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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“As attention turns to those discussions, it would perhaps be useful if a degree of independence were also brought to that process. That is why Alliance has called for the establishment of an independent commission, drawing on the experience of the Holtham, Calman and Smith commissions, to be tasked with independently adjudicating, assessing and setting out evidence-based recommendations with regard to our funding formula and additional powers and flexibilities that may be granted to an Executive as part of a broader fiscal framework. I would welcome the Minister's thoughts on that proposal. <BR /> <BR />Achieving sustainable finances will require a change in not only the quantum of funding that is available but our financial governance. We must, at the earliest opportunity, return to multi-year budgeting in the next spending review.”
“I have great sympathy with the amendment. I have set out very clearly that I agree that the Fiscal Council should be placed on a statutory footing. I am not sure that the Budget Bill is necessarily the best avenue by which to do that. It remains to be seen whether the amendment is within the scope of the Bill. However, I understand that the Department of Finance has been doing work on that, and I ask the Minister to prioritise the bringing forward of legislation in that sense. <BR /> <BR />Although the UK Government's financial offer does not, in and of itself, provide long-term sustainability, it offers space and time for further substantive negotiations on our fiscal framework ahead of the next spending review.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am sure that Members from across the House will agree that the work of the Fiscal Council has been indispensable in informing the public debate on the issues. At a time when we are aiming to reform our public services, we must also reform our approach to scrutiny and ensure that the council is now placed on a firm statutory footing. In doing so, there is a strong argument that the council should also be empowered and equipped to assess and make recommendations in respect of the cost of division. Estimated to be anywhere between £400 million and £800 million every single year, dealing with that cost is the gateway to transforming not only our finances but our society.”
“My party has long contended that the 124% touted by the Government does not take adequate account of the justice need in Northern Ireland. The time period over which average policing and justice spend, relative to England, was assessed significantly underestimates objective need, focusing on a period during which the budget was disproportionately squeezed and is further obscured by COVID-19 spending. It is our view that the period during which policing and justice spend was ring-fenced, between 2010 and 2015, offers a more reliable reflection of the UK Government's revealed funding preference and, therefore, should form the basis for deriving relative need. That would lift overall relative need to 127%, and there are strong arguments that, by incorporating taxable capacity and benefit rate sensitivity, it could and should be even higher.”
“Indeed, the timelines set out by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury are unrealistic and risk setting back financial sustainability rather than enhancing it. <BR /> <BR />Further disparity arises when we scratch the surface of the proposed needs-based factor, which does not operate as a Welsh-style fiscal floor. In fact, it is not a floor at all but a ceiling. Estimates suggest that it could take between 20 and 50 years to return to a point below which we should never have been allowed to fall in the first place. Failure to properly baseline the floor will have a further scarring impact on our public services, with underfunding continuing long into the future and a dangerous and irresponsible cliff edge looming in 2026. <BR /> <BR />In addition to securing appropriate baselining, the level of any floor is critical.”
“The principle of fair funding, based on relative need, was established in an agreement between the UK and Welsh Governments in 2016. Significantly, that arrangement was arrived at in Wales in advance of the Welsh Government's breach of its funding floor. <BR /> <BR />The UK Government have provided £559 million for what they refer to as "overspend pressures". That amount, which accumulated largely under the Secretary of State's stewardship, is deferred for two years and written off only if certain conditions are met. However, we must be absolutely clear: this is not an overspend; it is a product of that very underfunding. That the Government now seek to attach punitive revenue-raising conditions in order that Northern Ireland simply receives the funding that it is owed is demonstrably unjust and unfair.”
