Edwin Poots
South Belfast · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I call Mr Eóin Tennyson. Again, this is Mr Tennyson's first opportunity to speak as a private Member, so I remind the House that it is convention that a maiden speech be made without interruption. However, if you choose to express views that provoke an interruption, you are likely to forfeit that protection.”
“Sorry — Ms Armstrong. My apologies. <BR /> <BR />That the Assembly could, in some way, get that money out when it is a UK Government responsibility. The UK Government have distributed it directly in Scotland and Wales, not through the Welsh Parliament and not through the Scottish Parliament.”
“I have not got time; I am sorry. <BR /> <BR />Ursula von der Leyen, who was in the Republic last week, made some of the most ridiculous claims about the British Government, who have supported Ukraine in a way that no other Government in Europe have and who have never engaged in the activity that was suggested by Ursula von der Leyen.”
“Today, a lot of statements have been made but there has not been a lot of fact behind a lot of what has been said. We have Michelle O'Neill, who walked out of her role as Health Minister — not for six months but for three years — and abandoned her position when we had Bengoa and there were all the problems with nursing that led to the str…”
“I need to deal with the issues first. <BR /> <BR />He referred to the Budget that he produced. No party supported that Budget. The Alliance Party did not support it, because it did not cover policing and prisons. Infrastructure did not support it, because it would not allow it to do the basics of what had to be done.”
“We had a circumstance where Sinn Féin repeated, month after month after month, that there were hundreds of millions to give to the public when that did not exist and when, in reality, Minister Murphy was racking up debt that will roll into next year, which will ensure that that will be a difficult financial year.”
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“I visited Altnagelvin the day after I took ministerial office and, within a week, I made the decision to proceed with the radiotherapy unit. I did not think that is was good to create uncertainty about such an important subject. Mr Beggs rightly pointed out that the service is not just for the people of the north-west, though it is focused on them. Given the increasing numbers of patients who require treatment for cancer, Belfast City Hospital cancer centre would not have been able to cope: 300 people use that service every day as things stand. It is absolutely essential for everybody in Northern Ireland that we proceed with it, given than one in three people will contract cancer at some point in their life.”
“We can assist the Republic of Ireland by providing top-class health care, and they can pay a contribution, which will ensure that we can sustain the service. That makes completely logical sense. As we move forward to looking at the potential of having an air ambulance and all of that, there could be a major expansion of the services at Altnagelvin Hospital. That is where I come from; that is my commitment to that service. It is not just for the service we are going to provide at this stage. I want to expand it further and provide assistance to others.”
“In any event, I was up at that facility last week. We have the most state-of-the-art equipment available anywhere in the world in Altnagelvin Hospital. That is good news. A taxi driver came in and was sitting up in bed an hour and half later having had the treatment. He potentially has a very good outlook as a result of that intervention. That is the service that we want to provide. We do not want to provide it just at one o'clock on a Friday or from nine to five. We want it available at 12 o'clock at night or four o'clock in the morning — whatever time it happens to be. I do not want it to be available just to the north-west and people from the Northern Trust area; I want it to be available to people from the Republic of Ireland as well.”
“I thought at the start of the meeting that it was going to support me, but, by the end of it, the Chair was not that keen on providing that support, for whatever reason. I hoped to have a Committee Chair who would have been more supportive of delivering those services, to be quite honest. It reflects very poorly on the Committee Chair that she did not have the will to give leadership to that Committee to ensure that I received the support to get more than £20 million for the rest of this year. <BR /> <BR />As we take the situation forward, we have proceeded with the primary PCI unit. It has been live 24/7 since 15 September. I would have hoped that Mrs Dobson's people who assist her would have advised her better: she said that she hoped that we would go ahead with it, but it has already started.”
“My party was always of the opinion that we could do with something less than £160 million but that we needed considerably more money. Therefore, we were looking to get £40 million in the June monitoring round and £40 million in the October monitoring round. However, when we got to the June monitoring round, which came out five weeks late, we were told, "You're getting £20 million. That's all you're getting for this year. Now, go away". Those are the circumstances in which we find ourselves. If we got £20 million and no more in this financial year, that is the extent of the cuts. I said that I was not prepared to deliver those cuts. I needed the support of the Assembly. I sought the support of the Committee.”
“At the outset, I wholeheartedly endorse the recognition of the hospital, the staff and their professionalism. Every one of them is worth every penny. <BR /> <BR />At the heart of the debate is the future funding of the PCI cath lab service and the new radiotherapy unit. I never had, nor do I have, any intention of not continuing with those services. I merely pointed out to Members the reality of the situation because of the budget that was awarded to me in June. We are already making £170 million of savings this year on top of the £492 million made over the previous three years. That is just over £660 million. I met the First Minister and the deputy First Minister on 6 April to explain that there was an additional gap of £160 million that we needed to address.”
“The motion states that the Assembly should recognise:”
“If the Member were looking to attract to this radiotherapy centre people who are currently on bonuses, would he not pay them that and not have those doctors come? I am proud that, in Northern Ireland, we have some of the best doctors in the world. However, you will only get the best by paying the best. That is what we are doing. If you do not want the best doctors in the world, that is a matter for Sinn Féin. I want the best.”
“As we gather today to remember Ian Paisley, we owe it to him and to future generations to carry through the work that he has done and to ensure that it is not undone. He wanted peace in our land and peace in people's hearts. There is a great work still to be done, and it is our duty to do it.”
“As we recalled stories, we laughed and considered various things. We mourned, and we wept.”
“He knew that anybody could find forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ, and he wanted to spread that gospel, irrespective of who it was. My father first stood with Ian Paisley in 1969 as a Protestant Unionist, and he entered this Chamber in 1973 in the old Northern Ireland Assembly. He walked in with him, and he was carried out with him. I then had the privilege of walking in with him in 1998 and of being with him right through until he retired in 2008. The more I got to know Ian Paisley, the more I liked the man. That is not a trait that always happens. He was more than a colleague. He was caring, he was kind and he was wise. He could be quite crafty. For me, he was a friend, a brother and a mentor, but most of all he was a spiritual father. I had the opportunity of spending time with the family yesterday.”
“She ended up taking the gospel to the people in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. In Brazil, many lepers were healed as a result of the work of Bill Woods, who went out there on the support of Ian Paisley and many others. People in the slums of Manila, and people in the mountains of Nepal. That was the spread of the man. It was not just Northern Ireland but has been a worldwide spread. Locally, many a drunkard, a gambler and a wife-beater sought Jesus Christ after hearing the preaching of Ian Paisley, which made a remarkable difference to families. <BR /> <BR />He looked on his political opponents as people who could be redeemed because he knew that the apostle Paul was a man who called himself the greatest sinner and was actually involved in the killing of people.”
“First, I wish well the Speaker and Minister Kennedy, who are unwell at this time. The greatest tribute to Ian Paisley will not be in the eloquent speeches of people in this Chamber or, indeed, in the well-crafted words of Prime Ministers or statesmen. The greatest tribute to Ian Paisley will be those simple tributes that will come and have come from many men and women over the weekend that they came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through hearing the preaching of Ian Paisley. I had the privilege from being a very young boy of hearing that preaching. He spoke with fire and fervour, with passion and compassion and with power and conviction, and his impact was felt right across Northern Ireland but well beyond Northern Ireland. My sister was one of those who came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through his preaching.”
“I commend that organisation and the others working very closely with communities to get positive messages out there and encourage people not to take drugs in the first instance.”
“I encourage her to speak to the legitimate authorities to pass on the name of whoever is supplying the drugs in the first instance. If there is any concern that some of the drugs have been ingested, I encourage a health check. I encourage her to engage with organisations that provide support and help to people who are using drugs or considering using drugs. <BR /> <BR />In all of this, we need to approach our young people, and others who are considering or are taking drugs, in a very sensitive way that sets out to try to help them. It is not always about badgering and barking at people; it is about outlining to them what the risks and dangers are and perhaps other ways that they can enjoy themselves without taking drugs. Quite a number of organisations available across Northern Ireland can provide support. Mr Dunne commended one of them.”
