All of Dr Caoimhe Archibald’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
There is no doubt that our health service is under immense pressure. Every single one of us will be aware of the implications of that through our constituency offices. It is important that we all recognise the incredible job that our health workers are doing in the most challenging circumstances. I agree with the…
As an Executive collectively, we have set priorities and objectives, but individual Ministers have responsibilities for delivering on those as well. I am quite sure that every Minister in the Executive, if they were talking about their budget, would say that they are not in a position to deliver everything that they…
In the January monitoring round, the Department of Health made a bid of £1·5 million in relation to waiting lists. As the Member will very likely be aware, we only had £15 million resource DEL to allocate in the January monitoring round, and some of that had to go to pressures in other Departments. The allocation that…
With the Speaker's permission, I will answer questions 1 and 10 together. The Department of Health was provided with a resource departmental expenditure limit (DEL) budget of £7·7 billion in 2024-25. The Department received a further £479 million during in-year exercises. The 2025-26 draft Budget proposes a resource…
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I welcome the opportunity to speak about this important area. As others have said, there is significant merit to be gained from implementing a Budget through a specific gender lens. I, too, fully recognise the potential for gender-based budgeting. It is an area that I am…
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle and happy new year to you too. I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this important matter, and I thank the Members who tabled the motion and those who tabled the amendment. It will not come as any surprise to them, I am sure, that I have done what the motion…
It is always worth reminding ourselves that the majority of people here in the North voted against Brexit and to remain part of the EU. The people whom we represent in the North did not consent to Brexit and certainly not to the hard Brexit that has transpired. People understood the threat that was posed by Brexit and…
Just before Question Time, I started to speak about my plans to review non-domestic vacant rating. I am attracted to the option of increasing the liability in that area, but it must be done in a managed and coordinated way. Ahead of any increase in NDVR liability, I call on Executive and council colleagues to work…
I wish to provide Members with a statement on my strategic approach to rating policy over the remainder of the mandate. I am determined to build a progressive rates system based on the principles of fairness and equity and to ensure that it aligns with the Executive's policy objectives, stimulates our economy and…
We are scoping future plans to understand what those costs will be, for the public sector and more widely. We are continuing our engagement with Treasury, as I have articulated. Given the budgetary pressures that we face and the fact that we do not believe that the Barnett consequentials will be enough to cover the…
As I said to the Member's colleague, we are concerned that the Barnett consequentials that we got on employer National Insurance contributions for the public sector will not cover the additional cost. As the Member will be well aware, we face significant budgetary pressures in our general Budget. Therefore, we are…
The short answer is, "No, I haven't". That issue has not been specifically brought to my attention. In some respects, it would be within the remit of the responsibilities of the Education and Communities Ministers. I am happy for the Member to communicate with officials on the issue to understand what the implications…
Work has been undertaken on behalf of the Executive on new EU laws. There is obviously the work under the Windsor framework. On specific laws, departmental officials keep abreast of what is developing in Britain and in the EU to ensure that we are kept apprised.
Yes is the short answer. I am deeply concerned that increasing insurance premiums are adding further financial pressure on households, businesses and communities. My officials and I have been engaging with the insurance sector and the regulatory authorities to identify what is behind the rises and what can be done to…
No Barnett consequentials are ring-fenced. It is for the Executive to decide how they spend their money, which is, obviously, an important aspect of having an Executive and Ministers locally. One of my concerns about the Barnett consequentials that we will get from the change in public-sector employers' National…
That issue has been raised with me on a considerable number of occasions, as, I am sure, it has been raised with other Members. I have had correspondence from public-sector partners and community and voluntary organisations that deliver in partnership with or on behalf of government and from our business sector.…
That matter has been raised with me on a number of occasions. Guidance for Departments on how to do that is already in place. One concern that I have about making regulations is that it may hinder Departments in coming forward with more innovative solutions for working together to tackle particular issues. As it…
We actively encourage the pooling of budgets as part of the budgetary process, and we did so for Budget 2025-26. I am not sure that we record every instance of that, but we encourage it. If the Member wishes to ask for further information, I would be happy for her to engage with officials on that.
I very much encourage that. As I said to Andy a few moments ago, it is important that, as one of the largest employers here, we ensure that we lead by example and set best practice. I actively encourage officials to look at how we can do exactly that.
I thank the Member for his question. I answered a question from his colleague a few minutes ago about HR and recruitment policies in respect of people with disabilities. I have had considerable engagement with my senior officials on HR and recruitment in support of people who already work for us. I actively encourage…
I do not want to answer on behalf of the Agriculture Minister and will try to resist that, but I am sure he would not intend to detrimentally impact farmers. The cases for particular schemes that are developed by any Department — in this case, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs — is a matter…
First and foremost, it is for the Agriculture Minister to develop business cases for those programmes. Obviously, they would also have to go through the normal processes of ensuring value for money in departmental spend.
Again, to reflect, it was simply a case that it is money that is being accrued this year, and that is why it was included. In relation to the broader issues that the Member has raised about rates and fiscal powers, the fiscal powers piece, in particular, is part of the discussions around our future fiscal framework.…
I am not sure that I would characterise it as "surreal". The Member will understand that the annex to the Budget suitability plan — we discussed it at length in Committee last week — was a requirement under the financial package for raising the £113 million of revenue over two years. Any revenue that has been raised…