Sorcha Eastwood
Lagan Valley · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“I thank the Minister for his response. I am really encouraged by it. I am sure that he is aware of the fantastic campaign that Alma White and her son, Caleb, have been undertaking over the past number of months to raise awareness of post-19 provision for young adults with SEN.”
“The Climate Change Committee has outlined just how difficult that is going to be. For example, by 2030, for homes that are off the gas grid, all new heating appliance installations should be zero carbon. For homes that are on the gas grid, it is 2033.”
“<BR /> <BR />I fully accept that achieving a transition to renewable energy and reaching net zero will take a huge amount of investment, but we simply cannot afford not to do it.”
“I echo what my colleague David Honeyford said so well and what many Members right across the House have said during the course of the debate: we find ourselves at a moment in time when the goal of net zero is, unfortunately, being undermined by some. However, I am proud to have put my name to this motion, especially now.”
“So many Members have mentioned their constituents who are struggling in homes that are inadequate at the moment. I am thinking of the people who are going in to the likes of B&M and constantly buying wee dehumidifiers and wee things to sit on their windowsill because they have water or condensation running through the inside of their home…”
“For example, we need to understand what reforms to our education sector will take place in light of the 14-19 strategy, the independent review of education and the research into our FE delivery, which, as Ms McLaughlin mentioned, plays a crucial role.”
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“From the outset, however, let me say that without decisive action to protect against the worst of climate change and to adapt to the impact that we are already witnessing, the fishing industry is facing dire consequences. <BR /> <BR />Much like the Northern Ireland economy, the fishing industry is made up of microenterprises and SMEs, but they are central to our coastal communities. Indeed, they are the beating heart of those communities, as many other Members have mentioned. In 2021, the FSDP report noted that nearly 400 companies contribute to the fishing, seafood and fishing-port sectors here. Therefore, although we often look purely at the economic output and productivity, we need to acknowledge that those industries are a key part of our communities.”
“That is a good one, Jim. <BR /> <BR />I support the motion and thank those who tabled it. It is about much more than the fishing industry. It is about showcasing the best of Northern Ireland. We have heard from various Members about the spin-off benefits for skills and tourism. We need to encourage and enable a truly sustainable industry going forward: sustainable in every sense of the word. The industry needs to be sustainable in protecting fish stocks, as my colleagues have mentioned. It needs to adapt to climate change, achieving our net zero targets, and it needs to offer a fair living wage to those who work in it, ensuring that future generations enter the vocation and way of life. <BR /> <BR />I will focus particularly on the sustainable fishing economy and skills.”
“I feel like a fish out of water here, speaking about coastal matters, being a Lagan Valley girl. Nonetheless, we will continue.”
“We heard earlier from the Minister for the Economy about the need for collaborative working and the overlap, and you have referenced that in some of your answers. Will you consider working collaboratively and commit to a joint action plan with the Economy Minister on the issue of careers advice in schools?”
“Does the Minister have any plans to introduce unpaid leave for carers as part of an employment Bill?”
“We intend to be in every room, and we will end violence against women and girls.”
“I believe strongly that we lag behind in some areas in our society because women have not been in the room.”
“Let me give you some examples of headlines: "Jealous man kills wife due to failing business"; "Strange case of domestic murder"; and "Did living in the shadow of his successful wife cause her death?" In a world where the president of the United States of America once said that he wanted to grab women by the — can we be shocked when people like Andrew Tate are held up by some in the media or seen as role models or heroes? I am sorry, but I am done with women being the butt of the joke. We can have laws and debates, but, unless every person, including men in the Chamber, their sons and everyone else whom they know stands up for us, there is absolutely no point. <BR /> <BR />Finance and budgeting are crucial, and a number of Members raised them.”
“The grim reality is that there is absolutely no point in having that life-saving legislation unless every person in society recognises the role that they have to play. <BR /> <BR />Would it surprise you to know that the remnants of the patriarchy, violence against women and girls and misogyny are strewn throughout the strata of our life? The echoes, as well as the overt and deafening shouts of misogyny, are ringing around the public square. Shall we prosecute the case of violence against women and girls in the media and in the public square?”
