David Honeyford
Lagan Valley · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Ten years ago, the UK voted to leave the EU, and Northern Ireland was removed from the EU against its will. People will have voted for many reasons, but people were lied to.”
“Many families have spent the past decade worse off, and the loudest supporters of Brexit have punished them, while we have the likes of Farage appearing to be prospering personally. <BR /> <BR />Ten years on, the question is not whether Brexit was right or wrong, because the evidence is clear for everyone to see.”
“<BR /> <BR />The biggest cost of Brexit has been instability, which scares off investment. Since the Brexit referendum, the UK has had seven Prime Ministers, and we have had the Assembly collapse twice. Political uncertainty has become normal. However, when politics becomes unstable, ordinary people pay the price.”
“We need to see more happening, because east-west collaboration is already happening. We need more collaboration to grow our economy further, but talk is cheap. People say such lines on the news but then come to the Chamber and vote against collaboration.”
“Two and a half years into the term of this Executive, much of that remains missing. The same applies to waste water infrastructure and planning reform, with delays continuing to block growth and investment. We should do much more to collaborate North/South, as we do east-west, to improve people's lives.”
“The Executive are failing to provide certainty and follow-up on their commitments. My colleague Andrew Muir having had his green growth strategy blocked for over a year is just one example.”
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“They get an offer and know with certainty that, if they get the grades, they have got a place, be it at Queen's University, the University of Ulster or anywhere else. Under the CAO system, that does not happen. Students therefore do not know until the day on which the Leaving Cert results come out what place they have been awarded. The Leaving Cert results come out two weeks after our A-level results. If you are a student here, you therefore put at risk your place at university in order to wait to find out, basically via a lottery, whether you are going to gain a place at a university in the South. You either cannot confirm the place that you have or have to defer it. <BR /> <BR />In our case, my daughter, Emma, deferred her place. She had a place at University College London (UCL), but she wanted to go to Trinity.”
“Our system is based on three A levels. Whether that is the best way of doing 16-18 education is a debate for another day, but that is currently what our students study. They take three A levels, and the 600 points should equate to those three A levels so that students here have the ability to get the score to meet the entry requirement to access a place in the South. On a side note, COVID has also increased the differential. Our results have come back down after COVID, but that has not happened in the South. <BR /> <BR />The other major problem for Northern students is that they are not offered a place in the South. That is something that we lived out as a family. Under the UCAS system, students get offered a place.”
“The prospective entry requirements to study pharmacy, to take that as an example, at Queen's University are two As and a B. That works out at 443 points under the CAO system. If any Northern students had wanted to study pharmacy at Trinity last year, they would have needed 613 points, which they could not have achieved even with four A* grades. They would therefore have had to have done maths as one of their subjects. That is a discrepancy that has to be addressed. <BR /> <BR />That imbalance — that unjust requirement — for our students is one of the key issues. Our students study three A levels as a default. When the system is flawed, very few Northern students have any chance of getting a place at Trinity, University College Dublin (UCD), the University of Galway or wherever. The standards do not align.”
“A Northern student cannot gain entry to a variety of courses there, including pharmacy, medicine, law and politics, as well as a range of science subjects.”
“The CAO points requirement is unjust on our students. With four A levels at A*, a Northern student would still get only 600 points. They get 25 points if they study maths, but that has always been the case. I will use Trinity as an example, as it is one that I know, although the issue is not exclusive to it.”
“We are trying to help and work towards solutions that mean that we see students moving North to South. The number of Southern students who apply to study in the North also needs to be noted: it has trebled in the past five years. The number of students from the South who are being accepted in Northern Ireland has trebled, yet the number of students from Northern Ireland who are accepted into universities in the Republic of Ireland remains low. <BR /> <BR />I want to talk about three key issues. One is grade disparity. The number of points required to achieve entry into the South's universities has meant, up to this point, that Northern Ireland students have had to study an extra A level; now, it will be an AS level instead. However, it is more than that: they need A* grades across the board to gain entry, so there is no grade comparison.”
