Timothy Gaston
North Antrim · Traditional Unionist Voice · Northern Ireland
“I begin my remarks by putting on record, once again, my thanks to the victims and survivors who have campaigned for many years to bring us to this point today, where the Bill will pass its Final Stage.”
“There is an onus on the Assembly in the next mandate to ensure that the work continues, with a second phase of redress that will consider individualised acknowledgement of the harm and trauma that the birth mothers and adult adoptees experienced.”
“I trust that those who have worked diligently in the background on the terms of reference will reflect the requests of the Committee and those who have given evidence to ensure that they are victim-centred and that truth and justice will be pursued.”
“Throughout the process, the Committee has taken steps to ensure that victims and survivors of religious institutions, state homes and private homes see themselves reflected in the Bill.”
“At a recent meeting of the Committee for the Executive Office, the Migrants' Rights Network complained that, in the second half of 2025, the UK Government increased raids focused on illegal working. When raids increased by 76%, arrests increased by 169%.”
“The revelations that have come to light since dirty Donaldson's conviction and the red flags that his colleagues ignored raise profound and troubling questions for the DUP, but for Sinn Féin generally and Deirdre Hargey in particular to come to the Chamber and pontificate about safeguarding is utter hypocrisy.”
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“<BR /> <BR />I was glad to see colleagues from the Alliance Party in attendance this morning. I asked them to reflect, in light of what they heard, on the simple question: is it right or moral to draw a distinction between paramilitaries before and after the Belfast Agreement? Surely, on reflection, you will agree that, while there is no justification for the existence of terrorist groups that inflict so much suffering on all sections of society, there was also no need for them 25, 35 or even 45 years ago. <BR /> <BR />In its motion, the Alliance Party should have gone further. In failing to do so, it plays into the disgraceful "no alternative" narrative from some in this House. When my party leader addressed in the Commons the issue of a scoping exercise, he characterised it as a nursemaid for paramilitaries. I agree with his assessment.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. This morning, I had the privilege of hosting the European Day for Victims of Crime 2025 event in the Senate Chamber. We heard testimony from Pamela Wilson, whose father was an RUC officer murdered by the IRA on his son's eighth birthday. He also left behind a 10-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old baby girl. We also heard from Colette Murray, whose brother, Cyril, was shot dead by loyalist terrorists on 8 July 1992. I was honoured to introduce Caroline D'Eath whose father, Gerald, was murdered by the UVF while he was working on the building site of a new Christian Brothers school in 1975. I was also privileged to meet David McCaughey, whose cousin Dougald McCaughey was one of three off-duty Scottish soldiers who were lured from a city-centre bar in Belfast, driven to a remote location and shot.”
“I declare an interest as a governor of Buick Memorial Primary School. <BR /> <BR />Many primary schools, such as that of which I am a governor, struggle to carry out basic, routine maintenance. The school has to fundraise for such simple things as painting the walls. At what point will budgets be rebalanced to ensure that schools have enough resources to carry out basic, routine maintenance such as painting the walls and other everyday things to keep their buildings in tip-top shape? The budget that is there at the minute —”
“The current waste water infrastructure could not support those developments. What conversations have you had with the Minister for Communities? Have you given him a commitment that you will support him, through funding Northern Ireland Water, to ensure that he can provide the houses that he outlined in those announcements?”
“The Minister for Communities has announced the building of 100,000 new houses by 2039, while the Programme for Government (PFG) commits to 5,850 new social houses being started by 2027.”
“Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. I was just coming back to the north-west and how mutual enforcement would benefit the north-west as well as the rest of Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I will go back to mutual enforcement. It is a fundamental element of international trade. We do not need the protocol, not in the north-west or in the rest of Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />I welcome the fact that the DUP has found reverse gear since its 'Safeguarding the Union' document, when it embraced the ideal of dual market access. I will join DUP Members in the Lobby to vote for their amendment.”
“Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. I thank the Member for his intervention and for recognising that I am generous about letting other people in. <BR /> <BR />When we talk about the protocol, the answer lies with the EU and mutual enforcement. However, the Irish Government, in their political pursuit of unifying the island of Ireland through the protocol, rejected that which is the basis for international trade elsewhere: if you want to make goods that are destined for a foreign market, you make them to the standards of that foreign market —”
“The irony is that services are not covered by the protocol; they remain within the United Kingdom context. <BR /> <BR />The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. Being in the EU single market is not benefiting the economy of Northern Ireland or, indeed, the north-west; instead, it fetters our relationship with our biggest partner. It all comes back to this fundamental question: is it right that, as a people, we are governed by laws that we cannot make and cannot change? That can never be right.”
“A manufacturer wishing to set up a business in Northern Ireland in order to have access to the EU market is bound to consider, "Where will I get my raw materials?" If they decide, as many do, that they must get them from GB, they will discover that they have a trade border to navigate. <BR /> <BR />Dual market access has always been a fairy tale and oversold. As a member of the EU single market, which, sadly, we are, we have to subjugate our sovereignty to that of the EU. That means that, to enjoy the so-called benefits of the single market, we have to subject ourselves to 300 areas of law that we do not make and cannot change. EU laws are foreign laws. The truth is that it is our services industry, not our manufacturing industry, that has expanded.”
“Yes, well, Mr Honeyford referred to Lagan Valley, and I could not let that go. <BR /> <BR />We have been told that Northern Ireland would have access to the UK market and the EU market and that everyone should be overwhelmed by the fantastic opportunity that that provides. How wrong that has turned out to be, for one simple reason: inward investment was supposed to flow into Northern Ireland because of dual market access, but it has not done so. Under questioning from the Committee Chair, Mr Brett, Invest NI had to admit that there had been no upturn. Why is that? It is because the price of access to the EU market was the fettering of trade from Great Britain.”
“I start by commending the DUP for tabling an amendment that correctly identifies the fact that there is no evidence of any benefits from the fantasy of dual market access. I heard Mr Honeyford give a couple of examples. I would like to hear more about those, just to make sure that it is dual market —.”
“Minister, I presume that the £61 million earmarked for the Department of Health's primary care multidisciplinary teams is distinct from the £135 million to reduce waiting lists that was announced as part of the Programme for Government yesterday. Minister, will you confirm when the Health Minister was advised of that sum and whether, unlike the situation with the "up to £135 million" that was announced yesterday, you are sure that the entirety of that sum actually exists?”
“It is indeed. Secondly, in the absence of an agreed definition —”
“That sounds good, but it leaves wriggle room. <BR /> <BR />When the Women's Rights Network came to the Executive Office Committee recently, I took the opportunity to ask it for its thoughts on the policy. First, it was not even consulted on the document. It was the only gender-critical organisation, and it was left out. No gender-critical organisations were allowed —.”
“For months, I have been pressing the First Minister and deputy First Minister on their agreed position on violence against women and girls. Was violence against women and girls wrong in the period between 1969 and 1998? Just last week, I finally got an answer. The agreed position of the Executive is that:”
“<BR /> <BR />Some might respond to that by saying, "On page 85, there is a mention of Intertrade UK", yet that same paragraph also deals with InterTradeIreland. Let us contrast the two bodies. InterTradeIreland, thanks to the Budget passed by the House last week, was handed £6 million in resources: Intertrade UK is not getting a penny from this place. InterTradeIreland has permanent offices and a growing staff: Intertrade UK has neither. InterTradeIreland has a statutory basis: Intertrade UK has no such standing. It is not hard to work out which body will be able to deliver on its objectives. <BR /> <BR />The final point that I will pick up on is about the ending violence against women and girls strategy.”
