Barry McElduff
West Tyrone · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“I empathise to some degree with those who are qualified longer needing to secure posts, and I encourage the Minister to look creatively at that in the future, if he can. Is there any possibility of introducing or exploring the possibility of a scheme to refresh the head teacher workforce in our schools?”
“Further to Mr Agnew's question, I point out that your predecessor, Minister O'Dowd, was able to increase provision in the most socially deprived areas from 20% to 25%. We want universal provision, but, in some wards that are otherwise regarded as affluent, there are big pockets of deprivation, so is there any scope for looking at that?”
“In light of the fact that there have been increases to teachers' pension contributions and employees' National Insurance contributions as well as, in recent years, changes to income tax thresholds, will teachers be better off or worse off? How does that compare with other public-sector workers?”
“Members will be aware of some problems with the process in the last mandate. For example, the primary schools consultation feedback took the Education Authority over one year to analyse. It was not without its problems.”
“Parents with children in special schools are part of the process for the first time, and they want assurance that the added-value nature of special schools will not be lost in an attempt to standardise provision. <BR /> <BR />As a Sinn Féin MLA, I will say in Irish that we will support the DUP amendment.”
“I will make the first part of my contribution in my role as Chair of the Education Committee, and then I will make some comments from a party political perspective.”
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“If the Minister can throw any light on whether it was the responsibility of the trust or the board, that will be useful. The Health and Social Care Board should publish the review of expenditure on learning disability services across all trust areas, not least the Western Trust area. <BR /> <BR />I commend families, parents and those who care for adults and children with learning disabilities. Proper funding would enable them to have a better quality of life. I identify with what Michelle Gildernew said when she described the experience of many of the families on learning about the underfunding over a lengthy period as being like a bereavement. It appeared to me to be like that. I support Michelle Gildernew in that point that she made.”
“The western learning disability action group and the parents who are associated with that group, many of them based in the Omagh area, are very familiar to me. I found the engagement with Mencap in the course of the recent election to be very compelling. As Ross said, the group of MLAs in West Tyrone subsequently agreed to meet Mencap in a regular format to discuss issues pertaining to the learning disability debate and to be properly informed to support people. <BR /> <BR />I want it noted that the RQIA identified in 2013 that there was underfunding by 5% per annum in adult learning disability services in the Western Trust area. That is the key point. It would be good to know what the RQIA has done to hold the Western Health and Social Care Trust and the Health and Social Care Board to account for that.”
“One of the ways in which our education system ensures equality is through our qualifications system. Our GCSEs are rightly recognised as being of very good quality. So, in just setting the context for my main question, I say that the Minister has taken an approach different from the previous Minister. Perhaps he could explain why. Does the Minister think that the qualifications evolution in England has finished its journey or does he believe that we will have to make further changes to our system in order to maintain GCSE comparability and portability? What are the educational arguments, and how is this pupil-centred?”
“I thank the Minister for his statement to the House and for meeting me and the Clerk of the Committee earlier to give me a heads-up on this matter, and for taking receipt of two letters that I handed to him from Irish-medium schools regarding the withdrawal of nurture unit funding.”
“OK. I will just leave it at that. We want to end this major economic disadvantage.”
“Do I have half a minute or just six minutes?”
“No problem. I am very grateful for your latitude, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. An electrical engineer, a young man from the Derryallen area of Trillick cannot work from home but would be offered that facility by his Belfast-based employer should this be got right. <BR /> <BR />Last Saturday —”
“<BR /> <BR />An electrical engineer, a young man from the Derryallen area of Trillick would love to work one or two days a week from home —”
“It was quite adamant, because it is quite ruthless, that the company has to pay the fines of £100 per day, I think it was. The Southern Government charge was a €400 penalty. The company is irate, the company is distressed and the company is disadvantaged in meeting crucial deadlines. <BR /> <BR />When I was in the Trillick area during the recent election — it does not take an election to hear these messages, but they certainly get reinforced over a four, five or six-week period — I met a farmer in the Kinine area of Trillick who could not fill out his single farm payment form online at a time when the Minister's colleague Michelle McIlveen is pushing farmers towards online completion, as did the previous Minister, Michelle O'Neill.”
“Its tale of woe — its recent experience — really needs to be retold here and now. It was eight days without any Internet provision, between 17 May and 24 May, trying to run a business that operates solely on the Internet. It was an extremely distressing time for the company, as it had the following deadlines to meet: wages processed on the Internet every Thursday to Revenue and Customs; subcontractor return posted on the Internet by the nineteenth of the month every month; VAT due before the end of the month to Revenue and Customs, with the deadline fast approaching; and Southern VAT due before the nineteenth of the month. Revenue and Customs was contacted. The position was explained to it, and it could not believe that, in 2016, the Internet could be off for eight days.”
“He mentioned the niche area of precision engineering. I think that it is a well-known statistic that 80% of the world's quarry manufacturing equipment is made in County Tyrone. I could easily spend a lot of time or my remaining time giving the Minister a tour de force of rural areas in West Tyrone. He might think that I will have done that by the end of this speech, but I do not think that I am doing it because I am just touching the surface. Take an area like Clanabogan between Omagh and Dromore. You have a major tractor-selling company there at Corradinna Road, JB Barrett Tractors. It is a significant employer that has no or poor broadband all the time. How can it do business? <BR /> <BR />In the Creggan area, you have a very distinguished building contractor, J&M Begley.”
“I am really trying to convey to the Minister from the outset that this is a massive priority for rural citizens. <BR /> <BR />Some months ago, I met his predecessor, the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Jonathan Bell, in Netherleigh House. I brought with me rural council representatives. In anecdotal fashion, Minister Bell told me that he was familiar with our community; he was once a social worker in the area and had stayed in a bed and breakfast in Seskinore. He enquired about the family in Seskinore and I told him that that family had a great word on him except when it came to broadband. Broadband is dominating the minds and thoughts of people in West Tyrone to a huge degree. <BR /> <BR />Tom Buchanan, who sponsored the debate, was right when he emphasised the entrepreneurial side of things in West Tyrone and Tyrone.”
“Where would you start? It is so bad. This really needs to be tackled. At the end of the day, it is more about people than it is about technology; the same as the roads debate last week was more about people than it was about roads. I would suggest to the Minister, in all seriousness, that, if he wants to go down in history and leave a great legacy as a Minister for the Economy, he could do worse than take up the challenge of ensuring the provision of first-class broadband in constituencies like West Tyrone by the end of this mandate, as has been suggested by other Members who have spoken. The Programme for Government should reflect that. The Minister should set himself the ambition and target of sorting this out in a major, comprehensive way in the next four to five years — sooner if possible.”
“I note that the British-Irish Council is examining common policy objectives in emerging and established programmes for government. There is also cooperation in areas of work such as education and closing the attainment gap. Will the First Minister elaborate on that area of work?”
“If I say, "Outside Greencastle, in the townland of Binnafreaghan", it sounds poetic, but those people pay rates, they pay taxes, they go to work, they go to school, they socialise, and they expect a better return on their investment in respect of the maintenance of rural roads.”
“That would take an hour, say, with the roads being in close proximity of each other. I have to say, genuinely, that I am not questioning local management. I am not questioning the determination of people such as Leo Owens, Harold Henry or any of the people whom I have become used to lobbying and whom we ring to bring to their attention another defect or road issue. However, they need to be supported with greater resource funding. <BR /> <BR />It is a very serious issue. I am not lightening up on this one. I am not making light of rural townland names and their intricacies, because all those people matter.”
“When we lobby for the A5 to be expedited and completed, that is stuff for the big room, but there needs to be room for this debate as well. There needs to be room for a case to be made for better maintenance than there has been in the recent past. I know that the business of financial constraints is part of the reason for that, but roads have to be brought up to the requisite standard. What is the maintenance backlog? Does the Minister see any hope of substantive improvements? Does he intend to use future monitoring rounds to address the problem? Those are some of the issues that I want to bring to the Minister's attention in my submission to the debate. <BR /> <BR />I know that the Minister has a busy diary, but I invite him to come to West Tyrone to view some of the C-class roads that I am talking about.”
“I am told that cyclical inspections happen less frequently now. I understand that there is a very difficult financial context involved and — I say this to the Minister through the Speaker — I am aware of the financial constraints imposed by the Westminster Government on the Department, but we need something to break. We need something to happen. I am pleased to note that, in today's monitoring round announcement, there is additional money for road maintenance, and so there should be. People are reporting damage to their vehicles, and I believe that the number of claims for liability has gone up. <BR /> <BR />What I am looking for is a determined effort on the part of the Minister to achieve more resource funding for rural roads. I am a big supporter of the A5.”
“We did what we should do: we brought with us a list of local roads on which problems were not being properly remedied within a relatively short period. We expressed exasperation at the length of time that it seems to take to repair a pothole. These potholes get larger. Of course, there is a ritual of surrounding them with different colours of lines and markings — yellow markings and yellow lines or, sometimes, blue markings and blue lines.”
“I was accompanied by a number of party colleague councillors.”
“<BR /> <BR />The reason why I speak about the issue in this manner is because I get it in the neck from constituents, and I am sure that other MLAs and councillors do as well. Some people think that I work for the Roads Service. Older men, especially over 60 and 65 years, have a memory of local councils, pre-1973, maintaining the roads. They think that I am a councillor, not an MLA, and they want to know why I am not fixing the roads. I told one gentleman that I had tabled a request for a debate in Stormont about rural roads, but I think that I lost him because he was not really interested in the debate. He was interested in when his road was going to be fixed. I can understand that. <BR /> <BR />Some time ago, I met the divisional roads manager, Conor Loughrey, with one of his senior colleagues, section engineer, Harold Henry.”
“They pay taxes and rates, and they are fed up hearing: "We cover 80% of the traffic by attending to 20% of the network." We do not like to hear things like that, in respect of gritting in the winter or whatever. There is an 80/20 rule that always seems to work against those of us in rural communities. <BR /> <BR />Last winter was very bad, and roads were not adequately repaired. Verges were not maintained and gullies were not cleaned out. Street lighting and related issues of community safety arose. In Omagh alone, in places like O'Kane Park and Castleview, where there is a large number of elderly residents, people saw street lighting taken out, disassembled and removed.”
“At one large pothole, I took off my shoe and placed it in the middle of the pothole and took a wee photograph for scale. My shoe is size 7, not 9 or 10. You could hardly see the shoe in the pothole because it was of such dimensions. At Gleneeny Road, maybe half the road had eroded away. In a similar state are Cashel Road, Greencastle; Mulnafye Road, close to where Declan McAleer MLA does his thing and resides in the Loughmacrory area; and the Garvallagh Road. I will not give many more examples, but I am talking about C-class roads where there seems to be almost a sense of abandonment. <BR /> <BR />There is a human side to this; it is more about people than roads. People have to go to work and school. They want to socialise and mix. They want to do business and go to the shops.”
“I will try to spare them that, but, at the same time, rural people matter. The point that I am making is that this issue is more about people than roads. It is about rural people mattering; rural people and rural roads matter. <BR /> <BR />Let me give you just a few examples, not too many, because I know that there is a good distribution of Assembly Members here, in geographical terms, in relation to West Tyrone and beyond, who feel strongly about the condition of rural roads. For example, I was contacted by a lady who resides at Devesky Road, Carrickmore, who, for close on six months now, has not seen the remedying of a large crater-style pothole on her road. I was on my way home about 10 days ago, and I travelled on a country road off the main Ballygawley to Dungannon section, via Barnaghs Road.”
