Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

The Committee scrutinised why Stormont’s institutions are failing to deliver, focusing on the absence of a budget, repeated Executive collapse, weak Programme for Government commitments, and the impact of vetoes and petition of concern procedures. Matthew O’Toole and Eóin Tennyson argued for staged reform before the next election, including changing the Speaker election, equalising First/Deputy First Minister titles, reforming the St Andrews veto, weighted-majority voting and stronger Opposition. Jon Burrows supported reform but stressed a Unionist-led, strand 1 process with incentives, while Gavin Robinson accepted the need for some reform but resisted “à la carte” changes, argued the main fix was political will, and opposed reforms that he said would weaken cross-community protections. The witnesses also disagreed sharply over the use of the petition of concern, the role of the Assembly and Executive Review Committee, and whether Westminster/Dublin should take a more active role.

The Committee examined how advanced manufacturing, agritech, renewables, screen industries and cyber could drive economic growth in Northern Ireland. Witnesses repeatedly stressed that these sectors already have world-class strengths, but are constrained by infrastructure, planning delays, high energy costs, skills shortages, weak route-to-market mechanisms, and poor co-ordination between the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and local stakeholders. Key asks included reform of the apprenticeship levy, stronger support for Catapult-style and city-deal-type innovation infrastructure, faster delivery of grid and leasing policy for renewables, more coherent promotion of dual market access, and longer-term support for screen tax credits and sectoral collaboration.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee examined the spike in energy costs in NI, centered on the oil heating market and its knock-on effects for households, farming, and transport. Witnesses from industry (oil distributors, road haulage, Ulster Farmers’ Union) described sharp price spikes for kerosene/heating oil (e.g., a 97% local spike in kerosene) driven by geopolitical tensions, and the resulting pass-through of costs along supply chains to consumers. They warned of increased consumer panic, rising inflation, and mounting insolvencies among haulage SMEs. The session also surfaced calls for government action, including temporary fuel-duty reductions, cancellation of planned September duty rises, and VAT relief on heating oil; concerns that NI fuel-poverty supports are insufficient or not well-targeted. A CMA market study on heating-oil markets was highlighted, with a final report targeted for June 2026, and witnesses urged greater price-transparency and potential regulation. Long-term structural measures discussed included recoupling NI’s electricity market with GB (potential up to a 20% reduction in wholesale electricity prices) and the North‑South interconnector to stabilise prices and integrate renewables. There was emphasis on energy-efficiency investments and a broader, joined-up energy strategy to improve resilience and affordability. Key government signals included acknowledgement of a £19 million extra NI fuel-poverty fund (described as not sufficient), and prior UK/NI policy measures such as the First Minister’s fuel-duty letter and discussions around energy subsidies, though no definitive additional funding or schedule was announced during the session.

In this evidence session, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee examines policing and security in NI with PSNI leadership. Jon Boutcher and Davy Beck outline chronic funding pressures, the unhelpful nature of single-year budgets, and the need for multi-year funding to tackle violence against women and girls, online harms, and legacy work. They highlight legacy costs and potential liabilities from a legacy commission, the ad hoc nature of additional security funding (ASF), and the systemic challenges around capital investment, recruitment, and trust/inclusion in policing. They also press for greater political and societal support to normalise policing in NI.

This session scrutinised how the UK Government’s violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy applies to Northern Ireland, focusing on devolved versus reserved powers, cross-jurisdictional data, and online harms. Key government positions include that VAWG is a national emergency, withNI-specific considerations acknowledged; the strategy is largely England and Wales in scope, with online safety not devolved to NI; the Government committed to annual progress updates, cross-jurisdictional coordination, and an oversight mechanism for domestic homicide reviews to enable cross-UK learning. The witnesses discussed NI delivery constraints, potential to extend funding arrangements (e.g., Revenge Porn Helpline) UK-wide, and the need for better data harmonisation across the four nations, including rural needs. The online harms agenda under the Online Safety Act 2023 was highlighted as an adaptive, continually updated priority, with emphasis on prevention through education and tightened platform responsibility. The discussion also covered role models in sport and education as prevention levers, inter-ministerial/ five-jurisdictions collaboration, and the legacy of Northern Ireland’s conflict in shaping policy execution and community engagement.

The session scrutinised the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) role in Northern Ireland, cross-border policing with PSNI and Irish authorities, and the management of paramilitary-linked crime. Key points include: strong PSNI collaboration and the absence of operational constraints for the NCA in NI; large-scale disruptions and multi-million pound seizures indicating high-level organised crime activity; two-stream NCA operations (PSNI collaboration and international liaison) feeding a consolidated SOC response; a commitment to sustain cross-border collaboration (including a Paramilitary Crime Task Force) and to maintain operational capability during intergovernmental funding phases; ongoing data-sharing and legal governance considerations around memoranda of understanding with DoJ/PSNI; targeted actions on money laundering (cash-to-euros-to-cryptocurrency), CTA abuse, and drugs (notably cocaine from Colombia); and plans to extend travel-no-fly authorities and to pilot live facial-recognition with careful NI PSNI input. The witnesses emphasised iterative, capability-driven cross-border approaches over radical reform, while acknowledging data-sharing frictions post-Brexit and the need for ongoing coordination with Ireland.”,