“If someone makes a disclosure, that must be taken seriously, because these people live amongst us. <BR /> <BR />Improving the situation that our girls and women face will take a whole-society approach, as everyone has outlined. The violence that we see is not caused by one single factor but is endemic and has existed for centuries. For context, divorce was legalised in the Republic of Ireland only in 1996, following the referendum the year before. Marital rape was defined as an offence in the UK only after the case of R v R in 1991. This lag in our laws leaves a long tail of societal acceptance, minimising and death in its wake, and I commend the work of my party leader and current Justice Minister, Naomi Long, and the strides that she has made.”
“<BR /> <BR />We find ourselves in a truly shameful position here in Northern Ireland. Violence against women and girls is a systemic and ingrained issue, and one theme that I find throughout the comments is that vow of silence. We still live in an incredibly conservative culture in Northern Ireland. I remember, years ago in one of my old jobs, having a talk about training. There were 20 people in the room, and someone said that one in whatever figure was going to be an abuser. Everyone looked around the room to find the abuser, and guess what? They do not come with "Abuser" written across their head, do they? No, they are people whom we love. They are people whom we respect. They are people whom society respects. The one thing that I want people to take away from the debate today is that nobody is beyond reproach in this regard.”
“I was going to say that I welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue, but I really do not. The Member for Mid Ulster Linda Dillon spoke so incredibly and said out loud in this debate in this Chamber what matters to me and to the people across the North who are listening. She said out loud that the vast majority of people who suffer this absolutely heinous abuse and, in some cases, death, do so at the hands of somebody whom they know. Looking across the Chamber, I note that we have all said worthy things and that everyone has spoken amazingly. However, I want to make this real, and I want to make this impactful. I could point at every woman in the Chamber right now and remember things that have been said about them in the media. There was a huge outcry at the time; absolutely nothing was done after it.”
“I also want to raise again the issue of the apprenticeship levy. We have a role to play on that issue in this House and in the other place, and I will not rest until we get that resolved. I also want to place on record my thanks to all the apprentices working across Northern Ireland. They are delivering great work.”
“Indeed, Members will know that one of the issues that I will seek to further in my time as this mandate goes forward is careers advice in schools. I believe that there is very much an effort across Education and Economy. Part of helping us to grow apprenticeships and opportunities for young people and, indeed, people of all ages is having a vibrant and thriving further education sector. I am deeply concerned about some of the issues that are being raised by people who work in that sector and by people who avail themselves of the courses that are available there. <BR /> <BR />We speak about 25 years of prosperity, and all of us want to see that. However, each one of us has a role to play in the House in advocating for not just apprenticeships but the role of further education.”
“Did anyone ever stop to ask why? <BR /> <BR />I am one of those in the House who benefited from a pilot of a higher-level apprenticeship, which was brought in by my party colleague Dr Stephen Farry when he was Minister for Employment and Learning. I see some younger people in the Gallery, and it is a shame that they cannot shout down. I believe that there is a perception in society about apprenticeships. I do not know whether that is developed by the system or how it has come about. It may be due to different policies that seem to be, at times, at cross purposes, but there is a bias out there around apprenticeships. However, I believe in our young people and that they are being more informed than ever.”
“February is the month when we mark Apprenticeship Week and celebrate our apprentices. I believe that we had another bit of business on that week, so I raise it now, and better late than never. <BR /> <BR />Apprenticeships are a great way to grow our economy, to tackle poverty and social inequality and to help us to address the many and various challenges that face our economy, including productivity, meeting the challenge of skills gaps and looking at how we develop a strategic plan for our economy. They are a key part of widening participation and access to education. However, all of us can do a lot more to promote apprenticeships. We need to be honest: every time that we talk about education and skills, there appears to be an ingrained bias in our society that always goes down the well-trodden path of academia.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is easy to say, "We want everything", but the only way that we will get that is by being realistic and honest and doing things in a structured and strategic way that means that everyone can get what they want. However, we need to do it together; it cannot be just one Department in isolation. The Minister will have my support and that of my colleagues. <BR /> <BR />I thank the Principal Deputy Speaker for giving me time in the grace period to make my points.”
