Debate contribution: Roof Repairs: Parliament Buildings
Debate contribution by Mr Trevor Clarke on .
- MLA
- Mr Trevor Clarke
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 25 June 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Roof Repairs: Parliament Buildings
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4498641
Read the official Assembly record
Text
With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I will group questions 2 and 4. I thank the Members for their questions. The ongoing situation with the roof repairs for Parliament Buildings is an issue that the Assembly Commission has taken extremely seriously and on which it has reviewed updates at its recent meetings. Until recently, the Assembly Commission had refrained from undertaking a full range of remedial works, based on advice that that could prejudice the Commission's legal position. As the Member will be aware, the Commission has issued proceedings against Hamilton Architects and Tracey Brothers for negligence, breach of statutory duty and breach of contract arising from defects to the roof. The Assembly Commission received advice in February of this year that, due to the ongoing deterioration and associated health and safety concerns, and following the exchange of expert architect and engineer reports with the two defendants, the legal position had changed and that the Assembly Commission could now undertake remedial works to address all the defects. As a result, the Assembly Commission is now moving forward to appoint contractors under a construction and procurement delivery framework in order to undertake immediate health and safety repairs and scope out the full range of remedial repairs that are required. The initial health and safety works will be carried out over the summer. The full remedial works will prevent any further deterioration, address the issues that are related to the damaged stonework and resolve the ongoing issues of water ingress in Parliament Buildings. A detailed plan outlining the timetable for those works will be produced following the scoping work that will be carried out during the summer recess. The Assembly Commission will continue its legal action against Hamilton Architects and Tracey Brothers to recover the full cost of the repairs.
298 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 (0.78).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- 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 | 0.02 | 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 | 0.78 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:56 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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