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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“I welcome the motion and the debate. Bovine TB is one of the most pressing issues facing our agriculture sector and community. It is by no means the only factor, but the emotional toll that it takes on our farmers cannot be overstated. I will touch on that later. <BR /> <BR />I will start with some numbers highlighted in the recent report by the Andersons Centre: the indirect costs borne by farmers. Bovine TB costs the taxpayer £60 million every year, which is money that could make such a difference elsewhere if the disease were eradicated. <BR /> <BR />I am not a farmer, but, like many, I am only a few generations removed from a farm.”
“<BR /> <BR />Should anyone have any information that is of relevance to the investigations, they should pass it on to the PSNI or Crimestoppers. That will allow the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, the PSNI and the NIEA to complete their investigations into the incidents.”
“<BR /> <BR />I know that I am not allowed props, Mr Speaker, and I do not have any with me, but I keep a jam jar of ash from a previous fire. The fires have become so prevalent that I cannot even remember the exact year from which it comes. I keep it to remind me of the devastation that such incidents cause. <BR /> <BR />I am not an expert botanist or an ecologist, but spring should be a time of renewal, nature and wildlife. Instead, we have devastation across swathes of land. Every year, after a dry spell in April, fires are lit, which then spread across our upland areas. The AERA Minister and his Department have brought forward a strategy and a plan to deal with such incidents. Work enabled by the strategy will go some way towards educating on behaviours and practices that will end these devastating fires.”
“The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service was on the hill for as long as it remained safe for it to do so and then returned at first light to continue to tackle the blaze. It worked tirelessly along the boundary wall of Donard Forest to ensure that the fire did not take hold in the area. Should we continue to see such fires being lit, I fear that a tragedy will befall us. <BR /> <BR />I spoke to the residents who watched as the flames came within metres of their properties. I understand that motorhomes and caravans were evacuated from a site and that residents were told to have a bag packed should they be asked to leave. In the aftermath, I spoke to those who saw an ingress of trails of scorched earth at their properties. That is just the human element, however.”
“I will also speak about the wildfires that swept across the Mournes on Saturday. Although the word "wildfires" is in common parlance, and it is useful to a certain degree for conveying the image of what is taking place, they are not spontaneous combustion events. Any fire that takes hold in the Mournes begins with a deliberate act. Whether a fire is set with malicious or malevolent intent or through wilful ignorance and neglect, the end result is the same: destruction. <BR /> <BR />I thank all those who were called on to respond to the fires. It is no exaggeration to say that, through the efforts of all the blue-light organisations, of voluntary and statutory bodies and of members of the public, no lives and no properties were lost.”
“I thank the Minister for his answer. What difference will the wildfire recovery project, led by the Pau Costa Foundation, make to the Mournes?”
“Thank you, Minister. Can we have confidence in the accuracy of previous and current test results from AFBI in light of the HSE GB report?”
“Thank you, Minister. You acknowledged that the developers are ultimately responsible, but there have been policy failures that led to the current situation. You referenced the future, but will you develop more robust responses in order to help those who are already stuck in unadopted developments?”
“Does the Member agree, which may mean disagreeing with Mr Burrows, that nursing provision is required in special schools all year round, including during term time?”
“Minister, can you outline any consequences that a Department will face if it does not balance its books? Will that affect us in coming years?”
“We are sometimes good at protecting our more recent cultures at the expense of forgetting our shared ancient culture. It would be reassuring to have from the Minister a timeline for completing the works at the cairn, and I urge the Minister to ensure that those works are progressed as soon as possible, with a view to reopening in time for this year's winter solstice.”
“Tolkien and CS Lewis were contemporaries who were both influenced by our ancient myths and legends. <BR /> <BR />To sum up, the site was a very important site to the people who built the cairn, and it should be important to us today. People come a long way to see it, and it is a great disappointment for them when they find that it is closed.”
“Slieve Gullion cairn is the house of the Cailleach Beara, the infamous witch who tricked Finn McCool of the Fianna into diving into the bottomless lake for her ring. The story links into the setting sun atop Slieve Gullion and Cailleach Beara's lough, because, of course, you cannot see the sun set into the lake when you are on top of Slieve Gullion; you can only see that from Slieve Croob or Knock Iveagh, which are in South Down. Knock Iveagh has its own access issues, of course. These stories show the connections that we have to the landscape and these sites. When the past reaches forward, those of you who, like me, have read and still read 'The Lord of the Rings', will see the similarities to J R R Tolkien's Sméagol and Déagol, who go swimming for the golden ring.”