“The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also highlighted a lack of detail in government returns regarding spending plans, suggesting that it would be — I quote — "generous" to call the forecasts "a work of fiction". That is an unprecedented intervention. <BR /> <BR />The consequences of Tory mismanagement are plain for all to see: households, businesses, public services and, indeed, the devolved Administrations are all under huge financial strain. Unlike Scotland and Wales, however, Northern Ireland faces the additional and unique challenge of having been funded below its independently assessed level of relative need. It is welcome that, after much prevarication, the UK Government have finally conceded that inequity, following negotiations with the Executive parties.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is important, however, that we remind ourselves of the context in which the Bill is being introduced. Under the Conservative Government, following a decade of austerity and a botched Brexit, the UK's economic growth has stagnated, consumer prices have increased sharply and living standards have fallen, while the UK's tax burden is set to reach a post-war high. The Chancellor's autumn statement contained precious little by way of targeted support for the most vulnerable and, instead, prioritised tax cuts over public spending. Just last month, the IMF warned the UK Government against further tax cuts, calling instead for a focus on investing in public services and reducing debt; a call that I will echo.”
“<BR /> <BR />Those repeated cycles of political abeyance have not been cost neutral. Swingeing cuts have had a devastating impact on the people we all represent. Too often that burden falls on the most vulnerable in our community, from cuts to holiday hunger payments to the withdrawal of the Happy Healthy Minds counselling service and some of the worst hospital waiting lists anywhere in western Europe. The harm arising from decisions taken in an attempt to live within the Secretary of State's Budget will not be undone in the remaining six weeks of the financial year. Nonetheless, the additional funding that has been provided will offer much-needed relief to public services and to public-sector workers, who have been immensely patient in challenging circumstances.”
“I am conscious that, in normal circumstances, the Minister and the Finance Committee would have been intricately involved in shaping and scrutinising this Budget from the outset, through the Main Estimates and monitoring rounds, right up to finalisation and, ultimately, this Budget Bill. Instead, in the absence of a functioning Assembly and Executive, and for the fifth time in the past seven years, the 2023-24 Budget was laid at Westminster by the Secretary of State, without the input of locally elected and accountable Ministers and in the absence of any meaningful scrutiny or debate in this place. That is not a position that any of us should be prepared to countenance or grow accustomed to. It is an appalling dereliction of duty, and it is simply not good enough.”
“I rise on behalf of the Alliance Party to support the Bill. At the outset, I welcome the Minister to her place and congratulate her on her new role. I very much look forward to working with her in my position as a member of the Finance Committee. <BR /> <BR />As I indicated to the Committee earlier today, I am content that the Bill proceed by accelerated passage, recognising that, if it were not to receive Assembly approval and Royal Assent swiftly, Departments and other public bodies might have legislative difficulty in accessing cash not only in the closing weeks of this financial year but in the early months of 2024-25. We all recognise, however, that the position in which we currently find ourselves is entirely unsatisfactory.”
“While I accept that there is a desire to see spring Supplementary Estimates, the Executive have been restored for only a matter of weeks, and we got clarity from the Treasury only on Tuesday on what the conditions and quantums of the funding package actually are. It is simply impossible to expect that to be available at this stage. I agree with Members that this process is substandard, but I ask those Members to think carefully about the reckless and irresponsible approach that they are taking.”
“<BR /> <BR />I agree that this is an unsatisfactory way to bring forward a Budget Bill, but, in fairness to the Minister, that is not of her making. While I do not want to lower myself to the playground antics of Jim Allister, who has had a road to Damascus conversion about the role of MLAs, it is due to the fact that this place has been down over the past two years and MLAs have not been permitted to carry out their role and scrutinise that we are now in the position where that process is necessary. All of us in the Chamber should have been involved since last year, from the Main Estimates right through monitoring rounds and Supplementary Estimates, to get to this point, but, instead, we are in the position where all we have is the Budget Bill.”
“It is important that we are clear about the consequences of failing to suspend Standing Orders and failing to grant accelerated passage for the Bill. Mr Carroll refers to not "playing fast and loose" with the issue, but I would argue that those who oppose the suspension of Standing Orders are the ones guilty of playing fast and loose with the issue. The Minister has been clear that, if the Bill is not given accelerated passage and if Standing Orders are not suspended, Departments could fall into difficulty accessing cash, and the prospect of any pay award for 2023-24 will fall by the wayside. We owe it to our public-sector workers and public servants, who have been waiting this long, to do this at speed.”
