Connie Egan
North Down · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“As the Minister referenced in her opening remarks, creating a legislative assumption that hate crime victims are to be treated as being eligible for assistance on the grounds of fear and distress will give them deeper assurance that they will not be put into a traumatic and distressing situation in which they are forced to engage with the…”
“Being a victim of or a witness to a crime can be one of the most traumatic and challenging periods in one's life. It is therefore vital that, when entering the justice process and throughout it, people have confidence that it will be as fair, trauma-informed and comprehensive as possible.”
“Minister Long's proactive step to create that role before the legislation was introduced served the dual purpose of giving victims and witnesses as much of a voice as possible in the here and now and testing some of the responsibilities that could end up in primary legislation.”
“When I speak to victims who have engaged with the commissioner's office and ask them about their experience, their answer is always one that is grateful in nature. They highlight the importance of having someone independent who listens to them and engages with their experience.”
“Clause 27 addresses a future legal gap caused by the implementation of direct committal, limiting the power to dismiss charges involving the death or serious physical harm of a child or vulnerable person. <BR /> <BR />Part 3 provides for the creation of regulations and orders, including the commencement of the provisions.”
“Clauses 24 and 25 add offences that involve aggravation by hostility, otherwise known as "hate crimes", to the list for which witnesses are eligible for special measures.”
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“I welcome that the AERA Minister supports working with the Infrastructure Minister to address the crisis in our waste water systems. It is clear that we need to act now. We simply cannot go on as we are in Northern Ireland: on course for another ecological crisis.”
“<BR /> <BR />We know that our entire waste water infrastructure has faced chronic underinvestment for decades, but, just yesterday, the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs stated in the House that he feels that we are on course to see Belfast lough become the next Lough Neagh, with serious and substantial water quality breakdown. That will have serious consequences for our environment and marine life as well as for the recreational activities enjoyed by many on the shores of the lough. My party will not be found wanting when it comes to finding solutions. This week, we published our plan to revitalise our water and waste water infrastructure, titled 'In Deep Water'.”
“In March this year, NI Water released data on Victoria Road combined sewer overflow, which is one of the sites in my constituency of North Down, predicting that it will overspill 153 times a year, which equates to 70,506 cubic metres of sewage flowing into the Croft burn, across Seapark beach and into Belfast lough. That is only one site in my constituency, however: sewage discharges such as that are replicated across the Belfast lough catchment area. One of the most staggering figures in the report is that sewage spills from NI Water overflows and treatment stations are responsible for over 90% of the bacteria and 50% of the nutrients polluting the lough. That is simply not acceptable from the organisation responsible for ensuring that there is clean water in Northern Ireland.”
“I highlight a report published by NI Water in recent weeks, titled 'Story of Belfast Lough'. The findings make for startling reading, which should be of grave concern to everyone in the House. Those of us who, like me, live near the shores of Belfast lough have noticed with great concern the increase in reports of raw sewage being discharged into the lough. We have watched as the water quality in more local bathing spots has declined, as shown in water quality testing reports. <BR /> <BR />The 'Story of Belfast Lough' report highlights the fact that there are over 270 storm overflows in the vicinity of the lough, of which over 80% have been assessed as being unsatisfactory and causing pollution.”
“<BR /> <BR />As my colleague has pointed out, we support the SDLP amendment.”
“Whilst there has been positive progress in Bangor over recent years — we have seen the regeneration of the Court House, the transformation of the Old Market House into a community hub and momentum building towards the creation of a business improvement district — businesses and people in Bangor feel that they have been left behind. They have been left behind with the delays in the Queen’s Parade regeneration, the lack of progress in waste water infrastructure, which stifles redevelopment, and small businesses facing high levels of rates in our city centre. We need to invest in our high streets for both economic and social value; set policies that prioritise town centres; create experiences for people; update our planning infrastructure; simplify our business support infrastructure; and deliver for people and communities.”
“<BR /> <BR />Town and city centres, and the high streets within them, are changing, including how they look and what is on them. Whether it is the rising place of the food-to-go industry, the need to support micro and small businesses or incentivising activity that is experience-based away from traditional retail, we have to match this pace of change. From my constituency of North Down, l will take the example of Bangor and its city centre. Our city centre is filled with people who have enthusiasm and hopes for the future of this place, wanting to see it evolve into an even stronger district of experiences, whether that is through visiting our food spots, getting involved in leisure activity in and around the seafront, engaging with arts and cultural hubs or supporting independent and small businesses.”
“There has not been as much progress as we want to see in implementing this report's evidence-based recommendations to push transformative change for our local economies. This is unacceptable. It speaks to the failures and lack of clarity in our government. The high street task force report brings together what has been discussed around the Chamber today: delivering destinations that are clean, green and diverse; addressing social need; and creating solutions shaped by the communities in the space itself. It puts forward a comprehensive and encompassing case for developing funds to support creativity, creating rate relief, supporting workers, reviewing planning and tackling the changing landscape of our economies alongside technologies and innovations.”