“I very much welcome the fact that the courts supported the council when that was challenged by the shops.”
“Previously, they had been assessed by the Ministry of Health and, in August 2013, were judged to be of low enough risk to be sold to the public. There are now 42 legal high products being sold in New Zealand under interim licences. Suppliers paid £10,000 to register each product with the authorities, which evaluated calls to the National Poisons Centre and other reports of harm before granting approval. <BR /> <BR />All these options are being considered by the Home Office's expert panel, although it is clear from discussions at the meeting that none of these approaches is a complete solution on its own. Belfast City Council has led the way in being innovative in the United Kingdom by using existing legislation to remove materials from shops' premises.”
“Many head-shop products became illegal in the Republic of Ireland when its Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 was introduced. That empowered gardaí to seek court orders to close shops suspected of selling drug-like products, with the onus on owners to prove that they are not doing so. The United States of America has what is known as analogue legislation, which means that any new drug that acts in the same way as an already banned substance is automatically considered to be banned under the existing legislation. <BR /> <BR />New Zealand's plans were to regulate and license the new psychoactive substances (NPS) market. However, it is reported that some of the first legal highs to be sold under licence in New Zealand were urgently pulled off the shelves after users reported adverse health effects.”
“We encourage our Government to ensure that they are well placed to combat the supply of drugs and the individuals doing that so that we can act against them.”
“I do not know. That is something for others to decide and I am happy to do the job when I am asked to do it. In any event, the job in hand indicates that we have an issue and a problem now that we need to address. We had corresponded with Westminster, which indicated that it was carrying out an investigation into all of this, with the intention of looking at whether legislation is appropriate. That was to be concluded in the spring of this year; it is now to be concluded in September, so it should be weeks away at the latest. Hopefully, we will get information very soon from Westminster on what the next steps are. We have looked at actions that have taken place in New Zealand, the United States of America and the Republic of Ireland, where there has been greater success.”
“Often, those who take drugs feel that such campaigns do not match their experience, and they therefore disregard them. At worst, there is some evidence that such campaigns can increase awareness of available substances and lead to increased risk-taking and drug-seeking behaviours. Therefore, we need to be very careful. Our mantra must be: do no harm. <BR /> <BR />I will ask the Public Health Agency to revisit the evidence base and look at how best it can continue to get the messages out there, particularly to young people, to ensure that they never start to take drugs and, therefore, do not become hooked on this scourge.”
“It is absolutely critical that parents keep themselves informed of drugs, alcohol misuse or the misuse of the Internet and that they provide support to their children. Despite repeated warnings from the Public Health Agency (PHA), the PSNI and the Chief Medical Officer, it is clear that people continue to take these substances, risking their health and well-being. Information on alcohol and drug misuse is included in the school curriculum as part of a broader life skills approach, and evidence shows that this is the best way to address the issue in schools. <BR /> <BR />I appreciate that some believe that we should have a hard-hitting media campaign to highlight the dangers of drug misuse, similar to those undertaken on road safety. However, evidence shows that, at best, campaigns on substance misuse are ineffective.”
“We are aware of these problems, and people are seeking to address them. Those courses of work will continue.”
“Many legal and prescription drugs contain opiates, for example. Individuals buy prescription drugs from people who indicated that they were unwell and had their doctor prescribe those drugs, which are broken up and used to supply the market. Indeed, when there was a problem with drug dealers getting heroin, they were quick to do that. We need to be aware that drug dealers are very sharp and are right up there when it comes to innovative ways to get their hands on product to sell. We also need to be very innovative in how we challenge them. Our primary care providers — GPs — have to be conscious of all that goes on when they prescribe some of these drugs. They must seek to ensure that such drugs will be properly utilised and will not be used by individuals who will cause harm to others.”
“I think that more could be done and the Department will want to be active in that. We have been corresponding with the Home Office on various courses of work that have happened in other countries and locations and are encouraging the Home Office to take actions that will help us to clamp down on a lot of these drugs. We were to have a report in the springtime, but we were then told that it would come in September this year, and I hope that it will, because obviously we are in September now. On the back of that, the national Government will be able to take strong actions to ensure that we can move much more quickly on removing these drugs from the market and take action against the people who are supplying those drugs.”
