative exchange.”
“Minister, I welcome the fact that you are committed, in broad terms, to the Ravenhill cycle network, and it is important that we see urgent prioritisation of it. There are five schools and two parks — Ormeau and Cherryvale — along that route. It is, no pun intended, the Rosetta Stone of active travel in that part of south-east Belfast. Everyone who got that pun enjoyed it. You say that it is coming soon: can we have an actual date? Will we get that order updated and the network shovel-ready before the summer? The Stranmillis embankment was welcome, but it was already a separated, well-used cycle network. Getting the Ravenhill one in place is critical. When will it happen?”
“First Minister, I think that the public would have much more trust in our institutions if politicians like you were willing to stand up and be accountable for the failure to deliver for them.”
“First Minister, I appreciate that you say that you want to work together with Ministers. You are very good at saying that you want to work together and at expressing warm sentiments, but you did not, I am afraid, accept any accountability for the failure so far to fully transform the health service in Northern Ireland or to offer any meaningful improvement. There is another anniversary coming up: if my calculations are correct, by the end of this mandate, you will be the longest-serving Minister in the history of these institutions, post 1998. When you were the Agriculture Minister, you advanced Going for Growth, which has, in part, contributed to the death of Lough Neagh. We have talked about your record in the health service. We all know about your record on COVID-19.”
“First Minister, thank you for the update. I am afraid that you at least confirmed the frankly preposterous situation where, three months into the legislation programme, less than 10% of what has been promised has been introduced. Perhaps we should not be surprised, because the original 2024 legislative programme has still not been completed by January 2026. We only have less than a handful of Bills from the 2024 legislative programme now on the statute book. I am accused of being negative and difficult as leader of the Opposition, but, First Minister, do you agree that, whatever else happens, the record of the Executive on legislative delivery has been abysmal?”
“I will be quick. If that is the case, does the Member support a programme of reform of the institutions?”
“All the things that I have said today about the legislative programme not being delivered and a draft multi-year Budget not being agreed do not really matter. <BR /> <BR />I will get sneering looks from Sinn Féin and DUP Members, but you should ask yourselves why the public have such contempt for our politics. They have such contempt for our politics, because your parties cannot and will not deliver. Shame on the Executive and their failure to deliver, and shame on you for the contempt that you have held the public in for far too long. The Executive are not delivering. We will continue to hold you to account for that, and we will offer constructive solutions as to how to do it better. I hope that you take us up on those offers.”
“That is not true, but here is the thing, deputy First Minister: we are not debating the SDLP's record in government. You jointly lead the Government now, so, deputy First Minister, if you are not going to support a draft multi-year Budget — something that you promised — come clean and tell the public. Two years ago, the two of you were good at taking photo opportunities together. Now, you do not even do that, because you see a joint political interest, as we get close to an election, in simply picking fights with one another — in having fights over flags and falling out theatrically. It does not really matter whether the public get an improved health service, whether potholes get filled or whether schools get built, as long as the DUP and Sinn Féin can fall out theatrically before an election, as they always do.”
“I see the deputy First Minister there: I am happy to allow her to intervene if she wants to give me an update on the agreement on the draft multi-year Budget.”
“The first thing that happened after the apposition was that the other main party in government, the DUP, came out and said, "We do not agree with the draft multi-year Budget". What are the public in the North supposed to make of a Government who publish a draft Budget that they cannot even agree on amongst themselves in the Executive?”
“The Bengoa report was published 10 years ago, when the First Minister was Health Minister. A decade has passed since the Bengoa report was launched, and we still have no clarity. It has been sitting for so long that there probably are people who have finally managed to have their hips or knees replaced while they have been waiting for the Bengoa report to be implemented. Nothing has happened. <BR /> <BR />The justice system continues to be shamefully slow. It continues to clog up victims and witnesses in a process that does not deliver for them. The list goes on and on. <BR /> <BR />The multi-year Budget, which was announced by the Finance Minister, a couple of weeks ago, is not a draft multi-year Budget at all; in fact, it is a draft draft multi-year Budget.”
