Andrew McMurray
South Down · Alliance Party · Northern Ireland
“Minister, various greenway projects are mentioned in your statement. Those projects are to be welcomed. Recently, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council announced a feasibility study, part-funded by DFI, for a greenway between Warrenpoint, Kilkeel and Newcastle.”
“<BR /> <BR />I hope that the Minister can respond to some of those concerns directly. As I said, Alliance supports the reclassification of trust ports in principle, and we understand that that requires a limiting of the Department's powers. However, I am convinced that we need to have stronger safeguards.”
“Reclassification requires limiting some of the Department's powers, particularly the power to issue directions to trust ports. Several of my constituents have raised that with me as a major concern, and Ms Ennis also referred to it.”
“I will speak first in my role as the Alliance Party's infrastructure spokesperson and then as MLA for South Down. I echo what the Committee Chairperson said about the approach to the Bill. From the outset, it should be said that we support the ports.”
“Kilkeel and Ardglass ports have great potential for ancillary industries, such as the maintenance and security of offshore energy production. I am on the record as repeatedly calling for more investment in those areas and championing the great benefits that the blue-green economy can bring to the fishing ports in my constituency.”
“That will drive the Northern Ireland economy, and it has the potential to aid and drive the economy in South Down. Belfast Harbour would, through its master plan, like to make large-scale investments in renewable energy infrastructure but is currently severely hampered in that regard.”
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“Like others, I attended the event in the Eikon exhibition centre yesterday evening. I was glad that I did, because I was able to hear at first hand the concerns of Ulster's farmers. I thank the UFU for organising it and the DUP for tabling the motion. <BR /> <BR />The farmers at that event were able to give context to how the issue affects them, so I will give context to my connection to the issue. My granda always told my mother that, if I had been called John, I would have inherited a farm somewhere between Claggan and Lough Veagh. I am far enough out not to have a pecuniary interest, but I wanted to declare an interest of sorts. <BR /> <BR />I share the concerns about the impact that the new inheritance tax rules and the changes to farm support budgets will have on farming families in Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister. Will she provide further detail on the three bids that have been selected for further consideration?”
“Thank you, Minister. What safeguards does the Minister have in place to ensure that no eligible pensioners are missed in the automatic roll-out?”
“How does the regulatory regime that has been in place for Northern Ireland Water since its foundation in 2007 fit as part of this review?”
“Thank you, Minister. How will those vacancies affect flood risk management, public safety and coordination of public emergencies?”
“I hope that, alongside farming, fisheries and the environment, those efforts will be supported by the Executive.”
“<BR /> <BR />I draw attention to the rural micro capital grants scheme (RMCGS), the second tranche of which opened for applications yesterday. The scheme provides micro capital grants of between £500 and £2,000 to rural, community-led, voluntary organisations for projects tackling issues such as local poverty and social isolation. It is a valuable scheme that will provide important support for some of our local community groups. <BR /> <BR />Before I conclude, I highlight the impact of Brexit and the loss of EU funding — the elephant in the room. Pillar 2 of the common agricultural policy (CAP) was specifically concerned with rural development. I welcome Minister Muir's recent discussions with the Finance Minister to see how we could restore that funding through a local, ring-fenced budget.”
“<BR /> <BR />Some of those challenges are particularly acute in rural communities, but they are cross-departmental issues, and it is for the Executive as a whole to address them as a priority. Community groups already work hard to buffer some of the impacts of those challenges. They do so with little support. Of the survey respondents, 75% had no paid staff, and 64% said that they did not have enough volunteers. More than half operate on less than £10,000 a year; 65% of member groups said that funding day-to-day costs was a top challenge; 72% said that funding to run local programmes was a top challenge; and 61% said that they needed more training and support to complete funding applications. That highlights the support that is required.”
“Only the other day, I was privileged to attend an event in the Long Gallery to celebrate the eight rural support networks that are active across Northern Ireland. Those support networks act as go-betweens to connect rural community groups and organisational statutory bodies. However, on reading the synopsis of their 2024 membership survey, their concerns over finance issues is palpable. The survey shows that rural communities face many of the challenges experienced by Northern Ireland as a whole. A major issue that member organisations identified was poor mental health. Other major issues were poverty and problems with physical infrastructure, physical health, transport and housing. A lot of those issues have already been touched on.”
“I will take a slightly different angle, looking at communities and community groups. As we know, communities can be defined in quite a few ways. We can belong to a community due to our geographical location, a shared belief system or a common interest. Regardless, the term "community" engenders strong feelings and associations that are not simply attributed to family ties. Communities also provide important support for the individuals in them. I have no doubt that every Member in the Chamber regularly signposts constituents to a host of small community groups and organisations in their area, and it would be an understatement to say that those groups are pillars of our rural communities. <BR /> <BR />Nevertheless, many of those groups depend on volunteers and have few financial resources to support their services.”
