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.
The importance of adequate short-break provision for families and the most vulnerable cannot be stressed enough by those in the Chamber today. It should not be treated as an added extra. I thank those who tabled the motion. For our part, we have included an issue that, sadly, we see too many times as constituency…
Today's discussion on this important topic allows us to focus once again on a vital area of support. Many more people are being supported to live a long and happy life in and as part of the community. Critical to that, however, is the availability of ongoing support for families and carers. Therefore, none of us can…
I thank Sinn Féin, the SDLP and the DUP for tabling the motion and the amendments. We support all of them and hope that the SDLP amendment will be passed to include children's services. In my first Committee for Health session, I raised the issue of respite services and services for adults with learning difficulties,…
My party certainly supports the thrust of the main motion, but we felt that it was important to include the issue of respite services being removed when families move from one trust area to another. Whilst availability of respite provision is a problem across the Province, there are also regional inequalities between…
I thank the Member for giving way. I should have said that we will support the amendment. Will the Member agree that, where the PSNI is being called to a child, that is often a failure of our health system to deal with that and that the PSNI is not the right response for a child with a learning difficulty and complex…
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the proposer of the motion, which is timely and is on a matter concerning some of the most vulnerable people in our society. When considering the motion, the SDLP felt that it could be strengthened and enhanced through our amendment. In discussing the provision or lack of provision of…
I beg to move Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. We tabled the motion to call on the Minister of Health to urgently address the critical issue of respite provision for adults and children with learning difficulties, complex needs and challenging behaviour. I know that we have discussed the topic on many…
Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thought that I was getting off lightly. At the outset of my remarks, I put on record my thanks, my party's thanks and, hopefully, the thanks of all Members to every single teacher of the deaf, classroom assistant and support staff member who work extremely hard each day to…
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank Members for bringing attention to this important issue. In particular, I thank Mr Robbie Butler for tabling the motion. I express my appreciation to him for not just that but his time on the Education Committee. The value and expertise that he brought to that role were very much…
Like others, I welcome the motion and the opportunity to highlight the challenges faced by deaf children and their families. In preparing for the debate, I read the deaf-friendly schools guidance produced by the Department of Education, which states. "Deafness is not a learning disability and, given the right support,…
I thank the Ulster Unionist Members for tabling the motion. As outlined by my party colleagues from Strangford, we will support the motion. It is vital that we improve support for deaf children in our education system. The key to doing that is to train and recruit more specialist teachers of the deaf. The motion calls…
I support the Ulster Unionist motion. I declare an interest as a Member who is part of the deaf community. I am hard of hearing and a double hearing-aid wearer. To all those who are watching today, I say, "Nothing about us without us". There is an urgent need to increase access to early and effective support for deaf…
I welcome the motion from UUP colleagues. It has certainly been an interesting debate so far. In Northern Ireland, children should already have access to a teacher of the deaf — that has been reflected on already — and an educational audiologist, regardless of their level of deafness, where they are educated or when…
I, too, thank the Member for tabling the motion. Everyone in the House will recognise the immense importance of schooling, as well as the challenges that those years can bring. However, for those who are born deaf or hearing-impaired, the challenges are considerably greater, whilst the importance of school is no less.…
I support the motion and thank the Member who moved it. I thank Déirdre and the wider team at the National Deaf Children's Society, who campaign tirelessly for the best support for deaf children in Northern Ireland. As Members referenced, when deafness is identified in a child, even in infancy, they will ordinarily be…
I thank the Member who moved the motion. All of us who are speaking to the motion have the common aim that deaf children and young people are appropriately provided for in our education system in a way that allows them to flourish in the way that we wish for all our children but understands that those who have…
I thank the Member who moved motion, which we support, and for articulating the barriers so well. Sinn Féin wants an education system underpinned by equality that delivers for all and leaves no child or young person behind. Deaf children and young people should perform just as well as their peers, and they should know…
I beg to move I thank the Minister for attending the debate on this important motion, because access to quality education is a fundamental right for every child, regardless of their abilities or circumstances. The educational journey for children who are deaf or hard of hearing can be filled with unnecessary…
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank Members for their contributions to today's debate and thank the Economy Committee for its engagement with officials. There seems to be a strong view in the House that the regulations should not go ahead, and so be it. The uplifted tariff was an attempt to give some…
Once again, we are dealing with the ongoing fallout of financial malfeasance on the part of a previous Executive and Executive parties. The regulations are an implicit admission that, after the RHI disaster, the Department potentially cut payments in many of the wrong places. The Department for the Economy balked at…
In the midst of all the scandal that swirled around the RHI scheme, it is easy to forget that there were many genuine farmers who applied to it on the basis of a guaranteed return for 20 years. Those folk were not out to make a quick buck or take advantage of the flaws in the scheme, for which they cannot be held…
I thank the Minister for his statement on the renewable heat incentive scheme. Like many other Members who have addressed the Chamber today, I have watched with dismay at how that flawed scheme has unravelled and at how badly it has affected the credibility of governance and scrutiny in this place. At every stage from…
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I was about to say that this place works best when we all work together. Moving on, it is important to put everything out there and work our way through the process. I raised my concerns again in the Economy Committee last week, on 16 October. We are being asked to make a decision but not…