“As it stands, I do not see how planning works for business or for our people. <BR /> <BR />More fundamentally, when it comes to the economy, as I have stated, there is a lack of any mention of the protocol. You cannot grow your economy while trashing the UK's internal market. You cannot grow a globally competitive economy while cutting this part of the UK off from a possible UK-US trade deal, as the protocol leaves Northern Ireland trapped in the EU customs union and single market for goods. I ask unionists who claimed that they would fight the protocol in the arena of Stormont this: how is that working out for you? What progress have you made? The protocol is not even deemed worthy of a mention in the document.”
“<BR /> <BR />Let us turn to the economy and what the Programme for Government says about planning, which is important on two fronts. The biggest barrier to planning is a lack of waste water infrastructure. In the document, there is no commitment on the level of investment for Northern Ireland Water or the areas that will be targeted. How has our planning system worked since its day-to-day functions were devolved to councils in 2015? Through the review of public administration (RPA), Stormont allowed councils to move from one set of policies that governed all of Northern Ireland to creating 11 different local development plans. If the Executive want to address the issues in our planning system and are serious about attracting inward investment, there is a need to go back to one set of planning policies that govern all of Northern Ireland.”
“Either way, working families in Northern Ireland are being short-changed by the Executive. <BR /> <BR />Some of the missing millions may be going to the three nationalist demands mentioned in the document. This is a Programme for Government that commits to the expansion of the Ulster University Magee campus while making no solid promises to any of our other higher education institutions. This is a document that promises that the Executive will fulfil their duties to deliver on the Irish language when it comes to the Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act 2022 and pledges to work on an Irish language strategy. This is a Programme for Government that makes promises on the redevelopment of Casement Park, but where is the section on how the Executive will deal with the protocol? It is not as much as mentioned.”
“That sounds like a catchy headline for the media, as it is trumpeted as a major achievement. Let us see what the reality is. At Question Time earlier today, the First Minister told us that the figure was up to £50 million. The Executive got a cheque from Westminster to fund a scheme similar to that in England and Wales. The sum on that cheque was not the £25 million mentioned in the document or the £50 million that the First Minister told us about earlier; it was £57·2 million. Nowhere in the document do the Executive explain where the millions have gone. In fact, what is the figure? Is it the £25 million that we see in the document unveiled today? Is it the £50 million that the First Minister told us about at Question Time? Regardless of what the figure is, what happened to the missing £32·2 million or £7·2 million?”
“That works out at around £4,000 a patient. We are not aiming to perform many hip replacements if that is the associated budget provided. <BR /> <BR />I will move on. There is not a word about additional officers for the PSNI at a time when it has just 6,278, which is over 1,000 fewer than, the Patten report stated, we need. <BR /> <BR />There are other things, however, that the document talks a lot about. Indeed, it talks a lot. Let us consider childcare, as it is mentioned at least 30 times. On page 27, we are told that the Executive are:”
“I will make some progress, and then, be assured, I will let you in. <BR /> <BR />Page 30 tells us that the Executive will invest up to £135 million this year:”
“The wait is finally over for our Stormont cheerleaders. The spin document has arrived. It has been unveiled for those who championed the restoration of Stormont and promised all of us that that would solve all the problems. I sense from the Opposition today that they are maybe a wee bit less enthusiastic now than they were before the institutions came back. <BR /> <BR />Let us have a look at what this glossy document tells us. Page 30 —.”
“Will the Minister take this opportunity to enlighten the Member who tabled the question for oral answer on how many genders there are?”
“First Minister, will you take this opportunity to inform the House and share with us all the cost of the trip to Washington for St Patrick's Day 2024? Your Department has sat on the answer for some seven months. It would be good if you could confirm to the House when I can expect an answer or, indeed, to know the cost of the trip?”
“<BR /> <BR />Whether at the level of the councils or the First Minister and deputy First Minister, it is time for there to be openness and transparency throughout government in Northern Ireland.”
