Debate contribution: The Rates (Exemption for Automatic Telling Machines in Rural Areas) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Miss Áine Murphy on .
- MLA
- Miss Áine Murphy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 14 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- The Rates (Exemption for Automatic Telling Machines in Rural Areas) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4490214
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I support the motion, and I thank the Minister for proposing it. The statutory rule reinstates a small but significant scheme that grants a rates exemption to ATMs situated in rural wards. Owing to a change in valuation case law, the scheme now applies only to a small number of ATMs that are valued individually, such as those outside petrol stations or on main streets. As an MLA for a rural constituency, I know all too well the essential service that ATMs provide in rural areas. Rural dwellers rely heavily on cash to access goods and services, and, in many towns and villages, ATMs are the only means of accessing cash. Many people prefer to use cash to pay for goods and services, and that personal choice must be respected. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult for rural dwellers to access cash, as towns and villages across the North lose their ATM provision. In recent years, many of the major banks have closed their rural branches, abandoning communities and leaving them without face-to-face banking services. Lisnaskea lost its last bank branch in March, when Ulster Bank decided to withdraw from the town. That corporate decision was made in London with zero regard for the communities in south-east Fermanagh. Today, there is no 24-hour cash access in the town. The loss of that bank branch has been a huge blow not only to Lisnaskea but to the surrounding towns and villages that it has served for decades. The cost-of-living crisis and the rise of large online retailers make it difficult for rural businesses to turn a profit. ATMs are an essential driver for economic activity on our rural main streets and have a key role in rural regeneration. The statutory rule is an important step in protecting the rural ATMs that remain, and I hope that it will act as an incentive to rural businesses to provide ATM services in the near future.
322 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.91).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-qualifying 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-qualifying 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.96 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.03 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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