Peter Martin
North Down · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“Minister, the Northern Ireland Audit Office report is very critical of your Department on the topic of flood risk. You have just read out some interventions that your Department has made. The report's most substantial criticism is that your Department cannot show that its activities to build flood risk defences:”
“It also seeks to rebalance a level of government control by removing certain powers that the Department currently holds, including direction and control over appointments to board positions. That supports the case for reclassification by ONS.”
“<BR /> <BR />Members were keen to hear directly from young people, who will probably be most affected by GDL, so we consulted the Youth Assembly. The Committee was impressed by the thoughtful and constructive nature of that engagement.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am confident that the Committee will be able to engage positively and work collaboratively with the Department to ensure that the Bill reflects the current areas where reform is required.”
“<BR /> <BR />Having considered all the evidence, the Committee ultimately concluded that it would not be appropriate to proceed until it was fully satisfied that the driving instructor sector believed that the proposed date of 1 October 2026, which the Minister referenced, was realistic and achievable.”
“With your permission, Mr Speaker, it is important to consider the proposal in the context of the wider legislative package that is required to bring GDL into operation, and the Minister referenced that. <BR /> <BR />At the outset, I make it clear that the Committee supports the principle of GDL.”
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Every one of 893 lines we hold for Peter Martin, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 18.
“I thank the Member very much for taking an intervention. She properly highlighted something that I forgot to mention, which is the impact of the sewerage issue in Northern Ireland. I cited the fact that it impacts on house prices, but she has raised the fact that it impacts on our landscape, including Lough Neagh and a whole range of things. Does she agree, therefore, that it is a multifaceted problem and one that the Infrastructure Minister has to grasp, because it has reach beyond Infrastructure and into DAERA in particular, since it deals with pollution?”
“However, we need to solve that looming crisis for Northern Ireland. The Committee will continue to hold the Minister to account for the budgetary and strategic decisions that she makes, based on what we are talking about today, that impact on service delivery throughout Northern Ireland.”
“I thank the leader of the Opposition for his question. I am not in the Executive or party to those discussions, but, from the conversations that I have with the private sector and people who are interested in putting foreign direct investment (FDI) into Northern Ireland, I know that that is where we would like to get to. I do not know whether that is achievable this year. The Finance Minister might tell us shortly. I certainly agree with the Member on investment security and knowing where the economy is going, and that it is wider than that. <BR /> <BR />If the Infrastructure Minister wants to bring additional ideas or concepts to the table, I, as Chair of the Infrastructure Committee, am sure that the Committee will continue to work constructively with her. I am confident that the Committee would work alongside her.”
“The current head-in-the-sand approach is not what we need. The leader of the Opposition said earlier that Ministers are appointed to do a ministerial job, to assume the office and role and to make decisions. I am increasingly concerned that, whether you live in Strabane, Fivemiletown, Newry or Donaghadee, the impact of what we are discussing will be felt by you eventually, unless something is done about it.”
“Whether you are a working family or a young couple who want to buy your first house, that is the impact that that is having on house prices and finance in Northern Ireland.”
“House prices in Northern Ireland are now outstripping house prices in the Republic, which, as far as I am aware, was having a housing crisis.”
“I think that the Principal Deputy Speaker is making a criticism of you, Minister. Perhaps she is; I do not know. You are the Finance Minister, so I will, of course, answer your question. I was not in the Chamber yesterday for that, Minister, but I am aware that, whilst those additional homes have been unlocked, we do have a depression in the market, with developers not building new houses because they cannot get the waste water infrastructure. That has been very well documented at the Committee. <BR /> <BR />What impact is that crisis having on Northern Ireland and the general finances in Northern Ireland, and why is it relevant? It is relevant to anyone who is buying a house. Recent data from the Nationwide house price index for 2025 showed that house prices in Northern Ireland are going up 10 times the rate of house prices in London.”
“Of course I will give way to the Minister of Finance.”
“I will see whether I can wind my way back into it. <BR /> <BR />How the Infrastructure budget is being spent is having a real impact. We know of the 19,000 new residential units that are unlikely to proceed any time soon because of the problem that we are discussing. Housebuilding completions have dropped to a 60-year low in Northern Ireland, so we need a solution to the financial pressures that Northern Ireland Water faces. I do not believe that the three-strand approach will be the solution to that.”