“In the aftermath of a meeting of the Executive Office Committee for which the First Minister was provided with questions in advance, and during which Mrs O'Neill was shielded from further questioning by the Chair, I lodged two FOI requests: one asking for all information relating to the meeting between the First Minister and the Chair of the Executive Office Committee and another requesting information relating to the decision to request that meeting. That was in November 2024. I was promised a response to my first FOI request by 16 January 2025, and my other request has simply been ignored. More than three months later, TEO has not provided any of the requested information. It is important to remember that FOI requests should be dealt with within 20 days.”
“Last month, we learned that the Information Commissioner's Office had ruled that the councillors behind the illegal call-in to stop the flying of the Union flag at war memorials in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area will not be named. My message is simple: if public representatives are not prepared to be named when it comes to their decisions, they should not be entrusted by the electorate to make those decisions. Transparency and accountability are essential to build public confidence. Allowing those councillors' names to remain hidden further erodes the electorate's trust in their elected representatives. <BR /> <BR />I will also highlight some facts about the Executive Office and its commitment to respond to FOI requests.”
“Decisions taken in this place have ensured that our ageing population will continue to age. <BR /> <BR />The draft Programme for Government ignores our older population. I trust that, through Executive Office Committee evidence sessions and consultation responses, the Executive will put that right when we finally get to see the agreed Programme for Government.”
“<BR /> <BR />I will now touch on another issue that Members have, to date, overlooked: how we, as legislators, are contributing to the problem of a lack of children and young people. We need an upcoming generation to maintain our society: people who are able to keep the economy going when we are in retirement; people to operate the social care and health system on which, as we age, we will be increasingly dependent. That brings me to the greatest shame in our Province, one which is taking place not in spite of the law of the land but expressly because of it. At the end of last month, the Department of Health published stats showing an increase of 77% in the number of abortions compared with the 2020-21 figure. The most basic step that we must take to start addressing the issues of an ageing population is to stop killing our young.”
“We have heard today the figures and projections as laid out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency in 2022. They are quite clear, so let us break them down. The number of children aged between zero and 15 is projected to decrease over the next quarter of a century, from 389,400 in mid-2022 to 299,500 in mid-2047. That is a decrease of 23·1%. The number of people aged between 16 and 64 is projected to decrease over the same period by 4·6%. By way of contrast, the number of people aged 65 and above is projected to grow from 335,400 in 2022 to 501,700 by 2047. In light of that, the case for urgent planning is clear in health, housing and infrastructure.”
“and that the pain that they experienced was "not treated seriously". Older people have been failed by successive Executives. The pledge in the Programme for Government 2011-15 to extend age discrimination legislation did not materialise. There has been a failure to renew the active ageing strategy, which expired in 2022. There was no commitment to legislate on age discrimination in the draft Programme for Government in 2016. New Decade, New Approach promised legislation, but, again, nothing has come forward. There is no commitment to do anything in the current draft Programme for Government. <BR /> <BR />Put simply, devolution is failing to deliver for pensioners. When one looks at the statistics, it is clear that there is an urgent need to plan for an ageing population.”
“<BR /> <BR />When the Member for West Belfast brought his first private Member's motion to the House, I said that it fell to this corner of the Chamber to address issues that others have failed to address, and the same applies to today's motion. Last September, the Committee for the Executive Office heard from the Older People's Commissioner and Age NI. The story relayed to the Committee was one of a section of society that feels ignored. Age NI's lived experience survey results from 2023 painted a picture of a large section of our community that feels "sidelined", "forgotten about", "dismissed" and:”
“Several Members congratulated Claire on bringing her first private Member's motion to the House, following 11 years as an MLA. Some expressed shock at that being the case. I take the opportunity to say that the parties on the Business Committee and you, Mr Speaker, should today reflect on the fact that all Members should get a fair crack of the whip when it comes to securing motions for debate in the Chamber. My predecessor, Jim Allister, sat in the Assembly for 13 years and never had an opportunity to bring such a motion to the House. Yes, progress has been made, but there is more to be done. I trust that the Business Committee will consider what I have said. I add my voice to those commending Claire for bringing her motion to the House.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will respond to the Member by saying that immigration is one of the issues that adds pressure to our housing stock across Northern Ireland, whether or not the Member wishes to admit it. When there is a lack of stock, rents will ultimately increase: that is a fact. Immigration is one of the issues that adds to the pressure on our housing stock: that is also a fact. <BR /> <BR />Unless and until we deal with the factors that cause rent increases, landlords will continue to be driven by money rather than by a desire to provide good houses for their tenants. I am happy to support the motion, but greater focus needs to be put on the cause of rents being driven up rather than on mollycoddling the landlords to keep the prices down. We need to look at the cause as well as the outworkings.”