“While it may take up to 50 years to undo the damage that has festered in Lough Neagh, it will take even longer if we do not start now. I sincerely hope that we can work together to take the necessary long-term decisions to protect the lough, its shores and the communities that love and rely upon it.”
“<BR /> <BR />We must work with our agriculture sector, invest in innovation and science to reduce agricultural run-off and its impacts and to support upgrades to septic tanks, and promote measures to support nature-friendly farming. Those practices can produce high-quality food while tackling the wildlife and climate crisis. So too must we confront our creaking waste water infrastructure, to which Mr McReynolds referred. Underinvestment means that there are now 100 areas of waste water treatment that are at or near full capacity, contributing to environmentally damaging overflows. There must now be a serious review of NI Water to ensure that it is sustainable and can safeguard our environment and provide value for money for our citizens. <BR /> <BR />As others have outlined, the challenges are huge. They are not, however, insurmountable.”
“We must ensure a new approach to governance and cooperation between those bodies, with a shared focus on protection of the lough and its shores. <BR /> <BR />Crucially, that work must also be overseen by the long-overdue establishment of an independent environmental protection agency, with the authority and the autonomy to hold the Government to account. I welcome the Minister's strong commitment in that regard this afternoon. I remind all Members in the Chamber that an independent EPA was included in the New Decade, New Approach agreement. Given the scale of the crisis, we must all recommit ourselves to the establishment of that agency, alongside an environment strategy for Northern Ireland.”
“Is it any wonder that Northern Ireland is the twelfth worst region in the world for biodiversity loss and that none of our waterways meet basic standards? Having said all of that, I hope that today's motion and the apparent change in attitude on display in the Chamber can now be reflected in a significant change in approach right across the Executive, the Assembly and beyond. <BR /> <BR />As set out in the Alliance Party's five-point plan to rescue Lough Neagh, it is vital that we introduce an integrated management plan. At present, myriad government bodies, councils and charities all have some degree of responsibility for the management of the lough. Too often, however, their work is fragmented and disjointed.”
“It is a matter of public record that industrialisation has contributed to the challenges that we now face. The Member will appreciate that I was not a Member of the Assembly at the time and also that policing and justice powers were just being devolved at that stage. I thank him for his intervention. <BR /> <BR />Just last month, despite all parties having expressed concern for the ecological crisis unfolding in Lough Neagh, a number of councillors in my constituency shamefully overturned an officer's recommendation and permitted the extension of a landfill site just a few hundred metres from the lough shore. On that basis, it is clear that that inertia still pervades some elements of our politics.”
“While the motion is welcome, and I thank Mr McGuigan for proposing it, it does not absolve parties in the Chamber of their responsibilities for walking us to this position. Be it the industrialisation that was pursued by the now First Minister or the capping of fines for repeat polluters by the DUP, the challenges apparent in Lough Neagh now are a result of decades of inertia and neglect.”
“As I am the grandson of fishermen on both sides of my family and someone who still lives just a few hundred metres from the lough shore, this issue lies particularly close to my heart, as other Members have said it does to theirs. Lough Neagh is the jewel in the crown of our natural environment. It is steeped in rich heritage and it is essential for biodiversity, fishing, tourism, recreation and leisure. It provides clean water for drinking and for industry and agriculture. That such a vital asset has been permitted to start to die in plain sight is a sorry indictment of our politics. <BR /> <BR />The algal blooms that engulfed Lough Neagh last summer have brought this unfolding environmental disaster into sharp public focus, but its roots lie far deeper than that.”
“I thank the Member for his commitment to a strategy to address the issue and his desire for evidence. Does he share my assessment that an independent environmental protection agency is needed to support that work?”
