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 am always happy to visit North Down and join the Member wherever it is that he wants to show me around. In many ways, the additional need that he is experiencing is a good problem. However, we know that it exists right across Northern Ireland, and I am keen to better understand the issues and see what my Department…
Thank you, Minister, for your answer. My interest is particularly in junior-level football. There are increasing numbers of players in the North Down primary schools. Is the Minister willing to come to North Down to see the level of enthusiasm at the junior level, perhaps kick a ball around and hear some of the…
I am more than happy to engage with the project. My understanding is that funding has been secured for the project through PEACE PLUS funding. Certainly, I am more than happy to engage and, if there are any specific issues that the project is facing, I am happy to discuss them.
I thank the Minister for the answer. Is the Minister aware of the current project taking place in the Ballykinler camp? The Down GAA county board is undertaking a project to develop a centre of excellence for sport and a community facility. What support can the Minister give to that? Will he engage with those involved…
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I wish to group questions 1 and 4 and request an additional minute for the answer. Regrettably, neither my Department nor Sport NI has any funding opportunities open to which grassroots sports clubs could apply. However, I can announce that Sport NI will reopen its popular…
Thank you. I go back to the Member's previous point about the comparison of alcohol and tobacco. Does the Member agree that alcohol is regulated? We can buy alcohol only in certain places, and we can buy it only above a certain age limit. As with tobacco, regulation of alcohol has made a dangerous product safer for…
I thank the Member for giving way. I am attracted to the question about prohibition. In some of these things, I am fundamentally a bit more libertarian, certainly when it comes to certain substances, but it is also the case that smoking does not have some of the social or community upsides that are seen from, for…
The Bill features a few welcome provisions, including those aimed at tackling the unacceptable marketing of vapes and other nicotine products to children. However, the Bill's key proposal of a progressive smoking ban is, essentially, a prohibitionist approach to a public health issue, and that is a recipe for…
I support the idea behind the legislative consent motion. I imagine that I am not alone in receiving a briefing paper from the British Heart Foundation that highlighted startling stats. From its helpful paper, we learn that smoking increases the risk of developing diseases such as heart disease, cancer and lung…
Today's vote and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill more generally are undoubtedly the right thing to do. That is what I have written down, but, inside, I feel so much better about what is happening today than what is typed up at the top of my page. Unlike probably all the Members who have spoken so far, I have no declaration…
I rise in favour of the LCM and would welcome Northern Ireland's inclusion in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill. I thank the Minister for bringing the LCM to the Assembly. Like other Members, I know how hard it is to quit smoking. It is certainly very addictive. The main purpose of the Bill is to introduce a new offence to…
Like other Members, as a former 30-a-day smoker, I can stand in the House and say that quitting over 15 years ago was the most positive, health-defining decision that I have made. I fell into the category of the almost nine out of 10 people in the UK who took up smoking before the age of 21. Millions of our citizens,…
I endorse all the remarks that have been made. We discussed the issue in Committee. It is pretty much a no-brainer. Smoking kills, and it kills lots and lots of people. It is not killing as many people now as it used to. Why? Because not as many people smoke. If we do everything that we can to provide the necessary…
I beg to move Among the many and varied challenges that I accept as Minister of Health, addressing health inequalities is perhaps the most difficult, as nobody has shifted the dial on healthy life expectancy since devolution in 1998-99. I repeat: that challenge is an Executive-wide one. The international standard that…
I beg to introduce the Sign Language Bill [NIA 10/22-27], which is a Bill to make provision about the status of and for the advancement of British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language.
While the increases are higher than usual, they are a result of increased NIEA staff costs and a further projected increase in those staff costs. Inherent in 'Managing Public Money', which sets out the main principles for dealing with resources that public-sector organisations use, is the need for the NIEA to seek…
I beg to move I am grateful for the opportunity to propose the motion. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) operates an annual charging policy for its regulatory activities. The charging policy covers eight separate charging schemes, of which the waste management charging scheme is one. The waste management…
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I will briefly touch on the underhand manner in which the Assembly Commission has progressed the Bill designed to give MLAs a massive pay increase. Why were only the parties that are on the Commission consulted? Why, prior to the debate last week, were MLAs outside Sinn Féin, Alliance,…
Yesterday, we paused to remember the date, 9 February, when, in 1971, five men travelled to Brougher Mountain in rural County Tyrone to repair buildings at a transmitter compound. On the track to the compound, their Land Rover activated a large explosive device and they were blown up by a Provisional IRA bomb. All…
This year, my constituency is, once again, hosting the British Open, one of the world's most prestigious sporting events. More than just a golf tournament, the Open is a major opportunity to showcase the very best of our local area and Northern Ireland as a whole. I acknowledge the work of the R&A; its commitment to…
One of the pillars of a democratic society is freedom of religion. From the Glorious Revolution until now, citizens in this part of the globe have benefited from individual rights and freedoms, not least in the area of faith. Sadly, that is not the case elsewhere, particularly for the global Christian community, which…
Téann teanga dhúchais amháin in éag i gceann gach aon choicíse. Ar na teangacha a cailleadh cheana féin bhí cuid a bhí á labhairt ar imchian an Artaigh agus cuid ar chósta na hAstráile. Cé go raibh difríochtaí eatarthu ó thaobh suímh, cultúir agus foghraíochta de, tá rud amháin ag nascadh fhormhór na dteangacha…
In February, we acknowledge Heart Month, a time to consider the importance of taking care of our heart and to improve our understanding of heart and circulatory conditions. The statistics speak for themselves. Heart disease causes nearly a quarter of deaths in Northern Ireland: around 4,200 deaths every year. Today,…
Today marks the commencement of the third week of the Omagh bomb inquiry, a human atrocity that tore the heart out of Omagh, claiming 31 lives, including two unborn children, and injuring over 220 people, leaving many families bereft of their loved ones, a grief and pain that they carry with them to this very day.…