Speeches by Patrick.

“We are all indebted to the men and women who serve in our police force, who work day in, day out to keep our communities safe. I know that the Police Service of Northern Ireland purchased the site in the hon. Member’s constituency last year. He will know that policing and justice is devolved, so the next steps are for …”

“I would be very happy to join the hon. Member on that visit. He makes his case powerfully and rightly pays tribute to the brave men and women who serve in our police. I am sure that the Executive will have heard his case for the PSNI as well.”

“First, I acknowledge the difficulty that this has caused to the voluntary and community sector. I have heard that in representations from people around this room and I have heard it in meetings directly with them; I have seen it quite clearly. I know it is not an easy period. I can talk through the local growth fund an…”

“I hear that, but any of those people who do not want Northern Ireland to work have a whole room of opponents here. That is why we are here. We are here to find out what is not working and how we change that. We are here to find out what is working well and work out how we accelerate that. Part of my job—whether it is m…”

“I think, actually, it is, because the conversations we are having are about how some of the learnings and lessons from transforming public services in UK Government could be realised in the Northern Ireland Executive. I have also sat down with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive to understand more about their p…”

“No, don’t apologise—I hear it. I have heard and felt the same passion from the groups I have met on the ground in Northern Ireland, and I have heard it from colleagues around this table and other Northern Irish MPs. I really hear it. That is why we want to work as practically as we can to identify a way of funding that…”

“On a point of correction, tomorrow’s meeting is not the first meeting. I want to be really clear about that. I met them last month and have had conversations going back some months. We made sure that as soon as there was something clearly to communicate about what the local growth fund split looked like—that was in Nov…”

“That is my understanding.”

“I have not met directly with the transformation board, but we have a representative from the Northern Ireland Office on it. I have met representatives on it. I met one of the independent experts who has been appointed and we had a very enthusiastic conversation about the prospect that AI could help transform public ser…”

“No—I have as well, absolutely. In fact, I have met each of the Executive Ministers, some several times. I have also asked our officials to help clear some blockages where they appear. I have also met Ministers here to understand what better information-sharing expertise could be offered to support—”

“That is why we are meeting with the PEACEPLUS body tomorrow to see what can be done, how we can be creative and how we can support that. I am sure the Executive will be asking themselves the same questions now after yesterday’s announcement of £225 million. On the principle here, devolution is really important. We have…”

“On civil service reform, I know that there is a conversation happening. I have not had that directly with a Minister there. In terms of what I have done directly, we have spoken with Minister Nesbitt about how his reset plan could dovetail in with the work of the Health Secretary here. I was with Minister Givan just re…”

“Soon, I hope. I know that the board has now got its recommendations. I think the next stage is for the Executive to bring that recommendation to Government, and will it be for us to then make a swift decision.”

“I believe that is sitting with the Northern Ireland Executive at this stage.”

“I think the Secretary of State set out that he had a meeting recently with party leaders to hear those ideas. You will know that I was at the debate in Westminster Hall. That was a fruitful, interesting debate, and people had different ideas. I think you are right that there was an appetite for doing something, but the…”

“Yes, because they sit on the transformation board, so they will absolutely be aware.”

“That recommendation has gone straight to the Executive, as per the function. I think that is what happened in the first tranche as well.”

“There is a process to be followed, but I hope that that process is concluded quite quickly, so that we can make a decision and get money out to these important projects. You can see that in tranche 1, as I set out with the multidisciplinary teams, but there are others as well. If we can progress this swiftly, the peopl…”

“I do apologise if I have not demonstrated sufficient—”

“Thank you very much, Secretary of State, and thank you for that question, Ms Murray. I think the Secretary of State gave you a really comprehensive overview of the funding situation. Regarding health, I think that in Minister Nesbitt we have a Health Minister who is really starting to see some good results with his res…”