“That matter may not be a concern for the majority in the House, but, as Sinn Féin has found in the Irish Republic, the EU's open-borders policy eventually gets unpopular with communities well beyond the confines of the loyalist housing estates of Ballymena that I am proud to represent. I make no apology for articulating their views here today, even if no one else will.”
“The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency tells me that there was a net international flow of over 5,000 people into this country in the year ending mid-2022. The lived experience of many of my North Antrim constituents is that working-class communities such as Harryville in my home town recognise that immigration has been a factor in the housing pressure that creates higher rents. The court ruling last year on the Rwanda Bill showed that the protocol opens up the very real prospect of effective immigration controls in the rest of the UK not applying in Northern Ireland.”
“Landlords know that if they evict a good sitting tenant today, they can fill the house with a number of people tomorrow and increase their income as a result. A landlord in my constituency is now buying commercial properties in the town centre with a view to turning them into HMOs, because he can get a better return from an HMO than from a shop. <BR /> <BR />I will touch briefly on another point that the motion does not address directly. Whether the Chamber wants to admit it or not, uncontrolled immigration is a contributing factor to rising housing rents, especially in deprived areas. Last summer, we witnessed some disgraceful disorder on our streets. There were attempts by some, particularly in the media, to claim that pressure on housing caused by immigration was a myth. The data, however, tells us a different story.”
“On top of the potential capital funding and planning permission issues that he will encounter, I question the commitment, if any, that the Minister has been given by the Executive and the Minister for Infrastructure on the investment required for Northern Ireland Water to support that much-needed housing plan. Members will not need me to tell them that, across the Province, there are horror stories of how decades of underinvestment in the waste water infrastructure have left many homeowners living with the consequences. <BR /> <BR />Another issue that is relevant to the matter before the House, although it is not mentioned in the motion or the amendments, is the rapid increase in legal or illegal HMOs.”
“When discussing unaffordable rents and the lack of available housing throughout Northern Ireland, we must consider the causes rather than simply focusing on dealing with their outworkings. The main issue driving up rents is the lack of available housing stock and the lack of new affordable homes that are being built to match current, never mind future, demand. <BR /> <BR />A number of weeks ago, I welcomed the Communities Minister's ambition to deliver at least 100,000 new social or affordable homes over 15 years to meet our housing demands.”
“It is needed because the protocol and the Windsor framework are still in place. Those are the very things that the current DUP leader said the DUP had got rid of. That was clearly not the case. I hope that in future debates, the DUP will again find its energy and take the fight to the Government. Until the protocol and the Windsor framework are scrapped, Northern Ireland will continue to be held back by its colonial masters. The SR is only a simple outworking of that, but, for the farming industry, it is a big issue when it comes to tags on sheep and cows. This is a small example, but there are many more to come. The protocol and the Windsor framework must go. Only then will Northern Ireland be able to move forward.”
“Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I will briefly respond to Mr O'Toole. The reason for the protocol and the Windsor framework is that Northern Ireland did not get Brexit. If we had got Brexit, there would be no protocol and no Windsor framework. <BR /> <BR />I will go back to the motion on the prayer of annulment. The SR is about aligning our farming industry closer with the Irish Republic and driving a further wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of our Union. It is no surprise to me that the nationalist and republican Alliance is the chief cheerleader for the SR. We have seen that from the Minister who is pressing for it. <BR /> <BR />I am glad that the DUP has tabled the prayer of annulment — I will supporting — but we have to go back to why it is needed.”
