Debate contribution: Programme for Government

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew McMurray on 7 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Andrew McMurray

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

7 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Programme for Government

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4579637

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the publication of the draft Programme for Government. I was pleased to see many important areas covered in it. However, an effective Programme for Government must be supported by clear, measurable and time-bound targets. Without those, it is impossible to measure and scrutinise success. Targets are currently missing from the draft programme. I will comment on two areas that are referenced in the motion, where clear targets are urgently needed. The first area is biodiversity, and the second is water and waste water infrastructure. Biodiversity loss is a global problem and one of the most pressing challenges of our time. The global erosion of biodiversity is threatening the ecosystems on which all life depends. The 'State of Nature Report 2023' provided some shocking statistics for Northern Ireland and showed that Northern Ireland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. For example, an estimated one in nine Northern Irish species is threatened with extinction; the numbers of farmland birds and wintering waterbirds have decreased substantially over the past two decades; and many species of flowering plants are in decline. Unsurprisingly, the main reason for that biodiversity loss is the result of how we interact with our environment, be that our marine, lowlands or uplands environment. However, it is possible to halt and reverse that decline if you put in the effort. Encouraging work is going on in my constituency, which shows that, if scaled up and implemented at pace, the right solutions can put nature on a path to recovery. In South Down, there are schemes that have proved that our biodiversity can be protected and be successful and thrive. The Mourne Heritage Trust has piloted healthy heathlands in which natural materials have been used to re-profile peat hags in order to retain water and sediment and prevent them from washing out. There is also the National Trust's DAERA-funded wildlife recovery projects and path building on the side of Slieve Donard, and landowners in South Down have seen the benefit of tree planting on small parcels of land and hillsides, all of which increase the biodiversity of an area. Outside of South Down, it is of particular note that a pair of white-tailed eagles in Fermanagh has become the first to breed in NI for more than 150 years. I am sure that former South Down MLA Mr Jim Wells was glad of that news. I was pleased to see the environmental improvement plan for Northern Ireland published last week. The plan contains several measurable time-bound targets that will help us reverse this biodiversity loss. Many of those targets extend well beyond 2027. That is a good thing. We need ambitious long-term targets, but it is equally important to have clear interim targets to ensure that we stay on track and make steady progress. I want to see interim targets for biodiversity included in the Programme for Government. We also need ambitious, measurable and time-bound targets to tackle huge challenges in our water and waste water infrastructure. It is becoming increasingly clear that our failing waste water system is grinding Northern Ireland to a halt. The impact on DAERA and the Department for Infrastructure is obvious to see. DAERA will not be able to tackle the water quality environmental crisis in Lough Neagh without significant improvements to waste water infrastructure. The Department for Infrastructure's budget faces an ever-growing burden with every single day that NI Water remains paralysed by a lack of funding. This is, however, no longer just about DAERA and DFI. The inadequate water infrastructure now threatens to constrain every activity in every single Department. The Communities Department's development bans in parts of Northern Ireland mean that we cannot build the homes that we so urgently need. Those bans will only spread if waste water capacity is not tackled. Building bans are affecting the delivery of the Department's housing supply strategy, which promises the development of 100,000 new homes. In Economy and Finance, economic growth will be reduced and fewer jobs will be created. Representatives of the Construction Employers Federation told me that jobs in the construction sector are in peril, as investors are building new factories elsewhere. Skilled labour in the sector is leaving the country as work is drying up. Education, Health and Justice will also eventually feel the impact when they face barriers to building new facilities. The issue is of such wide-ranging consequence that we need the whole Executive to be committed to tackling it, including through having clear, measurable and time-bound targets for water and waste water infrastructure in the Programme for Government. That would send a strong signal that the issue is understood and that the Executive Office is committed to tackling it.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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