Danny Donnelly
East Antrim · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for that answer. It will not satisfy the people of the area. The completion of the 3 km distributor road was planned to be a key part of the development, linking hundreds of houses to the wider road network, but, due to a planning issue by her Department in the 1990s, it never happened.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Minister, as you mentioned in your statement, the inquiry was highly critical of what it describes as "an adversarial and oppositional approach" by the Belfast Trust to the inquiry.”
“The Minister mentioned the need to reform the health service. In light of the recent startling figures that show that half a billion pounds was spent on locums over the past three years, does he agree that investment in attracting permanent doctors may be a more prudent use of Department of Health resource?”
“<BR /> <BR />As a nurse, I condemn the attacks in the strongest possible terms and highlight the specific impact that they have had on people who care for us when we are at our most vulnerable.”
“Every day, they treat patients with skill, compassion and professionalism. Let us be absolutely clear: when a nurse is intimidated on her way to work and chased by masked men into the Ulster Hospital, that is an attack on our health service.”
“I will speak today about the attacks on our international healthcare staff. I begin by saying that my thoughts are with the victim of the brutal attack in north Belfast and his family. I hope that he recovers well. <BR /> <BR />Violence has no place in our society.”
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“Queen's University, Ulster University and our health trusts have played key roles in international research, but, to grow that, we need a regulatory environment that enables ambition. <BR /> <BR />The changes will help to make Northern Ireland an attractive, reliable place to conduct world-class trials, with benefits not just for our economy but for patients across the region. Let us not forget that clinical trials are not about future treatments; they are part of our healthcare system today. Industry research contributes £7·4 billion to the UK economy and supports more than 65,000 jobs. Patients in trials often receive earlier access to new medicines, and trials can ease pressure on the health service by offering alternative pathways for care and treatment.”
“<BR /> <BR />In the post-Brexit context, Northern Ireland finds itself in a unique regulatory position due to the Windsor framework, with elements of EU medicines law continuing to apply here. While that dual alignment can present challenges, it can also offer opportunities, particularly in ensuring continued access to EU- and UK-authorised products. However, that will work only if we have clarity, consistency and a genuine commitment to ensure that Northern Ireland is not left behind in availability or innovation. <BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland has the talent and the infrastructure to lead in this space. Our life and health sciences sector contributes £1·9 billion to our local economy, with over 250 companies exporting to more than 145 countries.”
“It introduces a more proportionate and streamlined process, particularly for low-risk trials, without compromising on what matters most: patient safety and ethical standards. To put it in context, the median time to start a clinical trial in the UK is 186 days. In Germany, it is 92 days, and in France, it is 141 days. We are simply not competitive, and, in a post-Brexit landscape where collaboration is crucial, we cannot afford to fall behind. The amendments will help us cut out unnecessary delays, support our researchers and accelerate innovation. I highlight the importance of maintaining open channels of cooperation between the MHRA, the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and our local health bodies.”
“<BR /> <BR />As a healthcare professional, I understand the essential role that clinical trials play not only in driving innovation but in giving real patients in our communities early access to potentially life-changing treatments. In recent years, the UK has seen a sharp decline in trial activity. Between 2017 and 2021, the number of industry-led clinical trials dropped by 41%. Over that same period, patient recruitment fell by 44%. Those are not abstract figures. They represent lost opportunities, patients who waited longer for new treatments, researchers who were bogged down in bureaucracy and a system that, frankly, needs to move faster to meet modern challenges. <BR /> <BR />This legislation aims to do just that.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. Like other members of the Health Committee, I was briefed previously on the matter. <BR />The regulations form a critical part of a framework that governs how medicines are authorised, manufactured, distributed and made available to patients in Northern Ireland. While the regulations are technical in nature, their implications are far-reaching, affecting not just clinicians but manufacturers, patients, carers and everyone who relies on timely access to safe and effective treatment. As the Minister outlined, there are advantages to patients, the health service and wider society.”
“How will the Minister ensure that the schools most in need of emergency works will be able to access them via minor works?”
“Thanks to the Minister for that answer. Further to that advice from the CCC, how is his Department supporting low-carbon farming?”
“I thank the Minister for that answer. What is the Minister's assessment of the recent Climate Change Committee (CCC) advice on the fourth carbon budget?”
“Thank you, Minister, for that answer. Your Department received the largest capital budget of any Department in 2025-26 and in the history of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. In order to spend that money strategically and wisely, do you share my colleagues' and my view that an infrastructure commission would help us to achieve that?”
