Casement Park Redevelopment 2024-07-24
2024-07-24
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
Casement Park requires significant funding for redevelopment to host Euro 2028. There are concerns over prioritizing this project amid other pressing needs.
How much funding he plans to make available for the redevelopment of Casement Park.
The Government are committed to ensuring that Euro 2028 benefits the whole of the United Kingdom. We are working as quickly as possible with all partners to assess the options on the Casement Park project.
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Assessment & feedback
Funding amount not specified, only commitment to assessment.
Commitment Without Specifics
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
There are concerns about the influence of personal political connections on decisions related to Casement Park funding, amid other public health and education needs.
Can the Secretary of State assure us that the Government's view has not been influenced by any personal interventions by the chief of staff of the Labour party, for whom this is a personal project?
I would say to the right hon. Gentleman that I said this was a priority because a decision needs to be made. The fact is that the Government have inherited a commitment to hosting the Euros at Casement Park. It is now a year and three quarters since UEFA awarded that right to Northern Ireland, but nothing has happened during that time to progress the project.
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Assessment & feedback
Does not confirm or deny influence of personal intervention.
Commitment Without Specifics
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
There is a long-standing commitment to building Casement Park, but progress has been slow despite previous promises.
Can the Secretary of State assure us that Casement will ultimately be built?
I think we all wish Armagh well in the all-Ireland final. The Executive are committed to the Casement Park project—it has been a commitment for over a decade now—but it has not progressed. Windsor Park got an upgrade, Ravenhill got an upgrade and it is important that Casement Park is built.
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Assessment & feedback
No confirmation of completion timeline or specific assurance on hosting spectacles.
Commitment Without Specifics
Response accuracy
Q4
Partial Answer
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Context
Concerns over prioritizing Casement Park redevelopment amid long waiting lists for healthcare services.
Will the Secretary of State explain to the 356,000 citizens of Northern Ireland who await out-patient appointments and to the 94,000 who await in-patient admissions why it seems a priority to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into a GAA sports stadium instead of fixing our health service?
I hope very much that sport will be a force for unity in Northern Ireland, rather than a source of division. When it comes to the health service, the hon. Gentleman makes a very powerful point. The state of the NHS in Northern Ireland is a function of decisions that the Executive have failed to take over many years.
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Assessment & feedback
Shifts blame from government to previous decision-makers without addressing prioritization.
Blame Shifting
Response accuracy
Q5
Direct Answer
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Context
The decision to host Euro 2028 was made a year and three quarters ago, but significant delays have occurred in the project's progress.
Does the Secretary of State agree that we would not be in the final minutes of extra time on whether Casement Park can be rebuilt in time for the Euros if the previous Government had actually done something about it?
I agree with my hon. Friend. The facts speak for themselves: a year and three quarters since we were awarded the wonderful opportunity to host the Euros, nothing has happened on the project.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy