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MLA Culture Wars

Analysis in progress: 72,443 of 97,621 records assessed (74.2%). Totals and rankings will change until it finishes. Progress details

74.2%

Mr John O'Dowd: Assembly records

All of Mr John O'Dowd’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not qualifying, uncertain or not yet analysed.

1,596 records match, page 56 of 64.

  2. Debate contribution: Coleraine Railway: Phase 3

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I did not say that it was you; I said that it was in it. That is a complete falsehood. It is a complete inaccuracy. If you are going to be a constructive Opposition, state the facts. The facts are that I have been in post for four months and that, when I came into post, I committed to ensuring that the upgrade would…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  3. Debate contribution: Coleraine Railway: Phase 3

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    Mr Deputy Speaker, you would be forgiven for thinking that there is an election in the air. You would nearly think that there was an election in the air, because Mr Durkan has been promoting the inaccuracy — the falsehood — in the local papers that I delayed the upgrade, and I saw in this morning's 'The Irish News'…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  4. Debate contribution: Coleraine Railway: Phase 3

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    My Department approved the business case for phase 3 of the Derry to Coleraine project in November 2022 and issued a letter of offer for £97·7 million to take forward that important project for the north-west. I fully recognise the need to address regional imbalance and to better connect our communities, including…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  5. Debate contribution: A2 Shore Road, Rostrevor

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    The area involved, as I said, is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, so we have to be mindful of that when we are planning or seeking on-site inspections to determine how we are going to solve the issue permanently. It is quite a difficult site to work in, and we have had to bring in geotechnical engineers to…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  6. Debate contribution: A2 Shore Road, Rostrevor

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I cannot confirm the exact timing, but I will ask officials to contact the Member in relation to that. The reality is that many of our roads, across all our constituencies, are in a dire state as a result of over a decade of underinvestment. I can assure the Member that I am doing all that is in my power to secure…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  7. Debate contribution: A2 Shore Road, Rostrevor

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I recognise the inconvenience that has been caused by the temporary closure of one lane on the A2 Shore Road in Rostrevor, due to a landslip that was caused by severe weather in November 2023. My Department is finalising a design to put in place a temporary solution to move the concrete blocks on to the roadside…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  10. Debate contribution: Grass Cutting

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    Yes. We wish to expand on the scheme that I introduced last year, or even the year before. As I said to Mr Brooks, it takes time for us to prepare the ground properly for that. As I said, we will have to invest in new equipment. We will also have to ensure that the soil is ready for planting wildflower seed so that…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  11. Debate contribution: Grass Cutting

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I fully accept the Member's point. We operate a number of systems. We have our own operatives, who work for DFI, and we have a number of private contractors that carry out work for the Department. Both should always strive to ensure that we maintain our areas to the highest standard. I accept that grass is much more…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  12. Debate contribution: Grass Cutting

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I encourage the Member to contact — I am sure that he has — his divisional office first. However, if he wishes to write to me directly, I am more than happy to engage with the divisional offices about any areas that he has significant concern about. The message is quite clear: the policy cannot compromise road safety.…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  13. Debate contribution: Grass Cutting

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will answer questions 1 and 4 together. My Department's approach to verge management has recently changed to increase the focus on environmental benefit without compromising on road safety or our duties to deal with noxious weeds. That change occurred because I recognise the…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  14. Debate contribution: Traffic Chaos Affecting Villages in Lagan Valley

    • Adjournment
    • As a minister

    I thank Mr Butler for securing this important debate on traffic issues that affect villages in the Lagan Valley constituency. I thank other Members for their contributions. The two key transport corridors across the area — the M1 and the A1 — connect Lagan Valley to the regional strategic transport network, which…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  16. Debate contribution: MOT Delays

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    Since we introduced temporary exemption certificates for five- and seven-year-old vehicles, there has been a significant improvement. My mailbox correspondence on MOTs has certainly reduced — I do not know about that of other Members — suggesting that we have seen an improvement since those measures were introduced.

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  17. Debate contribution: Planning: Delays

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    All of them. As the Member will be aware, planning is two-tier. Councils look after the vast majority of planning applications, and there is significant variation in councils' return rate and standards. Some councils perform well in returning an application well within the set period; others do not. My Department…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  18. Debate contribution: Planning: Delays

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    Only yesterday, I met the Economy Minister on the planning process, specifically in regard to green energy. The subject that I have discussed most since coming back into post is planning. On that matter, I have met a wide range of stakeholders; I have engaged with my officials; I have met people involved in planning…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  19. Debate contribution: Community Transport

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I am not trying to put my Executive colleagues under the spotlight. What I am trying to do is bring collective thinking to community transport. Community transport provides services to shops, but it also provides services to the GP, the hospital, the dentist and the community, thereby breaking down isolation. There is…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  20. Debate contribution: Community Transport

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    My budget will be announced later. I have done everything in my power to protect community transport's funding at last year's levels, including the restoration of some funding that it lost last year. Community transport, as the Member will know from her rural constituency, provides a vital service to many in the rural…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  22. Debate contribution: Water Pollution

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    On the investment backlog, until this year, NI Water was fully funded in accordance with the price control period — fully funded. Until 2024-25, NI Water's investment plans have been fully funded. As a result of the Budget and 10 or 11 years of austerity under Tory rule, it will not be possible to fully fund NI Water…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

  24. Debate contribution: Glider: North to South Route

    • Oral Answers to Questions
    • As a minister

    I am working with my officials to see how we can progress the next steps of delivering the decision that I made a number of years ago on the Antrim route and to move it out further than south Belfast and beyond that again. Again, we face financial challenges, but we can make progress on the first part of my decision…

    Not qualifying

    Assessment details Official Assembly record

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