Debate contribution: Holiday Hunger

Debate contribution by Mr Daniel McCrossan on 19 March 2024.

MLA

Mr Daniel McCrossan

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

19 March 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Holiday Hunger

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4279650

Read the official Assembly record

Text

This is an important debate. Mrs Dodds was right to point out that the issue stretches far beyond the remit or responsibility of the Department of Education; there is a collective responsibility on the Executive to resolve the problem. Just last week, we saw a stark and hard-hitting report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office, pointing to a real crisis facing our children, young people and families, particularly working families. That report contains a recent estimate that it would take £825 million to £1 billion a year to start to resolve the problem. This is a major cross-departmental crisis. First and foremost, we need to acknowledge that there is a responsibility on all Departments to work collectively to resolve it. If anyone in the House thinks that firing a few pounds into the scheme will resolve any of these problems, they need to waken up. The reality is that the scheme does not even scratch the surface. It is welcome, and it is important. It is better to have the scheme than not to have it, and people miss it now that they no longer have it. I would like to see it reinstated. We are clear about that in our support of today's motion and amendment. However, we need to look beyond that. The Department of Education here has been majorly underfunded for decades. Until we wake up to that reality, we will not properly prioritise the needs of our children. We must address hunger and the various holistic values that are important to our children's development. Any Member who listens to educators — our teachers and classroom assistants — hears from them about the real problems facing children and young people across Northern Ireland on a daily basis; they could write a book about them. As well as being educators, they have been acting as social workers. They support children emotionally and provide food for children who come to school hungry in the morning and for children who may not have enough for lunch or dinner, because their parents cannot afford to buy it and do not meet the threshold for free school meals provision. I have spoken to principals who, often, can easily identify those children. They have had to go the extra bit to ensure that no child goes hungry. The reality in today's society in Northern Ireland, particularly during a cost-of-living crisis, is that the issue is being exacerbated. That should not be the case. Our children are the most important and valuable asset in our society and community. It is for the House to ensure that our children have the basic needs of society and that we pave a way out of poverty for children, supporting them into a future that is much better than that of their parents or previous generations. If we cannot do that simple thing, we are failing future generations. The motion is important. I know that the Minister feels strongly about the issue; I have heard him and other Members across the House speak about it. No one will disagree with the motion or the amendment in principle. That is, quite simply, because of the importance of it. We have to call these things what they are, however. The motion will not go far enough in addressing the fundamental problems of poverty and child poverty. Food banks have never been as busy. I see that in my constituency. I listen to and speak to community workers daily, and I hear about many working people — both parents working, some in multiple jobs — who are forced to go to food banks because of the cost of childcare. Their priority, financially, is childcare. They are left without any spare cash to provide the basic need — food — to their family. The reality for many children is that the only nutritious meal they get is in school. That is a damning indictment of this place and of how we are failing. We, as MLAs, should come together to ensure that no child ever goes hungry. That should be our core aim; we should work towards that. To do that, we first and foremost need an anti-poverty strategy. There has not been one over the past two years, during the cost-of-living crisis. That is entirely regrettable and embarrassing, but there is an opportunity for the House, now that it is functioning, to work collectively to resolve the problem. That is the very least that our children deserve, and I hope to God that they get a whole lot more when the House does what it should.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:53 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 reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.

Challenge this classification