“The business before us proves the opposite: Northern Ireland did not get Brexit. If we had got it, we would have left with the rest of the UK. As the prayer of annulment illustrates, the protocol means that we remain in the EU single market and customs union and, consequently, trade with GB might as well be trade with Argentina.”
“He later boasted that the sea border would be gone by the autumn of 2024. It is now 24 February 2025, and the sea border is still here; indeed, it hardens by the day. Shame on those who lied to the unionist people, but shame, too, on those who championed the division of the United Kingdom through the rigorous implementation of the protocol. <BR /> <BR />The protocol continues to inflict unnecessary additional costs on farmers. Now, Great Britain, which, historically, we have traded freely with, is treated as a third country. I hear some in the House claim that the protocol is because of Brexit. We have heard that here today from the leader of the Opposition.”
“The latest ruling by our colonial masters that our livestock can no longer bear UK ear tags but must, because of the protocol, have ear tags with EU designation XI, is yet another working of foreign rule in Northern Ireland. The root of the matter is that Northern Ireland, uniquely in the UK, is subject to the EU's animal health regime and laws. I say this gently to those who tabled the prayer of annulment: the very fact that you have had to do so is a concession that the DUP returned to the Assembly under false pretences. I remind the House that, in the aftermath of the dud Donaldson deal, Gavin Robinson wrote an article in the 'News Letter' that carried the headline:”
“The names of the men referenced in the poem are Chief Instructor Leslie Jarvis, Detective Inspector Austin Wilson and Sergeant John Bennison, who were murdered at Magee College in Londonderry on 23 March 1987. Some people in the House make a virtue out of not meeting Donald Trump because of his policy on the Middle East. Perhaps the truth is that they are closer to Hamas, in ideology and tactics, than they are to any innocent Palestinian civilian with whom they claim to sympathise.”
“I will read a poem called 'A Simple Set of Car Keys', which is partly based on revelations in Liam Clarke's biography of Martin McGuinness about three murders:”
“The bodies of 34-year-old Shiri Bibas and her children — four-year-old Ariel and six-month old Kfir Bibas — who were kidnapped on 7 October 2023, were supposed to be handed over during a sickening ceremony on Thursday. On Friday, it emerged that the body of Shiri Bibas had not been returned as promised, and authorities had to wait another day to get it. The coffins released on Friday were locked, resulting in painful delays in the processes for Israeli authorities, because they feared that the coffins could literally blow up in their faces. Those were horrific circumstances for the families and the Israeli authorities to deal with. Yet, to enter this very Chamber, Members pass a portrait of someone who was linked to similar behaviour.”
“If that was a polite way of questioning whether MLAs in this place ever opened that book, I share his scepticism. However, receiving the book was very helpful to my office and to me when preparing for the debates yesterday and today. There is certainly a case for reviewing whether it is necessary to produce copies for every MLA, but if he were to cut the printing of hard copies of the Estimates book entirely, that would be a most regressive step. Indeed, because of the book, a number of MLAs were able to scrutinise what has come before us and pick up errors therein.”
“Madam Principal Deputy Speaker, anything that I said in my remarks relates to the pages of the Budget Bill and is in that context. Indeed, I believe that we all know the answers to the questions that I posed. <BR /> <BR />On a positive note, I observe that, from this day forward, the Assembly cannot wash its hands of issues and blame London, which many Members love to do. When the Budget passes, the financial decisions that it contains and every unwise penny that is spent, of which there will be plenty, will carry the "Made in Stormont" stamp. <BR /> <BR />I will close by making a final observation. In the Minister's response to the debate yesterday, he questioned whether delivering the Estimates book to all Members represented value for money.”