Eóin Tennyson
Upper Bann · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Those who have come forward only now, saying that they are not surprised or that they always suspected that something was wrong, simply to use this as part of a grudge match and settle old scores, should hang their heads in shame, as should those who have attempted to use this matter for party political point-scoring in the Chamber today.…”
“Jeffrey Donaldson and Jeffrey Donaldson alone is responsible for his heinous abuse. We know that abusers lurk in the shadows and that this could have befallen any organisation, community or political party. The allegations that came to light in the 'Spotlight' documentary, however, go beyond the actions of one individual.”
“Scandal after scandal has shown that those who push puritanical, sanctimonious and hostile rhetoric towards the LGBTQ+ community are guilty of nauseating hypocrisy. All Members, including those in the DUP, should reflect on that, on the harm caused, apologise to the LGBTQ+ community and change course.”
“We owe it to them to ensure that, never again, will an institution be prioritised over the protection of victims and to make policy change to ensure that faith-based counselling is regulated, safeguarding procedures are followed and, importantly, that reforms are made to our RSE system so that, never again, will a child or young person no…”
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. This is an unconventional intervention, but we are in unprecedented times. I ask for your assurance that you will engage fully with any investigations or inquiries that come about as a result of matters that were raised over the weekend.”
“The response from statutory agencies is consistently inadequate. Despite it being an offence under article 87 of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993, we see no enforcement action whatever from the Department for Infrastructure. I call on the Infrastructure Minister to set out what she will do to start to tackle the issue.”
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“I will be very clear. We received the paper on 11 December, and the SDLP also received it. Immediately, on 11 December, we wrote to the Secretary of State to express our concern about any attempt to re-profile existing funding, and we expressed specific concerns about integrated education and Fresh Start funding. Frankly, I would be embarrassed to be a member of the Opposition coming to the House decrying the situation when, actually, Back-Bench Members of Executive parties have done more due diligence and scrutiny on the issue. It is important that the Member accepts that, because some of his public commentary has accused us of doing otherwise.”
“It is important that we set the record straight on that. The SDLP participated in negotiations from when they commenced until 13 December. I have a paper that was presented to all the parties on day 1 — it was 11 December — that makes reference to the UK Government's intention to re-profile existing funding streams. I sat beside Mr O'Toole at Hillsborough Castle on 12 December, and I do not recall him raising any concerns about Fresh Start or funding for integrated schools at that stage, unlike —.”
“We have articulated to the Government that that commitment was made almost 10 years ago, and that should be reflected in any representations that are made. <BR /> <BR />Cheryl Brownlee and Diane Dodds made comments about the fact that there are schools other than integrated schools that are, in fact, integrated. That is a misnomer. Yes, there is mixing across other sectors, but there is a very clear legal definition, which the House endorsed, of what an integrated school is. As we have all agreed, we need to be accurate about that. When we talk about integrated schools, we are talking about a very particular ethos. <BR /> <BR />Mr O'Toole referenced the negotiations, and I know that what was agreed, what was not agreed and the openness and transparency around those is a hobby horse for Mr O'Toole.”
“I may not have been here in 2014-15, but I can read, so I know what the Fresh Start Agreement says. As I have outlined, it made commitments to shared and integrated education; however, the projects, which would have relied on the remaining Fresh Start funding, that were taken out of the Department's major capital works programme are, by and large, integrated projects. That is an important distinction — the projects that are ready to progress are integrated. <BR /> <BR />The Minister referred to 17 school projects. The funding available is £150 million, and it is simply not the case that that is sufficient to fund all 17. It is important that we are all honest about that. <BR /> <BR />Cara Hunter raised concerns about inflation, and I agree.”
“Mr Butler attempts to include shared education in the scope of the motion. The reason why it was not included in the motion is this: although Fresh Start was originally intended for shared and integrated education, the outstanding projects, which have business cases and planning approval and are in a state of readiness, are, overwhelmingly, integrated projects.”
“<BR /> <BR />In recent years, the Integrated Education Act passed by the House placed additional duties on the Department of Education to aim to meet the demand for integrated education, as mentioned by Diane Dodds. In the intervening period, however, it seems that little has changed in the attitude of the Minister and his DUP colleagues who sit behind him, all of whom referred to the Act as an attempt to place one sector above all others. That could not be further from the truth. It is about righting a historical wrong and recognising the fact that the Department has mistreated the integrated sector by not proactively planning for and supporting it. <BR /> <BR />I turn to a number of the comments that were made in the debate. I will speak first to the amendment, as proposed by Mr Butler.”
