Debate contribution: Election of Speaker and Deputy Speakers

Debate contribution by Mr Danny Donnelly on 27 October 2022.

MLA

Mr Danny Donnelly

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

27 October 2022

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Assembly Business

Heading

Election of Speaker and Deputy Speakers

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4178323

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Until this year, my main job was as a nurse working in the Ulster Hospital. Like many first-time MLAs, I left my career to come and work here, but, since the election six months ago, I have been prevented from doing what I was sent here to do. I have not been able to take part in debates on important issues in the Chamber or attend Committee meetings to scrutinise the work of Ministers and Departments. No one has. Over the past six months, however, I have met many people and groups who have strongly expressed their wish that the Assembly be up and running and delivering for everyone in Northern Ireland as soon as possible. Members from most parties attended the Crushed by the Cost of Living event a few weeks ago in this Building. It was organised by Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick and highlighted the huge strain that the increases in the cost of living are putting on many households and families across Northern Ireland. Those who spoke made a desperate plea for urgent action to be taken to help support people struggling to heat their home and feed their family at this time. Consultant paediatrician Dr Julie-Ann Maney said that she is very concerned about what this winter will bring for those being hardest hit. One of the risk factors for sudden unexpected death in infancy is hypothermia. Paediatricians are very concerned about fuel poverty and that infants will be cold, as many people will struggle to heat their home. They are very concerned that infants may die this winter of sudden unexpected death owing to hyperthermia. That should be reason enough to reform the Executive.

A local food bank in Larne has seen requests for assistance increase by 111% since this time last year. It is seeing more requests from families with children. Some people have even been requesting emergency food handouts that can be eaten cold because they cannot afford the energy to cook. We had a presentation here a couple of weeks ago from community groups that provide support to people with learning disabilities and mental health conditions to get them into, and to continue in, employment. The groups rely on the European social fund, which is due to end early next year, with no other funding identified to replace it. Without urgent intervention, many vital services will cease to exist for 17,000 people who rely on them and 1,700 jobs among the workers who support them will potentially be lost.

Yes.

Absolutely; I completely agree with that. Those organisations add huge value to the amount of work that is done here in Northern Ireland. As highlighted a couple of weeks ago at the event for those organisations, time is running out, and even more so now. I have also heard from many groups that represent people who are suffering from medical conditions and need action plans to be progressed to improve treatments in Northern Ireland. There is a group of cancer patients who cannot get scans that are available to patients in GB, because of the lack of a multi-year Budget to fund the implementation of the cancer strategy. It appears that there is now a healthcare border in the Irish Sea. Last week, along with other local MLAs and charities, I met representatives of over 100 businesses in Larne that were struggling with increased energy bills and other pressures, some so much that they feared they may not be able to keep going for much longer. They were very clear that we should do all that we can to re-form the Assembly to support them through this crisis. People are spending years suffering on waiting lists while their eyesight or mobility deteriorates, waiting on routine operations, sometimes in constant pain. Ambulances are stacked up outside our hospitals, unable to offload sick patients because there are no spaces in A&E departments and no beds available in the wider hospitals. Our health service is operating under extreme pressure, and we are not even in the winter months yet. We are in a crisis. People are unable to meet their needs and provide for their families. Otherwise solid businesses are going to the wall. Our health service is facing many serious challenges. Things are getting harder and harder for many of the people whom we represent, and we are failing them. Whatever issues parties have, they should be able to come here and work with the other elected Members to do what we can to support people who are experiencing hardship. Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP, said in 2019:

"It is wrong to blackmail an entire community and say, 'You cannot have a Government until we get our way'".

Yet, here we are. It is wrong that we have a system that allows people in Northern Ireland to be used as leverage in a political dispute. I got involved in politics to try to make this place better for everyone, but it is going the other way. As I said earlier, my background is in nursing, and I would like to share this observation: if one nurse refused to be involved in the care of a sick patient, that nurse's professionalism and ability to do the job would very quickly be called into question. They would face stiff restrictions on their practise and could ultimately be sacked and struck off for not doing their job. If that nurse were to prevent other nurses from attending to the patient, the consequences could be even more severe. Thankfully, most nurses would consider it unimaginable for a nurse to refuse to help a sick patient. We need to help people in need. We need to end ransom politics. We need a reform system that can be relied on to deliver for people, whatever the political situation, and we need to be able to work together for the common good. I support the motion.

985 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not qualifying

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:33 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

Disagree with this assessment?

Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification