Debate contribution: Public Finances

Debate contribution by Mr Phillip Brett on 6 February 2024.

MLA

Mr Phillip Brett

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

6 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Public Finances

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4255956

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I associate myself with your remarks and with the people of North Belfast in sending our best wishes to our monarch. I start by offering my apologies to my mother, who has been logged on since 7.00 am to watch proceedings today

and to watch this moment. I apologise for our tardiness here today. It is with huge honour and grateful thanks to the people of North Belfast that I rise to support this motion and to make my maiden speech here in the Northern Ireland Assembly. In May 2022, the people of that wonderful constituency bestowed upon me the greatest honour — the honour of being their voice, the honour of being their champion and the honour of being their MLA. They chose a new voice from a new generation who is committed to working hard for everyone. They elected me to be on their side and to fight their corner, and they supported me in my vision to ensure a better and brighter future for everyone who calls North Belfast home. While I will never be able to fully repay the trust that they put in me, I commit myself today, with a renewed sense of vigour and, indeed, boundless optimism for the future, to continue to work in order to build back that proud community by bringing to an end the chronic housing crisis in North Belfast, by ensuring that every child in North Belfast fulfils their full potential and by demanding an end to health inequalities. As long as I remain an MLA for North Belfast, we will never settle for second best. We are a proud community, yes, shaped by our past, but that will not define our future, and I am even more confident that our best days in North Belfast lie ahead. While time will not allow or permit me to thank all those deserving, I stand here only thanks to the loyalty and support of my friends and family. To them, I owe a huge debt of gratitude. I want to pay a particular tribute to a former Member of this House and a Member of the other place for putting his faith in me. The faith and trust that Nigel Dodds placed in me, a 20-year-old who wanted to make his community that he loved a better place, is something that I will never forget. For that, Nigel, I will be forever grateful.

For me, it cannot simply be about holding office. Rather, it is about how we use that office to improve the life of every person in our society. That is why the motion is so important. It would be remiss of me not to credit the start of that process to my party's deputy leader, Gavin Robinson, who put in the hard yards to ensure that we proved and got agreement that there has been underinvestment in Northern Ireland. He busted the myth peddled by others that hundreds of millions of pounds sat in a dormant Stormont bank account, and he forced the Government to recognise that we were funded below our level of need. Now, in this House and in this place, we must finish the job together. The money that has been secured from the Government is important and welcome. It does not, however, provide the long-term sustainability that is required. Maintaining services in the here and now simply to make drastic cuts in the future cannot and will not be a tenable or acceptable way forward. The cost-of-living crisis, the disparity in public-sector pay, industrial action and the further deterioration of public services will, I am sure, unite the House to work together. There was a rightful public expectation that the funding that was secured would resolve the public-sector pay disputes. I think that all Members now recognise that we need a long-term sustainable basis for that in order to ensure that our hard-pressed public-sector workers get the pay rise that they deserve. The public will rightly judge this House and this place not simply on our returning but on how we use this House and this place to deliver on the issues that matter to them, which include the transformation of our health service and driving down waiting lists, providing hard-working families with the childcare support that they need, ensuring that innocent victims receive their victims' pension without delay, and ensuring and delivering jobs to every region and part of this place. The collective will of the House will be a clear sign to the Government that Northern Ireland deserves better. The Democratic Unionist Party, with all other parties, will work to ensure a better and brighter future for all the people of Northern Ireland. I urge all parties to support the motion.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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