Kate Nicholl
South Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for her humanity and her leadership. Many of the asylum seekers with whom I work do not fit into the illegal immigrant narrative; indeed, one woman with whom I worked was sold as a Daesh bride and was prostituted every day for two years, with her child often present.”
“It is a local number, and it has a chat function that people can use if they do not feel comfortable speaking directly. There is also an amazing charity called the National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC).”
“On behalf of the Alliance Party, I recognise the extraordinary and remarkable bravery and courage of the two victims. Yesterday's verdict will not undo the harm that was done to them, but, hopefully, it sends a clear recognition that what happened was wrong and that Jeffrey Donaldson will feel the full weight of the law.”
“I thank the Member for that answer. Recently, we held the national allergy strategy launch in the Long Gallery. I thank the catering team, led by Alan, for how well they dealt with that.”
“They have done so much for so many people in Northern Ireland, and we wish them well. They have gone through a difficult period. We hope that there is healing from this as they go forward.”
“The comments were violent and at a different level from anything that I have seen before. <BR /> <BR />We are in a difficult place right now. This destabilises our democracy. It is easy to believe lies when you are angry, and I am not sure what we do about it.”
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“He related the very poignant case of a four-year-old who was out of school for six months, and was able to get a place only after his intervention as an MLA. That is shocking. He also highlighted how the Irish-medium sector suffers from a lack of special provision in Irish and the need for the review to take that into account. <BR /> <BR />David Brooks made an excellent maiden speech; East Belfast can be as proud of him as he is of his constituency. He talked about his admiration for staff, who are too often in unfit buildings, and about the Minister's commitment to addressing that. The Minister has very graciously sat through the whole debate, and it is clear that he is committed. <BR /> <BR />Cara Hunter used the words "angry" and "heartbreaking". Heartbreak has been a continual theme in the debate.”
“He namechecked some brilliant schools, including Fleming Fulton School, Harberton Special School and Glenveagh School, as well as Mencap, which is doing fantastic work. He said that the capacity is there, but the ability to meet demand is not. I completely agree with the contention that the failure to have government has not improved things. When it comes to casework, we all support people in our day-to-day lives and we all see the human impact of the failing system. Robbie Butler also mentioned young people missing out on the first day of school, and he asked for a timeline for delivery. <BR /> <BR />Pat Sheehan, the Deputy Chair of the Education Committee, talked about how every child has a human right to education and that, too often, that right is only partially upheld or not upheld at all.”
“We keep hearing from parents who are really worried that they will have to go through that again. They are exhausted. I met a parent outside the Chamber who was in tears: that is what the system has driven them to, and they are already dealing with so much as it is. Nick Mathison also said that the crisis is now the norm, and that we have to invest in action. <BR /> <BR />Robbie Butler spoke to the amendment and highlighted how parenting is not easy. He said that some young people and their families need additional support, and that there are more children who are not getting even adequate help. He talked about the education challenges and how most of them are fiscal, but did say that we get it right sometimes.”
“They told me that it is a constant fight and a battle, and Members have reiterated that today. The energy that parents should be putting into their child who has additional needs is being spent trying to fight the system, and that is wrong. <BR /> <BR />My colleague Nick Mathison started by talking about how it is a priority for him as Chair of the Education Committee. It was made clear by all the members of that Committee how support for learners with special educational needs should be embedded in all schools. Nick Mathison recognised the end-to-end review and the ongoing work that is happening, but also the need for a clear action plan that will deliver reform. He said that there can be no more recommendations; parents have waited long enough. As we all know, they are so anxious about September.”
“Thank you, Principal Deputy Speaker. <BR /> <BR />Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed. Everyone has said that it is such an important topic. All the speeches were delivered with real feeling, so it has been a privilege to listen to them. I want to pay particular tribute to the SEN Reform NI parents, who are here, particularly my new friends Isla and Tom, and all the parents who are fighting, some of whom are in the Chamber. <BR /> <BR />I first became aware of the extent of the issues in September, when I met parents who could not find places for their children to go to nursery and primary schools. I heard about that time and time again. My son was just starting nursery school, and I realised how unfair and how different it was for those parents.”
“I thank the First Minister for her answer. She will be aware that the Northern Ireland Strategic Migration Partnership has ceased to exist and that TEO has taken the governance into that Department. I have concerns regarding accountability and transparency. As dispersal and integration will be key roles for so many Departments, will the First Minister commit to looking at that again and at how we can ensure that the governance is fully transparent and open?”
“I congratulate the Minister on his new role and wish him well. <BR /> <BR />Some of the most precious work in our economy is done by childcare practitioners. They are paid poverty wages, so it is really welcome to see that and flexibility highlighted in your vision. Given that recruitment and retention are massive problems and the potential cliff edge that the rise in the minimum wage, which is welcome, will cause providers in April, will the Minister outline how he will work with the Education Minister and ensure delivery as a matter of urgency? We have so many childcare providers facing closure, and some sort of emergency support needs to be put in place.”
“All I can say is that we can honour that hope by making our politics work, but we have to be unambiguous on the need to speak out and say that what is happening is wrong.”
“They kept asking me specific questions about how we worked together, how we appointed Chairs and how our governance worked. The idea of working together was so far-fetched for them. I keep thinking about the people I met, who had come here with such hope before October, before the situation spiralled and their family members died, and before they were living in complete fear. I sent a message to one of the film-makers to say, "I want you to know that we are rooting for you". What else do you say? He came back to say that their imaginations are so filled with fear, hate and death that the only thing giving them hope is their time in Northern Ireland, and that their hope is to come back and spend time with the politicians here.”
“<BR /> <BR />As someone whose focus is on children and the next generation, I feel that the fact that more than 12,000 children have died is not a proportionate response. It is devastation. Every one of those children had a name, a family and a life, and they have gone. I keep thinking about Hind Rajab, who was six years old — not much older than my son — and the fear that she must have experienced. The silence around those lives is deafening. Their lives matter. Every single person matters; every person is important; every life matters. What is happening in Palestine is wrong. The least that we should say is that it is wrong and that the UK and the USA have to be unambiguous about the need for a ceasefire. <BR /> <BR />Last year, during the Good Friday Agreement 25th anniversary celebrations, I met Palestinian and Israeli film-makers.”
“Mr Speaker, I did not get the opportunity yesterday to congratulate you on your elevation to Speaker, so I do so now. When I was a newly elected MLA, with a tiny baby in tow, you, along with my party colleagues, were especially kind to me. I know that you will do very well in the role. <BR /> <BR />I also wish to speak about Palestine and what is happening in Gaza. As a South Belfast MLA, I do a lot of work with refugees and asylum seekers. I am helping two Palestinians whose family members are in Gaza. I watch how they are in despair at what is happening. We can acknowledge and recognise that the Hamas terrorist attack and its unspeakable cruelty on 7 October must be condemned. That is true, but we must also say that what is happening in Palestine now is unspeakable cruelty.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I agree with her points about taking a long-term view. Do you agree that the crisis is now and so, while we need a long-term strategy, we also need immediate interventions such as pushing for an increase in tax-free child credit, convening a task force and potentially creating a COVID-style payment that could support providers and offset the costs for parents?”
“I look forward to our delivering a scheme that will really suit parents and children, because, at the end of the day, that is what it is really about. It is about our children, and there is no better investment that a Government can make than in the next generation.”
“There is a lot of work for the Minister in his in tray, and I know from the several occasions that I have bumped into him in the corridor that childcare will be a priority of his. That is welcome, and it is welcome that all the parties are united in prioritising it. We have to get it right, because childcare is not just babysitting. It is child development, early education and early intervention. It is a means by which to improve economic activity levels. It is about gender equality in the labour market. It is essential social and economic infrastructure, and it has to be invested in accordingly. It will be expensive — we know that — but it is far more expensive not to invest in it. <BR /> <BR />I am delighted to be on the Education Committee, and I am delighted to work with all parties on this important issue.”
“We want to see supply-side funding with the requirement that providers ensure that those mechanisms are all put in place.”
“We have proposed an affordable, bespoke childcare scheme that is child-centred and puts quality, flexibility, affordability, training and experience at the heart of our policy.”
“Including the Federation of Small Businesses, the Northern Ireland Childminding Association, the Northern Ireland Chamber, Melted Parents —some of whom are here today — Early Years and the Stranmillis College early years academics, the list of stakeholders who have done such amazing work in the sector goes on and on. While all brought different perspectives to the childcare crisis, there was one resounding message, which is that there is a childcare crisis, and the crisis is now. <BR /> <BR />We developed our policies, and we listened to stakeholders and heard what they had to say. We saw what was happening across the water and how the free hours model is not working and not serving families. It works very well for a very small number, but, for the majority, it does not. It is actually widening inequalities, and we need to address that.”
“I made a promise that I would do everything in my power to address it if I got to the Assembly, so here I am. <BR /> <BR />Shortly after I was elected, Naomi Long appointed a childcare working group in the Alliance Party: a number of MLAs and researchers. For the past two years, we have been put to work looking at childcare policy and how we can address the issues in it. We met Employers for Childcare, whose Aoife Hamilton has done amazing work on the all-party group along with Nicola Brogan. It is a wonderful all-party group to be in, and it has raised so many important issues that, perhaps, have not previously been brought to the fore.”