“I thank the Member for securing the Adjournment debate. While I am a proud Member for South Down, my roots, as others have said, are in mid-Ulster. It is good to speak in the debate. Being a Member for South Down, I know the value of communities and the role that they play, particularly in rural locations. Rural communities face many pressures, not least the recent changes to farm support budgets and inheritance tax for farms. Indeed, I will ham up my mid-Ulster roots by saying that I was in communication with a lady from Cookstown in mid-Ulster regarding the inheritance tax. The Minister will deal with that point. It is an important point that has ramifications across the board.”
“Also, is the backlog of roads to be adopted being reduced at all, or is any progress quickly being cancelled out by new cases entering the system? Finally, I want to raise the impact that capacity constraints might have in the future if we manage to overcome the waste water and planning issues that are restricting housing development at the moment. We want to see new homes being built, but is the Department actually able to cope with more new developments coming its way for adoption? Are we going to face a much bigger issue of unadopted roads in the future?”
“We just cannot abandon the residents who bought their homes in good faith and are facing the nightmare due to no fault of their own. From a housing perspective, we cannot afford to essentially take so many existing homes out of the market because they cannot be sold. <BR /> <BR />Although the issue has been debated at length and for years, I have a couple of questions that I hope that the Minister will remark on. The first is in relation to staffing levels at DFI and the impact that that may have on enforcement and on the adoption of uncomplicated roads. The Minister intimated this in his interjection, and I am interested in how that affects capacity in the team dealing with the adoption of developments and whether the staffing situation in the team has improved or worsened in recent years.”
“<BR /> <BR />I understand that DFI has increased bond calculation rates to ensure that works can be completed to an adoptable standard if the developer defaults and that solicitors are also more aware of the issues than they were in the past. That will, hopefully, act as an incentive to developers to ensure that a bond is in place before they start work. Hopefully, all that will mean that substandard roads will become less of an issue in the future, but we still need to keep an eye on it to make sure that it is working. We also need to find solutions for the existing developments that cannot currently be adopted, especially those that have very serious problems and where the bond is inadequate or non-existent and where the developer has gone out of business.”
“DFI says that it wants to help to find a solution, but, because the ground continues to settle, repairs will not be possible until 2030. My constituents did not create that issue or problem but are now in the impossible scenario of not being able to sell their houses due to the inadequate infrastructure within the development. While that is the most serious of examples, it is not the only one. Putting the repairs off until 2030 seems decidedly unfair to these constituents. That example points to a bigger problem with some developers. We need to ensure that developers meet their obligations and build to an acceptable standard that does not cause problems further down the road.”
“It is well known and understood, but it persists nonetheless. <BR /> <BR />I understand that all new developments start out as unadopted, and often there is no issue at all: developers do what they are supposed to and the road to adoption is fairly smooth. However, where things go wrong, it can be a very significant problem for residents. We must not forget that this issue can cause real hardship for the people who are unable to sell their properties and, in the meantime, are dealing with completely unacceptable conditions. In my constituency, in Downpatrick, there is a development that is experiencing very serious problems with sewers and subsidence. It received some media coverage a while ago. The bond is insufficient to address the issues.”
“The problem of unadopted roads and developments is a long-standing issue, and there is a fair number of them in Northern Ireland. I am the third or fourth MLA to point out that there are now 1,868 unadopted developments in Northern Ireland. Of those, 170 are in the council area of Newry, Mourne and Down, which contains most of my South Down constituency. It contains the third highest number of unadopted developments after Mid Ulster and the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon council areas. <BR /> <BR />The Committee for Regional Development undertook an inquiry into unadopted roads in 2012, and the Infrastructure Committee heard evidence from DFI in 2021. A similar motion to the one that we are debating today was tabled later that year. In other words, the issue has been discussed before.”
“Minister, how will the Just Transition Commission ensure that our farming and rural communities are protected as we move towards a low-carbon economy?”
“Those criteria must ensure that funding is directed to benefiting the children and young people who are most impacted by socio-economic deprivation and who experience the highest level of underachievement. Eligibility must be based on objective need.”
“As a whole, South Down ranks among the five constituencies with the highest percentage of child poverty in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />It is fantastic to see such a state-of-the-art programme implemented to benefit our children across Northern Ireland, and scrapping it outright would be an absolute shame and akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Developing a whole new programme would further delay the support that our children in the most deprived areas so urgently need to thrive. I cannot support that. However, it seems to me that the eligibility formula may need some tweaking. In its current form, the resulting allocation does not seem equitable. I therefore call on the Minister to urgently review the criteria for targeting the RAISE programme.”
