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 support the amendment but not the original motion. The reason why I will not support the original motion is that it is plainly wrong. At an event in Belfast City Hall yesterday, real life narratives of how asylum seekers in Northern Ireland cannot access the education system were highlighted. Anaka Women's…
I thank the Member for giving way. Unfortunately, the proposer of the motion was unable to do so. Can the Member explain why the motion focuses on HMOs and calls on the Infrastructure Minister to act on that particular element of housing rather than focusing on the wider housing crisis that we face? Doing that would…
I am distraught about the level of the debate, which is on a very serious subject. It has been reduced to a zero-sum game. It has been about unionists being pitted against nationalists. It was horrendous to hear some of the language that was uttered in the Chamber over the past number of minutes. There is absolutely…
FlaggedDecided on a second assessment.Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and TravellersCriteria met: Dog-whistle messaging.
I thank the Member for giving way. There has been much mention of the starving of public services and how fault for that lies at our door, but there has been no mention of the fact that, in 2024, £2·8 billion was spent on illegal immigration and asylum seekers' support in the UK. That money could be spent on 70,000…
FlaggedDecided on a second assessment.Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and TravellersCriteria met: Sectarian or communal antagonism, Dog-whistle messaging.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. Hopefully, I will not go left or right but speak to the truth and, as the Member for South Belfast said, talk about the topic in a "mature, measured" way. The reality is that people are talking about this topic, whether you take a side or not. It is a debate that…
Last August, the Assembly was recalled because so-called protesters were emboldened enough to walk through Belfast and other areas of Northern Ireland attacking our infrastructure, disturbing the peace, attacking businesses and putting £2 million of additional pressure on our Police Service. Around that time, in the…
Sinn Féin's position on migration is informed by our republican values and principles of equality, economic and social justice, anti-racism and anti-colonialism. It is informed by our history. Across the world, people are being forced from their country by war, famine, the escalating climate crisis and persistent…
I beg to move the following amendment: May I double-check that I have 10 minutes to move the amendment? Thank you very much. There is not, and should not be, any prohibition on talking about issues that affect our constituents. Immigration is, of course, one of those issues. The operation of a humane and competent…
We have a crisis team that goes in to help any GP service that feels that it is under pressure. So, yes, we look at the underlying reasons and try to come up with workable solutions.
Thank you very much. Minister, has the Department undertaken any financial or workforce modelling to assess or mitigate the impact of such potential changes?
Once again, a number are in the situation of considering contract hand-backs. Regrettably, there have been 16 hand-backs since the financial year 2023-24, with 11 in 2024-25. In 2024-25, one contract was removed. I hope that that answers the Member's question.
I thank the Member. Of course, I fully agree, and I point him to action 17 of the mental health strategy. Action 17 commits the Department to: "Fully integrate community and voluntary sector in mental health service delivery with a lifespan approach including the development of a protocol to make maximum use of the…
I thank the Minister for his response and his kind words. Minister, do you accept that there is still a lot of potential to better utilise the community and voluntary sector in the delivery of some really important mental health services across Northern Ireland?
I thank the Member for the invite, which I was more than happy to accept. Like many of the other visits that I am so blessed to take part in, I really enjoyed meeting Turning Point NI, which is one of the many fantastic voluntary and community sector organisations doing inspiring, fantastic and wonderful work on the…
Are you allowed to say that a Deputy Speaker has just stitched you up? I think that the Member, if I heard her correctly, was talking about Encompass being in primary care: Encompass is in secondary care.
Thank you. I will go on to another question. In the previous debate on diabetes and the utilisation of data, you detailed the Encompass system and how that could be used, albeit that it would be for primary care. How could that data be collected for use in secondary care? I ask because that is how those with type 2…
Obviously, it is a tense situation, and I do not want to make it any worse. What I will say about the £9·5 million that I have decided to implement and pay anyway is that some GP services genuinely struggle. We have seen contracts handed back over the past couple of years. I had a grave concern that, for example,…
I welcome that proposal from the Minister and the idea that has been put forward. I presume that, despite having rejected the proposal, GPs will receive the money. Does receipt of the money come with the precondition that they must follow the proposal? If not, what sanctions can you impose, as Minister, if GPs do not…
I thank the Member for his question. We put a number of proposals on access to the General Practitioners Committee. For example, one was to make some appointments pre-bookable, so that, if you are caught in that speed dial-redial situation, you do not necessarily get to the point where, when you finally get through,…