“The cairn has been closed for some time due to structural issues, and some of those who like to visit those places are worried that the closure might continue beyond this year's winter solstice on 21 December. There is an urgency to the matter because of the location of the cairn. The repairs must be done during the summer months; it is obviously more challenging to carry them out on the top of Slieve Gullion during inclement weather. Once we get into the autumn, there is a risk that another winter solstice will be lost. <BR /> <BR />The history and stories about the cairns are fascinating. They are very old, and some of their origins are unknown, but they are all clearly related to ancient myths and stories. However, those stories reach forward and touch our popular culture.”
“<BR /> <BR />While I have taken the time to visit Slieve Gullion — it is a very nice hill — I am more familiar with the ancient sites in and around Castlewellan and South Down. There is the Ballynoe stone circle outside Downpatrick in Clough; the Legananny dolmen, which has a capstone that sits directly south; and the Drumena cashel and the Finnis souterrain that you can crawl into and through. The beauty of those monuments is that you can literally step in and through our shared history. Unfortunately, you cannot currently do that atop Slieve Gullion, and that is a cause of great annoyance to those who are even more passionate about our ancient sites than I am.”
“I welcome the debate and thank the Member for raising the issue. I thank the Minister for attending. Slieve Gullion is not in my constituency, but I do not think that those who constructed the cairn and the burial chamber would have had much of a concept of Assembly boundaries. The cairn at Slieve Gullion is special for the reasons that have been highlighted. It is the most intact passage cairn in Northern Ireland, despite the current structural issues. It is the highest passage tomb in Ireland, and it also aligns with the winter solstice sunset. It does, however, form a wider landscape of interconnecting monuments that are located across the Mournes and more widely across Ireland and Scotland.”
“There is absolutely no justification for a single party to be holding everyone else to ransom because of anti-science, anti-climate dogma. Unfortunately, that kind of situation keeps happening again and again. It needs to stop, and it should have stopped yesterday. We in the Alliance Party have made that case ad nauseam. It is now more urgent than ever that the fundamental flaws in our structures are addressed so that we can all move forward to enhance government delivery and improve the quality of life for people in Northern Ireland. Our people deserve a Government that function effectively, and everyone has the right to have —”
“At this point, the only stumbling block is the DUP's refusal to let an EPA progress. Founded on a diet of "No, No, No", nothing seems to have changed in the DUP's conception, and now it is the people and the environment that are suffering. We need an independent environmental protection agency specifically, but we also need to reform our institutions in order to remove those kinds of blocks and vetoes, which are undemocratic and frequently abused. <BR /> <BR />An independent environmental protection agency is not a matter of legacy or national identity. Green/orange or right/left, political persuasions should not matter when it comes to our environment. It is a shared resource that we should all take an interest in protecting and restoring.”
“<BR /> <BR />We must not talk about the environment as purely an economic matter either. To simply reduce it down to a decision based on market forces does it a disservice. We all depend on a functioning ecosystem for our very survival. We cannot keep killing the planet that we live on. We have a moral duty to respect and acknowledge the inherent value of the environment. Minister Muir brought plans for an independent environmental protection agency to the Executive in November 2025. That did not come out of the blue; it was part of the New Decade, New Approach commitment that the DUP signed up to at the time and which continues to have cross-party support. <BR /> <BR />The independent review of environmental governance also recommended that there should be an independent environmental protection agency.”
“I will come on to our waste water infrastructure in a moment, but the Member makes a valuable point. <BR /> <BR />On the subject of better environmental governance, I know that farmers are cognisant of the role that they play in looking after the environment. Indeed, they are frustrated by other Departments that are dragging their heels when it comes to tackling issues such as waste water infrastructure. Better environmental governance will also be crucial in turning back the tide on climate change, the impact of which is already having significant consequences for the agriculture sector, particularly due to flooding, drought and other severe events. However, livelihoods are being put at risk due to the lack of environmental safeguards that the DUP stands against.”
“Thank you; perhaps I can slow myself down a bit as well. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate that, and, yes, it reflects greatly on the importance of the environment that we pushed back on that and made sure that it was included. <BR /> <BR />Purely from an economic perspective, the water quality crisis in our rivers, bringing the death of Lough Neagh, Belfast lough and so many other bodies of water across the Province, and the illegal dumping at Mobuoy, which could cost hundreds of millions of pounds to remedy, are costing our economy dearly. They are eating up colossal amounts of public money; money that should be spent on addressing the many other issues that we face. Preventing those catastrophes from the outset is a prime example of invest to save —.”
“Will I get an extra minute? I have a lot to get through.”
“Regrettably, we have no shortage of environmental catastrophes in Northern Ireland.”
