Nuala McAllister
North Belfast · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“I have submitted quite a number of questions for written answer on autism services, and the answers, sometimes on the same day from the Department, contradict themselves. The Minister often refers to the emotional health and well-being framework as the idea that will frame all of the uniform services.”
“Absolutely. Everyone is taking my speech; I was going to say that. Of course, it is complex and subjective to the individual person. If we are truly talking about keeping an individual safe and other prisoners safe, we would not do what the amendment proposes; we would carry on in the way that the system already operates, using a risk-bas…”
“I thank the Member for his question. The Assembly Commission is progressing a programme of remedial works to address defects identified in the roof of Parliament Buildings and to protect the long-term integrity of this grade A listed building. The works have been structured in two phases.”
“More often than not, we have conversations in the Chamber or in public about trans women, but that would place a trans man who has been convicted of a violent crime against a woman in a prison with women. It does not make sense, and it is not coming from the perspective of safety; it is coming from ideology.”
“In providing catering services throughout Parliament Buildings, the Assembly Commission strives to meet the differing demands of the special dietary needs of our wide customer base.”
“I support amendment No 96 and oppose amendment No 97. I do not plan to speak to amendment No 96, as there were a number of interventions last night, and I will leave many of the remarks to my party colleague the Minister of Justice. <BR /> <BR />We oppose Timothy Gaston's amendment.”
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“Our underfunded finances, coupled with years of Tory austerity, have had devastating consequences. Research undertaken by the Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network last year showed that North Belfast had the highest rate of child poverty in Northern Ireland, at 27·6%. Organisations such as the North Belfast Advice Partnership work to address the crisis, but with Barnardo's UK finding that the two-child limit impacts on more than 1,000 households in North Belfast, we cannot leave it to our community and voluntary sector. <BR /> <BR />Adding to that, a report from the mental health champion last year reaffirmed that poverty can have an extreme adverse impact on mental health, which is acutely clear in North Belfast. Where mental health services have fallen down, excellent community organisations have stepped up.”
“Schools across North Belfast are in dire need of adequate resources to ensure that our young people receive the education that they deserve. Belfast Boys' Model, Stanhope Street Nursery School and Glengormley Integrated Primary School have been waiting for capital works to be approved or work to be completed. That work would free up much-needed resources or additional places for students. Our teachers and classroom assistants in all our schools deserve to be paid fair wages. Instead of using resources to teach, resources are being used to plug gaps and gaping holes across our education system. <BR /> <BR />It is clear from the financial package that we have already won the argument for financial reform. The UK Government have accepted that Northern Ireland is funded below the level of need.”
“They are just two members of a very large family that I have to thank for all the support in getting me here today, and there are three very special boys who are watching at home: Sam, Finn and Art. Most of all and most importantly, I thank my constituents of North Belfast. I hope that I can repay them over the coming years. <BR /> <BR />As I move to the motion before us, it is important to reflect that, while we may be discussing the financial settlement, we need to ensure that we do not get lost in the numbers. We must not forget the impact that the previous year's Budget has had on people, schools, hospitals, businesses and the entirety of our society. There are clear examples of that in my North Belfast constituency.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I make my first contribution in the restored Assembly, I pay tribute to my predecessor, Nichola Mallon. She served the North Belfast constituency for six years, and everyone in the Chamber knows just how hard Nichola worked. I wish her all the best for her future. <BR /> <BR />I also want to say thanks to a number of people. I will start with my family. Like some other Members, I have my mum in the Gallery. She has been loving the biz about the place so she did not mind all the reconvening in the breaks. My nephew is also in the Gallery. He is supposed to be at school today, but he is a politics A-level student, so I was thinking that, perhaps, if he gets a letter from the First Minister and deputy First Minister to bring to school, he will not get into any trouble.”
“I select the Committee on Standards and Privileges and nominate Danny Donnelly as vice chair.”
“I select the Committee on Procedures and nominate Kellie Armstrong as Chair.”
