Speeches by Swann.

“The Secretary of State will know that health is devolved across all the nations. Can she reassure me that the Secretary of State for Health will work with all the devolved Health Ministers to make sure that we can truly engender a national health service for the likes of mental health provision?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate my colleague the hon. Member for North Down (Alex Easton) on bringing forward this debate. It is interesting to note that its title on the Order Paper is “Funding for policing”. It is disappointing, I am sure, for the sponsor to see the lack o…”

“What support will the Government provide to Northern Ireland airports to ensure our continued and improved connectivity? The previous Government promised £2.3 million to Belfast International airport in my constituency, under round 2 of the levelling-up fund, which would create jobs, reduce air and noise pollution, and…”

“The average farm income in the past year in Northern Ireland was £27,345, which does not exactly leave those family farms a lot of slack. It does not leave them much to live on, let alone meet inheritance tax bills.”

“I want to bring a Northern Ireland point of view on this Budget. First, I thank the Government for the £11.8 billion they have allocated for the infected and affected victims of the infected blood scandal, but I question whether it is enough and whether they will now deliver it at pace. It is unfortunate that the right…”

“There is some concern regarding the supply of medicines to Northern Ireland. The British Generic Manufacturers Association says that there is an “absurd situation” in which there will be shortages due to the bureaucracy of the “UK only” labelling required for medicines going into Northern Ireland. The Government say th…”

“The hon. Member makes the case on international relationships. The right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) referenced the devolved Assemblies; may I ask him to acknowledge the contribution of the CPA branches across the devolved Assemblies, in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales? I served as…”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“The hon. Member makes a valid point. I asked a question of the Northern Ireland Office on 12 December about the appointment, and the answer I got was: “We will set out steps for the appointment of a new Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner in due course.” We are now almost a month on from that.”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the role of the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd, in this Westminster Hall debate—the first that I am sponsoring. I want to take this time to cover a number of points, the first being how these things came ab…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his point, and I will come to it later when I quote him in regards to the concerns that were raised when Mr Kinahan resigned. On Mr Kinahan’s appointment, the leader of the Ulster Unionist party at that stage, Dr Steve Aiken, said that it “will be warmly welcomed by all veterans and the wide…”

“I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention—believe it or not, I was going to quote him later as well, but he has pre-empted that. Trust me, we are making cross-community representations to the Minister and the Northern Ireland Office. Moving on from the warm words of congratulation on Mr Kinahan’s appointment, …”

“I do agree with the hon. Member, and I will expand on that in my later comments. In the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Elliott, then Ulster Unionist Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, said that Mr Kinahan’s resignation impacted directly on the veterans community and on the support available to veterans in Northern…”

“Thank you for that direction, Mrs Harris; I will follow it directly. I want to focus solely on a small part of business confidence: the confidence of businesses across the United Kingdom in the UK’s internal market. As the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and the mover of the motion, the hon. Member for East Gr…”

“I thank the Minister for that point, which goes back to my contribution. This is about seeing what the Government can do in the next few weeks to give small businesses in my community in South Antrim the assurance they need to continue their online presence and sell into the UK.”

“To clarify, the hon. Gentleman means a veteran—that is the point that has been made very vocally by the veterans community. The third point in the annexe was: “Initiate a review of the Aftercare Service in Northern Ireland (ACS) which will consider whether the remit of the ACS should be widened to cover all HM Forces v…”

“Q10. Since the signing of the Belfast agreement in 1998, more people in Northern Ireland have now sadly lost their lives to suicide than those who were killed during the 30 years of the troubles. Does the Prime Minister agree that the challenges with poor mental health in Northern Ireland, some of which are directly re…”

“I thank the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) for moving the motion and for speaking about not just the political side but the personal side of this debate, through the story of Abbi. I congratulate her on her bravery and on being here to hear the debate. In reflecting on what the hon. Member said, what I will sa…”

“The Chair of the Northern Ireland Committee, the hon. Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi), referred to levelling-up funds. Is the Secretary of State aware that commitments to businesses from those funds have also been paused in Northern Ireland? In particular, Belfast International airport in my constituency was lookin…”

“As a past president of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster I think the hon. Gentleman’s point is very apt. At this moment across the UK, 95% of farmers under 40 say that mental health is their biggest concern. It is not only about losing the family farm; it is about worrying where the next payment comes from. It is abou…”