“Bringing people here brings strength: it challenges us and further strengthens and unites our community. <BR /> <BR />In the Economy Committee, I have talked about CAO and the entrance requirements for Northern students for some time. I have lived it: my daughter is studying at Trinity College Dublin, so, as a family, we went through the CAO system. My son went to Loughborough University in England via the UCAS process, so I can compare. In 1998, approximately 10% of students in Trinity were from Northern Ireland. Today, that figure is less than 1%, so there is a massive issue that needs to be resolved. Although I welcome the changes that Pádraig talked through, including the need for a fourth A level being downgraded to an AS level, the issue is far from sorted, which is the reason for our amendment.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. Alliance believes in having a shared society, building a united community and providing greater opportunities for everyone. A few weeks back, I talked about sharing the island and working towards solutions for our economy and in health and education and a more prosperous future for everyone that creates opportunities and grows possibilities here. Alliance believes that we should work towards increased student mobility on the island of Ireland. We also have kids who move across to GB. This creates different and greater opportunities for students here, which is welcome. We recognise the critical role that our education establishments play in our economy in diversifying our skills and through educational and student life. We welcome the diversity of opinion.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. Can the Minister provide an assessment of how easy it is for groups, particularly smaller community groups, to access the current PEACE PLUS funding?”
“I welcome the Minister's coming to the Chamber. Hopefully, we will now see the 'good jobs' Bill move forward in order to protect workers and to provide a better business environment in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate that the Minister listened to the issues that we raised, and I am pleased to see some movement in that direction in her statement. With legislation going through Westminster, however, will the Minister set out clearly where the Bill differs from that of our GB counterparts? Will she also provide an update on the engagement that she has had with the UK Government? Minister, you mentioned that there will be funding available if the UK Government move, so can you give us an update on that?”
“Thank you, Minister, for your response. PRM, in my constituency, has seen significant growth in its business through dual market access. It has just completed a planning application to help it realise that. That took three years. That company is embedded in my community. Other people will not wait around for three years for a planning application. That is not a problem with planning; it is the system. I ask the Minister to prioritise the issue, because it is holding back our economy and growth.”
“Once one person is there, nobody else can access it. Nobody else could access that facility because there was one person in it. That closed the whole place. That is the issue. That should not happen.”
“I appreciate the Minister's giving way. We were talking about the Hillhall site. The issue was an adult who was at that location and was blocking it.”
“I want to wrap there. Again, I thank the Minister for coming, but we need an assurance that access to respite in Hillhall will continue in the long term and that it cannot be an option to use that facility for anything other than respite care. I would appreciate the Minister's confirming that without any ifs and buts. We need a firm guarantee for the families that that facility will remain open and that it will be used solely for respite as we move forward.”
“The question has to be asked: with a care package in place and respite care, would they be as exhausted, and would events have turned out the way that they have? I do not know, but this is Jenny's life, which, I suppose, is when decisions meet reality. The Department is actually placing more cost on itself. Through inefficiency and not dealing with one issue, you create a cost elsewhere.”
“I am aware of quite a few families who cannot access respite care simply because they cannot get to their social worker. <BR /> <BR />Minister, you met Beth, and you will remember her. She looks after her sister Jenny. Beth is 81, and her concerns are around Jenny. She articulated those passionately to you and to me a couple of times before that, and her concern is about what will happen to Jenny as Beth gets older. Ultimately, she is 81 and will not be around for ever, and her concern is what will happen there. When you met, she was so appreciative, but, today, Jenny still waits for a care package. She has been waiting since Christmas. I heard only recently that Beth has not had access to any respite care and, unfortunately, very recently had a fall.”
“The resumption of respite in Hillhall has, thankfully, started to ease pressure on some families after a period of 18 months without any respite. Unfortunately, Hillhall has been closed and open for the past five years. The real concern in the community is, yet again, an emergency placement, which effectively closes the centre to everybody else. During that period of blocking, we heard the same tired excuses from the Department that there was nowhere else to place people. I do not want to get into discussing the situation around the last individual who was there, but there was always an alternative solution. The fact that they are not blocking that facility today is evidence of that. <BR /> <BR />The system for allocating respite was also raised. The social worker needs to sign it off, and Diane rightly mentioned that.”