“In 2020, the group delivered a series of recommendations on how we evolve our high streets and the centres of our villages and towns for the betterment of our people and our economy. The aim of that work was to deliver a shared, agreed vision of creating thriving places to do business, socialise, shop, be creative and use public services, creating great and fulfilling places to live. <BR /> <BR />I bring that up because it is important to reflect that the content of the motion is the consequence of lack of follow-up and formal responses to these asks. We have ended up in a limbo space where work is not being progressed at the pace that we would like due to its sitting in TEO.”
“Alliance is fully committed to protecting our high streets, because they hold the key to not just economic vibrancy but strengthening the social fabric of our communities. <BR /> <BR />The motion calls on the Economy Minister to produce a strategy to lead on rejuvenation of our high streets in his Department, although we recognise that this ambition involves more than just one Executive Department. As a member of the Executive Office Committee, I will bring the responsibilities of TEO into focus. The First Minister and deputy First Minister have oversight of the high street task force. That group was chaired by the junior Ministers in the previous mandate and comprised cross-departmental senior civil servants, industry experts and community organisations.”
“The centres of our villages, towns and cities play an absolutely vital role in providing space for people, community and creativity. That is why we have tabled the motion today to urge the Economy Minister and our Executive as a whole to put in place a comprehensive strategy to rejuvenate our high streets and town centres. Whilst the motivations of consumer culture have evolved over time, we as legislators and political representatives of this place have a responsibility to ensure that our policies and strategies evolve just as quickly. Moving at pace with rapidly developing technologies, we need to build experiences and vital community consultation. We must listen to the will of the people who live and work in those areas to lead our delivery of change.”
“I thank the Minister for coming to the House today. My thoughts are with the women who were subjected to the attacks in the north-west. Minister, do you agree that, while a justice response is very important in ending violence against women and girls, it is more important that we stop it happening and that, to do so, we need a cross-societal and a cross-governmental approach?”
“Will the Minister please outline how much of a contribution waste water infrastructure makes to poor water quality in Belfast lough?”
“I thank the Minister for her answers so far. Minister, will you clarify whether the difficulties were unforeseen? Were concerns raised at the time?”
“Minister, last week the Executive Office Committee issued an invitation to you to attend the Committee this week with regard to safeguarding and representation of victims and survivors. Will you be coming to the Committee this week?”
“How is the Minister's Department monitoring the current risks in the domestic water systems across all trust areas?”
“<BR /> <BR />Peace and freedom from those criminal gangs must still be a priority for the Assembly, protecting those whom we serve. That is why Alliance has been calling for peace to be a pillar in the Programme for Government. It must be strengthened and solidified as a stand-alone mission so that we can tackle paramilitarism once and for all. However, we need to be clear that it takes every person in the House and every Minister to come on board. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Opposition for tabling the motion.”
“There should be no conversation to be had with those groups other than to tell them to disband. <BR /> <BR />I think that I am one of the few MLAs who was born after the ceasefires. Paramilitaries and those involved in criminality have had 30 years now to transition. It is far too long. If you have not done so already, you need to leave the stage. My generation was promised peace and prosperity, and a life free from the coercion of those groups. Unfortunately, that is not the case for many in the communities that we serve. In my constituency, I see paramilitary flags on lamp posts, some outside primary schools. I hear of coercive control, of drugs debts and recruiting in those communities. People feel that they cannot escape them. It is not good enough that we have not tackled that 25 years later.”
“<BR /> <BR />In June, we got new data on the perceptions of paramilitarism from the Northern Ireland life and times survey. Still, 18% of those surveyed felt that young people were being influenced too much by paramilitary groups, and 16% felt that paramilitary groups had a controlling influencing on their area. We are making progress but there is still an inescapable hold on so many in our communities. We need a cross-departmental, zero-tolerance approach so that we, as leaders in our communities, can model behaviour and send a clear message to those who are exerting power over others. <BR /> <BR />In recent weeks, I have heard from victims of paramilitary criminality. They have been hurt that Ministers met an umbrella group that represents paramilitary organisations.”
“One strand of that exploitation is paramilitary-related gendered coercive control, including demands, threats and harms to women in those communities. An example of that is the exploitation of poverty and motherhood to prey on women's vulnerabilities, including control of children. Those women are being forced to navigate their safety in an environment in which they have double the fear. We must deliver change for innocent, everyday people in our communities who find themselves at the hands and control of those dangerous, third-party forces and for people whose lives have already been so manipulated and exploited by those groups that they find themselves complicit in crimes in the structures in which proscribed organisations exist.”
