Debate contribution: Education Committee: Attendance by Officials
Debate contribution by Mr Paul Givan on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Givan
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 6 October 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Education Committee: Attendance by Officials
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5776963
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Member has raised a number of points. He will have access to the correspondence that I sent to the Committee Chair. I made it clear that officials should go to the Committee to answer questions on matters that pertain to their areas of responsibility. I also made it clear that they are not there to be subjected to — this is not my definition but what officials have reported to their line managers — the bullying and harassment that has been taking place, enabled by the Committee, in the way that Mr Sheehan has conducted himself. As I said in the correspondence, I do not expect Mr Sheehan to break the habit of a lifetime, but I expect the Chairman and the Committee to ensure that civil servants are not subjected to inappropriate questioning, bullying or harassment when they come before that Committee. That is not an unreasonable position for me, as Minister, to take, given my duty of care when it comes to all the officials in my Department. The Member has asked perfectly legitimate questions that officials and I are more than competent to deal with. However, when Members call officials before the Committee and do not ask them even one question about the subject that they were asked to come up for but use the opportunity to pursue their own vendettas, it is incumbent on me to act, which is why I have. I trust that the Committee will put in place the appropriate protocols to allow a resolution to the issue.
256 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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