“They are the type of people who, when my electricity was out during the recent storm, contacted me to make sure that I was OK. We are talking about the type of people who go above and beyond their own family and look out for society as a whole. I spoke to someone who said:”
“We are really blessed in Lagan Valley, and, thankfully, we have them, because there is a real powerhouse of energy from a lot of those parents, who fight for the cause. I have been really blessed to have been able to give them some small assistance to get them started. I will give a shout-out to Vivien and Karen who started Sensability and to Philip who started the Live Life Well-being Centre. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Minister for his engagement in early January. He came to Sensability to listen to parents' concerns around not just respite but transport, the needs and building needs of the area and the wider issues simply to make life better and easier for people. <BR /> <BR />Prior to the debate, I chatted to some carers.”
“My first proper job before I was self-employed was working in the Lisburn assessment and resource centre (LARC) in Seymour Hill garden centre, which provides job opportunities for adults with learning difficulties. They are days that I remember really fondly. <BR /> <BR />Roll on to 2022, after the election, when I sat in Hilden Bowling Club listening to stories from local parents, some of whom were getting older and were really concerned for their loved ones and some with the most vulnerable residents of Lagan Valley. A couple of other representatives and councillors were at that meeting, and we came away from it really affected by the stories that we heard. I have enjoyed working with those parents since.”
“<BR /> <BR />Alliance wants to see a coordinated Executive response coming from the Department for the Economy that moves beyond reactive measures and builds a proactive strategy to grow our economy, be that through advanced manufacturing and innovation, in fintech or in energy, to realise the growth of green technologies. Equally, we need to see the investment in future generations. I welcome the increased investment in skills training but would love to hear the Minister provide a little clarity on what that will deliver, when and by whom. I am concerned about the drop in innovation and research funding for our universities, and maybe the Minister can also address that.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is the Alliance view that the Government should be raising additional tax from the superwealthy, not from the most vulnerable; not from hard-working people; and not from small businesses and microbusinesses, the self-employed, social enterprises or the voluntary sector. However, social enterprises and community organisations often serve the most vulnerable and are caught up on two fronts: they not only have higher operating costs but those costs are rising at a time when the demand for their services is increasing. If there is no support coming, that will, potentially, leave a gap that our public sector simply cannot fill.”
“That, rather than sitting back, kicking the can down the road and saying, "This is a 10-year process", would encourage growth in our economy This is urgent for a lot of those businesses, and we need it looked at and tackled now. <BR /> <BR />Every party in the Chamber talked about change at the last election, but if you were to ask businesses or those employed in them about change, they would say that they have not seen a lot of change to any of this. The Committee for the Economy is not seeing a lot of meaningful change coming through, and there is no any sign of legislation coming forward that will make a meaningful change to our economy locally.”
“<BR /> <BR />Looking further at our high streets, how can it be fair that a landlord with a unit that has been sitting empty for years on end — often with ratepayers having to pay to dress the windows to cover up those old buildings and bring some life back to that high street — gets a reduction in rates, while the small businesses next door that are fighting for their lives, trying to keep the lights on and trying to pay their staff are paying more than double than anyone elsewhere in the UK? Something is wrong there and needs to be fixed quickly. The Department of Finance needs to get on with reviewing the progressive changes that we need to our rating system. The changes need to be fair to our local companies and local businesses and fair to the employees who work in them.”
“Given the VAT rate reduction in the South, the sector has been squeezed on two fronts, which has further compounded the issue. We have a problem on our high streets that needs to be addressed. <BR /> <BR />I want to give a shout-out to the AERA Minister and the dilapidation Bill that is coming through for our high streets. That will give powers to councils to enable them to start to tackle some of the issues that sit there.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have to raise concerns about the employers' National Insurance contribution increases, which are coming at the same time for our business community as the living and minimum wage rises. That compounds the financial burden on our local businesses, our social enterprises and the voluntary sector. They already have to tackle the rise in operational costs. Again, they are affected by the energy costs and inflationary supply costs. Those have been highlighted, and the Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee has also talked about the labour-intensive businesses, which are in the retail and hospitality sectors. I want to raise those again. We have sectors that have not had any rates reduction passed down from the Assembly that the other regions of the UK have had.”
“There is not much positivity to shout about in our economy and at a time of great uncertainty on the world stage, but I want to start with a few positives for local people by welcoming the increases for the lowest paid in our society and the benefit to our local economy with the rises in the national minimum wage and the living wage. That will bring so much help to so many. Alliance believes in those rises as they align with our progressive values of fairness and equality. The increases to the living and minimum wages are a positive step forward as we improve living standards and work to reduce poverty and to support workers with their cost of living. They will have seen massive increases to energy costs, alongside inflationary rises. That is where the positivity ends.”
