Debate contribution: Education (Holiday Meal Payments) Bill: Consideration Stage
Debate contribution by Mr Jon Burrows on .
- MLA
- Mr Jon Burrows
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Education (Holiday Meal Payments) Bill: Consideration Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5743000
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will be brief. I ask that you give me some latitude on the overall principle of the Bill. I do not think that there is anyone in the House who believes that any child should go hungry in this country. As a food bank volunteer myself, I have given food bank parcels to children, and it was a heartbreaking but humbling experience. There has been discussion of the Bill at Committee, and it is appropriate that we examine things such as whether a worthy aspiration can become something that we can deliver. It would be ideal if this were a cross-departmental Bill with Health, Education and Finance support. On the broad principle, of course we do not want any children going hungry. Of course, we have to worry about those who are just above thresholds: those who are working and unable to access such support. Also, we need to have reviews to make sure that, if the Bill does pass, direct payments do end up as nutritious meals in children's stomachs, and work still needs to be done on that. There are a lot of issues, but nobody is going to deny that giving children a nutritious meal will not only be good for them and their families but, in the long term, will lead to cost savings in dealing with mental and physical health and health inequalities. I have no problem with the amendments. They largely support and tidy up things, so we are not going to divide on that. The Committee should do more work on the Bill to look at the modalities and review mechanisms and to make sure that there is cross-departmental funding support. There is work that we can do to make the Bill better.
294 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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