“Nor is the A32, although we need great connectivity between, for example, Omagh and Enniskillen in respect of hospitals etc. What I am talking about here are essentially C-class roads and others. They are not necessarily A- or B-class roads, although in some cases there are defects and problems that need to be remedied in those as well. My emphasis is on rural roads. I have to say that there is serious frustration and annoyance — a feeling of hopelessness, even — on the part of rural residents who are expected to tolerate large, crater-style potholes in C-class roads, for example, for what seems an inordinate length of time. <BR /> <BR />In the corridors of this Building, earlier in the evening, a Hansard staff member asked me whether they were going to have to listen closely this evening for all kinds of rural roads and townlands.”
“I did that so soon because, in the recent Assembly election campaign — I am not really talking about elections; I am talking about weeks of talking and listening to people and, in many cases, being on country roads — people said to me that the big issues were rural roads and rural broadband. If I am to be an effective MLA for West Tyrone, joined by other effective MLAs for West Tyrone, we have to address those issues, so the condition of rural roads in West Tyrone is this evening's topic. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate the presence of the new Minister for Infrastructure, Chris Hazzard. At the outset, I am very pleased at his stated commitment to the macro-project: the A5. That is not what is under the microscope here today at all.”
“When the new Assembly term started, it was my determination to submit to the Business Office early on an Adjournment topic request along the lines of the condition of rural roads in West Tyrone. West Tyrone is mentioned because that is the constituency that I represent. I am sure that the poor condition of some rural roads extends beyond West Tyrone, but, of course, this is a constituency-related debate. I walked to the Business Office and submitted a request for an Adjournment debate on this very topic, even before Minister Hazzard was appointed and d'Hondt was rolled out.”
“Minister, is it any wonder that the Alliance Party is not doing particularly well west of the Bann in Tyrone or Fermanagh?”
“Tá ceist agam, agus moladh agam, don Aire. I encourage the Finance Minister to continue, where possible, to support early intervention programmes and special needs programmes in education. I seek an assurance from the Minister that he and the Education Minister will support and give a good listening ear to school principals, who, at this time, feel under pressure because of the with additional pressures on school budgets. I appreciate the financial constraints imposed on the Minister by the Westminster cuts.”
“I certainly will. Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker, for allowing me the chance to speak.”
“There is a protocol — obviously, the Minister of Education has the primary role in addressing that issue — but I invite the Minister of Finance to also be cognisant and aware at all times of the pressures coming on school budgets and perhaps to give a listening ear to school principals, if that is not to usurp the role of the Education Minister.”
“If you have poor broadband in a community, it definitely curtails the competitiveness of small businesses. It prevents farmers from completing forms online and prevents young people from social interaction. <BR /> <BR />I also throw into the mix a priority of additional respite for adult carers of those with learning disability. That is a health matter, but an essential matter that needs to be mentioned today. <BR /> <BR />From a constituency point of view and marrying it with my education role, I met nine school principals from the Omagh district last week. I was accompanied by two other MLAs from the constituency. We heard the message loud and clear from the nine principals about the pressure on school budgets, perhaps leading to unacceptably large class sizes and more teacher redundancies.”
“<BR /> <BR />I wish to add a few comments as a Sinn Féin MLA and a West Tyrone MLA. One thing I would like the Executive and the Minister of Finance to be aware of at all times is the whole area of rurality. We have rural proofing and the Rural Needs Bill, but on the ground those need to translate into the remedying and repair of rural roads, particularly B- and C-class roads, where possible. There is also the area of inadequate rural broadband. Coming fresh out of the Assembly election campaign in West Tyrone, I know that those are two very serious messages coming from the people: rural roads and rural broadband. I will probably repeat those quite often in this mandate, in the hope that we see major progress in those two areas. At the end of the day, roads are about people more than they are about roads themselves.”
“I know that the predecessor Committee took an active interest in shared education projects in Ballycastle, the Moy, Limavady, Brookeborough and Toomebridge. I am sure that Committee members past and present and all Members will generally welcome progress on those projects. <BR /> <BR />It is also worth mentioning that the Department raised concerns recently that it might be unable to spend all of the Fresh Start money on education projects, as planned. In the Finance Minister's response today, I would like the Aire Airgeadais to give the House some assurance that that money will not be wasted if that is the case. I would like him to indicate, if possible, whether some of the Fresh Start money might find its way to supporting other innovative shared education projects, like that under construction at Strule in Omagh.”
“<BR /> <BR />I turn now to the capital programme, which has increased to £193·4 million. That increase is, of course, welcomed by the Committee. I think most Members will be aware of school enhancement programme work and so-called minor works in their constituency that have either been completed or need to be completed or undertaken. Members will also be aware of some major works, for example, new school buildings, that have been promised but not yet delivered. The Department now has a full pipeline of capital works of all kinds and in all sectors. The Committee hopes that we will see progress on all those projects or areas of projects in 2016-17. <BR /> <BR />It is also worth noting that up to another £50 million per year of capital will be available for shared and integrated education projects under the Fresh Start Agreement.”
“<BR /> <BR />There is less good news — bad news — in the additional pressures that schools find themselves under. Those arise in the first instance from a reduction by the Westminster Government in the National Insurance rebate for employers. That decision may cost schools in the region of £1,000 per teacher. That is a worrying situation for those who manage school budgets. The other pressures include a possible increase in teachers' pay, which if it happens may generate £10 million of extra costs to schools for every 1% rise in teachers' salaries. That is clearly a very challenging situation for schools. The solution may well come in a number of parts, including extra money from the Executive, further reductions in the school cost base and, in some but not all cases, a new approach by schools to excessive budget surpluses.”
“Go raibh maith agat as iarradh orm labhairt sa díospóireacht seo. To begin, there is some good news, in that the overall education resource figure has increased. That is obviously a positive. It is a considerable sum of around £35 million, which has been added to the 2016-17 baseline to meet substantial additional liabilities associated with teachers’ pensions. In addition, the cost base for schools has reduced by perhaps around £12 million — that is my understanding — owing to voluntary staff departures. There is considerable expectation that other money, perhaps in the region of £20 million, will be allocated to education in June monitoring, with £15 million for school budgets and, hopefully, £5 million for special educational needs.”
“I like to mention Eskragh here quite often; it is very important to a whole lot of people. Genuinely, Eskragh childcare centre is an exemplar of rural provision. From a Committee point of view, I will recommend that we take a look at that as well. Certainly, it would be good practice on the part of the Minister to look at his diary and put Eskragh in there somewhere.”
“<BR /> <BR />I also ask that, in the winding-up speech, the relevant Member — the Minister might also do this in his response — details the anticipated impact that the proposals might have on the extension of the foundation year to preschools to ensure better linkages between preschools and primary schools. <BR /> <BR />From a party political point of view, I am satisfied that my colleague Catherine Seeley, MLA for Upper Bann and our party's spokesperson on childcare, children and young people, has dealt adequately with our party's position. <BR /> <BR />From a constituency point of view, I extend early notice to the Minister that it might be good practice on his part, at some point during his stewardship of the Department, to visit a rural exemplar of childcare provision in Eskragh in County Tyrone.”
“Many Members will find merit in most aspects of the motion. The Committee would want me to seek clarification from those who tabled the motion, and perhaps from the Minister, on the impact of the proposals on the quality of preschool provision, particularly in the non-statutory sector, given the rapid and substantial increase suggested. I mention the non-statutory sector because an Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) report in the last mandate suggested that greater support was needed for that sector to improve early identification of and intervention in special educational needs.”
“The motion also proposes a significant increase for free preschool provision for 60% of children this year and a further increase for all children the following year, 2017-18.”
