AQW 1956/17-22

Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry

Tabled Date: 12/02/2020
Answered On Date: 02/03/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy whether she believes that further and higher education institutions should be providing free sanitary products.

Answer:

I, like my colleagues across the UK, recognise that period poverty is a genuine issue. Officials from my Department are working with a number of other NI Executive Departments, as well as the devolved administrations, to seek a coordinated approach to addressing period poverty.

The six Further Education colleges in Northern Ireland provide access to free sanitary products within 28 of their campuses and plan to extend this service to the remaining sites in early 2020.

In relation to the higher education institutions, Queen’s University, Ulster University and St Mary’s University College Students’ Unions, in partnership with the universities, have provisions in place for free sanitary products in their student union premises.