“<BR /> <BR />The effective cancellation of the remaining £150 million of funding is a retrograde step and a slap in the face for the schools that Members have referred to, which planned and made provision on the basis of the promise of that funding being honoured and delivered. It also represents a screeching U-turn in the rhetoric of the Prime Minister — mentioned by my colleague Nick Mathison — who previously said that educating our children together should be "the norm, rather than the exception". It is not the first time that the Tories have spoken out of both sides of their mouth when it comes to Northern Ireland, and it highlights again why the Minister's approach of simply relying on the UK Government to see the light is, unfortunately, unlikely to bear fruit.”
“Polling indicates that almost three quarters of parents believe that integrated education should be the norm, and a similar proportion would support their child's local school transforming to integrated status. We should embrace that demand and grasp the opportunity to make progressive change in our education system and across wider society. Indeed, the UK Government recognised that demand and the importance of integrated education in building a more shared and inclusive society when they committed to delivering significant funding for the integrated school estate in the Fresh Start Agreement.”
“Over 25 years on, there are 71 formally integrated schools and colleges, representing just 6% of Northern Ireland's education settings and encompassing 27,000 children. That modest growth is extraordinary, given that it has been almost entirely parent, pupil, and teacher led. While communities have come together to set up integrated schools or to seek to transform their local school, not a single integrated school has been proactively planned for by government. Indeed, in 2013, a court found that the Department was doing the opposite of its duty to facilitate and encourage integrated education. <BR /> <BR />Integrated education is not just desperately needed, it is overwhelmingly wanted.”
“The Good Friday Agreement contained a promise to "facilitate and encourage integrated education" as an:”
“The Minister will be aware that almost 2,900 households presented as homeless due to loss of rented accommodation in 2022-23, which was a 17% increase on the previous year. As part of his consideration, is the Minister looking to Scotland around indefinite tenancy, and does he agree that any exemptions need to be tightly defined so that renters do not find themselves at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords?”
“That must include the UK Government, having acknowledged that underfunding, moving to ensure that an equitable funding formula is put in place; updating the Executive's fiscal framework so that the Executive have appropriate powers to engage in progressive revenue raising; and that a Programme for Government is forthcoming that prioritises the stabilisation and transformation of our public services that is so desperately needed. I look forward to further constructive engagement on that with other parties, with colleagues and with the Minister.”
“Nor will it counteract the reckless approach that Westminster has engaged in with regard to our public finances, with the spring Budget again prioritising tax cuts over much-needed investment in our public services. Rates is a small but nevertheless important part of the conversation, which is why I will support the order, but delivering financial sustainability will require a much wider approach that is both long-term and strategic.”
“That is worthy of consideration, given that childcare has been highlighted as being a priority of all the parties in the Chamber. I would welcome the Minister's views on progressing with such a review. The Minister outlined the importance of regular revaluation for non-domestic ratepayers, but decisions are also urgently required in relation to domestic revaluation, and I would appreciate her outlining her plans for that. <BR /> <BR />We must be clear, however, that no amount of revenue raising, whether through the regional rate or by other means, will ever counteract the underfunding that Northern Ireland has been experiencing, which other Members have referred to.”
“That is why, when the Secretary of State struck the rate poundage last year, he struck a below-inflation increase for domestic households and a freeze for non-domestic ratepayers. Elsewhere in the UK, significant reliefs have been made available to hospitality, leisure and retail. Those reliefs have not been replicated here. <BR /> <BR />It remains my party's view that an independent review of the rating system and associated reliefs is necessary to ensure that the system is progressive, supports our economic objectives and is fair. In Scotland, for example, the Barclay review made a raft of recommendations pertaining to ensuring that empty properties are reoccupied, that renewables are supported and, significantly, that relief is available to childcare providers.”
“Simply because the regional rate is the most immediately available lever to the Executive, it does not follow that it is necessarily the most progressive, fairest or best method of raising significant additional revenue. In fact, were we to rush to follow the approach of the Government and levy anything like a 15% increase, given the unprecedented cost-of-living and cost-of-doing-business pressures experienced over the past two years, it is likely that many would simply be put out of business. That would damage our economy, reduce our rates base and set back efforts to deliver financial sustainability in the longer term. It would also make recovering the £175 million in unpaid rates from previous years all the more difficult. The UK Government know that.”
