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I welcome the Minister's statement. I particularly welcome the fact that he will lift that pause, as a number of schools in my area have been paused that are already in contract. In relation to special educational needs, I do not need to say it, as he has already outlined the challenges that we have, but I ask the…
I thank the Minister for a frank and honest assessment in his statement. Our education estate is quite literally creaking at the seams, with many schools falling into dire need in my constituency. I want to highlight, in particular, Portadown College. There are broken single-glazed windows, cracked walls and poor…
I welcome the Minister to his role and look forward to working closely with him. I was disappointed, however, that he did not mention Irish-medium education in his statement. There are three Gaelscoileanna in my constituency where children are being taught in Portakabins each day. That is the case for 60% of…
I thank the Minister for his statement and welcome the fact that he has come to the Chamber so quickly and so early with his plans. I look forward to working with him to ensure that we deliver on the huge capital challenges and the challenges across the board in education. I welcome the particular reference to SEN and…
I thank the Member for his kind remarks on my position as Education Minister. I reassure him that everything I am doing at the Department is to act with the required urgency. That is why I have commissioned the capital investment strategy now. In my statement, I outlined the areas that the strategy needs to address.…
I congratulate the Minister on his new post and wish him well with the increased challenges in the Department. I also thank him for his recommitment to Strule, which will come as a relief to the people of Omagh. I am sure that the Minister is aware that his Department has the worst track record for special educational…
Before I make the statement, I want to associate myself with the remarks by the Member for North Antrim in respect of the principal of Dalriada School, Mr Tom Skelton. Since Mr Skelton's sudden passing, I have heard many tributes to him and learned of the very high esteem in which he was held in the community. I was…
This morning, in my constituency, I was compelled to visit the home of a refugee family who were facing eviction from their home. I was there because housing campaigners in the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU) — fair play to them — had issued a call to the community to prevent that family, who came here fleeing…
Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle. I commend you on taking up your position. First, I congratulate the Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh, on its stunning back-to-back victory in the MacRory Cup yesterday against St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon. I commiserate with St Patrick's on the day, but it was a great game of…
Yesterday in North Antrim, we buried one of the greats of our education system. I refer to the sudden, sad passing of Mr Tom Skelton, the principal of Dalriada School in Ballymoney. Mr Skelton epitomised everything that a headmaster should be through the leadership, the vigour and the vision with which he led…
Gandhi, I think it was, said: "The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members." This Chamber — the elected Members in it — is supposed to represent society. Yet it turns its face away and tries to ignore a certain type of people who have been seriously injured and bereaved.…
Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle, agus comhghairdeas leat faoi do phost nua. Thank you, Mr Speaker, and congratulations on your new role. I offer my congratulations to another group of people as well: the team, management, committee and everybody else associated with Watty Graham's GAC An Ghleann. They…
Congratulations, Mr Speaker, on your elevation. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to one of our all-time footballing greats, who has recently retired from professional football: Mr Steven Davis MBE. He will go down in history as one of Northern Ireland's greatest ever footballers — up there with the late, great…
I take my first opportunity to speak in the restored Assembly to raise the importance of having the A5 road upgrade delivered as a matter of urgency. First, I would like to welcome the commitment from Michelle O'Neill in her inaugural address as First Minister that delivery of the A5 road upgrade is a priority for the…
Last week was a period of profound and historic change in Northern Ireland, yet, for all the change that has been brought to the Assembly, the change that I will focus on is the change that is needed for our economy. I was glad to hear the First Minister note the importance of regional balance last week, because the…
On Friday, customers of the Carrickfergus branch of Danske Bank, and of branches in several other locations across Northern Ireland, received word that their branch will close in June. That is devastating news for Carrickfergus High Street and for retail banking throughout east Antrim. In the past five years, five…
I rise to talk about an issue about which I receive a lot of communication in my constituency office: the lack of commissioned services in health and social care trusts for the diagnosis and treatment of people with ADHD. I am sure that many others in the Chamber will also have been contacted by people who are…
I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for providing me with the opportunity to make what I believe to be a very important statement about the support or, indeed, the lack of support, that we provide to unpaid or informal carers. It is clear that, even before COVID, there were serious pressures in that sector in providing…
I rise on a celebratory note first thing this Monday afternoon, because I attended a "first" this weekend alongside my Assembly colleague Tom Elliott. That was to celebrate the 100th birthday of Loughgall Football Club living legend, Hilbert Willis. It is a remarkable achievement for anybody to reach the 100th year…
Children's Hospice To ask the Minister of Health to provide an update on the ability of the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice return to full respite services.