“The attainment gap between pupils in receipt of free school meals and other children also remains substantial, according to another NI Audit Office report. <BR /> <BR />In light of that evidence, it is puzzling to see some very deprived areas excluded from the list of RAISE locations. For example, the list of RAISE areas includes not a single area in my constituency of South Down or the neighbouring Strangford constituency. That means that a huge area of south-east Down is getting zero investment under the scheme. Newcastle, Downpatrick, Ardglass, Kilkeel and Warrenpoint are areas in my constituency with high levels of deprivation compared with other areas of NI, yet they are currently excluded from the RAISE programme. Those areas also have high percentages of children in low-income households.”
“The drivers of underachievement in Northern Ireland are incredibly complex. Research has shown that many factors are involved. Gender, free school meal entitlement, religion, special educational needs (SEN) status, school type and area deprivation are all associated with differences in achievement, and different factors can amplify one another. At the same time, it is true that associations with socio-economic status are particularly well supported by evidence. A recent report on child poverty by the NI Audit Office found that, at every stage of education, poorer children experience poorer outcomes. The NI Executive's children and young people strategy states:”
“<BR /> <BR />Another positive about the RAISE programme is its whole-community and place-based approach and its emphasis on community-based partnerships. The expert panel strongly recommended a place-based approach because it is an effective model that has been applied successfully within and outside Northern Ireland. That is based on two important insights: first, that drivers of underachievement interact in unique ways in different places; and, secondly, that underachievement cannot be tackled successfully without involving the wider community in which it is happening. Place-based, whole-community programmes promise greater cooperation at a local level and create greater collective impact. <BR /> <BR />I also like the fact that the eligibility criteria for RAISE are based on a multiple deprivation model.”
“I welcome the RAISE programme. Educational underachievement is a serious challenge for Northern Ireland, and it is correct that the Department is taking steps to tackle it. The substantial funding that has been set aside for the programme is appropriate. <BR /> <BR />The RAISE programme is an important step on the road to raising achievement for all learners in Northern Ireland, and there are many things that are good and excellent about it. First, I am pleased to see that the programme broadly reflects the recommendations made by the expert panel on educational underachievement. Evidence-based interventions are effective interventions. I am always ready to support policies that are based on independent expert advice and high-quality evidence.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree that more commitment is required from the Department for the Economy by setting targets and attributing financial commitments to the rejuvenation of our high streets? The Member references Bow Street in Lisburn. I will reference, as did another Member, Market Street in Downpatrick.”
“When will the consultation on the clean air strategy be published?”
“As well as celebrating the 10th anniversary of its building, the charity launched its own bespoke, informal, therapeutic support model. While informal, that early intervention model, when implemented, can go some way to preventing more formal, acute support being needed further down the tracks. <BR /> <BR />I will finish by summarising what Daisy Lodge is for those who use it: a place where despair can turn to hope.”
“While the physical infrastructure has been created and is important to those who come to stay, the staff and leadership team at the location have put in great efforts to create more than just a pleasant physical space. They have created a space where relationships and programmes are developed that deliver support for all those who are on a journey with their loved ones. Sometimes, that can be difficult. Sometimes, it means helping those who have suffered loss and bereavement. How they do that was best encapsulated by a young man who, on coming through the worst of what cancer can do, described his experience of one of the programmes as:”
“Families who are impacted on by cancer can come and stay at its site for a time of respite and therapeutic support. It is not a medical facility; there are no tubes or medical staff. It is a people facility. <BR /> <BR />At the 10th anniversary event, the physical transformation of the site over the past number of years was described. The site was said to be "homely" but also "rustic" and "not fit for purpose". Now, there are two main facilities: Narnia, a log cabin for young people, and Daisy Lodge itself. While the physical infrastructure has changed, emotional support has always been a pillar of what the site provides. A poem, written by a mother who used the site, was recited. It had the recurring line:”
“I rise to speak about the 10th anniversary of the opening of Daisy Lodge outside Newcastle in my constituency. Daisy Lodge looks over the Shimna Valley and Tollymore Forest, and towards the slopes of Slieve Commedagh and Slieve Donard: a most peaceful and tranquil view, one of quite a few with which we are blessed in South Down. Daisy Lodge is a residential site, run by the Cancer Fund for Children, the vision of which is to ensure:”
“Simon of Cyrene is the gentlemen who is referenced, and, if you know, you know. To give Members a bit of context, I will say that Simon stepped forward and undertook to share the burden of something that was almost impossible to bear. He had to bear it alone, and he did so without speaking and without fanfare. When he completed the task, he went back, unreferenced, into the background. That is very much what those in the homeless sector do with such grace. They deserve our utmost thanks and respect for doing so.”
