Debate contribution: The draft Period Products (Department of Justice Specified Public Service Bodies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 29 April 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- The draft Period Products (Department of Justice Specified Public Service Bodies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4486423
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I beg to move
I am asking the Assembly to approve the Period Products (Department of Justice Specified Public Service Bodies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024. I am delighted to bring forward these regulations for approval, as required by the Period Products (Free Provision) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which created a legal right of free access to period products across Northern Ireland. These regulations fulfil my Department's statutory obligations under the 2022 Act. The Act aims to remove financial barriers to accessing period products and to make products universally available, free of charge, as is the case for many other basic hygiene products. Taken together with the universal provision of free period products, on which TEO is leading, these new services, provided free of charge, will make a significant impact on addressing the issue of period poverty as it exists today across Northern Ireland. I turn directly to the regulations. The regulations specify the eight public-service bodies, as prescribed by the 2022 Act, that are within the functions of the Department of Justice and will provide period products, free of charge, to persons on their premises who need to use them. Those are: the Police Service of Northern Ireland; the Northern Ireland Policing Board; the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland; the Probation Board for Northern Ireland; the office of the Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland; the Northern Ireland Police Fund; the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation; and the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust. The regulations also provide a description of the premises of those public-service bodies from which free period products will be provided, as well as specifying the persons in the premises that can avail themselves of the new service provision, namely service users, staff and visitors. My Department has been liaising with the specified public-service bodies as to how the regulations will be implemented at their various premises throughout Northern Ireland. The specified public-service bodies have been consulting with their user groups to inform the implementation of the Act, and they will now consider further consultation across their respective user groups to ensure that their expectations will be met and to inform affordability issues. As the Act is intended to be as wide-ranging as possible, my Department is also engaging with its five agencies, particularly those with public-facing areas, such as the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, to establish pilot exercises to widen the provision of free period products beyond the statutory obligations in the legislation. As a Department, we recognise the importance of a consistent approach across our agencies and will take those exercises forward on that basis. The core Department is also considering how it can implement similar arrangements. I thank our specified public-service bodies for their cooperation in introducing this important new service. I also thank the Justice Committee for its prompt scrutiny of the SL1 for these regulations. Last but not least, I thank Pat Catney, the former SDLP MLA, for bringing forward this important piece of legislation. I trust that the regulations will deliver his commitment to addressing the important issue of period poverty in Northern Ireland. That concludes my opening remarks.
526 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.75).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.75 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.72 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.27 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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