“<BR /> <BR />This year's rate poundage has been the subject of fervent speculation and public commentary, particularly in the light of the conditions initially attached to the UK Government's financial package by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The arbitrary and punitive revenue-raising target set out effectively translated to a 15% increase in the regional rate, given that no other revenue-raising lever could have been made operational in the unrealistic timeline prescribed by the Government. <BR /> <BR />Some have wrongly suggested that proceeding with the 15% increase would solve all our financial ills or that refusal to follow such a course of action is simply short-sighted or populist on the part of the Executive. Such assertions could not be further from the truth.”
“I add my well wishes to the Minister. I hope that she is feeling better soon. It is not easy to come to the Chamber when feeling unwell. <BR /> <BR />I support the order and believe that the proposed real-terms freeze in the regional rate, as informed by CPI inflation, goes some way to balancing the pressures faced by households and businesses but also by our public services. <BR /> <BR />There will no doubt be Members who will oppose any uplift. I invite any Members who make such an assertion to tell us how they propose to fund such an approach, because rates are vital for funding our public services, and the Executive have limited other powers to raise revenue.”
“All that said, I genuinely welcome the SDLP's coming to this conversation, so, in an act of good faith, despite the concerns that we have about the Ad Hoc Committee, its operation and its ability to deliver, we will support the motion. Equally, I hope that the SDLP will support our calls for a proper root-and-branch review of these institutions, as was envisaged in the Good Friday Agreement but was never delivered, that is inclusive of both Governments and all parties in the House. That will instil the confidence in these institutions that is so desperately needed.”
“Again, I lay this challenge to Sinn Féin Members in particular: having talked about equality, about wanting to work for all and, in the past, about the importance of "one man, one vote", how can you, with a straight face or a clear conscience, argue that it is acceptable that those who vote for Alliance, People Before Profit or the Green Party be treated as second-class citizens? How can you, having called on the DUP to end its boycott for two years, argue that its ability to wield a veto should be protected? <BR /> <BR />I share my colleague's concerns about an Ad Hoc Committee. It will duplicate AERC. It will be ineffective because it will have at its core an inbuilt Sinn Féin and DUP majority.”
“I agree, and I will come to that point later in my remarks. Whether it was the blockage of marriage equality, the vetoing of health regulations during the pandemic or protecting Ministers who had clearly lost the confidence of the House, repeated abuses of the system are nothing more than a perversion of democracy. More than that, cross-community votes are the least cross-community votes of any in the Chamber. The case for reform may well be indisputable and supported by three quarters of the public, but it will be resisted because the current system privileges the two largest parties. A bit like Orwell's 'Animal Farm', it seems that we are all equal, but some are, simply, more equal than others.”
“Instead, mechanisms that were designed to protect minority rights by requiring cross-community support on key decisions have been turned on their head and abused to deny fundamental human rights, to derail bread-and-butter politics and to spare the blushes of the DUP and Sinn Féin.”
“We must be clear that these institutions are as stable today as they were the day before they last collapsed. The public are weary, and they want to be assured that we in the House are taking steps to ensure that the last collapse was the last collapse. <BR /> <BR />I am of the Good Friday Agreement generation. That agreement allowed me to grow up in relative peace, which was not experienced by my parents and grandparents, but I am clear that it was about more than the mere absence of violence or the minutiae of political structures and that it was never intended to be a ceiling on our ambitions. It was designed to be a foundation on which, together, we could build a brighter, more prosperous and shared future.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Surely he recognises that reform of these institutions requires legislation at Westminster and that it is therefore imperative that there be engagement among the UK Government, the Irish Government and all parties. Although I share his scepticism about the current Secretary of State, there is a contradiction in saying that reform should happen urgently but that we should not engage with the current Government.”
“I am conscious that our junior doctors also have action planned and that our classroom assistants and other non-teaching staff are awaiting their long-promised pay and grading review. I accept that that pay and grading review languished with the Department of Education and the Department of Finance when there were no Ministers, but I sincerely hope, now that Ministers are in place, that we will be able to make progress on it. <BR /> <BR />We are in a better place, but if we are to sustain the progress that has been delivered over recent days and weeks, parties in the Chamber need to be honest with the public, who demand reform of these institutions, about their position and grasp the opportunity to ensure that the institutions endure into the future.”
“A matter of months later, in January 2017, Sinn Féin pulled the institutions down. We then had government for a matter of months during a global pandemic when no transformation was possible, before the DUP decided that it was time to walk out. So, while the photo ops are all well and good and we can talk about parties working together, our public-sector workers and services need and demand the promise of stability. That stability can be delivered only through reform of the institutions. <BR /> <BR />The degradation of pay and conditions for our health workers has been replicated across our public sector. Transport workers, teachers, classroom assistants and so many others have been impacted.”
