Debate contribution: British-Irish Council: 45th Summit

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 21 September 2026.

MLA: Mr Gordon Lyons
Party at the time: Democratic Unionist Party
Date: 21 September 2026
Type: Debate contribution (made as a minister)
Business: Ministerial Statement
Heading: British-Irish Council: 45th Summit
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5741814

Text

I wish to make the following statement on the 45th summit of the British-Irish Council (BIC), which took place on 9 and 10 July 2026. The Minister for the Economy and I represented the Northern Ireland Executive. The summit was hosted by the Government of Guernsey. A full list of the principal delegates is attached to the statement, which has been provided to Members.
The theme of the summit was nurturing beginnings, strengthening early years and family support for happy, healthy childhoods and lifelong well-being. The plenary discussion focused on the shared priority areas across member Administrations to give every child a happy, healthy and secure start in life. The Council considered efforts to support integrated, high quality early years services alongside increased access to strong family and workforce support. Members also discussed children and young people's digital access, recognising that needs, risks and opportunities will evolve as they grow older. The discussion acknowledged the benefits of digital technology and the importance of ensuring that children can learn and play in new and appropriate ways whilst remaining safe, supported and protected from harm. Minister Archibald and I took the opportunity to highlight the Executive's draft early learning and childcare strategy and its aims of supporting children's development, easing financial pressures on working families, and ensuring that the Northern Ireland childcare sector is stable and sustainable. We highlighted the importance of affordable, high-quality childcare in enabling more people, particularly women, to return to or remain in work. We underlined the need to invest in the early years workforce, helping to strengthen productivity and ensure that early years provision supports families, enables employers and invests in the workforce of the future. We also reflected on the wider ongoing work across our government to assist families, including through childcare affordability, community-based support services and initiatives to help people to engage in their children's development. We stressed the Executive's commitment to help families and communities thrive, reduce inequality and ensure that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential. Council members briefed colleagues on significant developments in their Administrations and reflected on a range of domestic and international topics of mutual interest. We raised the important issue of community cohesion, noting that this summer had marked the third consecutive year in which Northern Ireland experienced disorder. We highlighted the key steps that are being taken by the Executive and their partners to maintain preparedness, strengthen cohesion across communities and improve public communications. We stressed the Executive's commitment to tackling racism and supporting victims, including through the draft framework for race relations and the progression of legislation to strengthen penalties for hate crime. All Administrations welcomed the ongoing preparations for a cross-cutting symposium at the BIC, entitled 'These Islands: Cultivating Communities and Tackling Inequalities', which will take place in Edinburgh on 29 September. The Council noted the fact that the next BIC summit will be hosted by the UK Government. A date for that summit is yet to be confirmed. Mr —. Madam Principal Deputy Speaker — unless Edwin has changed — that concludes the statement.
Those issues were raised at the meeting. We heard from member Administrations about the approaches that are being taken in each jurisdiction. The Member will understand that I was at the summit in place of the Minister of Education, who will, I have no doubt, wish to give a fuller answer to that question. I can say, however, that we are working across government to ensure that the provision is there. Under the leadership of Paul Givan, we have gone further than ever before on childcare provision, but it needs to go further, and that needs to be done in a joined-up way with other Departments. We all have a role to play in making sure that that support is in place, because it helps us in the work that Departments, including my Department, are doing.
The Member will be aware of the work that we have been doing and the updated work that has been done over the past months with local government and interested parties that are involved in that. We touched on some of those issues at the BIC meeting, and information has been requested from some of the other member Administrations about the work that they are doing in that area and how it could factor into that. Let me be clear: I believe that the issues that we are talking about are essential to what we want to deliver and how we tackle poverty in Northern Ireland. I certainly do not believe that we have a monopoly on the wisdom on the subject, which is why I think that it is important that we continue to engage with other Administrations to look at some of the best experience, practice and learning from elsewhere. I will continue to do that.