“I do not know where the hate crime legislation is. The Justice Minister says that it is due to be part of the sentencing Bill, but I do not know where the sentencing Bill is. <BR /> <BR />I could go on. I could go through the legislative programme and the vague, waffly Programme for Government, such as it is, and talk about the lack of delivery. The Programme for Government talked about social houses. In one of its very few areas of specific promise, it said that the Executive would seek to build 5,800 homes. That was admirably specific, compared with the rest of the Programme for Government. However, we know, almost definitely, that the Executive will not deliver 5,800 social homes. They may come nowhere near to meeting that target. <BR /> <BR />We know that the Executive promised the transformation of healthcare.”
“The Sinn Féin Minister can blame the DUP for blocking it in the Executive, or the Assembly can be blamed for not progressing it. <BR /> <BR />I will move on to another piece of legislation: the legislation on hate crime. I am picking only two pieces of legislation, though I could pick a lot. The Alliance Party manifesto promised stand-alone hate crime legislation. Since we have been back, we have seen the epidemic of hate crime spike online and in person. There was a hate fest — a riot — in the middle of Belfast in August 2024. People ran riot through my constituency. There was a near-pogrom on the streets of Ballymena last year. You would have expected the Executive to show more urgency, not just on the racial equality strategy, which has not yet been updated, but on hate crime legislation.”
“We have been told consistently for more than two years that the delivery of a 'good jobs' Bill would be a major priority of the new Sinn Féin Economy Minister. Conor Murphy launched a consultation, which we welcomed, way back in early 2024. We are now two years on from that point. I do not know where the 'good jobs' Bill is, nor do I know whether the First Minister and the deputy First Minister know where it is. The public and the workers should be told, because they were promised landmark generational employment rights legislation, but we do not know where it is. If it is not introduced soon, it will be difficult for it to pass before the end of the mandate. I worry that that is the plan. I worry that the plan is to delay, delay, delay, and, if the Bill is not passed, someone else can be blamed.”
“Let me take the issues in turn, the first of which is the Executive's legislative programme. In spring 2024, the Executive published a very mild and fairly unambitious legislative programme. It was so unambitious that the First Minister and the deputy First Minister were at pains to say that it was not the limit of their aspirations. Well, they still have not delivered that 2024 legislative programme. Of the, I believe, 18 pieces of legislation that were promised in the programme, only a handful have made it to the statute book so far. Where are the landmark pieces of legislation that we were promised? <BR /> <BR />I will pick out two in particular, because we need to be focused on specific areas where there has not been delivery. The first is the 'good jobs' Bill.”
“All the while, waiting lists have got worse; environmental degradation has intensified; our public services have declined; and the public simply want better. The bare minimum that they were promised two years ago was clarity and a plan. The Executive have failed consistently to deliver that.”
“It is about finding a better and more constructive way forward because the truth is that we simply cannot go on like this. The two main Executive parties are at one another's throats. They cannot agree on a draft multi-year Budget. They are indulging in petty sham fights in order to generate attention and to distract from their abysmal failure to deliver, and the public are over it. They have had it now for nearly two decades.”
“<BR /> <BR />Two years ago, we were promised that a restored Executive would focus on doing what matters most. In fact, we were promised a programme for delivery. The First Minister and deputy First Minister both promised that there would be a focus on delivery. There is apparently a new delivery unit. We were told that we would have regular, annual updates on delivery against the Programme for Government targets. As far as I am aware, there has not been a single report yet. I am not aware of any report on the update on the delivery of the Programme for Government. In fact, it would be a pretty short update were it to come. It could almost be one line, because delivery has not been good enough. <BR /> <BR />Our motion today is not simply about casting blame; it is about finding a way forward.”
“It is an accusation that is often levelled at me and my colleagues in the Opposition, and that is fine. Opposition politicians are there to be robust and to hold Ministers to account. That is our job, so we do not worry about being accused of being negative, but the public of Northern Ireland are far ahead of the Opposition. If you think that we are negative, you should go out and talk to your constituents, knock on the doors, stand on the street and hear what they have to say about delivery by the Executive. I promise you that it will be a hell of a lot more negative than I am and a hell of a lot more negative and scathing than my colleagues in the Opposition, because the public are deeply frustrated and insulted by what passes for devolved Government here in Northern Ireland.”