“While I agree that Tory austerity and underfunding have had an impact, it seems that the DUP and Sinn Féin are blind to the fact that one of the biggest impacts on our health service and public-sector pay has been stop-start government. It is all well and good for Mr Kearney to talk about working for all, but he seems to be very happy with a position where voters for the Alliance Party, People Before Profit and the Green Party are treated as second-class citizens in the House. <BR /> <BR />Platitudes are one thing, but delivery in the Chamber is quite another. Frankly, I think that Members, particularly those on the Sinn Féin Benches, have brass necks, given how they voted on the previous motion, to decry a lack of stability in public finance and services. It was the now First Minister who published the Bengoa report in October 2016.”
“I could not agree more. I know that he has personal experience of the issue. <BR /> <BR />The House is asking health workers to operate under extreme pressure and in unimaginable conditions. The numbers speak for themselves. Over 8,600 patients waited more than the recommended 12 hours in A & E in the months up to December 2023, and almost 342,000 people are on a waiting list for their first consultant-led appointment. That is against a backdrop of almost 6,000 vacancies across the health and social care system. <BR /> <BR />I feel like I am participating in the debate in a parallel universe, given the vote that has just happened.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is welcome that the Assembly and Executive have now been restored and that progress on pay is being made, but, earlier this year, I spoke to those who were on picket lines, and it is clear that this is about so much more than simply pay.”
“Backed into a corner by our politicians, those workers, whom we applauded during the pandemic, were left with no option other than to protest over pay parity and unsafe staffing levels. I remind Members that those nurses sacrificed pay to engage in that strike action. That is a stark contrast with those in the House who were on strike from their roles for 18 months and received a healthy salary. Those same MLAs who were animated about the Northern Ireland protocol, the Windsor framework and academic arguments about the Irish Sea border made barely a whimper when it came to the very real sea border that they created for pay, conditions and living standards for some of our most essential workers.”
“One of the most shameful outworkings of successive periods of suspension of the House in recent years has been the degradation of public-sector pay for some of our most essential workers. Take our nurses as one example. In December 2019, the Royal College of Nursing was forced to commence strike action for the first time in its 103-year history. With the arrival of New Decade, New Approach and the restoration of these institutions just one month later, it was promised that never again would our nurses be forced on to picket lines. Not four years later, following yet another collapse, our nurses watched as pay awards were made in other parts of these islands whilst they received nothing and once again became the worst paid in the UK.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. Given what he said, will he engage with DAERA and come back to me with clarity on the lead Department on that issue?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. He will be aware that NHS England has set a target of eliminating cervical cancer by 2040. The Minister recently set out his plans for a women's health action plan for the next three years, but will he also commit to a women's health strategy that will extend a similar target to Northern Ireland?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Will he agree with me that every single DUP Member who participated in the debate has contradicted the manifesto on which they stood for election to the House? On page 41, it states:”
“Does the Minister agree that stop-go government is not conducive to the effective fiscal devolution to which many in the Chamber aspire? Will she therefore agree with my party's view that reform of the institutions is necessary in order to deliver the political stability that is required to underpin financial sustainability?”
“This is devastating news for the schools affected. I have to say that the news was delivered in a rather abysmal way by the Department, and the Minister's response will be cold comfort. Will the Minister agree with me that investing in integrated education is public service transformation and, therefore, now commit to reallocate the money back to its original purpose, so that schools like Millennium Integrated Primary School, which have commenced on-site, can still proceed?”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. He has outlined his position with regard to onshore petroleum licensing. I understand that offshore petroleum licensing is a reserved matter. Does he intend to engage with the UK Government on securing a ban in that area?”
“We must then swiftly move to multi-annual Budgets, and I hope that those Budget processes will be more coherent and will be aligned with the Programme for Government and the priorities of the Executive and the Assembly, as well as being informed by levels of engagement, consultation and scrutiny that the people whom we represent rightly deserve and expect.”
“We must be absolutely clear that the Bill is not about setting out our future ambitions or strategic allocations for the time ahead; it is simply a Bill to give legislative cover so that Departments can continue to draw down cash, to deliver services without interruption and to make progress on public-sector pay in the short time that is left of this financial year. <BR /> <BR />In closing, as the Bill completes its final legislative hurdle today, we must ensure, as others have said, that this is the last time any Budget Bill is passed in this fashion. As we look to 2024-25, the Budget for that year must progress at pace, and I concur with other Members' remarks in that regard.”
