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.
The Member has outlined issues that I am happy to come back to him on in correspondence. I think that the last point was to do with the standardisation process in nurseries. By that, I assume that he meant converting to full-time hours. Forgive me if I have misunderstood what he was trying to ask. The process around…
The same crisis is affecting all sectors of the education system. The principal of a mainstream nursery in North Antrim that is taking part in the standardisation day is faced with a situation where a number of pupils who were referred to paediatrics by their health visitors have still not been seen prior to starting…
The Member rightly raises the issue of the statementing process, which is often about carrying out the necessary assessments so that we can identify the needs. I have made it clear that we need to move away from a legalistic statementing process, because teachers can often identify that a young person or child,…
I certainly back what the Minister has just said about helping those in our special needs sector. He referenced earlier some conversations that he had had with the Health Minister. Were there any discussions about autism diagnosis and trying to speed up that process? The impact of delay is seriously restricting the…
I made a transformational statement about special educational needs in the Assembly in January of this year. I quickly followed that up by publishing the special educational needs reform agenda, and I followed up on that with a five-year delivery plan in February 2025, outlining the measures that we need to take to…
I appreciate the efforts that you are making on this important issue. Will you outline further what your Department is doing to address the difficulties in accessing support from allied health professionals, given what you have said about the increasing demand and pressures on our special school system?
Fundamentally, the Department of Health needs to ensure that appropriate health professionals are available. The particular interest is around making sure that allied health professionals are available to help to meet the need. Knockevin and other special schools have made the case — I agree with them — that there…
Minister, you will be well aware of the situation in Knockevin School. Can you give us any update on communication that you have had with the principal there? That school has had its onsite nurse removed. You will also be well aware of the growing medical complexities that that school is facing. Can you give us any…
That was the basis of a meeting that I also held with the Chairman of the Education Committee, Mr Mathison, at which the case was made forcefully by principals in attendance about the need for medical professionals to be in their facilities. There was a period in which those services were withdrawn. The outworking of…
I thank the Minister for his answer. As I am sure that he knows, nurses support children with the most complex medical needs. Will he make the case to the Health Minister that they should not only be retained in schools but reinstated in schools that have removed them?
I met the Minister of Health, Mr Nesbitt, in November 2024, and we discussed nursing provision in special schools. I await the outcome of the Public Health Agency review of health needs facing children in special schools. Of course, my officials continue to work closely with colleagues in the Department of Health and…
I thank the Member again for her supplementary question. This is a matter of common sense. Women need safe spaces, women deserve safe spaces, and many women are demanding safe spaces because that is what the law is there for and is designed to do. The Equality Commission had an opportunity to clarify and to give that…
I thank the deputy First Minister for her answer. Does she unequivocally agree that the response continues to leave women feeling vulnerable in places where they should feel safe, such as in single-sex changing rooms and toilets, and that any ongoing uncertainty that is caused by that delay from the Equality…
I thank the Member for her important and very relevant question. At the heart of all this must be a fundamental principle, which is that there should be safe spaces for biological females. That was at the heart of the court case. The court ruled that gender is based on biological sex. I was very disappointed in the…
FlaggedGender, sexuality, abortion and related social issuesCriteria met: Identity framing, Dog-whistle messaging.
It is important to point out that, across Northern Ireland every year, there are hundreds and hundreds of bonfires, the vast majority of which are displayed in an absolutely peaceful way as part of community celebration. Northern Ireland is not unique in that; the culture of bonfire building as a form of commemoration…
The deputy First Minister mentioned T:BUC and Executive strategies. However, in light of those incidents, as well as the serious health and environmental concerns and risks that bonfires pose, does she agree that the current unregulated approach is not working and that political action is needed to end the cycle of…
I thank the Member for his question. Sadly, throughout the year, we have seen demonstrations that have aspects that are hateful, unkind, unpalatable and entirely unacceptable. That happens throughout Northern Ireland in many different areas. First of all, we should recognise that it involves a minority of people. When…
Absolutely, the Member is correct. The approach to legacy must always have justice at its heart. Of course, the process has, at best, been opaque. The Secretary of State will deign to tell us what he has decided to do after his extensive consultations with the Irish Government. That is an appalling way to approach the…
Deputy First Minister, many of us are really angry at the Secretary of State for running to Dublin for an agreement on legacy but not addressing the fact that Dublin has never admitted its role in IRA terrorism. It has not cooperated with the Omagh inquiry, and there has been no justice from the Dublin Government for,…
I thank the Member for her important question. It is worth reiterating, time and time again, that terrorism was always wrong, that violence was always wrong, that there was never any justification for it and that there was always an alternative. I sit down and talk to victims' families, many of whom are still grieving…
The Member has spoken a number of times on a number of issues already today, from the Windsor framework right through to the important issue about safe spaces for biological females. It is important not to dismiss those issues and to say that they are nonsense. That is absolutely wrong. If this place is going to work,…
Saying that "more needs to be done" is a remarkable understatement. The deputy First Minister did not specifically address the point about the cheap headlines that her party and the Education Minister are chasing today around vulnerable kids and guidance in schools. I want to ask one other specific question that…
I thank the Member for his question. The Executive are focused on delivery regardless of the challenges. There are challenges around the funding that is available and challenges in our system to make sure that it can deliver for people and that it is fit for purpose. We have delivered, not least in getting the…
I thank the Member for her question. As indicated, that engagement was very much about communicating with groups but also with individuals and others outside those groups who are known to us, along with extensive engagement with the commissioner and officials who were working to develop that. I am optimistic that the…
On the back of the question that Connie Egan just asked, can the deputy First Minister give a guarantee that the wording on the plaque will be reflective of the experiences and input of victims and survivors, and can she give us some sense of exactly what that engagement looked like?