Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
Thank you very much, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I welcome the debate and the proposal in the motion. I hope that our amendment can be seen as a small contribution to the motion, while not changing it massively. Our amendment revolves around the line in the Bengoa report that sums up where we are today better than…
I thank my East Antrim colleague for giving way. He will know that I chair the all-party group (APG) on cancer, so my comment to him is made on a cross-party basis. It concerns cancer waiting times. Over the past 10 years, the 62-day target for seeing cancer patients has dropped from 95% to 29·5%. The 31-day treatment…
I beg to move Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. We are ten years on from the Bengoa report, 'Systems, Not Structures', and it is clear that, since then, we have not progressed the reforms that are needed. In 2016, an article titled, "A fresh, new strategy for the Northern Ireland health and care system?"…
The consultation for all of the curriculum has been out, and we are working through the responses. I am more than happy to assure the Member that, where the responses have highlighted issues that we need to address, all of those issues will be seriously looked at before a final curriculum is brought forward.
The EA has a desire to have greater use of its facilities by communities. Part of the change around youth work and something of which I have been supportive is having a greater role for the community and voluntary sector. There should be statutory involvement only when the community and voluntary sector is unable to…
Has any consideration been given to exploring how solutions could be provided that would allow the community and voluntary sector to utilise EA facilities, especially when we are looking at statutory services stepping back, to allow them to deliver youth services?
I have met various youth organisations. They had relayed their concerns with the existing way in which that was being operated by the Education Authority. That is why we had a prolonged period of consultation and engagement taken forward by the EA. That has led to changes to the youth framework in that respect that…
I do not disagree with the Member. In terms of the ability to effect real change in society, education is the biggest driver that will help with those outcomes. So many people passionately believe in education because it is often the way in which someone can work their way out of challenging circumstances. Many issues…
Does the Minister agree that those same social determinants are the cause of economic inactivity and health inequality and that those three areas could therefore form the kernel of the next Programme for Government?
It is why we have embarked on the transformation of our education system in terms of academic achievement. I have made it clear that there is disadvantage in our society: there are those who have more opportunity and those who come from a more disadvantaged background. It is too easy for that to be determined as being…
Minister, I will jog your memory of that night. You were being interviewed in Lisburn in the midst of a protest that you attended and supported at which there was a crowd of masked men. We know what happened that night: businesses were instructed to close and were intimidated into doing so; migrants were subjected to…
Yes. We have had assurances around the EA supporting the school, but, as I said in my response, it is not a satisfactory arrangement. The cause is the lack of investment in routine maintenance across our school estate. Unfortunately, it is not the only school in which that has happened: another school in Londonderry…
I thank the Minister for his answer, and I commend all those in the community who have been involved. I pay tribute to Mrs Hall and Ms Stewart for their leadership and to the schools that have stepped up. Minister, you mentioned the EA. Have you had an assurance from the Education Authority that all the support…
I am aware of the situation and thank Mr Stewart for raising it with me. Ms Brownlee has also raised it directly and personally with me on a number of occasions. In addition, I met some of the teachers from the school, who raised it directly with me. The Education Authority has engaged with the school. I know that the…
The Member has raised a number of points. He will have access to the correspondence that I sent to the Committee Chair. I made it clear that officials should go to the Committee to answer questions on matters that pertain to their areas of responsibility. I also made it clear that they are not there to be subjected to…
I thank the Minister for his answer. I asked about the permanent secretary, but I will accept what the Minister said for now. It is good to see that he is buddies with my colleague Pat Sheehan: they are on speaking terms again. Will the Minister confirm whether the permanent secretary will attend the Education…
The Member will know that I am making myself available to the Committee. The Committee has sought me to come before it, and we will put a date for that in the diary. I will attend the Committee in due course, when we have the date agreed. There will be no breach of the ministerial code in that respect. I am pleased to…
There has been correspondence, and various interested parties have made representations on the issue. We have responded to that. Ultimately, CCEA took this decision about what qualifications to make available. Few pupils take German through CCEA, which means that, when it comes to marking and grading, there is a small…
Thank you, Minister. It is particularly telling that the previous British ambassador to Berlin, Jill Gallard CMG CVO, started her love of the German language at Ballyclare High School. Many more who have studied the language are particularly concerned by CCEA's short-term view. The Minister will be aware that funding…
I thank the Member for that question. CCEA took that decision as an awarding body. It provides the overwhelming majority of qualifications in Northern Ireland, but it reviewed the suite of qualifications that it provides, and German was one that it decided to remove. We operate an open qualifications framework in…
Like the Member, I found that the changes were welcomed in my constituency. I am not surprised by that, given the number of parents who were often deeply frustrated that their child was discriminated against. The SDC criterion was established in 1998 to maximise access to funded preschool places for children from…
The Minister's recent changes to the use of the socially disadvantaged circumstances (SDC) criterion have been roundly welcomed by my constituents, but some others have sought to misrepresent those changes. Will the Minister outline what he hopes to achieve by those measures?