“I thank the Member for his question, and I, of course, agree with him. Perhaps he is driving towards greater efficiency in Northern Ireland Water. Obviously, we had quite a critical report of NIW quite recently.”
“The first is more money from Treasury, and if we had a pound for every Member who has stood up and said that today, perhaps that would solve Northern Ireland's Budget crisis. The second is voluntary developer contributions, and the third is the Water, Sustainable Drainage and Flood Management Bill, which the Committee is currently scrutinising.”
“My wider concern with the strategy that the Infrastructure Minister is adopting to address the issue that my colleague across the way from South Down mentioned is with the funding gap for Northern Ireland Water. It is that sticking plaster that I have just referred to. My fear is that that solution, which the Member referred to as a three-strand or a three-pronged approach, is simply a stopgap: something that will get the Department and, perhaps, the Minister over the line until the election in May next year. She has put all her faith in what she has called the three-strand approach to solving the Northern Ireland Water crisis. I know that the SDLP Member for Newry and Armagh calls it the three-straw approach. <BR /> <BR />In summary, for those who are not on the Infrastructure Committee, there are three aspects to the approach.”
“We discussed yesterday in the debate — some Members have reflected on it this afternoon — the fact that the Minister received £38 million in the last two months of the current financial year to spend on roads, mainly from the monitoring round, and an additional £8 million from the Finance Minister as part of a winter recovery fund. I have to ask — other Members have also wondered— whether that lends itself to strategic spend or whether it is a panicked, stopgap measure. Does it address the underlying issues that infrastructure in Northern Ireland faces or is it a hurried temporary fix, a little like some of the pothole repairs that we see in Northern Ireland?”
“The Department's starting resource budget for 2025-26 was £637 million, an increase of £77 million on the previous year. Its capital budget for 2025-26 was £917 million, which was the largest capital budget ever proposed for any Northern Ireland Civil Service Department and an increase of £69 million on the previous year. I remain concerned, however, that the issue is what is done with that budget. In my view, the Minister needs to consider her priorities and place money behind them. <BR /> <BR />Seldom does a day go by without us hearing someone talk about potholes. In fact, I heard this week that a minister incorporated potholes into his Sunday morning service. If that is a priority for the Minister for Infrastructure, there needs to be investment in it, but she needs to decide what her priorities are.”
“I will speak in my capacity as the DUP's infrastructure lead. I will focus my comments on the financial issues facing the Department for Infrastructure and the implications of inaction. The vote that we are talking about today is about money: how it is allocated and how Departments spend it. It is worth making the point, as many contributors have, that there are limited resources and, of course, infinite demand. In this case, and in all such cases, it becomes a question of how we use our limited resources and, to use an American colloquialism, how much bang we get for our buck. In economics, that is often referred to as efficiency. <BR /> <BR />Given the budget that has been provided to DFI, the Minister for Infrastructure needs to do two things: prioritise more effectively and deliver quality services more efficiently.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. It is good to see somebody else from the Infrastructure Committee, aside from Harry and me. The Minister relies a lot on the three-pronged approach that the Member has just mentioned. Given that he has raised an incredibly serious issue about Northern Ireland Water's funding, is he confident that the three-pronged approach will work?”
“I thank the Member for giving way. I listened to the Education Minister and the Member chat about that — it might have been yesterday. My understanding was that, in his answer to the Member, the Education Minister said that there was clear evidence from principals across the controlled sector who were calling for that controlled sector body. Does the Member not accept that school principals are experts in education?”
“The Committee has undertaken some preliminary work in assessing the funding requirements for the Department, Northern Ireland Water, Translink and Waterways Ireland in response to the Department of Finance's draft multi-year Budget, and that will continue as we examine the impact on front-line services. The Committee will continue to work collaboratively with the Department, to scrutinise the Department and the Minister and to advocate for the funding requirements, whilst ensuring that the scarce resources are managed efficiently by the Department and the Minister.”
“Given the forecasted increased demands for concessionary fares over future years, the Committee is deeply concerned that Translink will not have sufficient reserves to meet its costs, and that could equally be applied in-year. Therefore, at its meeting, the Committee agreed to write to the Department to ascertain the assessment of Translink's reserves, including what specific actions the Department and Minister will be taking to ensure financial sustainability for the company. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the Vote on Account — albeit briefly, you will be glad to know.”