“<BR /> <BR />As I said, we will not counter this problem through one Ministry, but I know that Alliance will not be found wanting when it comes to supporting and working with the Health Minister, and we will do so with an open hand and an open heart. <BR /> <BR />We talk about transformation, and I get that it is not easy. However, when you have a loved one sitting in hospital facilities for three and four months at a time in accommodation that, if it were anywhere else, would not be fitting, you understand that that is why we need to transform. We need to do that so that my family member does not have to go through what your family member went through.”
“What are we doing to make sure that health and social care workers are valued, that they have career progression and career pathways and that we, as a society, value that work and consider it important?" Let us be honest: in the past, far too many people have been content to sit back and regard that work as requiring low or no skills, unimportant and worthy of little pay. Yet those are the people who pick our families up off the floor when they are at their most vulnerable. Those are the people who go into our families' homes at 2.00 and 3.00 in the morning to help with PICC lines or drivers, and those are the people whom we are not respecting and giving those pathways and that prestige to.”
“It would be remiss of me not to speak on behalf of those people today. <BR /> <BR />The other thing that is crucial in addressing the crisis for all waiting lists — not just elective but every unction that we have — is the workforce. I sit on the Committee for the Economy, and I have raised that at every turn in the road, saying that the Health Department cannot do this alone; it needs support from across the aboard. When it comes to the Department for the Economy, the wee bit of a difference that I can make is asking, "What are we doing to make sure that we have enough training places in our universities?”
“I want to take the opportunity to speak on behalf of my constituents who are impacted by cancer, which impacts on everybody across Northern Ireland. At the minute, we deal constantly with emails from people who are on red-flag referral waiting lists, particularly for breast cancer, and are living in utter anxiety. <BR /> <BR />Many families know what it is like to get that call, letter or email — whatever the form of communication — to say, "We think you may have cancer". Let me tell you this: those are the longest hours and minutes that you will deal with in your life. We have condemned people across the North to waiting unnecessarily by smashing through the targets that we set for them. We need to get really serious about the fact that that causes people hurt and harm.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does she agree that the UK Government's announcement yesterday about care workers and others not being able to bring their family members with them is utterly punitive and flies in the face of any realisation of the struggle in health and social care across the UK and in the North? Does she agree that that needs to be rescinded at the earliest opportunity?”
“<BR /> <BR />The funding package accompanying the restored Assembly, while welcome, is not sustainable for maintaining momentum and the necessary actions for a greener, cleaner future across the sectors governed by DAERA. It will be a matter for future Budgets to ensure that DAERA is baselined and, indeed, built on.”
“It is widely acknowledged that there are awaited strategies on biodiversity, the environment and peatlands, some of which relate directly to the climate challenge and all of which are about protecting our natural environment. They will require actions and, therefore, dedicated resource, particularly for interdepartmental climate commitments. <BR /> <BR />The rural affairs aspect of the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs brief continues to bring demand in relation to connectivity, rural isolation, access to services and addressing the urban/rural divide. The need for many future-proofing initiatives to be funded sustainably and dealt with in accordance with their cross-cutting nature and to ensure the necessary contribution across Departments must remain a high priority in current budget profiling and in future years.”
“At the outset, I commend the AERA Minister, Andrew Muir, on his work to date in committing to tackle the environmental crisis at Lough Neagh. However, that presents a significant challenge not only in the current financial year but on an ongoing basis, due to the budgetary constraints that, I am sure, we are all aware of. <BR /> <BR />The same can be said for the necessary work and statutory commitment on climate actions, including the just transition fund. There is a real fear that other key strategies and programmes on issues such as animal welfare could end up being shelved or delayed, given the current and likely future budgetary position. There are also ongoing, crucial commitments on the agriculture and agri-food sectors and broader environmental issues.”
