'Response very welcome'

I very much welcome the fact that UUP MLA Sammy Gardiner responded to my press release regarding his comments on absenteeism in schools. I welcome the fact that Sammy has determined to speak publicly on his handling of this matter and has shown a preparedness to defend publicly his nine month delay before commenting publicly upon figures that were placed in the public domain in October 2009.

While I welcome Sammy’s willingness to engage in a public manner on this matter, I am afraid that the manner of that engagement was wholly unsatisfactory.

In his initial public comments Sammy Gardiner made not a single reference to any debate in the NI Assembly. Rather he reacted solely to nine month old figures – the text of Sammy’s comments proves this to be the case. Nor did Sammy make any reference to any part that he himself had played in any Assembly debate – hardly surprising since he did not speak in the debate in question (NI Assembly Hansard for 28/6/10). Rather Sammy spoke only of his ‘worry’ and ‘concern,’ and of the need for urgent action over figures that he had been in possession of for a full nine months.

The facts are very simple. There are public representatives like the DUP Chairman of the Education Committee who care deeply about the education of our children and so of course whenever there is an Assembly debate on such an issue they will rise and speak. To marshal one’s arguments for an Assembly debate is precisely what one would expect of any diligent MLA.

That of course explains the laudable actions of my party colleague and others. What it does not do is explain just why Sammy Gardiner allowed a full nine months to elapse, and by that delay allowed the Christmas term, Easter term and summer terms to elapse, and in that allowed mock exams and GCSE exams to be held, and then allowed children get halfway through their summer holidays before he trotted out a press release on the subject.

While Sammy Gardiner has helped to highlight the diligence of others he has not yet offered any explanation for his own nine month delay. In welcoming his willingness to engage publicly on this matter, I look forward to actually finally reading his explanation of that and just why there exists a nine month time lag between figures being released into the public and him responding to those figures.