“The concern is that, given the ongoing financial constraints and the likelihood of reduced requirements being declared in future monitoring rounds by other Departments, it is difficult to see how these bids will be met in future. <BR /> <BR />The Committee is also acutely aware of the impacts of funding on Translink, which, due to an increasing demand for concessionary fares, has seen its cash reserves steadily reduced to what are now critical levels. During oral evidence from Translink, the Committee heard that an independent Treasury report recommended that Translink maintain cash reserves of £30 million to meet its day-to-day costs. However, those reserves now sit at £10 million, which equates to a little over a single week's running costs for Translink.”
“That investment will not only support the existing network but allow for incremental milestones to be delivered that should unlock the economic potential that we know that Northern Ireland has. Whilst we do not wish to undermine the value of the allocations that have been provided to Northern Ireland Water in this financial year — we recognise that the sums are vast and, in this case, in the billions — we know that what is allocated does not address what is needed, as set out by PC21. <BR /> <BR />The Committee welcomes all additional in-year funding allocations received in this financial year, but it is no secret that these still fall significantly below the capital and resource requirements of the Department.”
“The Committee has also received valuable evidence from Translink and Northern Ireland Water that very much underlined their financial constraints and their overriding need for sustainable, ongoing funding. It has been referenced many times in Committee that Northern Ireland Water lacks the funding, as determined under the current price control process, PC21, to enable it to undertake and deliver key programmes or projects to build capacity across our network. I will pick up on a few of those themes tomorrow as the Infrastructure spokesperson for our party. <BR /> <BR />I continue my remarks as Chair. Whilst recognising that a single year's investment will not resolve that underinvestment, it is imperative to seek to provide sufficient and sustained funding to enable those projects to commence.”
“The Committee received evidence from the Mineral Products Association Northern Ireland, which highlighted the impact that in-year monitoring has on its industry; not only on its ability to attract and retain staff but on its capacity to respond to repairs due to having to undertake projects across a range of jurisdictions. <BR /> <BR />We all recognise that the Department for Infrastructure plays an integral role in supporting our economy, providing the necessary foundations to deliver new homes, schools, hospitals and ensuring connectivity across our rural and urban network. Ensuring that there are sufficient resources to maintain our existing infrastructure and initiate projects to evolve that is essential for Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />As other Members have reflected, the uncertainty of funding applications from in-year monitoring has a wide impact.”
“While we all recognise the funding constraints that the Department faces, the Committee considers that funding for that central asset in particular needs to be prioritised to enable us to maintain our road network to the highest standards and reduce reliance on temporary repairs. We have all noted that adverse weather has had an impact on our roads. As a consequence, we will, undoubtedly, see an increase in compensation claims, the costs of which are likely to be met by the Department. The Committee will pay close attention to the spending that arises from those claims and to the wider quantum of unsuccessful claims. Such claims put an additional burden on road users and take up a great deal of their time as they get their cars fixed.”
“I welcome the opportunity to set out the Committee for Infrastructure's approach to monitoring DFI's financial position over the financial year. The Committee received oral evidence from departmental officials at each in-year monitoring juncture so that it could assess the pressures on the Department and how it would prioritise any remaining resources in the event of submitted bids not being met. Given the obvious scalability of the bids in a range of areas that fall within the Department's responsibilities, it is able to prioritise its programme of works on the basis of allocations received in monitoring. <BR /> <BR />Lower-priority maintenance or repairs can quickly degrade road surfaces, particularly during cold spells.”
“I thank the Member for giving way. Does the Member agree that, given what she has been through, Máiría is an incredibly courageous survivor and an incredibly powerful advocate for women in today's world?”
“Gerry Carroll talked about the number of potholes in his constituency and highlighted the fact that funeral cortèges have not been able to make it to Roselawn because of the damage that is being caused to them by potholes. <BR /> <BR />The Minister strongly agreed with, I imagine, all the concerns that she heard today. She said that the road network is crucial and that there is currently concentration on the most urgent repairs but she would like to get out of that cycle. <BR /> <BR />That will do for summing up. I brought my remarks in just on time. I urge everyone to support our motion.”
