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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Every one of 1,031 lines we hold for Danny Donnelly, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 12 of 21.
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I thank the Opposition for tabling the motion. We in the Alliance Party are happy to support it. I will propose our amendment to the motion, seeking to improve what are already strong foundations. I will talk about our amendment before touching on the motion more widely. <BR /> <BR />Our amendment adds an additional line to the motion, recognising that areas with greater levels of deprivation, including those in the north-west, have a disproportionate number of people exposed to adverse childhood experiences. That is associated with higher rates of excessive alcohol consumption and drug use in adulthood, as we heard.”
“From a health perspective, I welcome the focus on reducing waiting lists, and I hope to see further details and plans, along with a wider approach to all aspects of physical and mental health in order to stabilise and improve the health service on which we all depend.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is important to welcome the Programme for Government as a direction of travel and to have all parties working together on it. I highlight the point that just because something is not in the Programme for Government does not mean that it will not happen. The document is the baseline for delivery, not the height of our ambition. Hopefully, this is the first of many regular Programmes for Government, given the huge gap since the previous one due to two Assembly suspensions and a pandemic. I hope that we will be back here discussing the next Programme for Government shortly after the 2027 Assembly election.”
“There are some useful guidance points about investing in the workforce, delivering digital capability and innovation and, most significantly, taking the difficult decisions on reconfiguration. From some of the parties in the Chamber, however, we have sadly not seen that reflected in reality. <BR /> <BR />Some important individual actions refer to mental health. Under the "People" mission, reference is made to the overlap between economic deprivation and poor mental health and to the importance of sport and exercise in maximising community well-being and mental health. We need to support mental health services, including through the full implementation of the mental health strategy 2021-2031. Mental health should be prioritised on exactly the same basis as physical health.”
“There are other examples of strategic projects that could improve outcomes and save money that do not seem to be being prioritised. They include the new care homes contract and developing Northern Ireland Ambulance Service mental health practitioners, just to give two examples. As the Programme for Government states:”
“While the Programme for Government does not provide more detail on reform and transformation, a timeline for those actions should come in this mandate.”
“I encourage the Minister to focus his attention on practical ways of ensuring that the services that his Department provides are more efficiently managed and delivered, while maintaining the highest standards of service that our constituents deserve. <BR /> <BR />It also reflects the need for action on social care reform, which has been referenced. We can improve the outcomes for patients who rely on social care only through the fundamental reform and transformation of key services. That will bring practical benefits, such as improving the flow through hospitals, releasing some of the pressures on areas in hospital settings, including on staff, their time, the beds available and all the associated costs. It will, therefore, play a key role in reducing waiting times and waiting lists.”
“<BR /> <BR />All Departments are under huge pressure and should take steps to use existing resources as efficiently as possible. Some ways in which the Minister of Health could do that are, for example, by focusing on prevention so that fewer people need to be on waiting lists in the first place; moving towards a single-system approach that can more effectively arrange and deliver specialised services in a smaller number of locations; making greater use of surgical hubs and other similar organisations; and ensuring proper governance arrangements for all aspects of spending. <BR /> <BR />We have seen examples of trusts signing care home contracts worth over £600 million a year without the normal procurement processes.”
“HSC transformation, including hospital reconfiguration, based on the Bengoa principles, will deliver better outcomes for patients in Northern Ireland and reduce waiting lists, but that requires all parties to back it, rather than supporting it in principle and then opposing it the moment that a difficult issue arises in their constituency. It also requires the political stability to deliver multi-year Budgets: another reason why institutional reform of the Assembly and Executive is desperately needed. It has been said that the Assembly is as stable today as it was the day before the last collapse. To reform the health service and improve the delivery of healthcare in Northern Ireland, we need stability in our political institutions.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am encouraged by the inclusion of addressing waiting lists in the Programme for Government, particularly the £76 million investment approved for 2024-25 and the focus on supporting those on cancer and time-critical waiting lists. The Programme for Government rightly states that current funding is not enough. That is true, and, as I have said in previous debates, I understand the Minister's frustration with the lack of funding. However, it should not be forgotten that the Department of Health gets over 50% of the entire Budget. <BR /> <BR />The Minister's plan to shift left must result in investment in primary care to stabilise GP practices, community pharmacies and other service providers. We must take decisions that will deliver genuine reform and transformation, which will save money in the long term.”