“The draft Programme for Government estimated that paramilitary activity costs the Northern Ireland economy at least £750 million a year — division creating not just social and cultural hate but costing progress on this place's finances. Whether it is the resource pressure or the demand of so-called protection money from local businesses, it all adds up. All we need to do is look at the Department of Justice's Ending the Harm campaign to highlight the vast amount of hidden harms that paramilitaries and those associated with them cause. As legislators, we have a responsibility to consistently and continuously call out the groups that control, coerce and harm the communities that we represent and serve. <BR /> <BR />An academic from Queen's University recently said:”
“The longer the legitimacy of paramilitaries is enabled in our everyday practice and we do not tackle the hidden harms and impacts of exposure to violence, the longer it will take to build a future of safety and fulfilment for those who deserve so much more.”
“I condemn paramilitary activity and organised crime. I hope that all my colleagues throughout the Chamber will agree that that needs to be thoroughly eradicated from our society. It is criminal gang behaviour that creates a chill factor in communities that want to move past division and focus on moving forward. As the motion notes, that behaviour prevents the overall stability of peace and progress in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber today to talk about this very serious issue. Far too many women have been lost to femicide in Northern Ireland. Will changes be made to the multi-agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC) as a result of the report undertaken by Marcella Leonard?”
“Thank you, Minister. Will you commit to work with the Health Minister to instigate a review of the level of nursing provision in special schools in order to ensure that all students receive safe and appropriate medical care?”
“However, whether it is growing the economy, creating safer communities, improving public services, tackling poverty or supporting the vulnerable, none of the goals in the draft PFG will become reality without putting peace and peacebuilding at the heart of the Executive's agenda. We in Alliance will continue to make the case for that mission, and we hope that we will be supported in the effort to put peace at the heart of the delivery of everything that we do.”
“<BR /> <BR />Research that Ulster University recently developed highlighted the idea that the cost of division in education in Northern Ireland could be up to £226 million per year. Paramilitaries have been estimated to cost the public purse up to £750 million per year, as noted in the draft Programme for Government under the priority "Safer Communities". A peace pillar would ensure that there would be a focus on reconciliation, diversity and inclusion throughout the entire Programme for Government. It is simple: we need a Programme for Government. We have not had one for far too long. We need buy-in from Assembly colleagues and wider society to make delivery possible. <BR /> <BR />Measurable targets, with outcomes that properly interrogate the issues that we face as a society, will aid that delivery.”
“The missions laid out in draft — people, planet and prosperity — create a focus for delivery, but that focus will be restricted until we understand that peace is not just a cross-cutting principle but a stand-alone mission of its own. The mission of peace is inextricably linked to the transformation of public services, many of which the motion notes, and it is undoubtedly necessary to relieve the squeeze that our public finances are experiencing. A mission on peace and peacebuilding will ensure that reconciliation, diversity, equality and inclusion are embedded in everything that the Executive do. Division manifests duplication, additional costs and opportunities for development. Peace provides a solution to those. We simply cannot afford the burden of not progressing with peace.”
“The Executive Office's recent launch of the strategic framework complements the work that Minister Naomi Long is doing alongside the Department of Health on the strategy for ending domestic and sexual abuse. Alliance has never been a stranger to the fight for transformation of public services, so it is also welcome to see that in the draft Programme for Government. <BR /> <BR />For us, as legislators, to adequately deliver and work to the Programme for Government, we must first strengthen the underlying missions and focus on which we build our objectives. Our society, while progressing, remains divided in many ways. The new Programme for Government must find a path forward to forge the benefits of a truly shared society. That is what the everyday person not only wants but expects to see from us. Peace provides that path.”
“That should be done after the consultation period, when groups in our society and Committees have had a chance to input into and further shape the draft Programme for Government. That would create clarity and visibility for the public on what the Executive wish to lead and support delivery on. <BR /> <BR />The Programme for Government is not just for Executive use. It is for everyone across our society, so that they can see the direction of this place that we call home. It creates pillars and goalposts for businesses, delivery partners, campaigners and community organisations to work with, to use to hold us accountable and to shape their work plans and priorities for the coming years. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the inclusion of the ending violence against women and girls strategy as a priority in the Programme for Government.”
“My party and I will support the motion and the amendment. Northern Ireland has not had a Programme for Government since 2016. Publication of the draft Programme for Government is a notable step in the right direction and an indicator of positivity for the future of Northern Ireland. My colleagues and I engage in this debate in good faith. Yes, there are things in the draft Programme for Government that can, we believe, be improved upon, and I only hope that we can approach the debate constructively and keep in mind that the published document is in draft form and is being consulted on. <BR /> <BR />That said, my Alliance Party colleagues and I agree that more needs to be done to put in place clear and measurable objectives that are rooted in accountability.”
“Minister, have you engaged with front-line service users and victims and survivors regarding this policy to ensure that you have the voice of lived experience?”