“That uncertainty means that they can neither recruit people nor increase pay. The looming increase in minimum wage next year might mean that many of the organisations will become unviable, if funding is not increased accordingly. Structurally speaking, prevention services are funded out of the same pot as temporary accommodation, but only the latter is subject to a statutory duty. As the demand for temporary accommodation increases, as it has done fivefold since the COVID-19 pandemic, the squeeze on prevention tightens. We need to turn that around. <BR /> <BR />Finally, I will briefly reflect on the character from whom the Simon Community takes its name. While his name is attributed to that particular organisation, the character referenced bears relevance to all those involved in the homelessness sector.”
“The sector needs to be professionalised. The staff working there are already professional to all intents and purposes, but working conditions are not. <BR /> <BR />At the root of all that is funding in quantity, stability and structural terms. Quantity-wise, a lot of housing support is funded through the Supporting People programme grant, which has been frozen since 2007-08. The Minister for Communities has promised above-inflation increases to the Supporting People programme, which is brilliant, but it does not make up for the 15-year freeze. Stability-wise, the homelessness agencies that I spoke to were not sure whether that increase would be recurring. The homelessness service budget was also squeezed, and many services are now funded on a month-to-month basis.”
“It takes a committed and passionate workforce to provide the service, but that is not often reflected in the pay or working conditions in the sector. In fact, I have heard from people working in the sector that some of them have made use of food banks and that many struggle to make ends meet. I quote from one of the conversations:”
“The first priority of the Housing Executive's homelessness strategy for 2022-27 is to prioritise homelessness prevention. That is incredibly important, because it can prevent further harm. It also saves a lot of money. However, prevention is under immense pressure. Staff recruitment and retention is an enormous challenge for the sector. Trust relationships are key to effective support, but frequently changing agency staff makes that very difficult. That has a negative impact on good outcomes. Homelessness support is a very challenging and skilled job. It is demanding in emotional terms, too.”
“In Downpatrick, the average number of housing points needed to get into social housing is 170·4. You get 70 points for being homeless. There are currently 3,986 households on the social housing waiting list in Newry, Mourne and Down, 1,300 of which have been waiting for over five years. Only 360 allocations were made last year. Private rentals are often unaffordable for low-income households and often present other access hurdles as well. The Simon Community runs a deposit scheme and has plans to provide affordable rental housing through its creating homes scheme, but property is expensive in South Down. <BR /> <BR />I will spend a little bit of time talking about the challenges that housing support staff face in providing support to people in need.”
“He has now been living in temporary accommodation in Downpatrick for 18 months and cannot spend time with his daughter because he does not have a home. I refer back to the hierarchy of needs: emotional, social and educational needs cannot be met if you are struggling to meet the need of shelter. <BR /> <BR />Homelessness support staff told me that they knew of people who had been in temporary accommodation for several years. Those cases are not exceptional. In April this year, 63% of households living in temporary accommodation had been there for more than six months, and 44% had been there for more than a year. That stretches the definition of "temporary". It is, of course, a stark expression of the housing crisis that we are experiencing. <BR /> <BR />For many, there is very little hope of moving on any time soon.”
“Those organisations provide a roof over the head of people who are experiencing homelessness, but they also provide invaluable personal support, which is so important to helping people to move on and successfully sustain a tenancy in the future. <BR /> <BR />Voluntary organisations, such as MACS and the Simon Community, are doing all that they can to help, but conditions in the sector are very difficult. Very often, those organisations work with individuals to place them in temporary accommodation. The word "temporary" suggests that that is for only a short period, but that is not always, or even usually, the case. I met a gentleman who became homeless because of a relationship breakdown and slept in his car for some time.”
“MACS Supporting Children and Young People provides supported housing and a range of other support services for children and young people aged between 16 and 25 who are homeless, are at risk of homelessness or are struggling in other ways. The Simon Community operates a hostel in Downpatrick, where it offers temporary accommodation and support to people who present as homeless. The Housing Executive in Downpatrick does its best to support people experiencing homelessness and housing stress short of homelessness every day and to move them into accommodation as soon as possible. I also thank Homeless Connect in Belfast, which shared its insights into homelessness statistics and policy issues with me.”