“Justin McNulty said that potholes are a daily hazard in Newry and Armagh and that constituents are fed up and furious. <BR /> <BR />My colleague Harry Harvey said that the Minister cannot plead poverty any longer and that the public want fixes, not excuses. Diana Armstrong said that this affects rural constituencies especially — I tend to agree with her: I was in Markethill at the weekend, and some of the roads around there are, frankly, appalling — and highlighted some roads in her constituency that are worthy of note. Mark Durkan said that repairs fail and the public end up paying the price, sometimes financially and certainly through the inconvenience caused to them. Timothy Gaston said that leaving maintenance to the end of the allocation cycle is ridiculous and that pots of money will not solve the problem in the long term.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will give myself three minutes to sum up some of the arguments and give everyone their dues. My colleague Stephen Dunne said that constituents deserve better than failure on potholes and cited the repeated failure of the Minister. Cathal Boylan said that supporting his amendment would demonstrate that Members will not play party politics. Andrew McMurray had, perhaps, the quote of the day when he said — I will not get this right, Andrew — that Alliance is often accused of being a "middle-of-the-road party". He said that it would be a brave man or woman who would even go onto our roads today. John Stewart said that there is a critical failure of road assets, that these are not cosmetic concerns and that millions of pounds are being paid out by the Department in insurance costs.”
“Those are real statements that, I believe, represent the views of people across Northern Ireland who may be listening to the debate. In contrast to some Members who spoke, I completely reject the idea that this is a party political point-scoring exercise. If the potholes were situated just in unionist areas or just in nationalist areas, I might have some sympathy with the argument presented on the other side of the House, but every Member knows that that is not the case: the potholes are everywhere. It is the Assembly's job to hold the person responsible — the Minister — to account, and that is what we are doing today. The potholes affect everyone regardless of political opinion, and it is our job to hold the Minister to account on the issue. Through the motion, my party will continue to do that.”
“John Smyth, another member of the public, said that he had lost two tyres after hitting a pothole and that, one week after replacing them, he hit another pothole. He said:”
“Wilson Beggs said that calling a road where he lives "a road" is simply "stretching the imagination" but:”
“That is an issue for the Minister, because she gets to make those strategic decisions. <BR /> <BR />We have questions around how long a temporary fix might last and when a permanent repair will go in after a temporary fix. The Minister touched on that, but I did not follow exactly what she said; I am sure that the Committee will write to her in that regard. What is the inspection regime for contractors who go in to do fixes, and how does the Department quality-assure them? I am aware that that happens with some contractors who put in cabling along our footpaths, and the Committee will pick up on that. <BR /> <BR />It is worth hearing from the public in the debate today. I looked at a piece that the BBC recently ran, and I will read out two views that members of the public expressed.”
“It is generally accepted that we have had the mildest winter for a considerable time. That goes to the heart of the issue, which is the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department. It is worth pausing for a second — I think that I just about have time — to mention that. "Effectiveness" and "efficiency" are two words that I hear a lot in the Assembly: they mean different things. Efficiency is doing things right, and effectiveness is doing the right things. When we apply those words to the situation that we are looking at, we see that efficiency is repairing our roads, with their potholes, in an effective and efficient manner that will last for some time, while effectiveness is doing the right things, which means picking the important things and following through with capital investment.”
“I thank the Minister for her intervention. She will not take me into the issue of waste water, but I will say that, as Chair of the Infrastructure Committee, I do not have the responsibility or imperative to solve it. That is an imperative for the Minister to solve, because she is the Minister. I will give her this: there are challenges in DFI that require capital funding, but that is her responsibility. She is the Infrastructure Minister. <BR /> <BR />In one of your most recent press releases, Minister, which was cited here today, you mentioned the additional damage that freezing temperatures had caused over the winter. When I looked at the seasonal weather over that period, I saw that last December had been the warmest that Northern Ireland had had in the past 29 years.”
“The Minister cannot continue to cite chronic underfunding. She often blames the British Treasury for a lack of funding; my understanding from Sam McBride is that she has used that excuse 132 times in response to questions for written answer. The fact remains that the 2025-26 DFI budget is the largest that DFI has ever had; in fact, according to the think tank Pivotal, the DFI budget has risen by over 60% in the past eight years and the only Department budget that has risen more is that of the Department of Health.”