“Thank you. Your colleague mentioned that, on one of her visits to an A&E department, 60-odd patients were waiting for a decision to admit and 60-odd were medically fit. Sixty patients in an A&E department who should be on a ward is three wards' worth of patients in A&E. The A&E staff have to deliver that care within the confined space of A&E. Does the Member agree that there is simply no space to have three wards' worth of patients in a functioning A&E department?”
“No problem. <BR /> <BR />We cannot address problems, if we are not here.”
“<BR /> <BR />There is an urgent need to progress health service reform in line with the principles outlined in the 2016 Bengoa report. We could have been nine years into a 10-year reform programme had we not had two Assembly shutdowns since that report. That alone is more than enough reason to reform our political institutions to prevent one party from having a veto and collapsing the institutions.”
“<BR /> <BR />Another example, visited by the Committee last year, is the joint mental health pilot scheme, in which mental health practitioners work with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service in the control room. That scheme de-escalated 40% of mental health calls over the phone, to the point where those calls did not require an ambulance response. I am keen to hear from the Minister about the long-term plans for that successful service. Another scheme that reduces inappropriate admissions is the Hospital at Home service in the Southern Trust, through which unscheduled care is delivered to an increasing number of older residents who live with more and more complex needs directly in their homes, avoiding unnecessary admissions, promoting quality of life and freeing up space in our A&E departments.”
“We must recognise, however, that the situation is not sustainable. We all know that the budget is tight and that the Minister has a difficult job, but it is unacceptable that patients are suffering harm. We need to improve flow, and that means providing alternative care pathways such as minor injuries units; see-and-treat protocols for Northern Ireland Ambulance Service staff whereby patients are assessed by paramedics as not requiring attendance at emergency departments and can instead be referred to specialist clinical teams or to their GPs; and paramedics making informed decisions about patients who are nearing the end of their life and wish to remain at home.”
“Overcrowding causes excess deaths. The most recent winter was the worst yet for A&E waits, and I can only imagine what the number is now. <BR /> <BR />While there are many contributing factors, including workflow, waiting lists and the impact that funding of GP services has, the root cause lies in the hospital system, as Linda outlined. It is about patient flow. Patients who are medically fit for discharge cannot be discharged because of a lack of the social care packages required to meet their needs in the community. That is a bottleneck in the system. We recognise the incredible work being done by our Health and Social Care (HSC) staff — in this case, particularly by the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) staff — who continue to work tirelessly under extreme pressures.”
“I have heard of many such cases, including a 29-hour wait that included a shift change for the paramedic team outside the hospital. Paramedics and ambulance staff want to be on the road answering calls, not outside full hospitals. <BR /> <BR />We know that long waits and overcrowding in A&E departments are unsafe and can lengthen the time that patients need to be in hospital. They are even associated with increased mortality. Emergency medical consultant and chair of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM), Dr Russell McLaughlin, reviewed the situation of pressures in A&E in 2022 and concluded:”
“That is incredibly stressful and can leave staff with the impression that, despite working hard, they cannot give their patients the care that they deserve. That moral injury is hard to accept. <BR /> <BR />The report is stark and confirms what we have been hearing for a long time. It states that, from 2023 to 2024, there were 36,000 incidents in which patients experienced some harm as a result of handover delays, and that, in about 3,800 cases, patients were potentially exposed to severe harm. Ambulance response times are suffering, and a concerning 25% of ambulance capacity is lost due to those delays. We have all heard from our constituents of cases of overlong stays and ambulances waiting outside hospitals, sometimes with the engine on to keep patients warm.”
“I have personal experience of working in busy A&E departments and wards. I know the impact that wards that are completely full of patients, corridor beds put wherever they can be and A&E departments in which every square inch of floor space is being used can have on ambulance handovers. The staff cannot safely accept a patient until there is room for them to do so. Sometimes, there can be up to two wards' worth of patients being cared for in our A&E departments. That incurs a risk of harm to the patient, who is sick enough to have needed an ambulance to take them to hospital for treatment, and it impacts on Ambulance Service staff, who can sometimes spend their whole shift outside a hospital with a patient in the back of the ambulance, and on hospital staff, who work under extreme pressure for extended periods.”
“I thank the SDLP for tabling the motion. It is timely, following the publication of the recent Audit Office report on ambulance handover times, and the issue affects everyone in the Chamber. We will support both amendments. <BR /> <BR />In January, the Alliance Party brought a motion on the issue to the Chamber for debate. It called on the Minister to:”
“Sorry, I will just correct that. My point was that the war on drugs in the UK has failed. Drugs are available in cities, towns and villages across Northern Ireland. The war-on-drugs policies do not work, and prohibition has not worked: we need to move on and try something else.”