“<BR /> <BR />If someone has the problem of being addicted to prescription drugs, I would encourage them to talk to their primary care provider, pharmacist or doctor to try to work out a programme to wean them off. The truth is that, unless you need a drug and it has been prescribed to you by a doctor, you should not take it.”
“My Department does not look after the regulation of importing drugs, which is largely done through the Internet, but we work very closely with the authorities that do, and a remarkable amount of drugs are found and taken away from the end user as a result. However, one can only imagine that there is a far greater amount of drugs coming through, and that makes it quite frightening in terms of its scale and the amount of drugs that are being imported illegally. Those are prescription drugs or are similar to prescription drugs, but individuals may be taking drugs that are not properly licensed and that may contain things not in the prescription drug that they would like to use but that is not available to them. They may contain other things that can cause them harm. I encourage the public to desist from using such drugs.”
“<BR /> <BR />I am often critical of the media, but they have been very helpful in getting a lot of these messages out, and I encourage them to continue to take an interest in these subjects. Getting the messages out there on key programmes and key news programme etc and having people made aware of the risks that they are putting themselves at is critical.”
“Given the nature of drugs, the only safe option is not to take any substance. When you take a substance, you cannot know what its effects on you will be. So it is important that people avoid taking drugs in the first instance. <BR /> <BR />There are people out there who profit from drugs. We need to ensure that those people are exposed and that communities report them to the police so that they go through due process for engaging in that behaviour. We must always make it clear that drug use is unacceptable, damaging and harmful. Particularly when taken with alcohol, the dangers of drugs spike. We will continue to put those messages out there and to take on those who seek to profiteer through drugs.”
“Speckled Cherries, Green Rolex and so forth have been a very significant issue. Last year in east Belfast alone, we witnessed how, over a couple of months, nine young people, I think it was, lost their life. As soon as the Department became aware of this substance being available in Northern Ireland and its potential links to the number of deaths, the Chief Medical Officer issued an alert to all key stakeholders, including alcohol and drug services, on the same day. In addition, the Public Health Agency issued a range of information to the media and the public and appeared on a number of programmes. It should be noted that it goes across a wide range of socio-economic groups. The majority of those who lost their life in that instance were over the age of 25.”
“The truthful answer is "No, I can't". That is one of the issues that I raised. It is certainly an area where I do not want to see cuts taking place. I do not think that it is appropriate for cuts to take place in that area, but that is one of the things that is currently being given consideration. We will look to the October monitoring round to see whether we can ensure that the cuts are less critical than they currently would be, but, at this moment, we do not have holy grails in the Department where those cuts do not extent to. We need to ensure that, as far as possible, we can mitigate the cuts. I hope that the parties in the Executive will assist me in coming to an agreement that will ensure that that will be the case.”
“These are not youngsters who are going out there and sampling for the first time; these are long-term users. We have had people in their forties who have died recently from the misuse of drugs. One of the problems with psychoactive substances is that people take them in large quantities, they do not get the kick that they expect and they find that, by the time that it does kick in, their bodies have started to overheat. They cannot stop it as they have taken the drugs at that stage and the damage has been done. It is really frightening that those people are overheating and that they are dying awful deaths from overheating. The public need to know that that is the score. Young people and those who use those drugs need to know the dangers of them.”
“Absolutely fantastic work is being carried out by that organisation, which works with young people. The organisation raised the issue of education and of getting into schools. We and the Department of Education need to do some work on that, and there needs to be a discussion on how we can ensure that we are absolutely working as closely together as we should be to fight this scourge. <BR /> <BR />There is no doubt that the messages to people on drugs are ever more important. Some people always refer to it as being about young people; we have actually a bigger problem with 25- to 34-year-olds than we have with 18- to 25-year-olds. Of course, that has happened because those people have got themselves hooked on drugs at a younger age. There is a real problem amongst that age group.”
