Pam Cameron: I thank the deputy First Minister. Will the Executive Office support a 24/7 roll-out of the vaccination programme if the supplies allow that in Northern Ireland in the near future?
Pam Cameron: I thank the deputy First Minister for her answers so far. Can the deputy First Minister tell us in which phase outdoor airsoft is included? Is it in phase 2, as a sport and leisure activity? Given that sport can take place outside at a social distance and that preparation and set-up can also happen outdoors, will that be treated as phase 2 and will it go ahead? Are there any indicative dates,...
Pam Cameron: I thank the First Minister for the statement today. This is an incredibly difficult time, with such a prolonged period of lockdown. Many are feeling negative physical and mental impacts of the restrictions, and many will be quite disappointed today. Will the First Minister confirm that further changes or easements to the restrictions will not necessarily have to wait until the next formal...
Pam Cameron: I thank the Minister for his answers so far. Given where we are in the pandemic, the huge success of the vaccination roll-out to date and the corresponding data on serious illness among our older population, is it time to look at moving on from care partners? Although the scheme has worked very well for some, it has been very much underutilised. Given the issues that have arisen for care...
Pam Cameron: I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on the Health and Social Care Bill at its Second Stage today. The Bill represents a major bureaucratic change in the manner of governance of our health system through the transfer of responsibilities from the Health and Social Care Board. On 8 April 2014, the then Health Minister, Edwin Poots, announced his intention to commission the former Chief...
Pam Cameron: I am grateful for the powerful words of colleagues from across the House who have set out why this Bill is crucial to tackling discriminatory attitudes towards disability, and I want to add my very special thanks to disability campaigners Heidi and Liz Crowter and Lynn Murray of Don't Screen Us Out, who gave evidence to the Health Committee last week; Ailis Cullinan Keown, mum to Tess, whose...
Pam Cameron: I very much welcome the fact that the Chair of the Health Committee has booked his vaccine. I hope that it will not clash with his Committee on Thursday morning. It is an important question. I very much welcome the success of the vaccination roll-out in Northern Ireland. I am delighted that we are taking an evidence-based approach to the concerns about the vaccine. Obviously, both the UK...
Pam Cameron: The death of Sarah Everard was an appalling and tragic act. It has, understandably, reignited the debate about how we tackle violence against women and girls and ensure that they are safe on our streets, in their homes and in society. The dignified acts of individual remembrance for Sarah in Portstewart and Londonderry, among other places, over the weekend highlighted the extent of the...
Pam Cameron: I also convey my best wishes to my constituency colleague Steve Aiken and wish him a speedy recovery from his injuries. At the outset, I thank the Minister and the departmental officials for their work on the significant administrative task that is the Budget Bill. Just over a year ago, no one could have imagined the world that we are living in today. Sadly, many families are filled with...
Pam Cameron: [Inaudible.]
Pam Cameron: My name should not be down.
Pam Cameron: I thank the deputy First Minister for her statement to the House after what has been an incredibly difficult year for many, not least those who are vulnerable and, indeed, those whose families have been bereaved and have been unable to process that grief in a normal fashion. Will the deputy First Minister make it clear that the indicators on which the Executive as a whole will take decisions...
Pam Cameron: I welcome the opportunity to speak today on the spring Supplementary Estimates. Northern Ireland's Budget and public resources have been stretched to their limits through the COVID-19 pandemic. Huge levels of public spending have been required to respond directly to the health crisis and its many consequences for our society, not least for our economy. Vast sums of finance have been...
Pam Cameron: I thank my colleague for that intervention and agree wholeheartedly. There is much work to be done to catch up and to alleviate the damage that has been done in the past year. We should not underestimate the stress and mental health pressure that so many have been under, not least those who work in the care home sector, on COVID wards and in ICU. I do not know how we can ever repay all those...
Pam Cameron: I join others in welcoming my colleague Edwin Poots back to the Chamber. It is good to see him.
Pam Cameron: He is an incredibly robust man, so I am really not that surprised to see him back so quickly, but he is very welcome. It is good to have him back. I broadly support the amendment (No. 2) regulations, the amendment (No. 3) regulations and the amendment (No. 4) regulations. I regard them as being sensible, certainly in the case of the discretion around Motability vehicles in the amendment (No....
Pam Cameron: I thank the Member for his contribution and wholly agree with the sentiment. It is very clear that some services that were deemed non-essential back in December are now essential. An example is retailers that sell nursery equipment, cots, prams etc. Such items are not always easy to fit to a person when purchased online. We owe it to our local retailers to try to support them in what has been...
Pam Cameron: T5. Mrs Cameron asked the Minister for the Economy whether she agrees that introducing click and collect for all retail stores would go some way towards helping businesses that have been losing trade because they have been forced to close while larger retail outlets have been allowed to remain open. (AQT 995/17-22)
Pam Cameron: On behalf of the Committee, I thank all the Members for their contributions and thank the Minister for his initial response to the debate. I look forward to continued engagement with the Minister and the Department on taking forward and implementing the many important recommendations that the Committee's report makes. We are all too aware of the statistics behind the pandemic. They have...
Pam Cameron: I thank the Minister for his answers thus far. Illness and self-isolation are also a problem for staff, and we are hearing more and more about the increase in new variants of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland. Given that door-to-door testing for the South African variant has started in England, are you looking to do similar in Northern Ireland?