“I congratulate the Minister on her new role. Comhghairdeas agus ádh mór, agus lots of ádh mór.”
“I thank the Minister for his statement. The statement acknowledges the issue of productivity and skills. I hope that the Minister commits to implementing the skills strategy in full, and I welcome the statement about careers advice in schools; I have previously expressed an interest in doing a private Member's Bill on that. <BR /> <BR />What are the Minister's plans to reform the apprenticeship levy, whereby circa £80 million is paid by Northern Irish businesses each year? Will he commit to making sure that that money returns to Northern Ireland and is ring-fenced specifically for skills?”
“That point could apply to any issue in medicine and health and social care, but we have to have the conversations today and do it in a way whereby we look to the Economy Minister as well as the Health Minister. We will not be able to do it in isolation, and we will not be able to do it alone. <BR /> <BR />Today, I call on the Health Minister to hold our feet to the fire in the Economy Committee, as well as those of the Economy Minister and, indeed, of everybody who cares about the future of this, because he will have our full support in pushing that open door. I want to make sure that we continue to have those discussions. I reiterate my support for the Member from Mid Ulster who secured this debate. I hope that we have more discussions in the future.”
“One of the first events that we will be doing in April, an invite to which will be sent to all Members, will look at the matter of skills and health and social care. We cannot keep fooling ourselves about simply addressing the issue of pay and conditions. That is in itself innately difficult to do, because we do not have a bottomless pot of money. We will be fooling ourselves if we do not put plans in place now for how we need to resource that. <BR /> <BR />Today, I call on the Minister to have a properly joined-up plan that goes much further than the skills strategy and ensures that the Department of Health and the Department for the Economy take the issue seriously by having a clear timeline for what we need to do.”
“We have the skills strategy, and we receive regular briefings about the importance of the IT and agri-food sectors. Those are key to Northern Ireland's economy, and we absolutely need to do work in those sectors, but what I do not hear — this is a challenge to us all — is that health and social care is playing a huge role in where we need to be in future. We need to encourage our young people and people who are mid-career and want to transition by saying, "If you get into and work in this sector, you will be valued, not just for you as an individual but for your contribution to the economy, society, families and the lives of people at large". <BR /> <BR />When the House was down, I created an all-party group on skills, and that will now go through a process in order to be formally constituted.”
“At this point, I am not convinced that we are grasping the nettle of what we need to do to make sure that we are preparing for the future. Absolutely, we need to look at terms and conditions. We need to make sure that people currently in post are paid, but I want to see us get to the core of the problem. If we do not create the workforce that we need for the future, we will continue to go in this circle. <BR /> <BR />I corresponded with the Minister about apprenticeships in the previous mandate, and I know that public-sector apprenticeships are key to looking at the trust side of things, but the private and independent sector, mentioned by Patsy McGlone, is huge and burgeoning. That gets to the heart of what it means to have genuine cross-departmental working.”
“I commend the Member for Mid Ulster for securing this Adjournment debate. It is an incredibly important issue, about which I am really passionate. I am eyeballing you immediately, Minister, because, for me, this is a crucial issue. In the Chamber yesterday, we discussed childcare. I am sure that, after that debate, we all agree that we should regard health and social care as critical economic and social infrastructure. <BR /> <BR />A number of Members referred to the fact that the people who engage in domiciliary care work are incredibly special and talented, but we as a society need to get real and absolutely serious about valuing those jobs. I sit on the Economy Committee — I admit that I am not on the Health Committee — and I have a passion to make sure that Northern Ireland can adequately resource the workforce that it needs.”
“Does the Member agree that the plight of women who have been impacted by vaginal mesh is totally unacceptable and that the news that came from GB last week off the back of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review is further proof of that? Does she agree that women in Northern Ireland cannot be left behind when it comes to the issue of vaginal mesh?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I pay tribute to Órlaithí, Paula and other colleagues who have worked on the issue of vaginal mesh. The Member and I have been involved with that issue at various points over the years.”
