Colin McGrath: ...there was no Executive — also, shamelessly, when there actually was an Executive. Our nurses, doctors, teachers, civil servants and others have been forced to work here for less, doing the same jobs as those in other places. That is totally unfair. To the public-sector workers, the grafters of our community, I say this: when a Member of an Executive party complains about the amount that...
Colin McGrath: ...shame people, but you have to be able to draw a connection: you went out to fishing communities and asked them to vote for Brexit and then Brexit had a massive impact on their ability to do their job and they are now suffering. They look to these institutions to try to get some support, but the institutions were collapsed. For people in the fishing industry, it has been blow after blow. I...
Colin McGrath: ...programme report, but there are many who do not. They do not realise how big and how important a sector this is and that we have to do what we can to ensure investment, harbour development and job sustainability. The report identified that development could take place in Kilkeel, Ardglass and Portavogie, as referenced today. We are talking about a multi, multi, multimillion-pound...
Colin McGrath: ..., forget about it. What is the problem? It is that we do not fund our dental sector properly. It literally costs dentists to deliver NHS work. Who would go to work if it would cost them to do their job? That is not a real-world model. It is not working, and when it is not working, it is people who suffer. We therefore need to see a transformation plan, with a budget, an action plan and a...
Colin McGrath: ...— this is significant — it is not merely about the pay that staff get, in the sense that it is easy to say, "Well, we need more money", but that when you compare their pay with that for other jobs, you see that there are jobs where they would not be out of pocket, may get a few pounds more across a shift and would have fewer responsibilities? We may need to do some sort of scoping...
Colin McGrath: ...area, yet, at the very beginning, when planning was devolved, each council area was given the same number of planning officers. Councils in border areas are having difficulty, because staff can get jobs that involve less stress, less pressure and more money and are being drained away to work for councils in the South.
Colin McGrath: ...reality of your decisions. Let the many thousands of our constituents on all sides have what they want. They want to see an Assembly, they want to see an Executive, they want to see us doing the job that we are being paid to do and they want to see a resolution to the problems that they face in their lives. That is why I want to see a Speaker elected today.
Colin McGrath: ...and supporting the transformation of urgent and emergency care services. A lot of work needs to be done, and, while I and the SDLP will not be found wanting, I hope that the Department is up to the job and will drive forward the radical transformation that our health services so urgently need. I support the amendments and the Bill.
Colin McGrath: ...work because they knew, as staff, that they had to deliver care. Also, we got to recognise the full breadth of careers that there are in our health sector. There are many people doing different jobs, and, if any element of that did not play its part, the system would not work. I acknowledge fully what has been done. Whilst such an award is welcome, they were also promised a £500 payment a...
Colin McGrath: ...-looking and were out there embracing every opportunity that there is across the world to try to sell ourselves as being ideally placed to be able to work the systems and to be able to deliver jobs and prosperity for the people of the North, it would be a good thing, but all we get is negativity, negativity and negativity from across the Chamber. An investor would probably run a mile...
Colin McGrath: ...progresses, it is of the utmost importance that those people are listened to and that government works with them and does not leave them behind. Although there are valid concerns about potential job losses as a result of the Bill, we must remember that it presents opportunities for growth in the green and sustainability sectors. We will need to see the development of a just transition....
Colin McGrath: I thank the Minister for his statement. I go back to his remarks about staff not applying for jobs because of rumours about hospital closures. Likewise, the removal of services from hospitals and quiet buildings can fuel that. Will the Minister make a commitment that the full estate of the health service will be used to address the trust rebuilding plans and deal with the problems we have?...
Colin McGrath: ...refers to: "Mechanisms to ensure effective parliamentary engagement in the ... budget process in all its stages" but the Committee was presented with a fait accompli. The Committee wants to do its job. We want to ensure that the practice of good financial governance is alive and well in this legislature. We want to demonstrate to the public that the Executive are being held to account. We...
Colin McGrath: ...as soon as possible. A number of councils also had concerns about the lack of clarity on the role that councils will play in the management of funding schemes and highlighted the potential for job losses within their ranks. I would now like to make a number of points in my capacity as an individual MLA. Many now accept that Brexit is a disaster. Whether it is a border down the Irish Sea,...
Colin McGrath: ...and alone. I hear, very clearly, from them a sense of, "Yes, have a lockdown if we need to, but give us the real and lasting support that we need to get through this so that we do not have colossal job losses". We have to acknowledge this while being fully aware that this is what is happening in the South and in GB. Perhaps, what worked so well in the first wave of the pandemic and helped...
Colin McGrath: ...gladly continue to campaign for upgrades to the A7 from Belfast to Downpatrick. Such a move would only further the connection of communities and people and provide stability through sustainable jobs, a bit like the exciting news that we heard today about the expansion of Finnebrogue Artisan in Downpatrick at the Down Business Park. It is creative and innovative thinking that will only go...
Colin McGrath: I thank the Member for his intervention. Of course, it is taken in the round of my conversations that, when you deliver for the public and deliver public investment, you deliver for jobs. I do not think that the idea was directly to connect two separate parts of my full speech.
Colin McGrath: ...— that is important — but not getting to the gaming machine or the pool table, for example, means that those who service those machines have no work now. If self-employed, they have no job or income. Such decisions bear a heavy weight on people in our communities. Let us not forget the inconsistencies. Last Wednesday, the First Minister said, in the Chamber, in response to my question:...
Colin McGrath: ...become even more staggering once the further financial modelling has been completed. Officials are working hard to try to estimate the likely costs, and the Committee appreciates that it is a tough job because of the many variables. Members are absolutely clear that Westminster should foot the bill. That is not a departure from normal practice; it is in line with the Treasury's policy that...
Colin McGrath: ...the virus and thus, maybe, needing hospitalisation and some, perhaps, needing ICU intervention. We know from our past experiences that that will result in people dying. I do not envy the job of the Executive Ministers in trying to manage the response to the virus, although it increasingly appears that we have only one Minister responding to the issues. I wonder whether the First Minister...