The Member is absolutely right: it does not lie solely with one Department. If we want to improve outcomes for people and improve people's experience of early years, there are a number of ways in which other Departments can help. I have said time and again — I genuinely believe this — that making sure that a young person has a warm, safe and secure home is one of the best things that my Department can do for people. That is where it ties in for us: making sure that we give that certainty and stability in life, where we can.
Of course, there are responsibilities for other Departments, and that is why the Department of Education continues to work closely with the Department for the Economy so that we can support training, apprenticeships and other opportunities that arise for early learning and childcare. Work is also being taken forward on plans to establish a dedicated business advisory service for childcare providers, recognising the practical challenge that many providers face. I am aware that the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is also involved to make sure that the planned actions reflect the needs of rural communities. Of course, there is a role for the Department of Health, and the Health Minister recently announced £59·2 million of investment in Together for Families. That is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve the life chances of children and families across Northern Ireland. Whether it is Education, Health, Communities or Justice, all need to be involved in making sure that we are dealing with this issue, and that is why cross-departmental collaboration is taking place.
That part of the discussion came up in updates from individual member Administrations, and we, sadly, had an issue to report that did not come up in the same way with other jurisdictions. However, we are going ahead and doing work on that. That is being led by TEO, of course including the involvement of other Departments. The meeting was in early July, and I do not recollect anybody having anything additional to contribute to that. That does not mean that we do not learn from the experiences and value of what takes place in other jurisdictions.
It certainly is an important issue. It was not directly referenced — this was specifically about childcare and early years — but the Member is absolutely right to highlight that as an issue. It is right to say that many of those organisations provide support in this area, if not directly in the area of early years then in some of the other supports that can be around that, especially with how we can help people get into work. We continue to hear the impacts of the decisions that have been made, and, although it is the Finance Minister who leads on that, we have all been listening to those concerns. There is now a gap that needs to be filled, and the Member can be assured that the Executive will work together to do our best to make sure that we put what provision we can back in place, identifying the need that is there. She will understand how difficult that is because of the funding that has been removed in that way.
That is absolutely being taken forward as part of the work that we are doing on the anti-poverty strategy. You cannot separate the two. I hope that the Member will be pleased with the work that we have done on that when it is announced. On the specific gender equality strategy, she will be aware of some of the issues that are being taken forward by TEO, specifically on violence against women and girls. As recently as last week, I have been engaging on that issue with officials to ensure that we can find a way forward and see what is possible in the rest of the mandate. Many social strategies were promised at one time. As many as 19 were proposed in the 'New Decade, New Approach' document, and we are taking those forward sequentially. I hope to say more on that. That does not mean that work has not been done in the meantime on those areas, including the anti-poverty strategy; work is being taken forward.
As I have just said, I am clear that a large part of anti-poverty is about enabling people to get into work. Childcare is a massive barrier to that. That will be part of the document, when it is produced, and I hope that she can support it.
Of course, I want to make sure that everybody has that best start in life. Our job is to make sure that we find the best ways to do that and use the resources that we have in the best way possible. The Member is new to the House — I welcome him to his place and to the Communities Committee — but he will learn very quickly that every decision that we make in this place and every pound that we spend mean that money cannot be spent elsewhere. Therefore, the questions for us are whether it is the best use of the money that we have and, if we put the money into a specific area, where it will be taken from. The costs in the Member's Bill are around £30 million. My question is this: where is that money to be taken from? If a Member's Bill is putting that responsibility on the Executive, where does the money come from? What will we defund in order to put that extra provision in place? We may well decide, "This is the right thing to do. This is the way that we can tackle poverty. This is one of the best things that we can do with the money", but I do not think that it is appropriate that it is done by way of a Member's Bill. As Members will see in other legislatures, there can often be limits on how much can be spent through the Member's Bill process. This puts a significant additional burden on the Executive. My simple questions to Members are these: "Where is that money coming from? What will it be taken from?". Those are the main questions that we have to ask, and I do not yet have the answers to them.

1,866 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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