“I think that this was based on evidence-based established research that argues that there is no measurable educational advantage when comparing full-time to part-time preschool places. <BR /> <BR />The motion proposes several things which, I think, would also resonate with the Children’s Services Co-operation Act and, indeed, with aspects of the Department's Learning to Learn strategy.”
“This seems to represent engagement by about 95% of all parents and reflects the provision of places to 99.9% of parents who engage with the preschool process to the very end. The Education Authority (EA) advises that there are roughly 15,000 places in part-time provision and 9,000 in full-time provision. There has been a significant variation in the availability of full-time early years provision. For example, recently available figures show that 78% of early years provision in Belfast in 2013-14 appeared to be full-time whereas in some rural areas, most — 90% in one case — appeared to be part-time. The Department’s approach up to now was to expand good quality part-time settings.”
“As I indicated in the House yesterday, our Committee has been reconstituted only recently, therefore, I will not be in a position to articulate an agreed Committee position at this stage. I will restrict myself to a few more general remarks. <BR /> <BR />The Committee has had one meeting so far, and we have already spent quite a lot of time, and intend to spend a lot more, considering early years issues. Whether it is about special school or preschool provision, the early years pathway or mainstream preschool places, this is a subject that will undoubtedly exercise our Committee and we will, of course, engage with stakeholders and with a number of our constituents. <BR /> <BR />There are around 24,000 children attending mainstream preschool provision in the North.”
“Yes. I absolutely agree with that context-setting, but I disagree with John in one respect: I want my street lights, and I want the lights to go on in the heads of the children.”
“Some things that need to find their way into the Programme for Government are absolute commitments for greater support and greater respite for families, ageing parents and carers of adults who have learning disabilities, not least in the Western Trust area, where underfunding of £8 million has been identified by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority. These are big issues. I am sure that we will hear that from the sectors and communities when they engage in a formal sense with the draft Programme for Government framework. <BR /> <BR />It is not often that I disagree with John O'Dowd. John gave the context of Tory cuts.”
“People are angry at being without proper broadband for two and three weeks. It is dramatically affecting their businesses. There is a need for job creation in towns like Omagh and Strabane. I have, in my left hand, my priorities for the Assembly election. I will keep them close to hand, because they are measures that would improve the quality of life for people in the constituency of West Tyrone. <BR /> <BR />During the election campaign, I attended a Mencap hustings event and, more recently, a meeting with the western learning disability action group.”
“<BR /> <BR />I want to praise the process as well. Some people are suggesting that all of it should be in here, now, in detail. I think that this is a real exercise in participative democracy, and I will certainly encourage sectors and communities to engage thoroughly in the weeks and months ahead. <BR /> <BR />I heartily agree with my colleague, Linda Dillon. Linda referred to rural communities suffering from deprivation, not least in roads infrastructure. The condition of rural roads in many constituencies at this time is extremely bad. Poor broadband is blunting the effectiveness and competitiveness of rural businesses. In the recent past, a private satellite company was meant to fill the gaps for government in places where BT cannot reach. There has been a systematic failure across Tyrone, mid-Ulster and other places.”
“<BR /> <BR />Other education-related outcomes in the draft Programme for Government include increasing the number of schools assessed as providing good or better learning provision, which is, of course, a logical conclusion of the Every School a Good School policy, and the outcomes that deal with early intervention, giving children the best possible start in life. I have in mind a scheme that shows the disproportionately positive effect of interventions, the Sure Start programme. Over this period of time, it would be worth exploring whether even more children and families could benefit from Sure Start provision. That will be difficult, because there was a recent increase in that respect. However, it would be worth looking at that afresh to see whether we can bring more people into the Sure Start tent.”
“<BR /> <BR />Moving back to Committee Chair mode, I think that Members will generally welcome an increased focus in the new PFG on addressing the attainment gap. This is to include considerable emphasis on pupils who are entitled to free school meals. It is worth noting that improvements have coincided with the inception of the signature programme and increases in levels of free school meal entitlement in post-primary schools. Those were excellent initiatives that yielded good outcomes in education.”