“Research and development, innovation and skills development are vital if we are to grow our economy and deliver a more productive, globally competitive economy. The Minister mentioned additional funding for skills, which is really welcome. How will the Budget support research and innovation across Departments, including by delivering the funding that is required for R&D in our universities?”
“Bingo! I will end with the DUP/TUV bingo. Here we go: the usual slow, thick lines that come out every single time. Let us have calm heads and not be cheerleaders for Trump.”
“We should be working closely with the UK Government, with the Southern Government and with the EU to make sure that Northern Ireland's voice is clearly heard. We have to maximise the voice of the Assembly to speak as one. This is a time when we should be investing in innovation and R&D. We should be increasing the number of products that we have to sell and we should be giving support to our businesses. We need a manufacturing strategy. We need stuff to come through that actually delivers for business. What we do not need are cheerleaders for a Trump Administration who are taxing the very people and causing —”
“This is a time when we should be working closely with our partners —.”
“We have people who are coming to pension age and whose pensions are falling through the floor, and you are in here getting social media clips to look hard and look the big man on TV. It is ridiculous that you have constantly called for borders and barriers, and Alliance will continue to speak up so that we do not have trade barriers and we do not have tariffs on our companies”
“There is no giving way, so sit down. <BR /> <BR />Actions speak louder than words, which is what Jonny said a minute ago. Let us talk about red tape, which he talked about a minute ago. Let us talk to all our sporting clubs that have had levelling-up funding and let them hear about red tape. It was way easier when we were in the EU and had funding that was easy to access for all our groups. You can scaremonger and talk and you can be addicted to being on the wrong side of the argument all you like, but the tail is wagging the dog, with one Member at the back, and you are jumping to it. <BR /> <BR />Let us call it for what it is: taxes are tariffs and tariffs are taxes, and these are our businesses that we are here to stand up for. They are the ones that are paying the taxes; it ain't you.”
“If you want to continue shouting on, go ahead. Do you want me to give way?”
“It is DUP/TUV bingo today. We get the usual lines trumpeted out just because it is a Trump tariff. They talk about Northern Ireland first, yet all we have heard about today is the priority of American companies and the tax that they will pay coming into the EU, not realising — I am not sure what has clicked — that we do not pay tariffs into the EU. Therefore, I do not know why we have had minutes and minutes about the risks to America. We are here to speak for Northern Ireland and for our companies and businesses, but it is interesting to hear the DUP speak in support of and give the opinion of America rather than give the opinion of Northern Ireland.”
“That is the bare minimum. It is great to hear a united voice right across the House, with everybody opposing the coming cuts. The minimum that we can do is speak with one voice and support local people.”
“You are grand. I am going to close anyway. <BR /> <BR />The motion:”
“<BR /> <BR />There are great examples of initiatives that work. Hospitality Ulster has a training initiative to bring more people into the industry. Our largest sporting bodies have another Fresh Start programme. Both offer help for people who are close to the justice system, and they receive funding to improve training and qualifications, give nurture and support in access to work, and they then support people when they are in work. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council, through its labour market partnership, identified a need in the area for HGV drivers and created a scheme to give people opportunities to move forward. We need to look at investing in and scaling up what works on a cross-departmental basis. <BR /> <BR />To close, the motion calls on —.”
“We hear about them all the time in our offices. They are restricting people and holding them in poverty. When we spend more money per capita on health yet have the worst waiting lists, we see that we cannot accept the lack of delivery to transformation. <BR /> <BR />The Assembly has to raise people's aspirations. It should aim for something that is better than the current situation by creating meaningful and fully accessible opportunities for people, not by punishing them, placing them in poverty, causing them further anxiety or leaving them in pain sitting on waiting lists for years on end. For those who did not have a positive start in life, we need a holistic package of investment and support to help them gain confidence and remove the educational barriers that have prevented them moving forward.”