“Surely the Member recognises that, in the remarks of each of the contributors from right across the parties, we all acknowledged that the financial package on offer is a temporary stopgap solution. It is to give the Executive space to stabilise so that transformation can take place. No one is saying that it is a long-term financial settlement. It is disingenuous for the Member to suggest that individual political parties could negotiate such a fundamental change with the Government. It is for the Executive to do that, and the Executive is the place to take that forward.”
“I would much rather that those decisions be taken by locally accountable and elected local Ministers than be in the hands of the Secretary of State and the Conservative Government, so I wish those Ministers well as they proceed.”
“It is therefore regrettable that, given the opportunity on Saturday by the Opposition and again here today by Mr Butler, to commit not to collapse the institutions for the remainder of the mandate, neither the First Minister nor the deputy First Minister was able to make that commitment. It again underlines the need for reform of the system to ensure that the institutions can never again be collapsed so that we protect our people, our public services and our public finances. <BR /> <BR />Undoubtedly, huge challenges and difficult decisions lie ahead, both for the Assembly and the Executive. At this juncture, I give my commitment that I want to work constructively with all the Executive Ministers as they navigate those challenges.”
“To inform that negotiation, Alliance proposes the establishment of an independent commission to set out recommendations pertaining to our funding formula and fiscal framework, drawing on the experience of the Holtham commission in Wales, to ensure that our funding model is built on evidence rather than political horse-trading. <BR /> <BR />We must also be honest that it is simply not possible to have sustainable public finances without sustainable political institutions. Stop-go government has impeded our ability to deliver good governance and has undermined the Executive's ability to transform public services and make the necessary changes to tackle the cost of division.”
“The adjustment to our funding formula diagnoses the problem but ultimately fails to remedy it. Instead of being applied to baseline Barnett, as is the case in the Welsh model, the formula operates not as a fiscal floor but as a fiscal ceiling, with funding per head slowly gliding towards a point below which we should never have been allowed to fall in the first place. The deal that the Government have put forward is imperfect. It is not a guarantee of long-term financial sustainability. However, it provides space and time to engage with Treasury on a more sustainable financial framework when the £3·3 billion runs out in two years' time. Crucially, with the Executive restored, we now have a stronger collective position from which to negotiate rather than separate and disparate political voices.”
“It is welcome that that is now a matter of public record and that, in recent negotiations, the UK Government conceded that fact. It is inconceivable, therefore, that the Government will continue to wilfully underfund Northern Ireland on that basis, yet that is exactly what the Government propose to do.”
“The constraints that flow from that are having an impact right across the UK but are perhaps most acute here in Northern Ireland, as attested to by the Fiscal Council, because we are the only devolved Administration that are currently funded below the independently assessed level of relative need.”
“Delivering on the ambitions that we all share in the Chamber and tackling those challenges will require a step change in our approach to public finances, both from the UK Government and, I argue, from those of us in the Chamber. On that basis, my party is content to support the motion and the amendment. <BR /> <BR />Over the past 13 years, successive Tory Governments have given us more than a decade of austerity, a botched Brexit and a disastrous mini budget. They have prioritised tax cuts over public spending and ignored the impact of the so-called Barnett squeeze.”
“On a personal note, I am immensely proud of my colleague, whose appointment represents a landmark moment for equality and takes us one step closer to having an Executive that fully represent the diversity of the society that we are all here to serve. <BR /> <BR />Rightly, there is an expectation outside the House that we move on quickly from the symbolism and start to deliver for the people whom we represent. There is no doubt, as others have said, that the challenges are immense. The cost of living weighs heavily on households and businesses, with too many struggling to make ends meet. Nurses, teachers, classroom assistants and so many other public servants have been forced on to picket lines in pursuit of fair pay. Our health service is in need of radical transformation and reform. Parents are being crippled by the cost of childcare.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. First, I congratulate you and your team of deputies on your appointment. I also wish the First Minister, the deputy First Minister and each of their Executive colleagues well as they embark on this new endeavour. <BR /> <BR />I am hugely grateful to the people of Upper Bann, who have placed their trust in me. It is a huge honour to represent them in the Assembly as the first Alliance MLA for that constituency. I pay tribute to Dolores Kelly of the SDLP, my predecessor, who served the constituency with distinction for many years. <BR /> <BR />There have been a number of historic firsts this week. It would perhaps be remiss of me not to mention at the outset the historic moment on Saturday when my party colleague Andrew Muir MLA was installed as the first openly gay Minister.”
