Inspire Public Affairs Update 17-11-25

Inspire’s public affairs update is your source for the latest Northern Ireland Assembly discussions around mental health, addiction, intellectual disability and autism. 

Our aim is to inform the public, our colleagues and the people who use Inspire services about issues of relevance in the political space, issues that should always be informed by the voice of lived experience. 

On 13th November, the Committee for Communities received two brief updates on the Partnership Agreement between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector.

• Department for Communities officials presented the agreement to MLAs, underlining the fact that it had been designed by the Joint Forum between Government and the Voluntary and Community Sector.
• Raymond Caldwell from the Department described the agreement as a “living framework”, reflecting “renewed and strengthened” links between the Northern Ireland Executive and the sector. He said that it sets out a direction of travel towards more inclusive policy making and deeper collaboration: “We must ensure that it is visible, actionable and embedded in how we work.”
• Following this, Jonny Currie from NICVA told the Committee that the voluntary and community sector is under serious pressure. “Our sector is large in reach, local in presence but lean in resources,” he said.
• He suggested that the Partnership Agreement represents “a strong statement of intent” but that “We have been here before.” 
• Later, in response to a question from Kellie Armstrong MLA, he said that “We’re a sector that just gets on and does things, tries to provide hope, tries to make a difference” but there exists an “assumption that the voluntary and community sector will always be there,” something that is not guaranteed in the absence of adequate resourcing. 

On 13th November, the Committee for Health received a briefing on the Adult Protection Bill from the Regional Adult Safeguarding Nurse Network and Royal College of Nursing. 

• Rosaline Kelly from the Royal College of Nursing welcomed the introduction of the Adult Safeguarding Bill and engagement with stakeholders during its development.
• She noted that the current draft of the bill has addressed many of the issues that the College has raised in recent months and noted that Northern Ireland is the only area of the UK not to have this legislation in this area. “We believe the bill marks an important step forward, towards a clearer and more consistent rights-based framework for adult safeguarding across Northern Ireland,” she said.
• She continued: “The success of this legislation will depend on its implementation and not just its intent.” Furthermore, with respect to the proposals around advocacy, she stated that is “essential that adults at risk have a genuine voice in decisions in affecting them.”
• Her colleague Dolores McCormick added: “If we look at the situation on the Mental Health Order and the Code of Practice, it’s a very outdated statutory piece of guidance that supports a very outdated piece of legislation.”
• According to Colm McGrath MLA “a bill can’t be prescriptive by its nature but then we need to be careful that the intent of the bill is clear.” He told the panel that concerns about the implementation of the bill need to be highlighted. “We really need to make this obvious to the department because you can’t go along with a robust detailed bill that changes the way that approaches are taken and then not back it up with the right resources, in terms of staffing and resources,” he said.

On 10th November, MLAs took part in a debate on the establishment of an independent Environmental Protection Agency for Northern Ireland. 

• Daniel McCrossan MLA opened the debate, flagging the urgent need for a properly resourced, independent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the end of the current mandate.
• He said that Northern Ireland’s current environmental governance is inadequate and that it fails to protect water quality, enforce standards and inspire public confidence.
• He also cited the Lough Neagh crisis as indicative of the consequences of inaction in this area and confirmed that the SDLP supports a robust, clearly defined EPA as originally promised.
• “Creating an independent environmental protection agency will not provide immediate answers to every challenge, but it will put in place the essential foundation for serious environmental governance,” he said.
• Backing the motion, Sinn Féin’s Aoife Finnegan MLA said that an independent EPA must be empowered to prevent harm and hold polluters accountable, fairly and consistently.
• She referenced that fact that environmental issues cross borders: “We have an opportunity to build an agency that strengthens environmental protection in the North while aligning with best practice and partnerships across the island. At its core, this is about protecting the natural heritage that belongs to us all but doing so in a way that is practical, fair and sustainable.”
• According to Michelle McIlveen MLA of the DUP, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs already struggles to fund and manage existing environmental bodies. Creating a new agency, she said, would add costly bureaucracy without improving outcomes.
• She added: “We have already heard the Minister complain that he is vilified for taking difficult decisions, and now he wants to create an agency to take those decisions for him. It is a convenient shield and a way to say, ‘It is not my fault. The agency decided’. If we allow the Minister to hide behind a quango, what message does that send? It is that, when the going gets tough, we delegate.”
• John Blair MLA stated that the Alliance Party views the creation of an EPA as a foundational principle, not just policy and that his party colleague Andrew Muir, the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, has reiterated his commitment to delivering a well-funded, effective and independent EPA.
• He suggested that an independent EPA will be a complex undertaking but that it also represents a vital investment.
• Robbie Butler MLA signalled the UUP’s support for the proposal but talked about how reforms should deliver real environmental outcomes: “We need a regulator that is lean, trusted and effective and works with others rather than sitting above them.”
• Minister Muir endorsed the motion. He pointed out Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK and Ireland without an independent EPA. As such, he will seek agreement from the Northern Ireland Executive to proceed with the establishment of such an agency.
• An EPA would avoid duplication, he contended, by reviewing the work of the NIEA and other bodies. Furthermore, it would foster cross-border cooperation through memorandums of understanding and shared best practices.
• He said that it will be designed for effectiveness, including faster planning responses, and would be focused not about bureaucracy but on real, accountable protection.
• At the end of the debate, the Assembly adopted the following motion:

That this Assembly notes the findings of the independent review of environmental governance in Northern Ireland, which identified that environmental pressures, including the crisis in Lough Neagh, reflect serious weaknesses in governance and accountability; agrees with the review’s findings that the absence of a new model of environmental governance is undermining public trust, compliance and the delivery of environmental outcomes; and calls on the Executive to bring forward and pass legislation to establish an environmental protection agency, properly resourced and operationally independent, before the end of the mandate.

Week commencing 17th November 2025

Assembly motion: Impact of the Ongoing Increase in the Cost of Living – 17th November

All-Party Group on Suicide Prevention – 17th November

All-Party Group on Voluntary and Community Sector – 18th November

Committee for Finance: Department of Finance Permanent Secretary Briefing – 18th November

Committee for Health: Ministerial Briefing – 19th November

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