“The review will help to inform the public about the risks of ketamine at a time when its use is increasing, but a different approach is needed. We need more practical solutions to reduce harm from, and address the underlying factors of, drug use. There is a need to educate young people on the potential harms of ketamine misuse, particularly the risk of addiction, irreversible bladder and kidney harm and even death, but it is for the UK Government to deal with drugs policy, and it is clear that the 1971 Act is outdated and no long fit for purpose.”
“There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the therapeutic use of ketamine may be a safe and effective treatment for various mental health disorders, although at very specific doses. <BR /> <BR />We need practical methods to support people who are in vulnerable positions. We should be moving towards a harm-reduction model to support people who use drugs to do so safely and promote rehabilitation and recovery. Since ketamine is often used as a spiking drug, one such method could be to ensure the availability of drug-testing services, as Órlaithí mentioned, in places such as nightclubs, so that people can keep themselves safe. <BR /> <BR />We welcome the decision to commission advice, and we encourage affected families and relevant stakeholders to help inform the review.”
“That is the opposite of harm reduction. It also stated:”
“Drugs are widely available in our cities, towns and even villages across Northern Ireland, and online, as Órlaithí said. There are even apps via which drugs can be delivered to your house. <BR /> <BR />Reclassification would have a legal effect, but the differences are fairly minor. The class A penalties are seven years in prison for possession and life imprisonment for supply and production. The class B penalties are five years in prison for possession and 14 years for supply and production. A recent updated harms assessment by the ACMD into synthetic cathinones, such as mephedrone, which is another class B drug, highlighted the fact that there are potential disadvantages of making specific substances class A, and it did not recommend the reclassification of those substances. In particular, it stated:”
“During the Prohibition era in the USA from 1920 to 1933, the production, importation and sale of alcoholic drinks was marked by the emergence of black market networks and violent criminal organisations that made huge profits from distributing illegal alcohol. The policy was far from universally popular, and it was eventually repealed in 1933. It is widely seen as a failure, and there are obvious comparisons with today's failing war on drugs policies. <BR /> <BR />In the UK, drugs are legislated for under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. That is a reserved matter into which the Assembly has no input. Patterns of drug use have changed significantly over the past 50 years. The 1971 Act puts more emphasis on the punishment of people who use drugs, rather than on their rehabilitation.”
“One incident of experimentation with ketamine can be fatal, so there is a need to educate young people about the risks. <BR /> <BR />People have used mind-altering substances almost since the beginning of time. Some were or have become socially acceptable, while others have been made illegal. Alcohol and tobacco have a long tradition of social acceptability in the majority of countries across the world. There is a clear dichotomy in that some substances that cause the most harm in our society, such as alcohol and tobacco, are legal and are even taxed by the Government to raise revenue, while other substances that are less harmful are illegal, and their possession and use can lead to criminal sanctions.”
“We have heard about record levels of its use in recent years. <BR /> <BR />Ketamine was initially a class C drug. It was then moved to class B, and there are now calls for its reclassification to class A, along with cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. It is currently seen as being less dangerous in class B, even though it carries potentially serious health problems, mainly involving irreversible damage to the bladder and kidneys. That can cause chronic pain and issues with kidney function and urination. There is also the risk of addiction and even death. Concernedly, it is also used in spiking incidents. The UK Government have invited the ACMD to provide an updated harms assessment of ketamine and to advise on reducing harms in response to emerging evidence and, in particular, on whether the drug should be moved to class A.”
“I thank the DUP for tabling the motion. Tragically, 18-year-old Jeni Larmour died on 3 October 2020 after consuming alcohol and ketamine on her first night at university. She was a former deputy head girl at the Royal School Armagh and clearly had her whole life in front of her. I cannot imagine the pain of such a loss. Since then, her mum, Sandra, has been campaigning for more awareness of ketamine. I welcome her campaign. It is important to raise awareness of ketamine and the dangers that are associated with its use. Ketamine is commonly used in healthcare and veterinary medicine, but it is also misused. Following a review by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2013, ketamine was moved from class C to class B under the Misuse of Drugs Act due to its potential harm when it is misused.”
“Will the Member agree that the Good Friday Agreement brought peace to Northern Ireland and saved many lives?”
“Our amendment; thank you. Our amendment is to build upon an already strong motion.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Minister of Health, Mike Nesbitt, mentioned the spark within each child and stated that the only acceptable target for assessments is 100%. He said that they are entirely consistent with his desire to shift left and tackle inequalities. He also announced that the refreshed framework will be published in May to help children to be school-ready and ready to learn. <BR /> <BR />There is a good degree of agreement around the Chamber on the importance of health visits and early intervention, and our intervention —. Sorry, our —”
“<BR /> <BR />Órlaithí Flynn raised the opportunity for health visitors to pick up on the signs of domestic violence in the home, which is obviously a huge issue for women at this vulnerable time. Peter Martin talked about the pace of brain development — 80% in the first 1,000 days — and the lifelong impact of events that take place during that time. He also highlighted the fact that those health visits are early interventions, and there is clearly a lot of cross-party support for those interventions. Gerry Carroll raised concern about the lack of Irish language services available to health visitors and to families who speak Irish. He also raised the impact of poverty on life opportunities and called for the implementation of an anti-poverty strategy.”
“, called for the Department of Health to expand the role of health visitors in health and education. Colin McGrath highlighted the regional disparity in service delivery, with 46% of children in the Southern Trust currently not being seen. He also highlighted the fact that that was previously 65% and noted the improvement, albeit with lots more work to do. He also pointed out that the issue got bad when this place was not functioning and that a Minister could have been in post a lot earlier to address that. He is right, of course: when this place goes down, services are impacted on and people suffer. Protecting services such as this is another reason why we need to reform our political institutions to prevent any one party from blocking the formation of a functioning Executive.”
“My Lagan Valley colleague Michelle Guy pointed out that the value of these assessments is that they happen regularly, so they must be able to do that. Our Health Committee Chair, Philip McGuigan, or Daideo”
“The Minister has stated here and in answers to questions for written answer that workforce pressures are the key problem in respect of the missed one-year-old health reviews, as evidenced by the 2023-24 statistics that other Members have raised. That report also highlights the roll-out of Encompass, and while that will be beneficial in the long term, it can create short-term problems. I encourage the Minister to look into best practice from our other trusts in their roll-out to date, given that the Southern Trust will launch Encompass in less than two months. I also welcome the update from the Minister on the refresh of the Healthy Child, Healthy Future framework, and I look forward to further updates from the Minister in the near future. <BR /> <BR />I now turn to some of the comments made by other Members during the debate.”
“That is particularly important given the rise of misinformation on social media, including advice that is promoted without sufficient evidence.”
“Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the proposer of the motion and all who spoke for their contributions. I will make a few points before highlighting some of the points raised by Members who spoke previously. <BR /> <BR />As my colleague from Lagan Valley said when proposing it, our amendment does not seek to change the motion, which is already very good, but to improve it with two additional points. First, the importance of delivering an updated Healthy Child, Healthy Future framework, and, secondly, to recognise the overlap between Health and Education in child development. As mentioned, the first two and a half years of a child's life are extremely important, and these six reviews are a key part of that. Health visitors can play an important role in assessing children and reassuring their parents.”
“Minister, people do not "suffer from" autism; they have autism. <BR /> <BR />What discussions have you had with the Minister of Education about the provision of nurses in special schools?”
“Does the Minister agree that the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 is outdated, that it needlessly punishes people who use drugs and that its impact on people in Northern Ireland should be reviewed?”
“I encourage each Department to adopt a cooperative approach so that we can deal with drug addiction in our society and ensure that we can focus on saving lives, reducing harm, rehabilitation and long-term recovery.”
“It is outdated and clearly not working. It punishes vulnerable people rather than dealing with the root causes of drug abuse and substance misuse. We cannot deal with that issue, as it is reserved by Westminster, but we can engage with the new Labour Government and question their plans for tackling those issues on a UK-wide basis. <BR /> <BR />We need a cross-departmental approach to truly deal with addiction and drug misuse. Other factors that contribute to addiction include poor mental health, poverty, inadequate or lack of housing, and problems with gaining employment. The Minister of Health cannot deal with all those issues. There must be cooperation with other Departments, such as Economy and Communities, to ensure long-term progress.”
“Overdose prevention centres are prohibited by section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, but, in Scotland, the Lord Advocate provided guidance for police that it was not in the public interest to prosecute someone for using an overdose prevention centre. In 2023, Belfast City Council voted to support a motion on setting up an overdose prevention centre in the city, and it had an encouraging debate on that important topic. <BR /> <BR />Another option would be permitting the provision of drug-testing services in places where drug use is known to be prevalent, improving safety for people who could be vulnerable. That could include nightclubs or other locations where young people may be spiked or otherwise targeted by dangerous people on a night out. <BR /> <BR />We must also consider the reform or replacement of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.”