“I nominate Connie Egan as the vice chair of the Committee for the Executive Office.”
“I am in a similar position to Matthew O'Toole. I select the Committee for Health, and I nominate myself, Nuala McAllister, as vice chair.”
“I select the Committee for the Executive Office, and I nominate Paula Bradshaw as Chair.”
“I select the Committee for Education, and I nominate Nick Mathison as Chair.”
“She cries herself to sleep every night because she feels that she is failing as a mother, but she is not. We are failing her, and it is not for our lack of trying. Believe me, those of us who want to get on with the job are more than desperate to do so. How long must we continue in this crisis after crisis? <BR /> <BR />We are committed to the Good Friday Agreement. We are committed to power-sharing, but we can no longer accept the irresponsible decisions and consequences that affect our people. That is why we need reform. Over 70% of Members in this Chamber want to elect a Speaker and get on with governing. Holding our society to ransom is unacceptable. Those of us who want to get on with the job of governing should be able to do so. Let us not just hope for something for our people; let us actually act and deliver for them.”
“That is something that we all take responsibility for, but we are ready to make decisions to alleviate those stresses and give hope to people who have been voiceless for so long — hope that things can be better, that life can be more comfortable, and hope and resolve to continue, because, as it is, people cannot go on for much longer. <BR /> <BR />I do not doubt that members of the DUP are dealing daily with the pleas for help that I and members of my party, the SDLP, Sinn Féin and the UUP deal with every day. Most recently, for example, a mother in north Belfast contacted me. She did not send her kids to school because she could not afford to buy them food for break time. She could not afford to get her child new school shoes, and she did not want her child to be shamed or feel embarrassed.”
“Much can be done by an Executive to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, whether through a childcare strategy, an anti-poverty strategy or the review of the welfare reform mitigations and the implementation of the recommendations by the expert panellists who were put in place by the Executive. The system that is designed to support those in acute financial distress — all those important strategies, into which so much work and expertise have gone, are just sitting on a shelf, gathering dust. Meanwhile, parents cannot afford to feed themselves and their children. At the heart of the cost-of-living crisis is our Government's failure to act.”
“People's hardships here are not the priority of the Conservative Government. If, through the Executive, we could access that support and more of the £435 million that is sitting here, then, just maybe, we could restore public confidence. <BR /> <BR />There is something that we have the ability to restore, and that is people's dignity. For years, people right across Northern Ireland have had to access food banks. For the past few months, people in working poverty and, for the past few years, those in receipt of social security benefits have had to access food banks more and more. They are not able to provide for themselves and their children. They are choosing between heating their homes and eating. They are borrowing from family or, quite simply, doing without.”
“We need a Speaker so that we can scrutinise the work of the Departments. There were no Executive caretaker Ministers during the previous collapse of the Assembly, so there is no grandstanding or showboating here today. The stunt itself, over the past few weeks, is on the heads of the members of the DUP. We need to have an Executive up and running so that we — all of us in positions of responsibility — can take those decisions to ease people's hardships. Any argument that the Conservative Government are delivering for people in Northern Ireland does not stack up. There are simply too many questions. The Chancellor could not answer simple questions last week about what will happen with the £400 payment. The thought had probably not even crossed his mind because, let us face it, Northern Ireland is not the priority.”
“Thank you, Acting Speaker. I was elected to the Assembly to deliver for my constituents right across North Belfast and, indeed, for people right across Northern Ireland. The very fact that I, along with many newly elected representatives across the Alliance Benches, am being denied the right to do so by the DUP is nothing short of shameful, and it stinks of egotism. <BR /> <BR />There is much talk today about the protocol for the unionist community and about issues for the unionist community, but the hardships right across Northern Ireland now are affecting not just one section of our community but everyone. That is why we are happy to nominate a Speaker today, and, indeed, we are content to support either Patsy McGlone or Mike Nesbitt. For us, the importance is not about who fills the Chair but that we get someone to fill it.”