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Thank you, Minister. I respect your response. The level of significant distress that the matter causes parents cannot go understated in this House. Minister, being solution-focused and working together, will you commit to a conversation with community transport to potentially find some kind of answer? Will you engage…
No, I do not think that the outcome is acceptable, not just for Maisie but for a significant number of other children. Yes, I expect the Education Authority to deliver value for money and to interrogate the tendering processes of the various transport routes. However, I expect it to carry that out in a timely manner…
Thank you. Members rightly raise the issue of the three-mile distance rule for post-primary schools and the two-mile rule for primary schools and whether pupils have a safe route to walk to school. That will be reviewed by the EA, and, if evidence can be presented that there is not a safe route for a pupil, the EA…
Minister, I am relieved to hear you say that you also feel that it is unacceptable. Last week, my colleague Timothy Gaston and I attended a meeting at that school, where we heard from the parents about the impact. Will the Department be mindful of, and potentially flexible in relation to, the rural context when…
I thank the Member for raising that issue. He raised it with me over the summer, which is why I stated that the EA received additional applications and the particular issues around Dunseverick Primary School are under review. The Member raised the wider point of parents being notified of transport arrangements for…
I thank the Minister for his answer. Families should not be left scrambling to find alternative transport, particularly in rural areas of North Antrim or with only six days' notice from the Education Authority. Does the Minister think that six days' notice from the Education Authority is acceptable? Will he apply…
The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for the operational delivery of school transport. It reviews services annually as pupil demand changes with children joining, leaving and transferring schools. In doing so, it must ensure the effective use of public resources across a network that provides transport…
I agree with the Member. That is why I am putting it out there, clearly, that £361·2 million additional funding was provided to the Executive as a result of the £5 billion bailout of local authorities in England for SEN pressures. The Sinn Féin Finance Minister allocated only £115 million of that funding to my…
— cannot cope with the overflow and post-19 provision is a disgrace. Why will the Executive and the Sinn Féin Minister in particular not give those SEN children —
The additional £380 million spend for Northern Ireland over the next three years was due to the UK Government's investment in special educational needs in England. Some £231 million of that money was earmarked to be spent in this financial year. Special schools are at capacity —
I do not do argy-bargy for the sake of social media; I do it on behalf of the constituents, children and young people who need me to be their voice and champion their case. We know that increasing numbers of children are presenting with additional challenges. The Member and I have visited a number of special schools…
Minister, you have described SEN as one of the greatest pressures facing your Department. Parents across my constituency of South Down and others face long delays in getting assessment and the right services in place. Aside from the argy-bargy and the back and forward in the Chamber for social media, what will you do…
Obviously, every Department is facing very difficult financial challenges. We are engaged in a process with the UK Government, the Secretary of State and the Treasury so that we can all get the funding needed to meet the challenges and provide public services to all our citizens. However, regardless of the amount of…
I thank the Member for his comments. I share the sentiment. When the Assembly was recalled, I listened to Members who were outraged about SEN provision saying that SEN ought to be a priority for the Executive. Sinn Féin Members were the most vocal. However, when £360 million of SEN funding was provided to the…
I thank the Minister for his answer. It is disappointing, if not surprising, that, once again, it seems as though Sinn Féin is paying lip service to our SEN students. It is happy to bring to the Education Committee proposals for extra spending in education, but it is not happy to furnish the Minister with the finances…
As the Minister of Finance, John O'Dowd, announced in his oral statement of 3 March 2026, the Executive will receive an additional £380 million of resource departmental expenditure limit funding over the next three years, following announcements that the then Chancellor of the Exchequer made in her spring statement.…
Four of the five union bodies provided the figures. There was a wide range. The Irish National Teachers' Organisation had a turnout of fewer than half its members, at 46%; the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) had a turnout of 64%; the Ulster Teachers' Union had a turnout of 37%; and NASUWT had a turnout of…
It is quite the opposite. I am listening. That is why I have acted. I commissioned the independent panel that identified the 27 recommendations. I approved the departmental response by way of the action plan to implement the changes that are needed. I engaged constructively with the trade unions, whose executive…
The teachers engaged with the Minister's workload review. They then responded to the so-called action plan. They have now voted overwhelmingly for industrial action. When will the Minister accept that the problem is not that teachers have not made their views clear but rather that he is not listening to them?
The Member rightly raises those issues of concern. I recognised them when I came into this role over two years ago. As part of the outworkings of a pay settlement, I commissioned the independent review to identify the issues, and it made 27 recommendations. I set about an implementation process to take that forward.…
I thank the Minister for that answer. The Minister referred to the progress that has been made and the ongoing discussions, but it seems clear that teachers are set on taking industrial action. How can he assure us that those are not just warm words from him and the Department and that he has clear, concrete proposals…
I am not directly involved in the engagement with teaching unions, following the recent ballots in favour of taking industrial action. There has been substantial engagement by my officials and the management representatives on the Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC) with the five recognised teaching trade unions…