“It gives people who use drugs the opportunity to do so in a calm, hygienic and supervised environment. The centre is called the Thistle, and it is run by the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership. The centre is staffed by a multidisciplinary team made up of nurses, psychologists, harm reduction workers, social workers, medical staff and admin staff. The staff offer people safer injection techniques and provide harm reduction advice to minimise the risk of overdose and intervene with assistance if overdose occurs. It also gives the clients the opportunity to engage with healthcare and social workers on other issues that may be affecting them.”
“<BR /> <BR />There are specific ways in which we can confront substance misuse, and I encourage the Department of Health to consider those. We need to move to a harm reduction model. One way to do that would be to introduce an overdose prevention centre, a safe and hygienic space where people can take drugs under professional supervision and under the watch of trained staff who have safe equipment that they can give out and who can respond to overdoses. Overdoses are medical emergencies, and, if treated in time, they can be reversed. They can be treated with naloxone, which has recently seen an expansion in its availability. There are 200 such centres across 17 countries, and there is detailed peer-reviewed evidence and research from those centres. The UK's first safer drug consumption facility recently opened in Glasgow.”
“Such a centre would be focused on individuals and focused on dealing with the harms of substance abuse. With support, people can turn their lives around, and we can help people through what are extremely challenging times. Having such a centre in the north-west would complement the many organisations in Derry that carry out important work to tackle addiction and support people. While Derry is not in my constituency, I have visited the city and met organisations such as ARC Fitness, which was founded by Gary Rutherford, a former nurse of the year who, following his own struggles with substance abuse, uses fitness to help people through addiction struggles; Northlands, which does invaluable work and has done so for decades, and Foyle Haven, which supports people in the homeless community.”
“Linking that to the other part of our amendment, the levels of adverse childhood experiences and Troubles-related trauma are disproportionately concentrated in socio-economically disadvantaged communities. That emphasises the need for trauma-informed approaches to deal with drug and alcohol abuse across Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />The growing number of drug-related deaths is extremely worrying. NISRA's 2024 report on drug-related and drug-misuse deaths indicates that there has been a 98% increase in drug-related deaths since 2012, the majority of which were individuals aged between 25 and 44. We must do what we can to prevent any further unnecessary deaths. One way to deal with the issue would be through the introduction of a new addiction treatment and recovery centre.”
“In Northern Ireland, and especially in the north-west, that is often related to the history of the Troubles and the legacy of intergenerational trauma as a consequence of the 30-year conflict. Just last month, academics at Queen's University revealed the widespread impact of childhood trauma among Northern Ireland's adult population. The research indicates that 60% of our adult population reported at least one traumatic childhood event, with 30% of respondents reporting conflict-specific trauma. What is also very concerning is that, despite it being almost 27 years since the Good Friday Agreement, many young people here continue to experience trauma linked to paramilitary activity, especially in the north-west and more deprived areas.”
“That is evident in so many respects, particularly for the city of Derry, given its inadequate transport routes, with only one railway line and no motorway and dual carriageway — it is the only city on the island of Ireland not to have such a connection — and the long-awaited but delayed upgrades to Magee university. We are seeing progress on some of those issues — for example, the investment in the north-west transport hub and the revitalisation of areas such as Ebrington — but it is unacceptable that inequalities continue, both in the north-west and in many areas outside greater Belfast. <BR /> <BR />There is also the impact of adverse childhood experiences and the lasting impact that those can have on individuals for the rest of their life, as outlined in our amendment.”
“The Derry City and Strabane District Council area had the second highest rate of alcohol deaths at 49 people, after only Belfast at 77. When adjusted for population, however, Derry City and Strabane of District Council has a higher rate of alcohol deaths at 28 per 100,000 people compared with 30 per 100,000 people in Belfast. Those numbers are very concerning, but it is essential to remember that they are not just numbers. They are individual lives lost, and they will be people's loved ones. <BR /> <BR />The increase in substance abuse and addiction is very concerning across all of Northern Ireland, but especially in the north-west, where there has been historical deprivation and a lack of investment — a failure of previous Governments here over the last century.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) conducted research into the socio-demographic analysis of drug- and alcohol-specific deaths in Northern Ireland, which shows that there are five times more alcohol-specific deaths in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived areas and more than twice as many drug-related deaths, again, as we heard from the proposer of the motion. Although Belfast has the highest age-standardised mortality rates given that it is the largest council area, Derry City and Strabane District Council is a close second, emphasising the extent of the problem in the north-west. <BR /> <BR />Drug and alcohol addiction ruins lives and, sadly, is sometimes fatal. In 2023, sadly, we lost 356 people to alcohol-related deaths.”