Debate contribution: Programme for Government 2024-27

Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on 3 March 2025.

MLA

Mr Eóin Tennyson

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

3 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Programme for Government 2024-27

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4825775

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Like other Members, I welcome the Programme for Government as a step forward. For the first time since 2011, the Executive have agreed a Programme for Government that sets out the vision, priorities and direction for the remainder of the mandate. Of course, it goes without saying that the document is not an exhaustive list of everything that Executive Ministers will deliver over the next two years, nor should it be seen as the ceiling on our ambition, but rather it is the foundation from which we should all seek to build together. This is not a document that Alliance or, to be fair, any other party in the Chamber would have written in isolation. It does, however, set out a series of positive proposals in a number of areas where there is consensus amongst the four parties in the mandatory coalition. On that note, before I turn to the substance of the document, I want to address some points in relation to the process and how we got here. The process, at times, was fraught with needless delay and lacked the spirit of genuine cooperation and collaboration that is referenced in the document itself. Four months after the consultation closed in November 2024, Alliance Ministers should not have had to ask for a summary of consultation responses and equality and rural impact assessments, nor should those Ministers have had to ask for the final version of the document on the eve of when the Executive were due to meet to agree it. I do not wish to dwell on those challenges, but I sincerely hope that those lessons will be learned and recognised and that we can commit today to moving forward together in a spirit of genuine collaboration and cooperation as we seek to deliver together. There is much in the way of positive progress in this Programme for Government, including important commitments that will improve the lives of everyone whom we represent. There are commitments to tackle paramilitarism, speed up our justice system and enhance police officer numbers to build safer, stronger and more vibrant communities. For the first time, there are commitments to tackle the ecological crisis in Lough Neagh, ensuring that that issue receives the billing and the attention that it deserves, alongside action to protect our environment and combat climate change. It is important to stress that, be it protecting our environment and improving water quality, building a vibrant economy or delivering the social housing to which the Programme for Government aspires, that requires progress in respect of infrastructure as a key enabling function. I want to associate myself with some of the remarks that the Chair of the Infrastructure Committee made in that regard. So, too, is it welcome to see clear targets in respect of the number of participants in programmes that raise awareness around the issue of violence against women and girls, given the particular scourge that that issue imposes on our society, as well as cross-party commitments to childcare and tackling health waiting lists. Of course, there are other areas where we would have liked to go further, be that in respect of exploiting the opportunities that are presented to us by dual market access, having a greater focus on poverty or, as the Chair of the Communities Committee referenced, the need to deliver on social strategies that are long overdue. For our part, Alliance will continue to articulate arguments in favour of progressing the disability strategy, the gender equality strategy, the LGBTQIA+ strategy and others. Our ability to deliver in this mandate has been constrained by the state of our public finances and by the fact that, again, we are operating in a constrained mandate. I will refer to a couple of comments that the leader of the Opposition made. I gently say this to him: when he comes to the Chamber to point the finger at other parties, at least be consistent. The SDLP sat on previous Executives where there was no Programme for Government at all. In fairness to the SDLP Ministers who sat on those Executives, I think that they tried their best to deliver. There were also Executives on which it sat where the SDLP voted against the Programme for Government yet continued to participate in the Executive. As I said, this is not a Programme for Government that Alliance would have written. We are, however, willing to give it a fair wind, because if it is operated in good faith and in a spirit of collaboration, I believe that we can prove to be successful as an Executive. I want the Executive to be successful, because the success of our people, our communities and our public services depends on it, so I will be supporting the Programme for Government today.

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

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:03 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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