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There is no doubt that the Executive, and every Minister, face enormous challenges as a result of years of underfunding, austerity Budgets and crushed public services. Every Minister at that Executive table is there to do their best and to try to work, through a collective effort, to address the challenges that we…
Again, I concur with the Member: this is always about male violence against women, and we have to call it out for what it is. I welcome some of the work that we have done in the area through the active bystander programme, which is targeted at young men. That is about not standing by and letting a comment go in any…
First Minister, you have already acknowledged the appalling murder of Sarah Montgomery, and I join others in expressing condolences to her family and loved ones. Her murder has again brought into sharp focus the issue of violence by men against women in Northern Ireland. Will the First Minister provide an update on…
I concur with the Member and offer my support to the community that he represents. I am sure that everybody is shocked by the events of the weekend. I talked about some examples of things that we have done with the regional change fund. We also have a local change fund, which goes into the heart of communities. We…
The town of Donaghadee in my constituency is still in shock after the events of the weekend. Pregnant mother of two, Sarah Montgomery, became the twenty-seventh female to be murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020, which is a shocking figure. Will the First Minister provide an update on what more the Executive can do…
I concur with the Member. Many of us expressed our sadness and shock yesterday at the death of Sarah Montgomery. I cannot imagine what her family are going through. She was a young mummy who was expecting her next child and had her whole life ahead of her, and she was taken from her family in the most devastating way.…
I thank the First Minister for that comprehensive answer. In the light of the tragic events at the weekend, I extend my deepest sympathy to the family of Sarah Montgomery. Such tragedies speak to the importance of a connected and joined-up strategy. Will the Minister give an update on the type of projects that are…
The Executive Office has committed £3·2 million of funding until March 2026 to support EVAWG at a local and regional level. The impact of that funding will need to be evaluated across the period, but early analysis shows a really positive impact to date. For example, from January to March this year, £655,000 of…
It is disappointing that they are getting that funding only now, given that it is almost a year since that suffering was inflicted on them. Obviously, there has been an issue in how that funding has been administered. I am happy to raise that with officials, not that that will help anybody retrospectively. If anybody…
First Minister, you obviously know that, last August, we saw disgraceful race riots, during which businesses were torched and burnt out in hate crimes. What is your assessment of the fact that it has taken Belfast City Council almost a year to pay compensation to the businesses and organisations affected? The new…
I am sad to hear that that is some people's experience. We met the racial equality group last week and had good engagement with it on what we have done and what we intend to do. We want to continue to work with it, particularly as we develop the race relations strategy post 2025. We will introduce racial equality…
First, I welcome the fact that additional funding has been announced. I represent the most diverse constituency in the North and, possibly, on the whole island. I have spoken to and engaged with lots of people from ethnic minority communities in recent weeks, as I always do, and I am afraid that they do not feel that…
Thanks for that. It is something that we considered a lot. We could take a blanket approach and give the same funding to every council, or we can invite applications for projects that, we assess, will meet need in areas that have been identified as areas of challenge. We have announced that funding just today. It will…
First Minister, I welcome your announcement of the £220,000, which is great news. What mechanisms and structures will your Department now put in place to ensure that that money is really well targeted at those who are best placed to get to the root cause of the racism?
That is actively under consideration. We are looking at what the next phase will look like. We can all point to the successful impact that the initiative has had on many communities. We are looking at geographical areas and at the types of projects that we can support. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that any…
One of the clearest actions that the Department that the First Minister co-leads has taken to tackle hate and sectarianism has been the Urban Villages programme, which has been a huge success in Ardoyne and Ballysillan. There is clear political and community support for extending the scheme to other parts of North…
I think that everybody in the Chamber would call out what we saw in recent weeks for what it was: raw and unadulterated racism on our streets. That has no place in our community and must be faced down wherever it raises its ugly head. I know that that is a view that we share. Behind all the attacks, however, are…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chéad-Aire as a freagra. I welcome the detail in the Minister's answer. Will she give her assessment of the racially motivated violence that we have seen on our streets recently?
First and foremost, our thoughts and support are with those who were affected by the recent disorder. The Executive unequivocally condemn the violence that we have witnessed, and we, again, call for calm across our communities. As recent events have shown, hate crime has a devastating impact on victims, their families…
It is not about replacing people but about how we enhance the way in which we deliver services. It is something that I want to do now, when we are looking at our digital maturity assessment. That is looking across every Department to see what their level of readiness is and to assess their ability to deliver…
Thanks for that. At the heart of our Programme for Government is the need to transform our public services, and the Member will know that our whole focus is around how we can drive that transformation and how we can support innovation, creativity and efficiency as building blocks for social and economic growth. There…
It is really important because I believe that AI and digital transformation are necessary for our delivery of public services. I think that they will allow us to deliver better public services in a way that, perhaps, will be more convenient to many in our population, but that must be equitable across society. At the…
I thank the First Minister for her answer. I want to touch on the horrific hacking incident that happened in a recent SEN event. How will TEO and other agencies and Departments work together to strengthen cybersecurity and ensure that digital platforms and, of course, AI advancements remain inclusive and accessible…