Debate contribution: Policing Resources

Debate contribution by Miss Deirdre Hargey on 25 November 2025.

MLA

Miss Deirdre Hargey

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

25 November 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Opposition Business

Heading

Policing Resources

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5259262

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. We debated earlier the importance of Budgets and the forthcoming multi-annual Budget. The multi-annual Budget is an important step for the Executive and, indeed, the Assembly. Of course, there will still be challenges, as our Budget does not meet all the identified needs and pressures, but it will bring into focus how such Budgets can provide longer-term certainty for planning. That will include how they are managed and how we work together in order to prioritise need. The multi-annual Budget will also present an opportunity to be more innovative and joined up in how we approach delivering public services to meet that need. That includes the policing budget, which is a sizeable part of the Justice budget, as the Minister outlined. Although work is ongoing to address the underlying issues with funding, recruitment and retention, the discussions must also point to budget management and prioritisation in policing. There is no doubt that the case mentioned in the motion is one of the most serious in recent times. It again shines a light on the need to tackle violence against women and girls and the direct impact that violence against women and girls has on victims, their families and, indeed, the wider community. It also demonstrates the importance of the Office of the Police Ombudsman, which highlighted some of the failings and shortcomings. Although resourcing pressures impact on policing capacity, as was highlighted in the ombudsman's recent report, we know that prioritisation and culture play key roles in tackling those issues consistently and systemically. Of course, a cultural shift is not only for policing but for society as a whole. Our key public bodies that lead on public safety should, however, be leading the way in that area of work. A recent Criminal Justice Inspection report highlighted the need for the criminal justice system to have a collective vision and shared priorities. The Executive in their Programme for Government prioritised tackling violence against women and girls. It is therefore important that that systemic issue be highlighted and reflected in the collective vision and shared priorities document. In turn, it must also be a priority for the PSNI, and that should be reflected in its work programme and budget. I know that that case was some time ago, and improvements have obviously been made, but we need to continue to do more. It is important that work be done to ensure that we break down the siloed approaches that can result in the delays that we know there to be in the justice system. It is also important that we are innovative, especially when it comes to looking at emerging technologies and AI, to ensure that we not only deal with the challenges of today but future-proof that work. We also believe that policing with the community is the foundation not only of the policing dispensation here, as it is often the early alert system for emerging issues and trends, but of the needs of and priorities in the issues that are to be dealt with.

Thank you.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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