“In the context of projects in previous investment strategies not being delivered, what lessons will the Department learn to ensure that all actions are delivered in the forthcoming strategy?”
“I am glad to hear that the Minister recognises the clinical evidence that was presented to all elected representatives about the Bangor and Ards minor injuries units. Do your party colleagues support the move?”
“Minister, what is your Department doing to improve water quality at Ballyholme beach in north Down, given that it has been classified as "poor" for the past two years?”
“Thank you, Minister. The successful sexual offences and legal advisers (SOLAs) scheme, which is run by your Department, is relevant to both of those strategies. Are there any plans to develop the scheme further?”
“Minister, I was due to ask about the School Streets scheme, so I thank you for your answers about that. If you will indulge me, I will say that there is a school in my constituency where a child has been involved in a road traffic collision while walking to school. With the next roll-out —.”
“Instead, the press statement insinuated that fault lay with the businesses that were victims and stated that they had shared their access codes, although many of them have said that they absolutely had not. <BR /> <BR />The Northern Ireland Food To Go Association has been working tirelessly in representing businesses across Northern Ireland that have fallen victim to this. However, the whole circumstance raises multiple questions about how it was allowed to happen, the regulation of online delivery and service providers and their cybersecurity. In my opinion, Just Eat can more than afford to reimburse the food establishments affected, and I call on it to do so immediately. Also, I urge the Minister for the Economy to look into the issue and give clarity to all those impacted so that they know that the Assembly stands with them.”
“<BR /> <BR />In my constituency, I would like to draw particular attention to Bokhara, which has lost £19,000, and Lili's, which has lost £7,500. While Just Eat makes a percentage in commission on each order, I would ask whether it has profited while the theft occurred. I spent time with the owner of the Bokhara on Thursday night and heard from him about the absolute impact and lack of trust that this has left between business owners and the delivery technology providers. They are devastated. <BR /> <BR />Those businesses deserve their funds back. Instead of acting with compassion and taking responsibility, Just Eat originally stated that, upon investigation, there had been no breach of security.”
“I rise to bring attention to a monumental scandal that was brought into sharp focus for the public on 'Nolan Live'. <BR /> <BR />The fraudulent activity that appears to be conducted through the Just Eat delivery app has lost businesses across Northern Ireland, including in my constituency of North Down, hundreds of thousands of pounds. Numerous food partners that joined the Just Eat server appear to have fallen victim to a cybersecurity breach. That led to the bank details of enterprises being altered to those of an unknown third party, resulting in the theft of income that should have been made through working with Just Eat. That has left a large hole in the pockets of businesses trying to pay rent, pay staff and cover running costs.”
“Thank you, Minister. As I am sure you know, the Employment Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 provides for the making of gender pay gap regulations and requires the publication of a gender pay strategy and action plan within 18 months. Will you commit to working with colleagues to consider making those regulations alongside the good jobs Bill?”
“It was good to see everybody welcoming the strategic framework for ending violence against women and girls that was published last week. Will the £3 million figure that was cited in it go solely to the change fund or will it also be needed for the research and campaigns that were included in the delivery plan?”
“Minister, I agree with you and everyone in the Chamber that the UK Government's handling of pulling the funding for the city and growth deals is absolutely atrocious. My constituency of North Down was due to benefit from the Belfast region city deal. Can you confirm for my constituents that the Bangor waterfront project will go ahead? Do you agree that the redevelopment of its seafront is vital for the regeneration of Bangor city centre?”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. Minister, what is your assessment of the funding shortfall that has arisen as a result of the loss of EU funds?”
“Thank you, First Minister. This is a really welcome day, and I think of all the women in Northern Ireland who have lost their lives to gender-based violence. There are some really good positives in the delivery plan, but I want to touch on funding. Have you engaged with the co-design partners in regard to the funding that has been allocated, and are you confident that all the positive actions in the plan can be delivered with the funding?”
“I look forward to publication of the strategy next week. Are you able to give any assurances that the community and voluntary sector, which co-designed the strategy and worked hard to input into it, will continue to be involved throughout its delivery?”
“I thank the First Minister and deputy First Minister for meeting the Chair of the Executive Office Committee this morning. I am very glad to see that ending violence against women and girls is a priority. How will you make sure that all Departments have input to ending violence, misogyny and abuse towards women and girls?”
“I thank the Minister for her answer. It is good to hear about the work that the interim board has done so far. What is the timetable for establishing the board on a permanent basis?”
“I thank the deputy First Minister for her statement. Clearly, important issues were raised, including a sound fiscal framework, the need for transformation of public services and, of course, renewable energy. How will those fit into a Programme for Government?”
“Minister, some schools are already communicating with parents that those schemes will not go ahead. Can you confirm that you will be in contact with schools as soon as possible to confirm the funding and that the provision will continue over the summer?”