All of Ms Diane Forsythe’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 Justice, pursuant to AQW 14829/22-27, (i) for her assessment of the £9.3 million cost to her Department in relation to Northern Ireland Civil Service sickness absence in 2023-24; and (ii) to detail any action she is taking to reduce this cost to her Department, including any targets put in place…
To ask the Minister of Finance, pursuant to AQW 14829/22-27, (i) for his assessment of the £5.2 million cost to his Department in relation to Northern Ireland Civil Service sickness absence in 2023-24; and (ii) to detail any action he is taking to reduce this cost to his Department, including any targets put in place…
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, pursuant to AQW 14829/22-27, (i) for his assessment of the £6 million cost to his Department in relation to Northern Ireland Civil Service sickness absence in 2023-24; and (ii) to detail any action he is taking to reduce this cost to his Department,…
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure, pursuant to AQW 14829/22-27, (i) for her assessment of the £5.1 million cost to her Department in relation to Northern Ireland Civil Service sickness absence in 2023-24; and (ii) to detail any action she is taking to reduce this cost to her Department, including any targets put…
To ask the Minister for Communities, pursuant to AQW 14829/22-27, (i) for his assessment of the £12.2 million cost to his Department in relation to Northern Ireland Civil Service sickness absence in 2023-24; and (ii) to detail any action he is taking to reduce this cost to his Department, including any targets put in…
I thank the Minister for his statement and his strong action to take every step to safeguard the best use of public funds. Does the Minister agree that those who have cheated the system should be pursued and that overpaid benefits should be recovered?
To ask the Minister of Justice, pursuant to AQW 21519/22-27, to detail (i) why there are 909 classroom assistants in Northern Ireland awaiting outcomes of Access NI checks as at 29 January 2025; (ii) when these outstanding checks will be completed; and (iii) whether she has any plans to work with the Education…
To ask the Minister of Justice, pursuant to AQW 16293/22-27, whether she is reviewing the procedure by which the PSNI book their travel to prevent a repeat of the £128,000 loss, described as fruitless payments in her Department’s 2023-24 Annual Report and Accounts, where expenditure was not able to be cancelled in…
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 18415/22-27, to detail his plans for his Department’s estate, in particular the 30 vacant sites owned by his Department and Health and Social Care Trusts.
To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 20262/22-27, how Health and Social Care Trusts are held accountable for reported theft or unaccounted loss of controlled drugs if there is no estimation of the value which is going missing.
I thank the Members who tabled the motion for giving us the opportunity to discuss what is a really important issue. Representing South Down, a border constituency, I encounter it week in and week out, with a number of businesses coming to me to say that they are seeing the very real effect of customers voting with…
I thank the Minister for his answer and his ongoing engagement with the voluntary and community sector, particularly for coming to the all-party group meeting recently to hear the sector's voice directly. Is the Department providing any additional support to the sector, given the challenging environment?
Yesterday, we paused to remember the date, 9 February, when, in 1971, five men travelled to Brougher Mountain in rural County Tyrone to repair buildings at a transmitter compound. On the track to the compound, their Land Rover activated a large explosive device and they were blown up by a Provisional IRA bomb. All…
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail the aspects of her bid for £27.2 million for support in response to Storm Éowyn she will apply the awarded £8 million to.
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure to detail why she did not bid for funds to provide compensation to NI Water customers who were left without water in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether NI Water will be paying compensation to customers who were left without water in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail (i) their assessment of the storm response plans following Storm Éowyn; and (ii) any plans they have to review these for future incidents.
Hospitality VAT Harmonisation - Amendment 3 Leave out all after ‘VAT rate for hospitality’ and insert: ‘across the United Kingdom to address the comparative disadvantage facing businesses in Northern Ireland as a result of the reduced rate in the Republic of Ireland; and further calls on the Minister of Finance to…
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail (i) what her Department plans to do with the funding not yet distributed from the Enhanced Flood Support Scheme; and (ii) whether she will revisit the criteria by which some businesses’ costs were omitted from claims processed.
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail how much of the Enhanced Flood Support Scheme which was being administered by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council has not been distributed.
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) for an update on works planning and timelines for the B27 Kilkeel Road, Hilltown; (ii) whether has there been an assessment of further deterioration of the road in its current condition; and (iii) when the road will fully reopen, following the landslide in 2023.
On Sunday 2 February 2025, the Shore Road at Rostrevor in my constituency of South Down was finally reopened to two lanes of traffic, having had one lane blocked and temporary traffic measures in place for the past 15 months and a couple of days since the storm in October/November 2023. Some in the Chamber may be sick…
To ask the Minister of Finance to detail (i) how much the UK Treasury has offered to cover the increase in employers National Insurance costs to public service in Northern Ireland; and (ii) which public services specifically will this funding be applied to.