“In his studies, Dr Stephen Taylor has followed on from the work of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, looking at pulsar timing arrays in his PhD. Those are the sorts of things that we will need our young people in Northern Ireland to do if we are serious about tackling the issues of research, innovation and making people's lives better. <BR /> <BR />Thank you for your indulgence, Mr Speaker, in allowing me to acknowledge this success. I congratulate Dr Stephen Taylor — I want to get the proper name of what has occurred — on the University of Cambridge and the Royal Astronomical Society's naming him their 2024 Eddington lecturer.”
“Here we have a young person who came from humble beginnings, a first-generation university student, who has gone on to not just break strides and break through that glass ceiling but is actually delivering on the world stage to new scientific heights. It is important that we take the opportunities. As much as we talk about some of the challenges that face us, which is right, it is also important that we take the opportunity to congratulate and note those people from our community who are going out and making those strides on the world stage. <BR /> <BR />Science has much more of a role to play for our young people through the opportunities that it gives.”
“I want to draw the House's attention to Dr Stephen Taylor, a constituent of mine who is a Lisburn man born and bred. He has followed in the footsteps of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell and has been involved in groundbreaking research on pulsars through, if I get the science part right, the North American Nanohertz Observation for Gravitational Waves. <BR /> <BR />Dr Stephen Taylor was educated at Wallace High School in Lisburn and was a first-generation university student. I spoke about that yesterday in my maiden speech, and I am extremely passionate about giving our young people all the chances that they can have in life.”
“I thank the Member for tabling her question for urgent oral answer, and I thank the Minister for his statement. What role do the Department and Invest NI have in strategic investment in business infrastructure across the North and in ensuring that jobs remain in a way that addresses the issue of regional imbalance?”
“While we talk about empowering parents to fulfil their ambitions, let us also talk about the childcare workforce. Childcare is a highly skilled profession and one that demands a lot more of society's respect. The childcare profession is full of people who want to develop, and we need to support them to do that. That is why Alliance believes that a key element of childcare policy should be the introduction of a clear skills and qualification framework. <BR /> <BR />This policy will require a significant investment, and we should not shy away from that. Quality care should require significant investment. Our children deserve that investment. While that will be costly, it will cost us more to do nothing. I support the motion and look forward to working with the whole House on these issues in the years to come.”
“Indeed, if the signature of this mandate can be anything, let it be empowering people, not simply holding them back. However, childcare is one issue holding many people back, particularly women. It takes a village, but the situation for many parents now is at breaking point. Even as I speak, families in Lagan Valley are reeling from the closure of a local childcare provider. Things are not tenable as they are, and we cannot let them slip further on our watch. <BR /> <BR />A progressive childcare policy is a key economic driver. We know that Northern Ireland has a low productivity rate and yet high economic inactivity. We know that many parents are being forced from working due to exorbitant childcare costs, and that is having a hugely adverse impact on our workforce.”
“<BR /> <BR />Within a mile of my home in Lagan Valley, there are Egyptian societies, women's resource centres, Gaelic pitches, chess clubs, Orange halls, young farmers' clubs and an LGBT safe space club. That is the new Northern Ireland, the North, our home, your home. This land, this island, the home of saints and scholars, of Harry Ferguson and Jocelyn Bell Burnell, has punched well above its weight on the world stage. Despite all our challenges, we still have incredible inventors and makers. There are many more like them waiting to be discovered, but they either do not have adequate childcare or are bankrupting themselves to pay for it. <BR /> <BR />Our challenge is to create together the ecosystem, the society to allow those makers to flourish, not despite of us but because of us.”
