All of Ms Cara Hunter’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 44637/22-27, given that the Education Authority has no plans to uplift contracted rates despite increased diesel costs, to detail (i) any contingency planning undertaken to address the potential loss of coach and bus operators from home-to-school transport provision;…
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 43957/22-27, to detail (i) any metrics and benchmarks used by his Department to assess progress against the Strategy’s commitments, and whether these indicate that delivery is on schedule; (ii) any revised timelines that now apply to (a) engagement with schools and…
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, pursuant to AQW 44313/22-27, to detail any steps his Department is taking to mitigate the risk of ineffective or inconsistent implementation of forthcoming animal welfare legislation across district councils, in the absence of a comprehensive review of…
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 42576/22-27, (i) whether any assessment has been made of the absence of disaggregated data on diagnostic, post-diagnostic, and ongoing support expenditure limiting meaningful oversight of service delivery; and (ii) to detail any steps he plans to take to ensure that all…
To ask the Minister of Education whether (i) any assessment has been made of the current balance of RAISE programme funding between sport and performing arts provision; (ii) he will take steps to expand the programme’s eligibility criteria to include arts-based provision, including dance and drama in primary schools;…
To ask the Minister of Education, in light of recent National Education Union findings from England indicating widespread teacher concern that the use of Artificial Intelligence is negatively affecting pupils’ critical thinking, literacy and independent learning, to detail whether (i) any assessment has been made of…
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 39043/22-27, to detail the Education Authority’s engagement with Artificial Intelligence providers, including (i) the identity of providers involved in the Key Stage 4 and 5 proof of concept (POC); (ii) the pedagogical and ethical standards being applied to evaluate…
To ask the Minister for the Economy, in the context of promoting a more coherent all-island approach to higher education, whether she will (i) assess the impact on students of differing medical school admissions processes north and south; and (ii) consider the next steps to be taken, in conjunction with relevant…
Thank you, Minister. Teachers with whom I have spoken recently also said that they feel weighed down and stressed by the number of upcoming changes in education, such as TransformED, SEN reform and many more. This week, some schools are closed to facilitate that training, which leaves parents having to find childcare.…
Ms Hunter asked the Minister of Education, having noted that "exhausted", "untenable" and "unsustainable" are among the words that have been used to describe the current situation by 91% of teachers in Northern Ireland who are experiencing stress and burnout and that 46% of our teachers — the backbones of our…
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 43070/22-27, to detail (i) whether any assessment has been made of whether the inability to quantify the number of psychiatric patients transferred without consent represents a gap in safeguarding oversight; and (ii) any steps he will take to address this.
To ask the Minister of Education, in light of the reinstatement of special school summer schemes for 2026, to detail (i) whether he is aware that, in Rossmar School, provision is reportedly not being made available to certain cohorts of pupils, including those in early years settings; (ii) whether he is aware of any…
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 43686/22-27, to detail (i) whether any assessment has been made of the disparity in GCSE history uptake between grammar and non-grammar schools, where available data indicates that a significantly higher proportion of pupils in grammar schools are entered for history…
To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) any steps being taken to ensure that teachers transferring service between the English Teachers’ Pension Scheme and the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme are able to complete pension transfers within required statutory timeframes; and (ii) any measures in place to…
Motion Amendment · Private Members' Motion · to “Support for Special Educational Needs Coordinators”
Support for Special Educational Needs Coordinators - Amendment 1 Leave out all after ‘ongoing reforms’ and insert: ‘are placing even further pressure on SENCOs and have been heavily criticised by key stakeholders due to concerns around legal compliance, lack of capacity within schools and support services, and the…
To ask the Minister of Justice to detail how the Protection from Harassment (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 is being applied in practice in cases involving persistent intimidation, including (i) the number of reports recorded in the last three years; and (ii) the number that resulted in arrest, charge, or protective…
To ask the Minister of Health to detail (i) the current average waiting time for children to access Occupational Therapy services, in each Health and Social Care Trust; (ii) any interim support that is available to children with identified developmental needs while awaiting assessment or treatment; and (iii) any steps…
To ask the Minister of Education To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 43957/22-27, to detail the timeline for (i) the publication of the Report on Demand for Integrated Education and associated sectoral profile; (ii) the launch of the Call for Transformation; and (iii) when a communication and engagement…
To ask the Minister of Education, pursuant to AQW 43957/22-27, to detail (i) any assessment that has made of the impact of the delays on the expansion of integrated school places, particularly in areas of oversubscription; and (ii) any steps he is taking to prevent further slippage in delivering the Integrated…
To ask the Minister of Education to detail (i) any steps he is taking to expand access to peer mentoring and restorative practice programmes in schools, given evidence from the Education Authority that such approaches have reduced suspensions, alongside a broader upward trend in pupil suspensions; and (ii) whether he…
To ask the Minister of Justice to detail any steps being taken by her Department to improve protections for victims of stalking and harassment, who do not meet the threshold for immediate enforcement action, including (i) access to civil protective orders; and (ii) measures to ensure victims are not left at risk or…
To ask the Minister of Health (i) whether any assessment has been made of the impact of the lack of entry-level posts for newly qualified physiotherapists and other healthcare graduates; and (ii) to detail any immediate, funded plans that are in place to create graduate positions, to prevent the loss of these…
To ask the Minister of Education to detail any urgent steps being taken, in conjunction with the Education Authority, to support coach and bus operators delivering mainstream home-to-school transport services, particularly those operating large-capacity vehicles on long-standing fixed-price contracts, in light of…
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail any assessment that has been made of the road-safety, active-travel and environmental benefits of reducing speed limits to 20mph in urban areas and on certain rural roads, including any findings.