All of Mr Gordon Lyons’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
That is an important issue, and it was something that I raised in a debate in the House in early 2017. It is hugely important, because we want to make sure that people can live in warm and comfortable homes, and insulation plays a really important role in that. That will be part of my conversations with the Housing…
Absolutely, that is an issue. We now know that the backlog is over £10 billion of investment required to deal with the maintenance backlog, routine investment and a retrofit programme. That is why it is so important that we get that confirmation that the Housing Executive is able to borrow on the same basis as other…
I meet the Housing Executive regularly, and I am certainly happy to raise the issue. Members throughout the House will have dealt with such issues for those who are unhappy with work that has been done or the time that it has taken. If she has some specific examples, I will be more than happy to raise them.
The maintenance of Housing Executive properties is an operational matter for the Housing Executive to address. The Housing Executive response contracts have quality-level standards and are subject to regular post-work inspections that also assess the quality of the work. Where quality issues are found, either through…
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. Addressing the factors that can preclude deaf, disabled and neurodiverse people from participating fully in society as valued and respected citizens in their own right remains a key priority for me. Today's debate is opportune, as it allows us to discuss all the facets of the…
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am pleased with the consensus of support in the Assembly for these important regulations. I thank the Committee for Communities for its support and the positive way in which it has dealt with progressing the regulations. I will briefly address a few points that were raised. In…
I beg to move The draft Electrical Safety Standards for Private Tenancies Regulations 2024 aim to remove danger to life and to reduce the risk of injury and damage to property. The regulations therefore introduce five-yearly certified electrical safety checks of a private rental property's hardwired electrical…
Yes, I can confirm that it absolutely is. I have scars from the experiences that we had during COVID. It is not easy to draft papers and put together a scheme, with an application and verification process. Getting such a scheme out would not only take more time but more work and more staff, which would cost more money…
I apologise. There will be people like her who want to give to someone else the resource that would have gone to their household. That would create an additional layer of bureaucracy in my Department, and the process of determining who is best placed to do that would be significant. There would be all sorts of…
Oh. She does not think so. I spoke too soon. Regardless, I welcome it that she supports the action that I have taken today. I was going to say to her that I did not think that it was possible for her to be in receipt of the winter fuel payment, but I will not make any comment after what she just said. I understand her…
Let me say this about the anti-poverty strategy: it has been a requirement, under the 1998 Act, for coming onto 26 years to deliver an anti-poverty strategy. None of the previous Ministers has been in a position to do that. As I have already confirmed and am happy to confirm again, that will be brought to the…
I wish to update the Assembly regarding winter fuel payments in Northern Ireland. Being in government is about making choices. Sometimes, we have to take difficult decisions in the best interests of the people we serve. The Labour Government have sought to portray the decision on the winter fuel payment as difficult…
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Further to points of order made earlier, is it in order for me to say that I understand that concerns have been expressed about comments that I made as I was leaving the Chamber yesterday? I believe in the cut and thrust of debate. I believe that we need to robustly challenge each…
I am disappointed to hear that that is the case in Belfast City Council. That absolutely should not be the way that it is done. I want to make sure that it gets to everybody who needs access to it, wherever they live in Northern Ireland. People should not be discriminated against on the basis of where they are from.…
Good luck with that, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I will make a statement on additional funding for debt advice in Northern Ireland. Problem debt can have a devastating impact on individuals and families. It is harmful to physical and mental health and can take its toll on relationships with family and friends.…
First, everyone should take stock of what the Member has just said: carers in Northern Ireland contribute £5·8 billion. If they were not there, that would be an incredible cost that would be put on the public purse, and one that we simply could not meet ourselves. Therefore, we all need to recognise the invaluable…
I will certainly get that number for the Member, and I can confirm to her that we will be following in the footsteps of England and Wales. There will be some legislation that we will be required to put through, and my understanding is that we will have that in place for April 2025, subject to some agreement with DWP.…
I certainly will not be encouraging civil servants in my Department to pay too much attention to it, but the intention of it is to make sure that we treat people in the right way. I think that we should use our common sense, and I believe that we should treat other people as we would want to be treated. I think that…
I think that the Member can guess what my view on that is. I am sure that there were good intentions behind the guide, but, let us be clear, there is a lot of nonsense in it as well, including not being able to say the word "Miss" and the phrase "ladies and gentlemen". My favourite is that you should not say that…
Whenever the issue was being touched on, I engaged with the Housing Executive. I said to it, "What can you do now to make sure that you are ready?". I do not want this rule change to come along and for us then to find ourselves looking at each other, asking what come next. I want to make sure that there is a plan in…
If the Member means the Housing Executive, we have been working closely with it on that, and it is ready to go, once it gets confirmation. It has a plan in place so that it can take advantage of the rule change and start investing more in the homes that we have and also ensure that we can build more homes. If she is…
Of course we always take on board the concerns and rights of children. I am particularly concerned about the impact that the housing shortage is having right now on those children who are living in temporary accommodation that is often far away from support networks such as their family and school. It is an additional…
I am more than happy to provide that exact information, but I do not have it in front of me now. The answer, however, is this: far too many. As I said in response to other questions that have been asked of me today and in the past, we have far too many people who are homeless and far too many who are on a waiting…