“I join Ms Dobson in paying tribute to that mother. It is absolutely harrowing to see a fine-looking young man and see what he was left with at the end of it. It was absolutely appalling and heart-wrenching that anyone should go through that. <BR /> <BR />In terms of our Department's response, we have the new strategic direction (NSD) phase 2, and that is a five-year strategic plan set out to address the harm related to alcohol and drug misuse in Northern Ireland. We have allocated approximately £8 million to its implementation for each year. That involves, in some instances, public information campaigns, and we are looking at prices and promotions and at access and availability. Indeed, I was down in Mrs Dobson's constituency last Monday at the invitation of the local Member of Parliament, David Simpson, and met REACT.”
“It is important that we work together on those issues. <BR /> <BR />There is another problem in that many people buy drugs over the Internet. Those may be similar drugs, but we do not know the quality of them. They have not gone through all of our licensing procedures. We have a problem with people who take prescription drugs. Twenty-one per cent of people report having used sedatives and tranquilisers, and 22% have used antidepressants, with around one in 10 having used them last year. That is the scale of people's drug use. Not all of them need to be using those drugs, but not all of them understand that they do not need to use the drugs.”
“The Member mentions a very difficult problem, particularly for the GPs who are on the front line. People very often come to a primary care practice needing help, and they receive drugs, and that helps them. In some instances, they are given pain relief, and people can become addicted to painkillers. In some instances, people who have been going through mental health trauma receive benzodiazepines, and they very often become addicted to them. Doctors are trying, in many instances, to take people off drugs, and I am getting letters from some MLAs expressing concern about that because individuals have gone to them. We need to ensure that GPs are encouraged to stay the course in the work that they are engaging in, because it is not in the long-term interests of the individual to stay on a drug that they have become reliant on.”
“It is an area that we will have to act on, and I thank the Member for raising that important issue.”
“I recall very well having to attend the emergency department with my learning-disabled brother a number of years ago, and we sat until 3.00 am before he got his bed. I spoke to the sister later in the evening when things had quietened down, and I said, "I make the observation that there seem to be a lot of people here who have drink on them". She said, "Yes, over half of them would have drink on them". I said, "But this is the middle of the week. This is Wednesday night". She said, "It is the same every night of the week, because drink is so cheap". The message sank in with me way back then that it was something that we needed to act on. The price of drink encourages an awful lot of the social problems that we have and causes an awful lot of the problems in our health service, and people are destroying themselves with it.”
“Thankfully, it is not just many in this House but many in the Houses in Scotland and Wales and in Dáil Éireann who think that that is the case. Each of those areas is considering moving forward on the minimum pricing of alcohol. Unfortunately, England is somewhat falling behind, still deciding what it should do and perhaps procrastinating. We are keen to move ahead. We have had the work carried out by Sheffield. That is now with the Department, and the indications are that we should move ahead. The Scottish Government have been taken to court. They won their case in Scotland, and they are now being taken to the European courts as a means of delaying this. That should not prevent us starting work that would, in the first instance, engage in a consultation process with the public.”
“We need to be very clear that psychoactive substances can cause very traumatic reactions in people, including causing death. We need to discourage people from using them. I am happy to take up and carry out the suggestion that we correspond with councils to indicate to them the success of the Belfast City Council work on head shops.”
“It is important to get out the message of just how dangerous they are and how dangerous to a community the people who supply those drugs are. We must always drive that message home, because many of these people do not come from outside a community, they come from within a community and are supplying poison to the children of those communities. That poison has caused the death of many people, in particular young people, who have taken those drugs. <BR /> <BR />The psychoactive substances are termed by some "legal highs", We need to get away from the notion that they are in some way legal. Psychoactive substances have a danger. Calling them "legal highs" perhaps gives people a notion that they are in some way less dangerous.”
“I will deal with detoxification first. Certainly, that is a discussion that can be had with the Department of Health and my counterpart. Indeed, I am aware that we also have an excellent facility in Newry that is being run by the voluntary sector. We can look at how best we can progress these things. We had an all-Ireland conference on alcohol and the problems arising from that, which was the first of its kind, in Armagh some time ago. That was a very successful conference. I am happy to continue to engage in the discussions on all of that. <BR /> <BR />There have been quite a number of deaths as a result of Speckled Red, Green Rolex and all of that, and that has been quite well publicised. Regrettably, many of those drugs are still out there and still on the market.”