“We must reform the institutions, so that the Assembly and the Executive can properly function without interruption for five years. If we do not do that, the cycle of dysfunction will continue. <BR /> <BR />We welcome the Programme for Government, and, specifically, I welcome the commitment made to act on cutting health service waiting times as one of the nine main priorities. Over recent winters, we have witnessed, at first hand, the unprecedented pressures on our hospitals, staff and ambulances, with patients waiting outside hospitals in ambulances or in overcrowded A&E departments or lying on corridor beds in wards for several days or even longer. I witnessed those pressures when I worked as a nurse, and things have significantly worsened in the years since I started working in the profession.”
“I will speak on the Programme for Government in my role as the Alliance Party's health spokesperson. <BR /> <BR />It is important to begin by welcoming the publication and agreement of the Programme for Government that outlines the Executive's priorities for the remainder of the mandate. Of course, it should have been agreed and published in 2022, within months of the most recent Assembly election, but, as we all know, the Assembly was prevented from functioning until February 2024. I appreciate that any Government involving multiple parties will take time to negotiate their Programme for Government. However, in the South, it took the two parties and associated independents two months to publish their Programme for Government, which is a more reasonable time frame than three years. The solution here is reform.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. What is the Minister doing to address waste water pollution?”
“I look forward to the Assembly carrying out its key legislative and scrutiny roles on this and the many other Bills that are to come over the next two years.”
“Improving the lives of people with disabilities must be a top priority for all Members. The Bill represents an opportunity to reflect that by adopting the high standards of the UNCRPD. I ask the Minister to tell us in his winding-up remarks of the extent to which the UNCRPD was a consideration in the development of the Bill. If it was not a consideration, I ask that the Minister outline how he will take the opportunity over the next few months to incorporate those principles into the Bill. <BR /> <BR />I take this opportunity to welcome the Bill, acknowledge the work of the Minister, his Department and the Committee to date, and I encourage him to take on board my suggestions and those of my party colleagues. Today, we are seeing how the Assembly should function and how it should always function.”
“Some practical aspects of the UNCRPD with which the Bill must ensure compliance include equal access to justice, which is covered by article 13; living independently in the community, which is covered by article 19; equal right to education, which is covered by article 24; equal right to health, which is covered by article 25; and equal right to work and employment, which is covered by article 27. The UNCRPD is all-encompassing, as it should be, and the Bill must reflect those principles. <BR /> <BR />The Minister and other Members may be aware that I hope to introduce a private Member's Bill that seeks to introduce a new "due regard" principle on public authorities in respect of the UNCRPD and its obligations. My Bill will be out for consultation until 11 March.”
“<BR /> <BR />I also raise the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The UNCRPD highlights the need to ensure non-discrimination, accessibility and equality of opportunity for everyone, including deaf people. Article 2 of the UNCRPD defines language as including "spoken and signed languages". Article 8 requires states parties to raise awareness, throughout all aspects of society, of the issues and disadvantages facing people with disabilities. That must include deaf people.”
“As has been acknowledged, there is a higher rate of mental health conditions among deaf children in Northern Ireland, with 21% reporting at least one condition compared with 12% of hearing children. The Bill is an important step in beginning to address those unacceptable inequalities, but I ask the Minister how the Bill fits within his departmental objectives and with the objectives of the disability strategy more broadly. I know that very knowledgeable and experienced organisations are meeting the Department about the disability strategy. I have met many of them myself. I would appreciate more detail on how the Bill will progress that strategy. The Bill recognises the specific challenges facing deaf people and how those are distinct from other disabilities. That recognition is essential as we go forward.”
“Like my colleague Kellie Armstrong, I would like to see more clarity on the prescribed organisations that are to be included in the regulations, and I would like to see guidance from the Minister's Department on how consultation with those organisations is included. Other Members mentioned the responsibility on his Department to report on the progress of the Bill's implementation, whether that will be five years from now or within a shorter time period. <BR /> <BR />We discussed the specific challenges that face deaf people in Northern Ireland. There are specific problems, and those often depend on the severity of deafness. For example, 77% of deaf children attend mainstream schools, often receiving no support or acknowledgement of the specific challenges that they face.”
“It is encouraging that we are fulfilling our roles as Members of the Legislative Assembly by debating and passing legislation, but I hope that this is the last time that the people of Northern Ireland have to wait until over halfway through a mandate before primary legislation reaches the Chamber. <BR /> <BR />I will touch on a few points about the Bill. I welcome the inclusion of British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language and the fact that legal protections will be given to both. It is also important the Bill has a wide definition of "the deaf community" to ensure that it is not exclusionary and includes those who rely on sign language every day. Like others, I would appreciate the Minister's giving more detail on some of the new powers that are in the Bill.”
“Like colleagues, I support the Sign Language Bill at its Second Stage and thank the Minister and his Department for the work that they have done to date in developing that vital legislation. As other Members have done, I congratulate the Minister on his demonstration of sign language knowledge at the start of the debate. <BR /> <BR />As my Alliance colleagues who sit on the Committee for Communities outlined, there is more work to be done, and I look forward to seeing further development of the Bill through its Committee and Consideration Stages. I also welcome the progress of not only this Bill but other Bills, such as the Justice Bill and the Agriculture Bill, which passed their Second Stage at the end of last year.”
“The Minister recently attended the excellent "Nip it in the Bud" event in the Long Gallery, which was held by the Farming Community Network and Macmillan Cancer Support. He will be aware that people in rural areas with an advanced cancer diagnosis are 5% less likely to survive than people in urban areas with an advanced cancer diagnosis, which is completely unacceptable. I appreciate his answer about routes to a diagnosis and wonder what else he is doing to reduce the barriers to cancer care in farming and rural areas?”
“Addressing division would be one of the easiest ways to do so. <BR /> <BR />In conclusion, I welcome the passage of the Budget Bill following our useful debate on the spring Supplementary Estimates yesterday. It is an important role for any Executive and it provides an opportunity to discuss what our priorities should be. I look forward to hearing from other Members and to working with the Minister of Health in particular to progress urgent reforms and ensure that Health and Social Care is accessible to everyone in Northern Ireland when it is needed.”
“Much of the transformation agenda will take years to carry out and will require substantial changes to how every trust and hospital operate. We must therefore seek to end ransom politics and move towards being a more mature and properly democratic Assembly, where parties can make difficult decisions and not walk away, collapsing the Assembly, when things get tough. <BR /> <BR />We must address the costs of division. It is estimated that continuing division on the basis of our political and religious divide costs our economy up to £400 million per year. Imagine how valuable that additional funding would be. While the UK Treasury must take some of the blame for our current financial predicament, it is understandable that the UK Government expect us to look at specific options for addressing our own financial problems.”
“Just a few weeks ago, we discussed the crisis in our health service in an Opposition day debate, and some of the decisions that local MLAs and councillors made contradicted their parties' stated aims on reform through Bengoa specifically. <BR /> <BR />Reform must be more broadly a priority for the Executive and Departments, not just Health. It must include reforming these institutions so that the Assembly and the Executive are never again collapsed and held down by a single party. With the cycle of crisis and collapse, the 2024-25 Budget was the tenth single-year Budget in a row. How can Ministers ever plan for anything in the medium to long term if they are working on the basis of a single-year Budget? That is especially relevant for Health.”
“<BR /> <BR />As the Chair of the Health Committee highlighted, there is a clear need for investment in primary and domiciliary care and for the strategies to improve people's healthcare across Northern Ireland, such as the already mentioned mental health strategy, which has been underfunded for many years. Reform and transformation are also needed, and the Minister has spoken many times about his desire to shift left. That is in line with the principles of the Bengoa report, 'Systems, not Structures: Changing Health and Social Care', from 2016. We have discussed Bengoa many times, and, while we always hear positive language from members of all parties on the need for that reform, it is not always reinforced by action.”
“The challenges that are facing the Department of Health will not be resolved by simply giving it more money. The Health budget has increased by over £2 billion since 2020. Last week in the Health Committee, the Minister mentioned some of the unsuccessful bids that he submitted, most of which would have required more money. While it is understandable that he is seeking additional funding for such projects — it is what he should be doing — it is impossible to facilitate every request from every Department. The Minister must seriously consider how his Department could be run more effectively and efficiently. We need to do things better in healthcare provision.”
“Our waiting lists are among the longest in Europe. Most targets are consistently missed. There is a growing risk, if issues are not targeted, of our moving towards a two-tier system in which only those who can afford to do so can avail themselves of essential treatments. That would go against everything that our health service can and should stand for. In effect, we already have a two-tier system in Northern Ireland, with many people across our communities feeling that they have no choice but to spend huge amounts of their savings, borrowed money or money from family members to access healthcare. That is shameful and a huge failure. <BR /> <BR />As we all know, Health receives by far the largest allocation of the Budget. Clearly, something is going wrong.”
“The Minister of Health deserves credit for meeting, through in-year allocations, the pay requirements of our health service staff. Ensuring that health and social care workers, who perform an essential and invaluable role, are paid appropriately must be a priority for the Department of Health. That progress is welcome. Without health service workers, there is no health service. However, although the £36·5 million financial pressure on GP practices, community pharmacies and other social care providers due to the rise in employers' National Insurance contributions announced in the recent UK Government Budget is noted, no mitigation measures have been announced. <BR /> <BR />As has been highlighted many times, Northern Ireland continues to have the most expensive health service and the worst outcomes in the UK.”
“I thank the Minister of Finance for moving the Second Stage of the Budget Bill, and I congratulate him on his new position, along with his colleagues, the new Minister for the Economy and the new Minister for Infrastructure. We will miss the latter at the Health Committee. <BR /> <BR />I will speak in my capacity as Alliance Party health spokesperson. Whilst our difficult financial position is evident in every Department, nowhere faces such overwhelming pressures as our health service. Many times in the Chamber, we have discussed growing waiting lists, challenges around discharging patients from hospitals and the crises in respite care provision and domiciliary care. That is just to mention a few of the many serious issues in the health service. However, we should take this opportunity to acknowledge any progress that has been made.”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for that answer. Does the deputy First Minister agree that it is important to make social media content accessible to people with visual impairments and that functions such as alt text image descriptions aid understanding and make social media more inclusive?”
“While you emphasise upstream prevention, Minister, can you explain how you will ensure that these enhanced verification measures will not create additional barriers for vulnerable claimants who are genuinely entitled to support, particularly those with mental health issues and learning disabilities?”
“Thank you for giving way, Minister, and for providing that clarity. Will the test purchasing by councils, which your Department funds, continue beyond the 2009 age group to ensure that people are stopped from buying tobacco?”
“What assurances can the Minister give to clubs with existing 3G pitches about support and advice when the pitches' surfaces reach the end of their lifespan and require replacement post 2031?”
“Thank you. I go back to the Member's previous point about the comparison of alcohol and tobacco. Does the Member agree that alcohol is regulated? We can buy alcohol only in certain places, and we can buy it only above a certain age limit. As with tobacco, regulation of alcohol has made a dangerous product safer for people, reducing hospital admissions and diseases.”
“I also thank the organisations that have been in touch about the Bill, particularly Asthma and Lung UK, the British Heart Foundation and the BMA, all of which provided useful briefing papers. <BR /> <BR />I look forward to continued engagement with the Department and the UK Government on how Northern Ireland can become a world leader in tackling the huge damage caused by smoking. Our goal must be a smoke-free society, which is defined as less than 5% of our population smoking. The Bill is a key step towards getting there, and I encourage all Members to support it today.”
“<BR /> <BR />In conclusion, I welcome the LCM and particularly the urgency with which the new Labour Government have brought it to Parliament, along with the previous efforts of the former Conservative Government. It is welcome that there exists a broad, cross-party consensus on the issue in Westminster, with 415 MPs voting for the Bill at its Second Stage in November and only 47 against. I hope that we will see similar consensus in the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Department of Health officials who attended the Health Committee, particularly for their useful updates and for outlining the differences between the Labour Bill and the former Conservative one, as well as the Members of the Youth Assembly for their valuable engagement on the issue.”
“The Bill introduces new enforcement powers for the Department of Health, and I would appreciate more detail from the Minister of Health on the steps that his Department will take to ensure that those provisions are fully implemented and enacted. <BR /> <BR />We also need district councils to ensure that they carry out a programme of enforcement action in their areas if appropriate, as under clause 81. That is important in relation to vapes. Although we welcome adults using vapes as an alternative to smoking, there is a risk of the opposite occurring: young people trying vapes and then escalating to smoking. There is a growing body of evidence that that is the case.”
“The evidence that we have shows that vapes are less harmful than smoking and can be useful in helping people to quit smoking. They have become the most popular smoking cessation tool. That should be welcomed and encouraged for adults who are looking to quit smoking, but we must be clear that children should not be vaping and should not be able to buy vapes. That is why we welcome the provisions in clause 76 that will make it an offence to sell a vaping or nicotine product to a person under the age of 18. <BR /> <BR />As previously mentioned, the flavours, names and branding of some of the products would suggest that they are being marketed directly at young people.”
“The Bill adopts what I believe to be a reasonable approach. The Bill criminalises not smoking but specifically the sale of tobacco to those born in or after 2009. It will also criminalise proxy purchasing, which is purchasing on behalf of someone below the legal age. Children and others covered by the Bill will not be punished; instead, enforcement officers will have the power to impose on-the-spot fines of £200 and to uphold the law and clamp down on underage sales. I am sure that other MLAs will be as aware as I am of young people, sometimes even in school uniforms, being sold cigarettes and vapes. <BR /> <BR />I also want to discuss the new regulations that will be introduced by the Bill around vaping and e-cigarettes. Vapes are relatively new and their long-term impacts unclear, but they cannot be considered risk-free.”
“The UK Government could have considered increasing the age of sale again — for example, to 21, as the Republic of Ireland has been considering, or higher, to 25 — but there is a risk that that would only raise the age at which people start smoking, as opposed to stopping people ever beginning smoking. <BR /> <BR />It is also important that the Bill includes a wide range of tobacco products, all of which carry a risk to health and can cause cancer. We cannot achieve a truly smoke-free society unless all such products are included. That is especially relevant following a study by Cancer Research UK that revealed that there has been a significant rise in the number of people who use non-cigarette tobacco products in the last decade, particularly young people. <BR /> <BR />The enforcement of the progressive smoking ban will be crucial.”
“Two thirds of smokers start smoking regularly before the age of 18, and most of those people will continue to smoke for the rest of their lives. Until 31 August 2008, the minimum age to purchase and consume tobacco products was 16. That was changed by the Children and Young Persons (Sale of Tobacco etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008, which brought the minimum age up to 18. <BR /> <BR />The Bill represents a more significant step towards preventing those who currently cannot buy tobacco products from ever buying them, thereby ending the early exposure to tobacco that has been so prevalent in our society for so long.”
