Did you mean column Eastwood?
Colum Eastwood: My constituency of Foyle is one of two areas here with the highest rates of child deprivation on these islands; the other is West Belfast. According to Barnardo’s, the percentage of children living in workless households in the North has gone from 13% to 17%. That is a higher figure than anywhere in GB. It is clear that the problem of child poverty here is getting worse, not better. It is...
Colum Eastwood: Is the Minister content that the torch relay will be inclusive of our whole society, including ethnic minorities and people with disabilities?
Colum Eastwood: The term “lost generation” has become one heard often these days. Few families are not dealing with the prospect or reality of youth unemployment — a generation of our young people with extremely limited horizons for future employment. If action is not taken, the danger is that their demographic will face the prospect of being interned in a cycle of long-term joblessness, suffering the...
Colum Eastwood: Will the junior Minister clarify the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister’s (OFMDFM) position on civil partnerships and adoption by gay couples?
Tom Buchanan: .... That is the way forward. Sandra Overend said that there were severe consequences for young people NEET, and she felt that the Minister should identify the areas most likely to produce them. Colum Eastwood spoke about the prospect of a lost generation. He welcomed the Youth Contract funding to address EMA and said that it was the responsibility of every Department to tackle poverty. Jim...
Colum Eastwood: What lessons have the Prison Service learnt from that report and from other reports?
Colum Eastwood: Does the Minister’s Department take into account the promotion of cohesion, sharing and integration when making funding decisions?
Colum Eastwood: What progress has there been in filling current and forthcoming vacancies on the Ilex board?
Colum Eastwood: We are discussing a Budget that is not linked intrinsically to the Programme for Government, leaving the potential for the Programme for Government to remain as an aspirational document. There has also been mixed leadership on the devolution of corporation tax, with the Finance Minister seemingly opposed to greater fiscal powers while the First Minister and deputy First Minister attend...
Colum Eastwood: At the outset, I want to say that we, as a party, are keen to engage in a debate about the future structures of this Assembly. However, we insist that that is done with the principle of power sharing and reconciliation at its heart. That has not been the experience of the process to date. We have seen the refusal to accept the principle of power sharing and d’Hondt by those leading the...
Colum Eastwood: Will the First Minister and the deputy First Minister press the Secretary of State to ensure that the Irish Government are invited to play a central role in creating a comprehensive mechanism for dealing with the past?
Colum Eastwood: May I press you a bit further, Minister, given the recent controversy that Members have spoken about before? Will you detail your conversations or meetings with any of the other agencies to look at potential reform?
Colum Eastwood: Does the junior Minister support the recent kite flying by the Minister for Social Development around the potential removal of the free travel scheme for pensioners?
Colum Eastwood: There are some positive aspects to this Programme for Government, but, unfortunately, it is largely a disappointing document. I believe that every Government should be judged by their commitment to children and, in particular, their ability to deal with child poverty. Unfortunately, this Programme for Government rolls back from previous commitments to eradicate child poverty and singularly...
Colum Eastwood: I note that the Minister mentioned the Boys’ Model School in Belfast. I am sure that she will join me in congratulating St Joseph’s Boys’ School from Creggan, which beat the Boys’ Model School in the Northern Ireland Schools’ Cup semi-final last week. Aside from that, how much has her Department invested in the Unite Against Hate campaign, and will that investment continue?
Colum Eastwood: I welcome the motion. My party will offer its full support. Supergrass trials are highly sensitive, as we know, given their history in Ireland. It is worth noting that this history extends beyond the memory and experience of our recent Troubles here in the North. This Assembly cannot hope to properly and fully comment on supergrass trials without grasping this broader history; a history that...
William Hay: ...Health, Social Services and Public Safety; that Mr Patsy McGlone replace Dr Alasdair McDonnell as a member of the Committee for Enterprise, Trade and Investment; that Mr Patsy McGlone replace Mr Colum Eastwood as a member of the Committee for Justice; that Mr John Dallat replace Mr Joe Byrne as a member of the Committee for Regional Development; that Mrs Dolores Kelly replace Mr Patsy...
Colum Eastwood: 15. asked the Minister of Education when the area plans will be published. (AQO 1763/11-15)
Colum Eastwood: 5. asked the Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment for her assessment of the Audit Office report ‘Invest NI – A Performance Review’. (AQO 1796/11-15)
Colum Eastwood: I ask the junior Minister, I think — I am not sure whom I am asking — whether she will give us an assurance that the forum will be provided with permanent fiscal and financial security to ensure that it can meet the needs of victims in the medium to long term.
