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.
I extend my best wishes to the Minister and her husband, Michael, after what happened last week, which was disgusting. In a general sense, Minister, what is your assessment of how closely the far right and paramilitary groups are working in unison to harass and intimidate people? You said that sectarianism and racism…
Like many other crimes that are committed by cowards under cover of darkness to intimidate and threaten, it can be very difficult to identify the individual perpetrators or actors in those situations. I encourage people to continue to report, because patterns of reporting can, in themselves, help the PSNI when it…
I begin by offering my solidarity to the Minister and her husband after the incident outside their home, which was completely wrong and should never have happened. Our thoughts are with you today. I thank the Minister for her answer. We are hearing that when people report those crimes, there is often little or no…
There is no place in society for that type of hate. Every person and every family, regardless of religion or background, is entitled to feel safe and free from threat or intimidation. My Department is engaged in a wide range of work to respond to sectarian hate attacks and to strengthen support for victims of hate…
I have raised the treatment of those people, particularly in cases of paramilitary-style attacks, in writing with the UK Government and the president of the Victims' Payments Board. Shootings and beatings by paramilitary organisations, whether they are intra-community or inter-community, need to be addressed in the…
Minister, you mentioned ending "the cycle of intergenerational trauma". What about ending the trauma experienced by victims who were maimed and attacked in their own home by the IRA but cannot access the pension scheme because they were maimed and attacked by members of their own community? What is your assessment of…
We provide over £2·4 million of funding for the general work that we do to support victims, and to ensure that victims and witnesses of crime can access the support services that they need. Those services are delivered by Victim Support NI and the NSPCC's young witness service. Through the witness support services,…
I certainly understand the hurt felt by victims' families and the sensitivity of the issue, which is why it is particularly disappointing that there has been so much politicking, particularly around the interview that I gave after the event. What I said has been thoroughly and deliberately misrepresented. To provide…
I put on record my utter condemnation of the incident that took place at the Minister's home last week. There is no justification for that kind of intimidating behaviour. Private homes must be off limits. I thank the Minister for her answer. The Minister will know that the victims' campaigner Ann Travers has asked for…
My Department funds support services to assist all victims of crime on an equal basis. The entitlements and services that victims of crime in Northern Ireland can expect to receive from criminal justice organisations are set out in the statutory Victim Charter. The Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service is…
Policing and community safety partnerships are jointly funded by my Department and the Policing Board, and they lead on the Department's operational response to specific concerns at a local level. They work with designated partners, local statutory bodies and agencies, and the voluntary and community sector to tackle…
Conversations with partners are ongoing. The previous joint consultation with DFC on the issue indicated a strong desire for change. We are proposing providing PSNI officers with the additional power to seize and dispose of alcohol in exceptional circumstances, such as certain public order situations. We are also…
I also express solidarity with the Minister. Parts of Derry city centre at times now resemble the Wild West, with groups of vulnerable individuals drinking and engaging in antisocial behaviour. It is not only putting them at risk; it is impacting negatively on locals, tourists and the local economy. Police have…
Police powers around drinking in public in Northern Ireland derive from a mix of local by-laws and broader public order legislation. Councils can prohibit drinking in designated public areas by way of local by-laws made under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. Consuming alcohol in those areas is an…
As I have just said, prison officers are trained in the deployment of emotional support dogs, which is pretty much like looking after any other dog in that environment. The dogs are not there for protection, for guarding or to work as sniffer dogs, where there is a particular skill engaged in training the dogs and a…
I am in solidarity with you, Minister, following the mob at your house, last week. We are all thinking of you. Following up on the previous questions, will the Minister confirm whether emotional support animals, particularly dogs, receive specific training before being placed in a prison? Do prison officers receive…
My greater concern is the amount of time that has been consumed by Prison Service staff in responding to an issue that was based on nothing but lies and smears. In fact, the Member himself had to admit in public that he had not even read the independent welfare report, despite tweeting consistently and persistently…
Does the Minister not have any concern that, after 20 years of putting dogs in prisons, there is no legislation; no definition of what an emotional support dog is; no pre-suitability assessment was done of that particular dog; and there is a made-up policy of putting a pet dog in prison without any safeguards? That…
I disagree entirely with the picture that has been painted by the Member when she says that the way in which the situation was dealt with by the Prison Service, originally, was wrong. What is scandalous is the whipping up of false information, misinformation and disinformation in the public domain — in social media…
I thank the Minister. We made a mistake in respect of the dog that has been in the news recently: that dog should not have been in the prison. Its placement did not fall within the policy and legislation, which, I believe, needs to be reviewed and updated. The Minister received correspondence, as recently as this…
The provision of emotional support animals within Northern Ireland Prison Service establishments is an operational matter for the Prison Service. It is more than 20 years since the service introduced support dogs into the prison setting, and it is not aware of a single occasion when a dog has been placed at risk.…
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I may be able to get through my contribution before 2.00 pm regardless. I thank the Minister for his intervention. Yes, I was concerned about the timescales but simply because, as I highlight now, if the guidelines arrive in the next two or three weeks — we are being told that November is the…
I indicated in my remarks that the guidelines will come within weeks. I also said that my permanent secretary will be issuing communications in anticipation of the Bill's being passed today. What the Chair of the Committee is not highlighting, however, is the fact that the lengthy Committee Stage process was not due…