“When you look at those figures, you see that sickness is the reason why 50% of those people are economically inactive in Northern Ireland. Shockingly, however, that is approximately 50% greater than the figures for the neighbouring counties of Donegal and Monaghan. We in the Assembly should not give false hope, but we have to bring forward a package of solutions to help people and deliver positive change for them. We have to find solutions that remove the barriers in order to help people get back to living healthy lives and to lift families out of poverty. <BR /> <BR />We cannot accept being the sick region of these islands. That is not fair on people, and it restricts their ambition and aspiration. Waiting lists and access to medical support are obviously issues that affect all our constituents.”
“I want to look at a few solutions and things that we can do here. When someone is seriously ill or has a disability and is unable to work, as a society, we should fully support them. However, they are not the people whom I want to talk about. Sian passionately laid out our position on that subject, and I would not do any justice to it by repeating some of the things that she said. I want to look at the section of people who are economically inactive but who would go back to work if they could and were enabled to do so. <BR /> <BR />In Northern Ireland, economic inactivity among working-age people has, for years, sat stubbornly at around 25%. Approximately one in four working-age people is economically inactive.”
“The super-rich are those on a lot of money. Look at farmers. Farmers are being persecuted by the Government because the likes of Dyson and Jeremy Clarkson are buying up land. Those guys are taking advantage of the ordinary person on the ground. That is what I am talking about: the ordinary person on the ground is paying the price while those who earn obscene amounts continue to earn obscene amounts. Alliance continues to call for progressive taxation and equality of opportunity, with those with the broadest shoulders carrying the most weight. <BR /> <BR />As my party's economy spokesperson, I want to speak about and look at a few issues affecting our economy and the serious lack of cross-departmental work to address the economic inactivity that is linked to the health of our people.”
“It is morally wrong to raid our most vulnerable to plug a government spending gap while the super-rich continue to get richer. Something is seriously wrong in our society when the disposable income — the amount that is left to spend at the end of the week — of working people, be they nurses, health workers, teachers or tradesmen, has dramatically shrunk while the super-rich continue to be enabled to make even larger amounts of money on the back of the vast majority of society.”
“Are there any plans to extend that provision, or is the Commission happy with the areas that it covers?”
“Given that we are only 2·8% of the UK population — smaller than some regional cities that have been targeted by the Government — and have access to EU and GB markets, has the whole of Northern Ireland been included in the enhanced investment zone?”
“The girls have added so much to the club, and it is so good to see Lisburn Rugby Club's new extension, with facilities being added to the clubhouse for the girls in the club. The building is well under way, and it shows the club's commitment to equality and to making sure that the girls have the same facilities. That is an important lesson to learn right across sport. <BR /> <BR />I congratulate both teams and wish them well.”
“<BR /> <BR />Wallace High School — your old school, Mr Speaker — has had unbelievable success with the boys' rugby team, but now the girls have backed that up. The girls' netball team has won the senior schools cup final, which was a fantastic achievement. I pass my congratulations on to the girls and to the coaching team and teaching staff at Wallace. <BR /> <BR />Yesterday, the Lisburn ladies' rugby team secured the league championship. I have mentioned those girls before in the Chamber, and I have loved watching and supporting their journey. I have championed the club as a whole, but now, to be league champions is an incredible achievement. It is absolutely amazing for the club, so well done to the girls and to their coaching team.”
“It is a disgrace that, in 2025, female sport has much fewer numbers, a lack of funding and a lack of facilities and that barriers to participation and growth remain across a range of sports. I recently addressed those issues at the Alliance Party conference with Mollie Davies from Ulster Rugby, and Alliance highlighted, as a party, the ability of sport to build on our values of inclusivity, equality, uniting our community and building a truly shared society. <BR /> <BR />Despite those barriers, teams in Lagan Valley have had some incredible success in recent days. I want to give a massive shout-out to two teams, be a champion for their success, and make sure that there is always equality in the Chamber.”
“You have 45 seconds left. Give me 45 seconds of positivity on how you will reconcile this community, this place, this land, this region, Northern Ireland, whatever you call it. What are you going to do?”
“I appreciate that the Member struggles with any form of reconciliation and that he nitpicks and niggles at everything that is negative and at the wounds and hurts of the past, but surely the Member's party can see some benefit in sharing this society and working to build a better community that everybody can benefit from, rather than picking at wounds and hurts.”