Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health, pursuant to AQW 46551/22-27, (i) whether any assessment has been made of the reasons for the variations, by Health and Social Care Trust, in the number of patients waiting for more than 28 days for a suspected cancer diagnostic test; and (ii) to detail … Continue reading AQW 48667/22-27 – Waiting lists cancer diagnostic test
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for the Economy whether her Department has a designated lead or responsible officer on her Department's use of Artificial Intelligence. Minister for the Economy: My Department has established governance arrangements for the use of Artificial Intelligence. The Senior Information Risk Owner is responsible for approving the … Continue reading AQW 48664/22-27 – Department for the Economy designated lead on AI
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health, in light of increases in fuel costs, whether any assessment has been made of the benefits of using renewable sources to power all vehicles used by his Department and its arm's-length bodies. Minister of Health: My Department’s Arm’s-Length Bodies (ALBs) have previously been requested … Continue reading AQW 46916/22-27 – Department of Health Renewable energy vehicles
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Education whether any assessment has been made of the potential impact of the use of Artificial Intelligence in schools on safeguarding. Minister of Education: Guidance on the use of Generative AI was issued to education professionals through DE Circular 2026/02 on 11 May 2026. This … Continue reading AQW 48470/22-27 – Use of Artificial Intelligence in schools
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for Communities to detail any plans his Department has to (i) support; and (ii) increase, the building of social homes by housing associations. Minister for Communities: (i) At the beginning of 2025/26, the outlook for the Social Housing Development Programme was poor with a budget that … Continue reading AQW 46681/22-27 – Building of social homes by housing associations
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Education whether any assessment has been made by his Department of the potential for Artificial Intelligence tools to improve access to educational support for children with special educational needs and disabilities in rural areas. Minister of Education: Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is not a replacement … Continue reading AQW 48102/22-27 – Artificial Intelligence educational support
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Education whether any assessment has been made by his Department of the impact of social media use on educational outcomes for children and young people. Minister of Education: The department has not undertaken a specific standalone assessment of the impact of social media use on … Continue reading AQW 48666/22-27 – Impact of social media use on educational outcomes
Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health whether there are any plans to expand screening programmes for early detection of cervical cancer. Minister of Health: There are no plans to expand the programme eligibility criteria of the Cervical Screening Programme. Currently, the Northern Ireland Cervical Screening Programme invites women aged between … Continue reading AQW 46044/22-27 – Screening programmes for cervical cancer
