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I appreciate the Member's giving way. She made a really valid point about the representation that many of us have received from across the community, far beyond a DUP voter base. The question of why nationalist representation has moved so far beyond some of its voters that only the DUP can represent those voters is a…
I thank the Member for his intervention. I agree with him about the chilling effect. Many people made light of my colleague Peter Martin's contribution to the debate last week, but it was totally fair and made completely with good intentions to show how much overreach there is. My colleague Mr Givan also talked about…
I thank the Member for giving way. That is exactly where we were going with this, before there was that bit of drama. We were getting to the question of what defines "chilling effect". What we mean by that is genuine concerns relating to normal, everyday activity in a family home. My colleague Deborah Erskine outlined…
I absolutely agree, and I thank my colleague for his contribution. I will address some of Mr Delargy's comments. Just before he came in, my colleague Diane Dodds referred to some comments from Stella O'Malley, a highly respected Dublin-based international psychotherapist, about the Bill's major chilling effect.…
I thank my colleague for giving way. She is putting the argument across extremely well. The Bill sponsor has just implied that a number of European countries have adopted similar legislation, but I am sure that he will accept that all those laws — I have looked at them — are very different when it comes to the level…
I am not contradicting my colleague Peter Martin; I agree with his position. It is the Bill sponsor who has outlined during the debate how much work there would be for the police in investigating and interpreting the potential offences. Would parents be investigated? Would counsellors? How many people would have to be…
I thank the Member for giving way. There is a contradiction, because, in his contribution last week, Peter Martin suggested, in effect, that the prevalence was so low and the size of the LGBT community so small that we should not worry about it. I am not quoting Peter Martin directly, but that was the thrust of his…
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Thank you for handling that with so much professionalism. It gets challenging in here at times, but I have the utmost respect for you in all aspects of your role. I was talking about the clear definition of language in the courts. The Bill sponsor mentioned the role of the courts and the…
Further to that point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Standing Orders expressly state that the Speaker's decisions are final; that a Deputy Speaker, when occupying the Chair, is equivalent to the Speaker; and that no Member of the Assembly can challenge the authority of whoever occupies that seat. For the purposes of the…
I request that her comments to the top Table tonight are reviewed by the Speaker's Office. It was highly inappropriate for her to approach the Table during the debate to make her personal political view known, given that we know that she is an activist on the matter.
Oh, sorry. Well, sorry, Deputy Speaker, I think that that is absolutely ridiculous: a Member of the House, who sometimes occupies the position of Principal Deputy Speaker, has approached the Deputy Speaker who is currently in the Chair, to make an ideological point.
I do not want to repeat what I just said, but I do not know where to go with that from the Member for Foyle. It certainly is not a good day for him when it comes to Assembly behaviour and conduct. He tried to misrepresent and lash out at me, but I was referring to a specific test in case law under R v Rimmington, in…
I certainly had not seen him being included in the debate today. It is somewhat immature for him to suggest that he has sat in to listen to it and it reflects badly on him as an individual.