“Will the Member acknowledge that he gave assurances to the public that the payments would come in November? No other party in the Chamber fell for Conservative dishonesty but the party to my right. My constituents are now in a worse position, because they had budgeted on the assumption that they would receive that money pre-Christmas. They are now in a dire situation. That is thanks to DUP dishonesty, and it is not the first time. There has been dishonesty about the protocol, about cardiac equipment, about Christmas trees and now about support payments. When will the DUP accept responsibility for its hand in placing us in this position, in which we are subject to Tory chaos and in which our constituents are suffering?”
“<BR /> <BR />Over the past two weeks since the last sitting, the cost-of-living crisis has deepened. Even further funds have gathered, waiting to be allocated. Today, we have an opportunity to end the seemingly interminable drift; to finally deliver real leadership built on hope, not fear, and delivery, not division; and to build a more fair, shared and equal society. For the sake of all the people whom we represent, I urge colleagues to my right to change course, do the right thing, support the election of a Speaker today and let us serve our entire community together.”
“The majority of MLAs want to be pragmatic on the protocol, and an even greater majority want to get on with the job of actually governing. <BR /> <BR />We have heard much today about the Good Friday Agreement and about equality: you will forgive me for taking no lectures from the party to my right on either. They have spent a lifetime railing against both. The lowest moment of the recent election campaign was when I knocked a door and a lady came to her front door in a winter coat. She said that the kids were at school and that she could not afford to pay for gas, so she had to save it for when they got home. It is beyond me, after two years of a pandemic, when our people and public services are on their knees, that some still seek to pursue even further chaos and instability.”
“The case for reform has never been clearer. <BR /> <BR />Shamefully, the DUP Members turned up, signed the register, took their salaries and then refused to do the jobs that they were elected to do and serve our community. The DUP claims to be exercising leverage, but it is treating the most vulnerable in our community as leverage. The DUP's actions over the past number of weeks will not hurt Boris Johnson or the EU, but they will hurt people languishing on waiting lists and people relying on food banks to feed their kids. The DUP claims to have a mandate for this course of action, having never mentioned blocking the formation of an Assembly at any point during the election campaign, but let us be clear: we all have mandates in the Chamber.”
“<BR /> <BR />Since the election, the Alliance Party has been here every Monday doing what we can to serve our constituents, willing to get on with the full jobs that we were elected to do. Today is no exception. Again, we stand ready to support the nomination of a Speaker and, over the course of today's proceedings, will likely support both Patsy McGlone and Mike Nesbitt for the role. Indeed, little over two weeks ago, over 70% of Members in the Chamber — nationalist, unionist and none of the above — supported the appointment of a Speaker. My vote and the votes of my 16 colleagues were effectively disregarded. How can it be that the votes of a cross-community party are excluded from a cross-community vote? That one party is able to block an appointment is an affront to democracy and is disrespectful to the people whom I represent.”
“I rise as the first Member of the House to have been born after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. It beggars belief that we are here today, 24 years on, with the institutions once again being placed in jeopardy. My generation was promised more than that. We were promised not just peace but progress, progress that has never been fully realised because of the poor political leadership that is on display in the Chamber today. It is difficult to fathom and yet, at the same time, depressingly predictable that we are here today, four weeks on from an Assembly election, without a functioning Assembly or Executive. That is a sad indictment of our politics at any time, but it is particularly shameful when people in our community struggle to heat and eat and face some of the worst hospital waiting lists anywhere in western Europe.”