“It was also noted that, in addition to exploring specific themes in depth, each meeting has facilitated the exchange of information on wider policy developments and initiatives. <BR /> <BR />We therefore agreed the work programme for the group going forward over the next year, which will include addressing the issue of alcohol and drug misuse in an ageing cohort and the development and implementation of Naloxone programmes to reduce deaths from opioid overdoses. The next official level meeting of the group will be held in Scotland in September 2014 and the next ministerial meeting will be held in mid-2015. The group will continue to link and share information informally between meetings to the benefit of the effort against drug and alcohol misuse in all jurisdictions.”
“We discussed prevention, education, early intervention and treatment and support as well as the importance of using licensing laws to reduce the accessibility, availability, and affordability of alcohol. In particular, we discussed the potential public benefits of an approach such as minimum unit pricing. <BR /> <BR />At the meeting we also reviewed the good work that has been carried out by this sectoral group over the last year. This work has focused on prevention and education, tackling the impact of parental substance misuse on children, which is also known as hidden harm, and the role of online support services and telephone helplines. We agreed that this work stream provided a very useful forum for sharing the detailed expertise and knowledge of those involved in the drugs sector across the British-Irish Council area.”
“<BR /> <BR />We shared information on the trends in drug misuse in each jurisdiction, and all Ministers noted the importance of the media — and social media in particular — in engaging with people about the dangers of substance misuse and promoting harm reduction messages, as well as signposting people to prevention, early intervention, and treatment and support services. The need to reach out to and educate and inform young people was noted as being particularly important in preventing harm and stopping misuse at an early stage. <BR /> <BR />In addition to discussing drug misuse, we also shared information on alcohol misuse policies. Each jurisdiction recognised the impact alcohol misuse has and highlighted the need to raise awareness and prioritise tackling this issue.”
“<BR /> <BR />The issue of cannabis farms was discussed and Ministers shared information about innovative approaches to detecting cannabis production, including cannabis factories in residential areas, such as sharing information between energy companies, landlords, fire services and awareness campaigns. We also discussed ways to tackle the misuse and diversion of prescribed medicines. This is a particular issue in Northern Ireland and it was very useful to discuss the work we are undertaking on this issue and hear the experience of other jurisdictions. In particular, we highlighted the role of good prescribing practices combined with enforcement and raising awareness of the dangers of misusing prescribed medicines.”
“<BR /> <BR />The main thematic discussion at the meeting focused on "Changing Trends in Drug Use — Current Patterns and Responses" with a particular emphasis on cannabis, new psychoactive substances and the misuse of prescribed and illicit medicines. We noted the importance of addressing the supply of such substances and agreed on the value of national and international collaboration to intercept these and prevent the trafficking of illicit and illegal drugs, medicines, new psychoactive substances and the materials used to make these substances, which are known as drug precursors. We identified the need to respond quickly and effectively on the emergence of new psychoactive substances and the need to promptly and proactively control and ban these substances when there is evidence of harm.”
“The Minister of State with responsibility for primary care, Alex White TD, represented the Irish Government and chaired the meeting. Norman Baker, Minister of State for Crime Prevention, represented the UK Government. Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, represented the Scottish Government. The Welsh Government were represented by Dr Mark Drakeford, Minister for Health and Social Services. Jersey was represented by the Health and Social Services Minister, Deputy Anne Pryke. Guernsey was represented by the Minister for the Home Department, Deputy Peter Gillson, and the Isle of Man was represented by the Minister for Home Affairs, Juan Watterson.”
“I wish to make the following statement on the ninth British-Irish Council misuse of substances ministerial meeting that took place in Dublin Castle on Friday 27 June 2014. <BR /> <BR />I apologise for the delay in making the statement to the Assembly. Unfortunately, the timing of the meeting and the start of recess meant that this is the earliest opportunity to make the statement to the Assembly. Junior Minister Jennifer McCann MLA and I represented the Northern Ireland Executive at the meeting. This statement has been agreed with junior Minister McCann and I am making it on behalf of us both.”