Did you mean and butler?
Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: My Lords, I am going to start with history. I used to live on Leather Lane in central London between the City and Westminster, where, despite Victorian urban expansion, a dairy farm continued to operate in the middle of the city. That was no historical accident. With the adulteration of milk rampant, with filthy water and much worse, the only way consumers could be sure that milk would not...
Lord Butler of Brockwell: My Lords, it is very good to hear that the Minister has an open mind on this matter and will listen to representations. I think he will find that there are a lot of representations from Members of this House. There is merit in asking the chief constable to look at it, bearing in mind that it was her predecessor who is the source of all this trouble.
Danny Donnelly: On behalf of the Committee, I thank all the Members for their contributions and the Minister for his response. I look forward to continued engagement with the Minister and the Department on implementing the recommendations of the Ray Jones report. I pay tribute to Professor Jones for his invaluable work on the review. He ensured that the report was centred on the best interests of children,...
Tom Buchanan: Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. The amendment has been well articulated by my colleague Michelle McIlveen. I thank all who took part in the debate: those who brought the motion, and the SDLP for bringing the other amendment. It is something that has obviously united everyone in the Chamber. This is an issue that lies at the heart of everyone in the House, and therefore we need to...
Mark Durkan: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. After seven months, the publication of the Executive's draft Programme for Government was welcome. However, it quickly became apparent and is becoming more apparent by the day that the document, which should provide a road map for a better, fairer Northern Ireland, lacks any detail whatsoever on how to get us there. The plan is remarkable only in its vagueness,...
Robbie Butler: 1. Mr Butler asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister whether they have undertaken an assessment of the impact that having no Programme for Government since 2016 has had on the transformation of public services and the wider health and well-being of local citizens. (AQO 899/22-27)
Robbie Butler: Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence in allowing me to speak in the Adjournment debate. As someone from Lagan Valley, I am somewhat of an interloper in matters regarding South Down, but, obviously, as changes have been made, I might be in for a few more AERA Adjournment debates, as long as tomorrow comes. This is an important matter, and Members have displayed how passionately...
Patsy McGlone: Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. [Translation: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker.] As I listened to the debate, I was reminded of some of the meetings that many of us attend where somebody says, usually from the back of the room, "Somebody would need to do something about that". [Laughter.] You know what that means; it means "somebody", but not them. Listening to the debate, I have...
Mark Durkan: I thank the Member for his intervention. I certainly agree with his point. It is crucial that we tackle the siloed approach. Collaborative work, involving Departments, the PSNI, the public and local organisations, is the only way to achieve meaningful results for people who are suffering. It is not all bad news. Progress has been made, and that has been referred to today. Like others, I am...
Robbie Butler: 3. Mr Butler asked the Minister for Infrastructure for an update on the A1 Hillsborough to Newry dual carriageway upgrade project. (AQO 857/22-27)
Alan Robinson: ...Province. Despite the progress that we have made in some areas, the state of mental healthcare remains deeply troubling. The sour truth is that the number of lives lost to suicide in Northern Ireland exceeds the number of those who lost their lives during the Troubles. Its trajectory tells us that those figures may indeed get worse. Figures from December 2023 tell us that 17,500 people are...
Robbie Butler: I thank Nuala McAllister for securing the Adjournment debate. It is a really important topic. I will speak not from notes but genuinely from my heart on this issue because poverty is an issue that we have debated in this Chamber since I started in 2016. When you think that we live in, perhaps, the fifth biggest economy in the world, it is ridiculous that, in 2024, we have pockets in this...
Pádraig Delargy: Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. [Translation: Thank you, Mr Speaker.] I thank all those who contributed to the debate, during which several key themes were raised. The first was access to democracy, which Robbie Butler touched on initially. One area of broad consensus throughout the debate was that this is not just about the future but about now. It is about empowering young people...
Kate Nicholl: Feel free to intervene if there are any points I miss. The motion that we tabled today and the ongoing work of Minister Muir to develop a green growth strategy recognises that tackling the climate and nature emergency goes hand in hand with economic transformation and social justice. They are not at odds with each other; rather, they enable one another. My colleague David Honeyford made it...
Edwin Poots: Before we proceed to the Question, I remind Members that the motion requires cross-community support. Question put. The Assembly divided: Ayes 66; Noes 4 AYES NATIONALIST: Mr Baker, Mr Boylan, Miss Brogan, Mr Delargy, Mrs Dillon, Ms Ennis, Ms Ferguson, Ms Flynn, Mr Gildernew, Miss Hargey, Mr Kearney, Ms Kimmins, Mr McAleer, Mr McGuigan, Mr McHugh, Mrs Mason, Ms Á Murphy, Ms Ní...
Robbie Butler: I thank the Minister for his answer, which was given with brevity. Two hundred and forty nine thousand is an incredible number; it is almost a quarter of a million. Will the Minister detail the concerns that he has raised about the disproportionate effect that it will have on pensioners in Northern Ireland, given that it is a disproportionate number? Will his Department introduce a support...
Baroness Sherlock: My Lords, that seems a good place to start. I start by thanking all noble Lords who have contributed to tonight’s debate. We have covered a lot of ground and there have been many thoughtful and constructive contributions. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stedman-Scott, for her welcome and I welcome her, in turn, to her place on the Opposition Benches. We have worked well together over the...
Nuala McAllister: I am sorry, I missed the end of your statement, but I agree that we have to work with the Republic of Ireland Government because it is important that we make sure that any money that is spent on a shared-island basis is spent cost-effectively. I did not quite catch the end of your statement, but I will move on because I have a few points to answer. I hope that the Member does recognise that,...
Robbie Butler: Once again, Northern Ireland finds itself teetering on a cliff edge. It is a term that we have become horribly used to. This time, it is due to the previous UK Government's failure to replace essential EU funding, which is picked out in the motion and the amendment. At other times, however, it has been due to having no Assembly and no accountability. How many times must we face uncertainty,...
Robbie Butler: T2. Mr Butler asked the First Minister and deputy First Minister for an update on any recent discussions or meetings regarding the Maze/Long Kesh site, which, following the deputy First Minister's mention of Groundhog Day in her answer to the leader of the Opposition, is his Groundhog Day question. (AQT 482/22-27)