“We have set out clear solutions to the challenges that we face. We recognise that the additional £1 billion allocated by the Executive in 2023-24 provides significant relief for front-line services and provides space and time for further engagement with Treasury on the substantive issues. I trust that, as we now have an Executive in place, we will have a stronger collegiate position with which to progress in that regard. To be clear, the alternative strategy of "no, nay, never" would have left us with no Assembly, no Executive and no additional funding for public services and hard-working public servants. <BR /> <BR />We must be clear that a very small minority of Members have either misunderstood or willfully sought to misrepresent the purpose and scope of the Bill.”
“The issue is directly related to our finances, because many of the challenges that we now have in scrutiny and our ability to do long-term planning and public service transformation stem from the fact that we have stop-start devolution and hokey-cokey government. That needs to end, so I absolutely concur with the Member. <BR /> <BR />Some have, rightly, criticised the financial package tabled by the UK Government, and, as I set out clearly in my remarks yesterday, there are indeed huge shortcomings in many areas. To be clear, they are shortcomings that the Alliance Party has highlighted at every opportunity, in the House and outside it, through negotiations with the Government, correspondence with the Government and in the media. However, we come to the table not just with a list of problems and unfunded asks, as others have done.”
“Absolutely. I concur with the Member that the First Minister and deputy First Minister in particular must be committed to seeing out the end of this term, in the interest of our public finances and public service delivery. My party would go further than that in that we believe that there needs to be a process between all the parties and the two Governments that are co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement in order to properly complete a root and branch review of the institutions. It has been suggested that the issue could be batted to the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, which is toothless and has not delivered, so none of us should be prepared to accept that answer from the First Minister or deputy First Minister.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is worth emphasising again that some of the Members who have decried the lack of time for scrutiny and exalted the role of MLAs are the same Members who prevented us from sitting in the Chamber and doing that job for the past two years and so bear the responsibility for walking us to the position in which we now find ourselves. I trust that those Members, having had an apparent epiphany about the importance of this place, will join my party's call for reform of the institutions to remove the ability of any single party to hold the process to ransom and to guarantee the political stability necessary to underpin good governance and robust scrutiny, recognising that we simply cannot have financial sustainability without that political sustainability.”
“I rise on behalf of the Alliance Party to support the Bill at Final Stage. As I spoke at some length at Second Stage, Mr Speaker, you will be relieved to know that I intend to keep my remarks relatively brief. <BR /> <BR />As has been well rehearsed by many Members in the course of the Bill's passage, the circumstances in which we have considered the Bill have been far from ideal. Short of the Minister coming to the Chamber with a time machine, however, allowing the Bill to proceed provides the best and only means by which we can safeguard continued delivery of public services and make progress on public-sector pay negotiations for 2023-24.”
“Does the Member agree that there was no good reason for the Assembly and Executive to be held to ransom? Is he now saying that having the financial package in writing and agreed by all parties should have been a precondition for restoring the Executive?”
“I congratulate the Minister on his new position. He has outlined that Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is the relevant planning authority, but would he agree that, given that the original decision predated the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, it is wrong that the financial burden of the decision now falls solely on ratepayers in that borough?”
“The Member has said that, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Does he acknowledge that the SDLP was invited to participate in talks alongside all the other parties to negotiate a financial package and, when the going got tough, the SDLP got going and left others to do the work?”
“I thank the Member for giving way, and I appreciate the point that he makes around the risk of underspend at year end. In fact, that was an issue that I raised in the Finance Committee earlier. Does the Member agree that, given the cycle of stop-start government that the DUP and others have subjected us to, strategic spend is not always possible and that we need multi-year Budgets and multi-year flexibility in carry forward in order to realise that potential?”
“<BR /> <BR />Finally, although I welcome the space that has been granted for Ministers, the Finance Committee and the Assembly to have scrutiny of the 2024-25 Budget by increasing the Vote on Account, I reiterate the need for the Main Estimates to proceed as quickly as possible. As Members have already referenced, many public bodies are operating on budgets that are already insufficient and have recruitment freezes in place, so it is imperative that they have certainty at the earliest opportunity. I am sure that the Minister appreciates the urgency of that.”
“That must be accompanied by increased multi-year flexibility and carry-forward to avoid haphazard use-it-or-lose-it mentalities in Departments and a commitment from the Government to work with us rather than against us to address financial unknowns, such as the PSNI data breach and McCloud. <BR /> <BR />There must also be a serious engagement on the further devolution of powers to ensure that, when we discuss revenue raising, we do it in a way that protects the most vulnerable and is progressive and fair. Only then will we be in a position to offer the stability and certainty necessary to transform our public services, our health service, our education system and our economy.”