“I thank the Member for West Belfast for his intervention. My understanding is that the legislative priority for active travel is 10% of the overall budget. The Minister probably knows the answer, and the Member beside her is nodding at me, so that is money that should be spent on active travel. My understanding is that it is being spent in a range of ways, and that is correct, because active travel also means that the elderly can use footpaths, and some of our footpaths are badly damaged. We are, however, focusing on roads today.”
“I am happy to mention the Member for West Belfast, who cited the fact that motorcyclists and cyclists — he may have been the first in the debate to do so — are at particular risk from potholes. If we hit a pothole in our car, the car can get quite seriously damaged, but if a motorcyclist hits one at 40 mph or a cyclist hits one at 30 mph, they can get seriously injured, so I am grateful to the Member for highlighting that point. I was going to do so myself.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will speak to the motion and summarise the debate as best I can. We have all had front seats to the growing crisis in the Department for Infrastructure over our road network. The Department should be a cornerstone for economic growth and connectivity in Northern Ireland but is instead hamstrung by a level of administrative inertia and a lack of strategic clarity when it comes to tackling potholes and the state of our roads. <BR /> <BR />The only winners in that battle are the tyre repair centres and those fitting new front suspensions. From Bangor to Ballymena and from Fivemiletown to Fintona, families, commuters, farmers, delivery drivers and owners of small businesses are all paying the price. Tyres are being shredded and suspension systems damaged.”
“— that was close — Dáire Hughes, who shares office space with you, and then even to your constituency office manager, Councillor Mathers, a fact that you did not disclose to the Assembly in January? For planning enforcement in Northern Ireland, is there one rule for Sinn Féin and another rule for everyone else?”
“Why, then, did your departmental officials write, asking for it to be taken down, to the Sinn Féin constituency office in Newry, then to your colleague the DUP, sorry, the Sinn Féin MP”
“Minister, when you were previously in the Chamber, you stated:”
“I do not want to incur your wrath, Pat. You espouse the education system in the South. I agree that the delivering equality of opportunity in schools (DEIS) programme has done a really good job, but do you want to see an education system in Northern Ireland that has 35 times more private schools than there are currently? Is that the system that you aspire to?”
“Minister, do you agree that you do not really need a pothole scanner but you do need to get a grip of the problem?”
“Minister, you recently announced your intention to purchase a scanning vehicle to let you know where all the potholes are in Northern Ireland: I kindly suggest that you do not need one, as Stephen Nolan has been giving us daily morning updates. In fact, yesterday, the BBC health correspondent for Northern Ireland, Marie-Louise Connolly, took to X to say:”
“It is OK to have a sound bite, but what happens next is significantly more complex. A problem that the Assembly would not have to deal with but the Education Minister certainly would have to is how those schools then select. That could increase the level of disadvantage based on wealth more than leaving the current system in place. <BR /> <BR />The Chair of the Committee said the right thing — you can frame my having said that later, Nick — when he quoted the DE policy, Every School a Good School, from way back in 2009. That is what the Assembly needs to do. It needs to create the conditions that mean that every school should be a good school or an excellent school or a brilliant school. This Education Minister is doing all that he can to achieve that.”
“When I read the motion, I thought, "OK, so we're going to end academic selection". What do we do after that? How do kids choose which schools to go to? We will have the same schools; they will just be called different things, so what is that process? It is OK to say, "End academic selection", but how does a school that was previously a grammar school choose its intake for the following year? Does it do it on the basis of where the school is, as with primary schools, in which case house prices will rise? Do you want to create a situation in which, instead of there being maybe one or two private schools in Northern Ireland, there will be a proliferation to eight, where you can be assured that the only kids who will get to those schools are the ones whose parents can pay? That cuts off social mobility.”
“I thank the Member for his question. The 'A Fair Start' report cited a whole range of causes. I am simply making the point that, in how we deal with educational underachievement or disadvantage, academic selection is not the key driver. It is things such as poverty, parental aspiration and the level of parental support. If we want to close a long tail of underachievement, that is what we address. This might be a sound bite, and it might be covered today in terms of academic selection being a contentious issue, but, if we are serious about tackling educational underachievement across our sectors for Protestant and Catholic kids in Northern Ireland, those are the things that we should be focusing on. <BR /> <BR />I have one and a half minutes left. I will give the Floor to the Members opposite.”
“To the Chair of the Education Committee, of course, I will.”