“One of the main reasons for that substantial decline is the use of regulation to remove smoking from places where people are vulnerable and to increase public awareness of the dangers of smoking. The Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 came into operation on 30 April 2007, nearly 20 years ago. It introduced measures to ban smoking in workplaces and enclosed public spaces. That has largely removed indoor smoking, which is particularly dangerous due to the risk of second-hand smoking. In 2021, second-hand smoke exposure was responsible for around 3,000 deaths in the UK. Without the 2006 Order and its equivalents in England, Scotland and Wales, that number would have been much higher. <BR /> <BR />There have been attempts to reduce the number starting smoking at a young age.”
“<BR /> <BR />Smoking causes huge damage to our economy. It is estimated to cost the Northern Ireland economy £0·4 billion each year; specifically, £0·2 billion to the Department of Health. The massive strain on our health service is worsened by smoking, with around 18,000 annual hospital admissions in Northern Ireland being attributable to smoking. A generational smoking ban would greatly alleviate the social and economic damage that smoking causes regularly. We would see both the immediate and more long-term benefits through passing the draft legislation. <BR /> <BR />We know from experience that the use of regulation against smoking works and that, in recent decades, the situation was much worse. Fifty years ago, 45% of the UK population smoked. The figure is now less than a third of that.”
“It should be said that the Bill will not ban smoking for anyone who can buy cigarettes today, but increasing the age of sale will protect future generations from the devastating impacts of smoking and tobacco and prevent the cycle of addiction that has damaged our society for too long. <BR /> <BR />It is estimated that approximately 13% of Northern Ireland's population smoke. That is around 200,000 people. Every year, there are around 2,300 deaths from heart and circulatory diseases that are directly linked to smoking. Smoking is more prevalent in more deprived areas, where people are two to three times more likely to smoke than those in less deprived areas. That exacerbates the existing socio-economic divide in our society, which is already worse than in other parts of the UK as a consequence of our recent conflict.”
“I rise in favour of the LCM and would welcome Northern Ireland's inclusion in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. I thank the Minister for bringing the LCM to the Assembly. Like other Members, I know how hard it is to quit smoking. It is certainly very addictive. <BR /> <BR />The main purpose of the Bill is to introduce a new offence to prohibit the selling of tobacco products, as well as herbal smoking products and cigarette papers, to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. Clause 68 would introduce the provision into Northern Ireland law. If passed, the Bill would lead to Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole becoming a world leader in tackling the dangers that are posed by smoking, and moving towards a smoke-free society.”
“As MLAs, we have a responsibility to act to protect our population and reduce the risk of heart disease. Shortly, we will discuss one very important action, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, but we need further action. I welcome any update from the Minister of Health on his priorities for coronary heart disease in the remaining two years of the mandate.”
“Another ask is that people consider learning CPR, an invaluable and life-saving skill. I have used CPR and have taught it to others in my previous role as a nurse. Last year, my constituency office staff completed CPR training. I encourage businesses to consider that, especially those located in busy town centres. In the UK, eight out of 10 cardiac arrests happen at home, and knowing how to do CPR could save a loved one's life. On a more personal level, people can monitor their heart health through ECG and blood pressure monitors, which can easily be purchased.”
“<BR /> <BR />Northern Ireland has led the way in cardiovascular research, most famously through the work of Professor Frank Pantridge and his team at the Royal Victoria Hospital, who invented the world's first mobile defibrillator, fundamentally changing heart care and saving millions of lives around the world. We must support our research sector and universities here in their continuing to pioneer innovative research and organisations such as the British Heart Foundation, which also plays a vital role in developing and funding essential research into heart and circulatory diseases. <BR /> <BR />This year, the theme for our Heart Month from the British Heart Foundation is Go Red. It is running a number of fundraising events and encouraging others to organise similar events.”
“In February, we acknowledge Heart Month, a time to consider the importance of taking care of our heart and to improve our understanding of heart and circulatory conditions. The statistics speak for themselves. Heart disease causes nearly a quarter of deaths in Northern Ireland: around 4,200 deaths every year. Today, around 75,000 people live with coronary heart disease. That will only increase with our ageing and growing population. Heart disease impacts not only on older people. Around 1,100 people under 75 die from heart disease every year.”