“That is why I have done so much work with asylum seekers and refugees. <BR /> <BR />When I was elected to the Assembly, I had stood for election for children, but this time it was because of my own. My husband, Fergal Sherry — he is watching at the moment and was one of the other brilliant things to come out of moving to Belfast — and I are very proud to live in South Belfast and to be raising our children there. Whilst I was canvassing during the Assembly election campaign, heavily pregnant, every day, multiple times, people raised the issue of childcare. I was experiencing the issue in my house, and colleagues were experiencing it in their houses. Constituents were suffering from the sheer lack of affordable childcare in Northern Ireland, and I realised that something needed to be done.”
“Principal Deputy Speaker, I congratulate you on your elevation to the role, and I wish you all the best in it. <BR /> <BR />This is my maiden speech, so I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Clare Bailey, who was a fierce champion for the environment, women's reproductive rights, social justice issues and marginalised voices. Those are areas in which I will not fall short. <BR /> <BR />I arrived in Belfast from Zimbabwe when I was 14 years old. I have always been grateful to this city and its people for welcoming me and for becoming my home when I no longer had one. So much of what I do and what I did as a councillor is done out of a sense of duty and indebtedness, but also with a strong sense of having arrived as a child, feeling like an outsider and wanting to make sure that no other children felt that way.”
“Thank you to the Minister for his statement. I congratulate him on his appointment and welcome the fact that his first visit was to Rathmore Grammar School in my constituency. I also welcome the mention of Malone Integrated College. Will the Minister provide an update on the proposed scale of capital investment that will be required in our nursery estate to deliver the standardisation of the preschool education programme?”
“Reform of the structures is now essential not only so that we can break this deadlock but so that no other party can ever put us in this position. If you do not want to do the work of government, do not stop the rest of us from doing so.”
“Setting aside the well-rehearsed point that it is the result of Brexit and setting aside the fact that the DUP championed Brexit, the truth remains that any negotiation and any changes to the Northern Ireland protocol can be done only between Westminster and the EU. It does not make any sense. The DUP may claim to be putting pressure on Westminster and the EU, but what they are, in fact, doing is putting pressure on people such as those 13- and 15-year-old carers, the people whom they are meant to represent. <BR /> <BR />The Assembly cannot negotiate changes to the Northern Ireland protocol; what we can do is legislate. We can legislate on community, on childcare and on climate. We stood for election to do a job. We need to be able to get on with the work. We also need to ensure that we are not put in this position ever again.”
“Our young people are watching as we squander a future generation's birthright. Our society labours under the weight of racism and sectarianism, and those who suffer discrimination are watching as they worry for their welfare every day. What are they watching? They are watching us, an Assembly of elected representatives who were put here to do a job, people who can make a difference to the issues that they face daily. What did they get? They got an Assembly paralysed by the DUP, who are prioritising party over people. <BR /> <BR />I understand that there are issues with the Northern Ireland protocol. I acknowledge that, for some unionists, it represents a real threat to their identity. I do not wish to downplay that.”
“They need political certainty and a functioning Executive ready to work together towards long-term anti-poverty solutions. <BR /> <BR />That is just one example of one family and what they are going through right now, and they are watching. One in four children here lives in poverty. Most of those live in a household with at least one working parent. Those children are watching as they grow up with little hope for the future. Their parents do not have access to affordable, flexible childcare, and, as they struggle, they are watching — women in particular — with the burden of impossible choices. The health service is broken. The sick and their families are watching as they languish on ever-growing waiting lists. Staff are watching as they struggle to cope, under pressure and underpaid. Our climate and nature are in crisis.”
“They cook the meals, clean, budget and help their parent get dressed. They are experiencing high levels of anxiety, with one on medication for anxiety and depression. It is a single-parent household where the children help care for their parent, who has physical disabilities and is receiving treatment for cancer. They can no longer manage with all the increases in the household bills, and their benefit entitlements do not match the rise in the cost of living. <BR /> <BR />The lack of certainty about what is ahead hurts families like that in Northern Ireland. Action for Children's crisis support service can only help so far. More food banks are not the solution, and one-off payments are not the solution. What they need is an Assembly.”
“The Alliance Party will support both nominations for Speaker today, because we need the Assembly up and running urgently. <BR /> <BR />When we talk about the difficulties that people face, it is easy to look at them in abstraction. I wanted to share an account with you that I received from Action for Children that highlights why we need a Speaker and why we need a Speaker today. A family that they support through their young carer's service is living in private rented accommodation. The family face a £230 shortfall each month for their rent, and they have been waiting two and a half years for adapted housing. They rely on support from Action for Children and local churches to get by, but each month they are constantly worried about how they will cover rent and pay for food and fuel costs. Those young carers are 13 and 15 years old.”