“If you thought that, you would be wrong, because, if you go to the Executive Office website, the last communication from that Department that you will see is from 11 December. Some statistics were published a day or two after that, but the last message is about a visit to London by the junior Ministers. I am sure that was very important and a useful engagement. The last piece of public communication from the Executive Office was more than a month ago. That speaks to something deeply troubling about our devolved Government. We are drifting towards the end of the mandate without any focus, purpose or urgency to deliver for the public of the North, and I do not think that it is good enough. <BR /> <BR />No doubt I will be accused today of being negative.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Happy new year to you and to everyone in the Assembly. I am afraid that, so far, it has not been a new year blessed with delivery, focus and purpose from the Northern Ireland Executive. If you were to turn to the Executive Office website, the Executive Office being the Department that is the organising hub of devolved Government, you might expect to see a new year message, perhaps from the First Minister and deputy First Minister, of purpose, focus and energy, telling the public of the North what they can expect to see in this last full year of the Executive mandate. If you were to go on that website, you might expect to see clarity about what the priorities are for the First Minister and deputy First Minister and the entire Executive.”
“To those people who indulge and flatter that individual, I say: grow up and look at what is happening in front of you.”
“<BR /> <BR />I genuinely hope that the people of the United States send a message to Donald Trump in November, but, until that happens, leaders across the world, including in the EU and the UK, need to be clear with Trump that there will be economic and trade consequences for threatening an independent sovereign state in such a way. He cannot and must not get away with it. <BR /> <BR />To some of the Trump fanboys in the Chamber, I say this: he does not care about you. He does not care about anybody in the Chamber. He does not care about the protocol or the Windsor framework. Let us be clear: he does not care about anybody on this planet other than himself. That is why this is so scary and why it is important that there be a robust diplomatic response.”
“We have seen grotesque actions, including, of course, in Gaza, and increasingly grotesque, preposterous things: his humiliation of President Zelensky in the Oval Office, his actions in Venezuela, and, last week, the preposterous scenario of a winner of the Nobel Prize for peace grovelling to that man and giving him the prize — he acted like a spoilt nine-year-old in receiving it. The rest of us are supposed to act as though that is normal or that that person is worthy of negotiating or engaging with in a serious way.”
“We make a mistake, however, when we talk about Donald Trump as if he were a normal US president. That man is, it appears, a madman. I say that genuinely; I do not mean to be histrionic or offensive, but one can draw no other conclusion from his actions. As was said, there can be no serious security reason for his threatening to annex sovereign territory against the wishes of the people who live there and no reason other than his vanity and his wish to see another thing on the map stamped with his name. That is egomania and insanity — it is florid — and it is scary that it is happening. <BR /> <BR />It is scary that is has taken until now for European leaders and, indeed, Prime Minister Starmer to stand up to that individual and to say clearly to him, "No: this is completely unacceptable".”
“I frequently disagree with Dr Aiken, but I am encouraged that, on the Trump Administration's actions, there is, at least, a little difference between him and a couple of the other unionist Members who spoke. I would have been concerned had every unionist representative who stood up today refused to properly and clearly condemn the actions of, frankly, a madman in the White House. A madman. <BR /> <BR />Donald Trump is not the United States. There are lots of robust, legitimate criticisms of the actions of the United States, now and in the past, including, most recently, on the genocide in Gaza. There are also lots of reasons to believe that the United States can, when it chooses, be an extremely positive force in the world, including in our peace process.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I appreciate that he does not like certain types of investment — I agree with him on the Israel point — but I know that his party supported Brexit. Will he acknowledge that communities such as west Belfast have lost a fortune in EU investment? It is important for him to acknowledge that. He and his party supported Brexit. West Belfast and north Belfast have lost serious money from European social funding. Brexit was a disaster for communities in Belfast and Derry. Will he agree with that?”
“I appreciate the Member's giving way. I suspect that I will get a slightly different answer to this from him than I would from some of the other Members opposite. Does he agree that, although we all may have reservations about what the UK Government are doing, their stated aspiration to move closer to the single market — I would like to see a customs union, too — would be good for Northern Ireland?”