“This way, nothing contentious gets done, we do not lead on issues where we should, and we do a terrible injustice to everyone in the country. <BR /> <BR />My Minister is the Minister for Agriculture, he is the Minister for Rural Affairs, and he is the Minister for the Environment. That part of the brief has long been neglected, noticeably by the DUP when it held that portfolio. I commend the Minister for changing that and for taking the environment brief seriously for the first time in a long time.”
“That includes severe environmental crises where our response to those issues was hampered by the lack of functioning institutions. <BR /> <BR />Much has been said by every party in the Chamber about the ecological crisis facing Lough Neagh. It is time that other parties stopped paying lip service and politics to the environment and got serious about tackling the issues. One party's actions ensured that there was no Executive in place to respond to the emergence of blue-green algae in the lough in 2023. Today, it is unilaterally preventing the AERA Minister from putting an IEPA in place to better protect the lough and the wider environment. Is it any wonder that public confidence in the Assembly is at such a low ebb when we have one party blocking a policy that has broad support across the rest of the Executive and Assembly?”
“It is no secret that our environment has suffered from decades of neglect and our system of government is not fit for purpose in being able to progress the structural changes required to deliver meaningful improvement in our environment. We need to be able to progress policy that delivers on the public's priorities within the Executive. That is what was promised on that famous day in 1998. However, instead, we have a system of government defined by constant standstill, delay and veto. The veto exercised over creating an environmental protection agency is just one more example of this inaction. Certain parties have shamefully collapsed our institutions before, with severe consequences for public service delivery, long-term planning and the delivery of good government.”
“Thank you, Minister. National outdoor centres contribute a huge amount to society, not least through safety, health and economics. Will the Minister meet me and representatives from the national governing bodies to hear at first hand the positive role that national outdoor centres play?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. What mitigations will the scheme provide in rural town centres, where there are a lot of competing pressures from businesses, commuters and private residents? I will not say that there is conflict between the two, but there is DFI-owned land and there are council-owned parking areas. How will the measure help address and mitigate the issue in rural towns?”
“Thank you, Minister. Will you provide more detail on the wildfire management plan for the Mournes?”
“Thank you, Minister. Will you give us an update on your plans for our bathing waters?”
“If an exam is taken in year 11, there is an opportunity to resit. In year 12, however, there may not be an opportunity to resit. Is that pathway to progress through the education system therefore closed off?”
“We have talked a bit about closing off resits in year 11. In year 12, if a student perhaps does not get the results that they require in an exam, will that pathway to progress through the education system be closed off to them?”
“I thank the Minister. I will attend a meeting on my daughter's GCSE choices tomorrow afternoon, so I might be able to get you a bit of feedback there”
“With that in mind, when can we expect to see the implementation of the protocol for trusts' emergency departments?”
“Thank you, deputy First Minister. You will be aware that there have been calls to publish the research reports and for an explanation as to why they cannot currently be published. Are you able to advise on a summary of the findings and recommendations contained in the reports and whether those can be published?”
“I thank the Minister for giving way. I will pay due deference in that regard. However, as a member of said Committee, when arm's-length body A comes in and says, "This is what we need to do", arm's-length body B comes in and says, "We have looked at this, and this is what we believe is required", and then arm's-length body C comes in and says, "We cannot progress whatever industry needs us to progress because of A and B", what is the member to do?”
“Thank you for the intervention. I am sure that the Minister will be happy to continue to work constructively with the Member. <BR /> <BR />Given that so much of the work is demand-led, only around 3% of the Justice budget is discretionary. That means that services are incredibly stretched. The Justice Minister, Naomi Long, has sought to prioritise allocations on the basis of the values of a victim-centred justice system, but we cannot continue to underfund Justice while spending elsewhere can be improved.”
“<BR /> <BR />As my colleagues and I frequently say, the Department of Justice has been historically underfunded. Given that so much of the work is demand-led —.”
“Whilst the Executive's agreement to set aside funding for PSNI data breach settlements is welcome progress, I draw attention to the outstanding exceptional pressures in the region of £120 million that the Department faces, which relate mainly to the McCloud pension remedy and the settlement of holiday pay claims. It is unclear when those will crystallise, but it is clear that they cannot be absorbed in the Department's general budget allocation. A solution must be found in collaboration with the Minister of Finance. <BR /> <BR />The Department of Justice funds access to justice, building safer communities, our Prison Service, reducing offending rates, support for our Courts and Tribunals Service and the PSNI. It deals with prevention, protection and the aftermath of much of what we deal with as a society. It is all vital work.”