“If a peace process takes 50 years, we are about halfway, and that is more than past time to move beyond what sometimes passes for politics here. Indeed, we can be quite good at it when this place and its people are not being used as leverage. The people cannot wait any more. We must stop exporting our best assets — our people — from these shores. Addressing the issue of childcare would be key to meeting that aim. <BR /> <BR />I believe that our best days are yet to come, and together we can create them. We are no longer painting in just monochrome but have a wide, varied and beautiful palette of colour. We must have that vision and belief to give people hope and a future, to convince them that we can make their lives better — not by just words but with deeds — and to rebuild trust and faith in these institutions.”
“However, I promise that my generation will not leave the hard work behind for the ones coming after. This generation will finish it and make good on what we were all promised.”
“We have been gambling with people's lives in high-stakes games of politics. We need to reform the institutions so that no one party can again hold us to ransom. <BR /> <BR />I was 12 when the Good Friday Agreement was signed, and my generation was promised the best. We were promised more than just the absence of violence: we were promised the economic and social benefits of peace. Peace comes dropping slow, as they say, but the economic and social policies that we need to allow this generation and the one behind to achieve their full potential are severely lacking.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I acknowledge that this is my maiden speech, and I am humbled and privileged to take my place in the Chamber to serve the people of Lagan Valley. I also acknowledge my former colleague Trevor Lunn, who previously held this seat and served his constituents with distinction, and I pay my thanks to him. I also thank the Lagan Valley Alliance Association, without whom none of this would be possible, my family and, lastly, my husband, Dale. <BR /> <BR />Lagan Valley is my home, where my family has had its roots for hundreds of years and still lives on our small farm in Blaris, County Down, where my mum, Brigid, was born. It is a place that I love and will always love. Lisburn or Lios na gCearrbhachs means "Fort of the Gamblers", but gambling is what we have done too much of lately.”
“I also congratulate my constituency colleague and friend — hopefully, we are still friends — Paul Givan on his elevation to the post of Education Minister. <BR /> <BR />I desperately want to know whether the abandoned former Dromore Central Primary School site forms part of his vision, given that that school has long been earmarked for use for special educational needs.”
“I know that we have the support of the whole House in wishing His Majesty The King well and, indeed, all the families who, in the past 24 hours, have also received a cancer diagnosis.”
“Time is of the essence in battling the disease. I think of people like Christine Campbell, who, with late-stage ovarian cancer, is using her platform selflessly to advocate for cancer care and survivors. I also think of Eimear Smyth, Ozzie Rogers, Adam Watson and Adam's Army, Poppy Ogle, many other young people and, indeed, family members of Members of the House. <BR /> <BR />While we take the opportunity, rightly, to offer support to the King in his fight ahead and wish him strength and recovery, it is also vital that we listen to the other part of his message, for it is we in the Chamber whom the people of Northern Ireland have charged to address this, make it better and get it right for them and their families. I know and trust that we will all push forward to make that happen.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for your comments at the start of the sitting. I know that this is something that you have battled with personally, as have many other Members in the Chamber today. All of us have been directly or indirectly impacted by cancer; indeed, it was only on Saturday past that the issue was raised in the House by both the First Minister and deputy First Minister. That gives me hope that it is seen as urgent and as a priority. <BR /> <BR />We know that, while great progress has been made, Northern Ireland lags behind comparable countries in survivability. We also know that the King revealed that it was only by accident that his cancer was found. Immediately, I can think of three people in my constituency of Lagan Valley who were diagnosed in the emergency department last year. Sadly, two out of the three are dead.”
“I have tabled the Matter of the Day as an opportunity for Members to express sympathy and support for King Charles III, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer. I wish to reserve my maiden speech at this time, given the nature of the Matter of the Day; indeed, I also want to extend the Alliance Party's condolences to the family of former Taoiseach John Bruton. <BR /> <BR />The King did not have to share his cancer diagnosis, but he did so to raise awareness of the issue; indeed, with a full heart and public spirit. As well as Members having an opportunity to express well wishes and support at this time, it is important for us to do exactly what the King has said and assist public understanding of cancer. Over 10,000 people are diagnosed each year in Northern Ireland. Projected figures show that one in two of us will get cancer.”