“Even if you have no interest in ever rejoining the EU, surely you want the rules to work better. Surely you want us to have better access to decision makers inside the Commission. Surely you want the businesses of constituents whom you represent to have better, quicker access and answers. That would be delivered by Commission representation in Belfast. I struggle to understand how people who say that the rules are terrible do not want to make them slightly more practical.”
“It is, as Hume said, the greatest peace project in human history. I want us back in there, not just at the margins, albeit with a useful set of rights, but at the heart of it. I do not want to be in a situation where big bullies on the world stage can simply throw their weight around. That is exactly what is happening. We even see people on this continent and in the UK having to bend the knee to that grotesque villain and clown in the White House. I want us, as part of a new Ireland, to be back inside a multilateral system so that Europe does not have to be bullied by the big actors on the world stage. <BR /> <BR />In the short term, before we get there, let us be practical and pragmatic and make the rules work better for all the people whom we represent.”
“Like a lot of people, I would not be considering and advocating a new Ireland back in Europe in the way that I am now were it not for Brexit. I have always believed in it, but the urgency would not be quite the same. <BR /> <BR />In the longer term, it is about getting back inside the European Union. I am unapologetic about the fact that I think that Northern Ireland's best future is in a new Ireland back inside the European Union. The events of the last couple of weeks, as big actors on the world stage prove themselves ever more determined to flout international law and to use force and the threat of force to get their way, make the case for countries that believe in multilateralism, international law and a rules-based system to work together to the mutual benefit of their citizens. That is what the European Union is all about.”
“A more practical way of doing that, rather than having to convene or press representation — by the way, we also think that we should have representation in the European Parliament — is by being able to engage, as representatives and trade bodies, with the Commission office in Belfast. I genuinely do not see how that can be ideologically objectionable. <BR /> <BR />I am struck by Members on the opposite side of the Chamber who still roar and get frustrated about the consequences of Brexit. I acknowledge that they do not like the consequences of Brexit. I do not demean that. I do not like the fact that Brexit happened in the first place. It is why I am in the Chamber. If I am annoying you now, it is Brexit's fault, because I would not be here were it not for Brexit.”
“They might give us an economic analysis of why the North has done better economically than Britain for the entire period of divergence when we have had this awful thing called "dual market access" and Britain has lost the deep access to the single market that we have. <BR /> <BR />In the short term, what would an EU office do? It would enable us to better manage being subject to a corpus of EU law that troubles lots of people in the Chamber. It does not trouble me in principle — it is a good thing — but I understand and acknowledge that there are specific issues that we need to work through for businesses and individuals.”
“<BR /> <BR />The questions of citizenship and re-accession clearly do not apply to everybody in the Chamber or in Northern Ireland, but what applies everybody in the Chamber and everybody whom we represent, be they a business owner or an individual, is the fact that we are bound by a corpus of EU law — I support that, as do other parties in the Chamber — under the protocol, now called the Windsor framework, which was necessary to protect us from a hard border on the island and gives us — I think that I was the first person to use the phrase in the Chamber — "dual market access", a critical economic lever. I know that some people do not agree that that exists.”
“In practical terms, the only route to rejoining the EU is via a new Ireland, which is what I and my party are passionate about. Even if Members are agnostic on that question, however, and really do not want it to happen, they should still and can still be up for the EU Commission opening an office in Belfast: a European External Action Service office, as Mr Dickson so correctly depicted it. Why? Because Northern Ireland has a unique status.”
“I am pleased to be speaking again about the old specialist subject a decade on from Brexit, the thing that generated all the consequences that have flowed from it, as well as this debate. Indeed, we in the SDLP are not just pleased to be speaking about it but are flattered to be debating something that we put in the 'Our European Future' policy paper that we brought out in late 2024 and have advocated consistently. Imitation is, of course, the sincerest form of flattery, so we are pleased to support the motion, having put down similar ourselves. <BR /> <BR />Let us deal with the short term and the immediate term first. An EU office in Belfast is not some Trojan Horse for rejoining the EU. Since we are on that subject, however, I am unabashed about saying that I want to rejoin the EU.”
“If it is not good to slight Judge Burgess, why is it good to slight the Lady Chief Justice? Why is it better to come to the Chamber and do more than an hour of litigation of a key stakeholder rather than getting into a room with it to discuss the situation? <BR />7”