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 4486442
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank all the Members who spoke on the motion and the Business Committee for scheduling the debate for today. I guess that the only issue that was raised throughout the debate was why the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service and, indeed, the core Department, as well as its agencies, are not specified in the regulations. Unfortunately, the Act was drafted in such a way that it does not enable the Department to specify itself or its agencies as public service bodies. That has been explored through legal advice. However, it is my view and that of my Department that we should live up to the spirit and not just the letter of the law, and, therefore, we want implementation to be as wide-ranging as possible. The Department has therefore been engaging with its five agencies, particularly those that have public-facing areas, such as the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service, to establish pilot exercises so that we can widen the provision of period products beyond the statutory obligations that are specified in the Act while being in line with its objectives. On that basis, I hope that Members are satisfied to support the regulations. I commend the motion to the Assembly.
203 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: 0.03 (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 (0.81).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.81 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | 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 | 0.26 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| 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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