Debate contribution: Programme for Government
Debate contribution by Ms Emma Sheerin on .
- MLA
- Ms Emma Sheerin
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 13 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Programme for Government
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4488645
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I support and welcome the motion. It is important for us all as MLAs to take stock of what we want to see achieved in the mandate and to set out our priorities clearly. Obviously, a Programme for Government is fundamental to that. At the beginning of the session, in February, we were in a challenging situation. We are all representatives of our areas, and we are all put here by the people. We work for and with the people. We know the issues that face our constituents, and we are human beings, so we see human suffering, and most of us will be moved by that and want to do something to help people. The first thing that we achieved as a four-party Executive was a fair pay settlement for public-sector workers. That was in the challenging context of the Tory austerity that we have been living with for 14 years. I speak as an Irish republican, and my frustrations with that system and how this place is funded do not need to be rehearsed. We know that we are funded below need in the North and that that has been the case for a significant number of years. That is the context in which we operate.
As four parties working together and with help from those on the Opposition Benches — we welcome constructive costings, reflections and considerations — we know the things that face our constituents. We know the problems that people bring to us every day, whether they are about passports, potholes or more challenging situations, and the things that we want to give particular focus to. Those include solving the problems in the childcare sector and making childcare affordable for working families; increasing SEN provision so that the parents who come to us at their wits' end every summer telling us that their young child has not got a nursery or primary school place will find that that is no longer the situation; and ending violence against women and girls. We have all stood at the vigils and have bemoaned the fact that this is the second most dangerous place in Europe to be a woman. We want to end that and to see work on that delivered. We want to build fair and appropriate housing. We want to solve the problems with our waiting lists. We all have constituents coming to our offices having waited for years for routine surgery, which is massively damaging their health. We want to work collaboratively with everyone in the Executive and all MLAs to solve those problems. We want to transform public services and build a better economy.
When it comes to any suggestions that people have regarding that or any work that we can do, Sinn Féin is committed to delivering for the people who put us here, and we want to work collaboratively with all MLAs to do that. The motion is important, and it is a good opportunity for us all to rededicate ourselves to the public service in which we operate.
507 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: 0.08 (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 (0.63).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.91).
- Subject area: Another identity-related subject.
- 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 | 0.08 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.06 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.06 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.63 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.08 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.91 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.04 |
| Adopts it | 0.04 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Another identity-related subject | 0.27 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.25 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.17 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.13 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.13 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:27 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
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