Debate contribution: Public Finances

Debate contribution by Miss Nuala McAllister on 6 February 2024.

MLA

Miss Nuala McAllister

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

6 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Public Finances

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4256020

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I make my first contribution in the restored Assembly, I pay tribute to my predecessor, Nichola Mallon. She served the North Belfast constituency for six years, and everyone in the Chamber knows just how hard Nichola worked. I wish her all the best for her future. I also want to say thanks to a number of people. I will start with my family. Like some other Members, I have my mum in the Gallery. She has been loving the biz about the place so she did not mind all the reconvening in the breaks. My nephew is also in the Gallery. He is supposed to be at school today, but he is a politics A-level student, so I was thinking that, perhaps, if he gets a letter from the First Minister and deputy First Minister to bring to school, he will not get into any trouble. They are just two members of a very large family that I have to thank for all the support in getting me here today, and there are three very special boys who are watching at home: Sam, Finn and Art. Most of all and most importantly, I thank my constituents of North Belfast. I hope that I can repay them over the coming years. As I move to the motion before us, it is important to reflect that, while we may be discussing the financial settlement, we need to ensure that we do not get lost in the numbers. We must not forget the impact that the previous year's Budget has had on people, schools, hospitals, businesses and the entirety of our society. There are clear examples of that in my North Belfast constituency. Schools across North Belfast are in dire need of adequate resources to ensure that our young people receive the education that they deserve. Belfast Boys' Model, Stanhope Street Nursery School and Glengormley Integrated Primary School have been waiting for capital works to be approved or work to be completed. That work would free up much-needed resources or additional places for students. Our teachers and classroom assistants in all our schools deserve to be paid fair wages. Instead of using resources to teach, resources are being used to plug gaps and gaping holes across our education system. It is clear from the financial package that we have already won the argument for financial reform. The UK Government have accepted that Northern Ireland is funded below the level of need. Our underfunded finances, coupled with years of Tory austerity, have had devastating consequences. Research undertaken by the Northern Ireland Anti-Poverty Network last year showed that North Belfast had the highest rate of child poverty in Northern Ireland, at 27·6%. Organisations such as the North Belfast Advice Partnership work to address the crisis, but with Barnardo's UK finding that the two-child limit impacts on more than 1,000 households in North Belfast, we cannot leave it to our community and voluntary sector. Adding to that, a report from the mental health champion last year reaffirmed that poverty can have an extreme adverse impact on mental health, which is acutely clear in North Belfast. Where mental health services have fallen down, excellent community organisations have stepped up. PIPS on the Antrim Road, for example, provides outstanding mental health support services from counselling to crisis support to people in North Belfast and beyond. However, that crucial support should not fall solely to an under-pressure and underfunded community and voluntary sector. Our health service, including mental health support, must be sufficiently funded. It is literally a matter of life and death. Our health services have been crippled by the dire financial circumstances that we find ourselves in. I took the opportunity to join public-sector workers on the picket lines in North Belfast a few weeks ago. I spoke to workers from the Mater Hospital and the Royal Victoria Hospital, and their commitment to our health and social care services was undeniable. If we do not pay fair wages, we will literally drive away those dedicated workers. We feel the impact not only on our health and education system but on our economy. In the past two years, our people have not been able to reap the benefits of any new Barnett consequentials and the impact any additional finances could have on our economy. We could have had a bespoke affordable childcare system implemented so that parents in all our constituencies are helped back into the workforce. More money in parents' pockets means a more thriving local economy. Our public finances must also enable safer communities. We need to properly fund our police service so that we can protect neighbourhood policing, which is fundamental to our communities. In North Belfast, we feel that squeeze just as much as any other constituency in which boots are being pulled from front-line policing. Mr Speaker, I am glad that you indulged my slight sidetrack into North Belfast, but it is important that we highlight the fact that the Executive approach to public finances is about all our constituencies and all our people benefiting. For that, I hope that every party and every Member can support the motion.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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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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