All of Mrs Emma Little-Pengelly’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I thank the Member for his question. The Executive have a determination to deliver. We have set out our draft plan, trying to identify what we believe matters most to people throughout Northern Ireland, but the ability to deliver is fundamentally based on resources and the Budget that we have. We can do some things if…
I thank the Member for his question. As was indicated, it is critical that we listen to people. Ultimately, we want to deliver, and what we want to deliver will impact on all throughout Northern Ireland, particularly the big issues such as healthcare reform and, for example, the affordable childcare strategy and…
I thank the Member for her very important question. We are all very conscious of the importance of investment in waste water and sewerage and the impact that that has on planning applications and environmental issues in relation to Lough Neagh, for example. It is critical; it is one of the most urgent issues that we…
The Member has raised the question of the commitment to cutting waiting lists. It is there. It is one of the nine key priorities. The document simply states, "Cut Health Waiting Times", and we are determined to do that. That cannot happen without transformation. It cannot continue to be the case that additional funds…
I recognise that the Member has been a huge champion of dignity in dying and the support that is required for that. She spoke of the inevitably of death for us all. The First Minister and I are up for having that conversation and for engaging with those in the sector on how that issue is reflected. It is critical that…
The First Minister and I wish to inform Members that, following the Executive's unanimous agreement to the draft Programme for Government (PFG) on Thursday, the Executive Office will today launch a public consultation. The draft Programme for Government outlines the Executive's bold ambition for Northern Ireland. It…
I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree that today is the opportunity for us to send the strong and collective message that violence is wrong, disorder is unacceptable and that we utterly reject racism? The challenges in our communities are real, but that is a responsibility for all of us to tackle, including…
The forty-first summit of the British-Irish Council (BIC) took place on 21 June 2024 and was hosted by the Isle of Man Government. The heads of delegation were welcomed by the Isle of Man Government’s Chief Minister, Alfred Cannan MHK. I attended the summit with junior Minister Aisling Reilly and the Minister for the…
I thank the Member for his question. It is critical that all those impacted are aware that the process is ongoing, have the opportunity to feed into the consultation process and the inquiry and can get access to the redress scheme that will come out of it. During the consultation process, we intend to hold eight…
I thank the Member for his question. There will be a twin-track approach to the schemes, with the process for standardised payments to roll out at the same time as the substantive inquiry. That may be an unusual approach, but it is very much based on our experience of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry. In…
I will answer that question. Yes, we aim for social security benefits to be disregarded, in common with other payments in the redress schemes that the Department has rolled out. We are confident that that will be done. It has been discussed a number of times, and, indeed, the consultation will touch on it. We are…
I thank the Member for his question and pay tribute to him for his private Member's Bill. The feedback on that legislation has been hugely positive. It is facilitating very valuable work. The First Minister and I should certainly raise that legislation with the Republic of Ireland Government as a good example of what…
I thank the Member for her question. There will be bespoke legislation on this, albeit it will be similar to the powers provided for in the Inquiries Act 2005. There were elements of this that required bespoke legislation, and that is exactly what we are consulting on. There are 40 pages of consultation that goes…
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank Members for their contributions. This has been a wide-ranging debate that has touched on many of the key issues that the House has already discussed through a number of motions and debates. All those issues are, of course, important. Passing legislation is the primary function of the…
As indicated, the election being called has an impact on the guidance on when we can publish and commence our consultation. It is something that, last week, I took the opportunity to mention to the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales. They are in a similar position with their programmes for government in that they…
As I said, we will continue to strive to get a diary date. If we can have a date in the diary earlier rather than later, I will be happy to do that. I know that there is a keenness to have that meeting as soon as possible, but, if we cannot do it before that date, we will try to do so on that day.
There is no doubt that there are people who were impacted and injured. Those people still endure a huge amount of pain and a significant impact on their lives. I am pleased to say that the First Minister and I have jointly agreed to meet the vaccine-injured. I say this genuinely: we are striving to do that as soon as…
Absolutely. I am passionate about that. We know that many young girls fall out of playing sport at a relatively young age, whereas boys and men often continue to play team sports, in particular, throughout their teenage years but also into their twenties and beyond. We need to support more of that, to ensure that our…
Absolutely. It was fantastic, and it was good to see the really positive reception to it. So many of our young athletes from Northern Ireland are shining on the international stage. That drives us to say that we must do even more to support them, not least with their training but on their journey right through. They…
The Executive Office led the way on co-production and co-design in a number of our processes, not least the first Together: Building a United Community consultation. We adopted a very detailed stakeholder co-production approach for that. It was, I think, the first time that any Department had done such a thing. Of…
I am sure that everyone in the House will agree that there is no space whatever for hate crimes based on any characteristic, including race. We must all stand united against such things. People must be able to live their lives free from harassment and hate, no matter where they are in Northern Ireland.
As I indicated earlier, we are focused on the review of T:BUC at the moment. There have been hugely positive indications of the impact of T:BUC. Of course, it is largely focused on good relations between people throughout Northern Ireland. Of course, the work of the FICT commission is relevant to that. Where there are…
As I indicated in my answer to a previous question, we had a good debate in the Assembly on that issue. A huge amount of important and useful work has been done by the commission. There is an opportune time for the evaluation and review, for example, of Together: Building a United Community to ensure that that…
It would be wrong to say "focus", because we know that our economy is made up of many different elements. Of course, some aspects will be impacted by dual market access, particularly the export and manufacturing of goods. We are largely a small to medium-sized business economy. Many of those businesses are indigenous…
Yes. It is certainly a positive indication, but we know how difficult it is. We can welcome that good news, and the First Minister and I, since taking up our roles, have said many times that we want to prioritise the prosperity agenda. We need our economy to grow, and we need to do whatever we can, as joint leaders of…