“We discussed the housing emergency in the Assembly last week. You cannot prevent homelessness without an adequate supply of housing. That cannot be overstated, and it was discussed in the Chamber last week during the debate on the SDLP's motion. As such, I will focus on some of the other issues that are faced by homelessness organisations in South Down and beyond. I also pay tribute to the charities and organisations working in the sector and the very valuable work that they do in supporting men, women, young people and families in South Down at a very vulnerable point in their lives. I thank them for taking the time to speak to me in preparation for this discussion and for sharing their experiences and concerns with me. <BR /> <BR />All the conversations with those involved in the organisations were humbling and, at times, moving.”
“<BR /> <BR />A member of staff at one of the local homelessness organisations in Downpatrick spoke to me about the poverty of hope that many homeless people experience and the devastating impact that that has on their lives. I will read out her words, because she put it better than I ever could:”
“In 2020, a report by the charity Crisis estimated that the number could be between 70,000 and 112,000, or 9% to 15% of all households in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />It is fair to say that Northern Ireland as a whole is experiencing a homelessness crisis, but, first and foremost, homelessness is a personal crisis for each individual affected by it. It is a deeply frightening and unsettling experience to find yourself without a safe and secure home. Research shows that homelessness has a negative impact on people's health and life expectancy. It leads to increased risk of contact with the criminal justice system as well as other negative physical, psychological and social impacts.”
“I refer back to Maslow's hierarchy of needs: those people are, quite literally, surviving, and all other development needs are put on the back-burner. <BR /> <BR />Those numbers are shocking, but they are not even the full story. There are also the so-called hidden homeless, who would be eligible for help from the Housing Executive but have not yet come forward. For example, staff at one local homelessness organisation told me about a young man in his 20s who had come through the care system and was now sofa-surfing. After a while, he had outstayed his welcome. At that point, he emerged from being hidden homeless and sought support from said organisation. Nobody knows for sure how many people are affected by hidden homelessness.”
“To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen in 'The Ghost of Tom Joad':”
“That is the third-highest increase among the 11 council areas. <BR /> <BR />The provision of temporary accommodation is skewed towards Belfast, so, for every homeless person in Newry, Mourne and Down, there are probably others who have had to leave the area in order to move into temporary accommodation in Belfast or beyond. Indeed, an instance was recalled to me of when an individual was placed on a bus from Downpatrick to Derry in order to receive shelter for a night. While the issue may manifest itself in a city or town outside my constituency, that is not to say that it is not a problem in my constituency. <BR /> <BR />In Northern Ireland, nearly six of every 10 households in statutory homelessness in June were families, and close to 20,000 homeless individuals were children and young people under 18.”
“<BR /> <BR />We in the Chamber are lucky and privileged to be in the position that we are in. It would be remiss of me not to use my position to speak up for those who are not as lucky or fortunate as I am. Before I go on, I want to state that, due to how the statistics are compiled, I will refer to council areas as well as constituency areas at times. That is just a hangover from the way in which they are compiled. As of 30 June, 58,241 people were officially homeless in Northern Ireland. That is one in 33 people, up from one in 34 people in the space of six months. Of those, 5,447 were homeless in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area. Just 10 years ago, the figure was 2,536. The number of individuals in statutory homelessness in Newry, Mourne and Down has increased by 115% over the past 10 years.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I want to raise the issue of homelessness in my constituency of South Down and, more broadly, in Northern Ireland. I think that I can be confident in saying that there is no Member for whom homelessness is not a regular issue. <BR /> <BR />This is my first opportunity to secure an Adjournment debate, so I spent a bit of time reflecting on the issues that I want to raise. There is a concept model known as Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Put very simply, it is a pyramid of needs that human beings require to be satisfied. If the base needs are not or cannot be met, those above them cannot be fulfilled. Some Members may be familiar with it. For me, it may be a hangover from being the child of two social workers or from my postgraduate studies in youth community work, but, as a concept, it has always stuck with me.”
“Will the Minister clarify whether any arrangements similar to those in Belfast and Craigavon are in place elsewhere?”
“Will the Minister give examples of where financial pressures are being felt in her Ministry?”
“<BR /> <BR />Sports clubs, museums and charities were also affected by the floods, and those sectors need support to become resilient to such incidents. <BR /> <BR />We are still waiting on further information about potential alleviation schemes that will go some way towards preventing such events happening again. While the reports and reviews are welcome, residents and traders are impatient to see tangible developments that will prevent flooding from happening to the same degree again. The reality of the situation is that these events will become more commonplace, given the climate breakdown that we are experiencing. Our seas are becoming warmer. As a result, tropical storms gain more energy and manifest themselves over our island, with more intense bouts of wind and rain.”