Debate contribution: Public Finances

Debate contribution by Mr Daniel McCrossan on 6 February 2024.

MLA

Mr Daniel McCrossan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

6 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Public Finances

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4256099

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I take the opportunity to congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your new role and wish you well. The same goes for all the new Ministers and Chairs and Deputy Chairs of Committees. One of the greatest privileges of my life was being elected to the Assembly as a voice for the people of my constituency of West Tyrone. It is an honour. I am sure that that view is shared by every Member of the House. Our first priority should always be to the people whom we represent. We should ensure that, at all times, we articulate their needs in the right places to ensure that we ease the burdens and pain that they are suffering or going through and, most importantly, improve their lives. We support the motion in the spirit of goodwill, as my colleague and leader of the Opposition, Mr Matthew O'Toole, outlined. Our amendment today goes into the specifics: it asks for costed plans to be outlined by Ministers and presented to Westminster and the Treasury to ensure that the appropriate funds go to where they are needed. It is disappointing that neither the First Minister nor the deputy First Minister indicated whether they would support the amendment, but I hope that, in the spirit of goodwill today, they will. There is nothing to fear from the amendment. It goes into the specifics of the challenges that we have discussed today. Make no mistake: those challenges are great. The public are sick of manufactured crisis in this place. They are sick of excuses. They are sick of politicians going into hiding when they should be on the front line, defending the interests of all our people. This place is designed so that we work together to resolve our problems. That is why I hope that, in the spirit of goodwill, the Executive will work collectively. We, as the Opposition, will work constructively with them to find solutions to the problems that our people collectively face, and those problems are vast. Waiting lists are in a serious situation and are worsening by the day. Behind those numbers is real human suffering, including, on a daily basis, people who are dying because they do not have access to the treatment that they need or deserve. Older people's care is at its worst state in the history of this place because, as was rightly pointed out by my colleague from the Alliance Party, people cannot get access to domiciliary care packages to ensure that they can be cared for at home. Has any MLA visited an A&E department over the past couple of months? It is the most unfortunate, depressing and difficult place to be. In what is supposed to be a place of care and support for people are a lot of people suffering and sitting for endless hours. Let us resolve that problem together by ensuring that we have a plan for waiting lists and a properly funded and resourced health service that will reward our staff who are working tirelessly, the same staff whom we have stood with, shoulder to shoulder, on picket lines over the past number of months. They are not looking for a pay rise; they are looking for the pay that they are rightfully entitled to. Let us be clear about that. Special educational needs provision is in a dire state. Children and families are suffering incredibly as a result of the failure of this place, but, again, let us now look beyond that and try to find solutions so that we can alleviate the pressure on those families and those children to ensure that no child is left behind by a system that should be there to support them, deliver for them and offer them the opportunities that they deserve and need. There are huge challenges. Another is infrastructure. After two years, it would be remiss of me not to mention in the House the A5, which is a critical piece of infrastructure that, I hope, will be delivered soon. People are dying every year on that dangerous road, and there is a desperation not just for the infrastructure but for the safety of the constituents whom I represent that that road be delivered. It is important that, as we sit and stand here today, we recognise that there has been political failure at great cost to us all, in particular to the people whom we represent in our communities. When the going gets tough this time, please stand together and try to seek out solutions to the problems for the people whom we collectively represent. When it comes to it, it does not matter whether someone is unionist or nationalist or anything else, because the problems are the same. Our people are united in crisis and in their suffering, and we, as the Assembly, as one, collectively, must work together to alleviate that pain and pressure and deliver for every one of them.

823 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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