“It is not for me to say whether it will work, but, at this point, no: one prong outweighs the other two prongs. That is the nettle that has to be grasped, and it will be up to the Minister to develop and articulate her ideas about that. <BR /> <BR />In order to help to address the devastating state of Lough Neagh and Belfast lough, in-year funding injections have allowed for limited works in different areas across the Infrastructure portfolio, but such one-off injections are inevitably dwarfed by the huge scale of the shortfall that NI Water and DFI Roads face. The large-scale works that are needed to turn our infrastructure around cannot be delivered by an on-off, drip feed of resources. Better solutions are needed. <BR /> <BR />I turn to Department of Justice matters.”
“The argument about the impact of our crumbling waste water infrastructure is well rehearsed, but, because the debate is on the Budget Bill, I shall focus on NI Water's finances only. NI Water has said that its 2025-26 funding forecast is below the minimum viable level for a utility of its size. It advised the Committee of an estimated shortfall of approximately £735 million in capital funding and a further estimated shortfall of £49 million in resource funding over the Budget period 2026-29. That sits between the need that was independently assessed by the Utility Regulator and the funding that the utility believes that it might receive over the next few years. <BR /> <BR />The Minister's three-pronged approach has unlocked some capacity for homes, but it has done little to address the fundamental constraints that NI Water faces.”
“We will never achieve the modal shift that we so badly need if we do not put in place vital infrastructure. As things stand, neither roads nor active travel are funded to the level that is required. <BR /> <BR />Translink is facing an equally dire situation. Increased demand for concessionary fares has put even more pressure on its budget, but, so far, the Minister has done little to address the threat. The company expects to make a significant operating loss in this financial year, to the point at which it may not be able to meet its day-to-day expenditure requirements. <BR /> <BR />I have not mentioned Northern Ireland Water (NIW) yet. Waste water infrastructure is one of the biggest issues holding this country back.”
“Such investment needs to be directed at achieving modal shift and upgrading the public transport fleet to using less polluting technologies. <BR /> <BR />We also need to invest better. We heard recently that the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) found no evidence that spending on active travel has significantly increased uptake. That is the case not only because little is spent on it but because active travel schemes were poorly prioritised. Some in the Chamber may feel that active travel is a nice add-on that should not be a priority when there are roads to fix, but pitting road maintenance and active travel against each other is a false economy. Both are vital responsibilities of the Department for Infrastructure, and both need to be properly funded.”
“Instead, we have crumbling roads and a waste water system that has turned large parts of Northern Ireland into no-go areas for investment and housebuilding. DFI has a massive role to play in tackling climate change and in protecting our environment, but, again, it is falling far short. <BR /> <BR />I shall rehearse some of the issues that the Department faces as a result of financial pressures. Only last week, we debated at length the dreadful state of our roads and the long-standing neglect that they have suffered. We can see accelerated deterioration as a result of climate change and the inclement weather that comes with it. There was broad agreement that we need to invest more in maintaining what is a vital asset, but we cannot ignore the fact that we also need to invest much more in tackling climate change.”
“I will try to keep between the tramlines. If I need any lessons in filibustering, I will go to Mr Frew, because he gave a good lesson in it earlier. <BR /> <BR />I speak in my capacity as the Alliance Party's infrastructure spokesperson. Infrastructure affects us all in our everyday lives, and we all know the pressures that the Department is under from roads, waste water and flood alleviation. The Department is responsible for some of the most important functions in our society, but people feel, rightly, that they are being let down. <BR /> <BR />DFI got its largest capital budget in the history of devolution in 2025-26, and that funding should have been prioritised to where it was needed most.”
“Minister, what engagement have you had on developing a proposal for a single management authority?”
“Thank you, Minister. I visited Action Mental Health, one of the affected voluntary sector agencies. You mentioned other Ministers: what work are you doing with those other Ministers, such as the Minister for Communities and the Minister of Finance, to ensure that voluntary sector organisations such as Action Mental Health will be able to continue the service that they provide and the associated contribution to the local economy?”
“That interaction made me think of 'Amazing Grace', a hymn written by an Englishman washed up in Donegal on his way to America, but that is beside the point. <BR /> <BR />Can the Minister outline how value for money and long-term public benefit have been assessed when allocating funding for the USA-NI250 project?”
“Whatever about whatever regarding emails going here or there, I struggle to keep up sometimes as to whether it is a Sinn Féin billboard or just a billboard. Is the point that, as the Minister responsible for overseeing planning, you should see to it that the billboard's foundations are removed from that particular site?”
“Will the Minister outline what progress has been made on the bovine TB cooperation pilot under the Shared Island initiative?”