Debate contribution: Poverty: North Down

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 9 December 2025.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

9 December 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Poverty: North Down

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5296621

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I speak today as an Alliance Party MLA for North Down, and I thank my constituency colleague Connie Egan MLA for securing this timely and important debate in the Assembly. Contrary to the perceptions of some, there are many people in North Down who are suffering from poverty. They are wondering how they will feed their families and whether they can afford to put the heat on, in the same way as is experienced in many other constituencies across Northern Ireland. North Down still has around one fifth of children living in poverty, and, within the wider borough, over 3,000 people are on the housing waiting list and approximately 20% are experiencing fuel poverty. Just last week, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that 330,000 people and 110,000 children are living in poverty here, and, despite misconceptions, the majority of those live in working households. That means that hundreds of thousands of people have a lower life expectancy and greater mental health challenges, and those children will suffer worse educational and wider life outcomes. The failure to meaningfully tackle poverty over the past 20 years and beyond is a dreadful legacy, particularly with the austerity policies of subsequent Conservative Governments. I have been incredibly disappointed that the Labour Party has sought to continue some of that legacy by targeting those in our society who are most vulnerable to poverty, particularly older people and people with a disability. I commend those MPs who forced concessions from the UK Government on welfare and the winter fuel payment and championed the removal of the two-child limit, including my Alliance Party colleague Sorcha Eastwood MP. We know that families with three or more children experience higher rates of poverty, and the removal of that punitive cap will make a huge difference to the 50,000 families who are set to benefit in every constituency in Northern Ireland, especially in North Down. Although it is important to acknowledge that it is a wider UK problem, we should not shirk our responsibilities locally, especially because, before housing costs, our poverty levels in Northern Ireland are similar to the UK as a whole. Given the drastic rise in the number of private renters, the rate at which rent is rising should be a concern to us all, particularly in North Down, where rent prices are already much higher. I am sure that we can all see the huge strain that the housing crisis places on our constituents, particularly as the cost of living and inflation continue to bite. It is vital that we deliver new social homes to address the issues hampering development, not least in relation to our waste water infrastructure.

We must also see an anti-poverty strategy not only in place but delivering meaningful change in North Down and beyond.

I look forward to hearing from the Communities Minister about his departmental efforts to finalise the strategy and how he will address concerns raised by relevant stakeholders in the consultation. I also hope that he will be able to update us on the anticipated fuel poverty strategy, because, as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlights, the downward trend of poverty here has stalled in recent years and our child poverty rates remain high. Clearly, the lack of an anti-poverty strategy and the collapse of the Assembly have had consequences. Regrettably, our time to discuss such a complicated and layered topic is short, but I will close by again thanking Connie for securing the debate and all the organisations in North Down for the sterling work that they do. Their work is a lifeline for many in the constituency, which I am proud to represent, and I am glad that we have been able to air this important topic in the Assembly.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:11 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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