Speeches by Robinson.

“Minister, a couple of quick questions. When did you last meet the transformation board?”

“I have no doubt we will pick this up again.”

“You know that in 2023 we said that there was no point giving £600 million for public sector pay when the money is not there for subsequent years. We said that very clearly. The response from the Government—admittedly not you, but your predecessor—was, “Use the transformation money we give you. Use the stabilisation mon…”

“We need a budget—there is no doubt about that. But the material benefit of the process that we are now embarked upon will provide real information that will have a material impact on that budget, on public spending and on how we deliver public services. As one example, I have asked you to make sure that the terms of re…”

“Again, that is disingenuous, Secretary of State because you know—”

“Secretary of State, we understand that there has been a £400 million overspend this year; a reserve claim, at least—the overspend is still to be determined. It has come down considerably, but it is still much too high. You facilitated a reserve claim. Nothing has changed substantively in the nature of how Government sp…”

“How do you envisage that the Northern Ireland Executive will be able to settle a budget in the absence of any of that information?”

“You have accepted our request for an open-book process. Will that open-book process conclude within the next two weeks?”

“That is the disingenuous part of it, Secretary of State. You have just facilitated a £400 million reserve claim. The idea that there is cash swashing around is not true, but you have also accepted—”

“With truly awful consequences for community services as a direct result of choices made by you and your Government.”

“Good morning to you all. Secretary of State, there is a north Belfast MLA in the room who will be quite pleased to hear the comments about a north Belfast business centre. Aside from that, is it not completely disingenuous to recognise that the Northern Ireland Executive has an overspend beyond £400 million this year, …”

“I think the time is coming, though we might not hear it this evening, for the Ministry of Defence to engage in the reality of what has been asserted in the courts. The Ministry of Defence is going to have to accept that, at a time when I, my colleagues and others throughout this Chamber are raising issues around suppor…”

“I want to come on to the scope of this in a moment, but I do not disagree with the points that my hon. Friend has made. As I mentioned earlier, I had a brief conversation with Mr Milroy this afternoon. From the way in which he engaged with me and the way in which he outlined his experience in this regard, I recognised …”

“As I said to my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), I will return to the issue of scope, but I appreciate the hon. Member’s point. I lament the fact that someone who has been campaigning on this issue for six years, personally and with colleagues, has lost three comrades in the process who were never t…”

“Madam Deputy Speaker, through you, may I thank Mr Speaker for selecting this topic for our Adjournment debate? I am very grateful to the Minister for Veterans and People, who is in her place. It is the first time that we have been able to engage in this way since she has been in her role, so I look forward to that exch…”

“I thank the Minister, the Secretary of State and his officials for their constructive engagement in preparation for a reserve claim for the Executive. Through that work, I know that the figure has doubled and rightly so. May I also highlight the Northern Ireland Audit Office’s report on the frailty within our Northern …”

“One constraint, as the Minister knows because I raised it at the last Northern Ireland questions, is the potential requirement, as a result of EU legislative change, of an additional 60,000 GP appointments for antimicrobial-resistant drugs. That would decimate the delivery of health services in Northern Ireland. I ask …”

“The Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister will know that there are too many Members on both sides of this House who enjoy situations like this, and it belies the seriousness of the situation. Does he recognise that an integrity and ethics adviser would not be able to solve the appointment of somebody removed from Gover…”

“That is DBT in Northern Ireland, rather than structural engagement with the rest of the United Kingdom.”

“Good morning and thank you for joining us, Colin. You mentioned engagement with the Department for the Economy and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the Republic of Ireland, but you also mentioned east-west trade, and I think it is important to recognise that Northern Ireland’s largest market is Gre…”