Results 1-20 of 178 for speaker:Michelle O'Neill

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Rural Schools (17 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I support the motion. Given that I also represent a rural constituency, I am only too aware of the significance that a rural school has for those who attend it and for the wider community. As Dominic Bradley pointed out correctly, the rural school is often the hub of the community. Rural schools are not just the place where children are educated;...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Obesity (16 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank Members for taking part in the debate and I thank the Minister for his response. Obesity is a major issue, and the Committee has undertaken a very valuable piece of work. We expect that our report will influence the Department’s thinking and policy development, and I welcome the Minister’s comments on that. Obesity is pivotal...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Together Towards Entitlement (16 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for her statement. In line with your direction, Mr Speaker, I will come straight to the point. Much is made of the North’s education system, and some people claim that it is world-class. Will the Minister explain how that “world-class” system compares with education systems in the rest of the world?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Efficiency and Contingency Deficit Proposals in the Health and Social Care Trusts (9 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I thank all Members who contributed to the debate on efficiencies and deficiencies in the Health Service, which is an important subject because it affects everybody in the North. It is worth taking a few moments to summarise the financial situation that the trusts are facing. [Interruption.]

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Efficiency and Contingency Deficit Proposals in the Health and Social Care Trusts (9 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: First, under RPA, the trusts have had to take on the legacy trusts’ debts. The new trusts must clear those debts, so they are not starting off with a clean sheet. Secondly, over three years, the trusts must make 9% efficiency savings — more than £344 million. It pays to remind ourselves that 40% of all efficiency savings must come from the health budget. Therefore, any...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Efficiency and Contingency Deficit Proposals in the Health and Social Care Trusts (9 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: No, I am nearly out of time. In their presentations to the Health Committee, the trusts went to great lengths to make it clear that they have greatly reduced their administrative staff, mainly through the review of public administration (RPA) process. For example, the South Eastern Trust now has four assistant directors of finance. Prior to the RPA, each trust had one financial director...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Efficiency and Contingency Deficit Proposals in the Health and Social Care Trusts (9 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: I want the Minister to answer the questions raised by the motion. Given that the new trusts have had to deal with the legacy overdrafts of the previous trusts, find millions of pounds in efficiency savings, and do all of that with a zero tolerance approach to budget overspends, will the Minister assure the Assembly and the people of the North that front line services will not be impacted...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Committee Business: Efficiency and Contingency Deficit Proposals in the Health and Social Care Trusts (9 Nov 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: I beg to move That this Assembly calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to outline the details of the efficiency savings proposals agreed with each health and social care trust; and to ensure that the efficiency savings proposals and contingency proposals for deficits in the current budget of each trust will not impact on front line services. Go raibh maith agat, a...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Grammar School Entrance Tests (5 Oct 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. As the proposer of the motion said, this is the fifth time that the House has debated academic selection. I am not sure how many of those five debates have been proposed by the Ulster Unionist Party in an attempt to hold on to a system that has failed so many children in the past. That system protects a select number of children, and to hell with...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Grammar School Entrance Tests (5 Oct 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Is it a point of order?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Grammar School Entrance Tests (5 Oct 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Yes.

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Grammar School Entrance Tests (5 Oct 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: I thank the Member for his intervention, but I remind him that Sinn Féin is not the opposition; it is part of a coalition Government. Sinn Féin is committed to ensuring that no child will be disadvantaged and that no child will be left behind while others are nurtured to achieve. It wants to ensure that every child in the education system receives all the support that he or she...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Grammar School Entrance Tests (5 Oct 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: I thank the Member for his intervention, but I do not agree with him. When the Minister put that compromise proposal — it was a clear compromise — on the table, she gave it a definitive end date. It was a three-year period in which to phase out testing. That proposal would have allowed people time to adjust, but there was no agreement on it. Everyone would prefer a regulated...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Private Members’ Business: Grammar School Entrance Tests (5 Oct 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: No. I am just about to finish. The Alliance Party’s amendment says that a CCEA test will allow for a solution following inter-party talks. However, that has been tried and tested and has failed. Numerous attempts have been made to move forward and seek agreement with Executive colleagues, but they are unwilling to look at that. We need an education system that is fit for purpose and fit...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Health, Social Services and public safety: Hospital Waiting Times (14 Sep 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. What percentage of patients are being referred to private healthcare providers so that the waiting list initiative targets can be met?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial statement: Transfer 2010 (30 Jun 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for her statement and commend her for her ongoing commitment to producing an education system that is based on equality for all children, not a selected few. Is the Minister satisfied that grammar schools are aware that it is illegal to charge parents of children who take part in these so-called independent tests?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial statement: Swine Flu (30 Jun 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for his statement and for providing us with a further update on swine flu. That update is important, considering the impending recess. I ask the Minister for a reassurance that he will continue to keep Members advised of developments over the summer. Furthermore, I wish to put on record my thanks to the officials from the...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Education: Teacher Redundancy Regulations: EQIA (22 Jun 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. Will the Minister encourage schools to give newly qualified teachers more experience through subbing, instead of using teachers who have retired?

Northern Ireland Assembly: Executive Committee Business: Second Stage (16 Jun 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I think that I am the last Member to speak before the Minister, so Members will be glad to hear that I will stick to health and disability issues, because I am Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on those matters. The political and financial realities that face the Assembly and Executive have been well rehearsed yesterday and today, and it is a given...

Northern Ireland Assembly: Ministerial Statement: Swine Flu (9 Jun 2009)

Michelle O'Neill: Go raibh maith agat, a LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for his statement and for keeping the House updated on the swine flu alert. I, too, commend the good work of staff in the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in dealing with the outbreak. Despite new cases of swine flu being confirmed over the weekend, I welcome the fact that the number here remains...