Debate contribution: Coronavirus Act 2020 (Registration of Deaths and Still-Births) (Extension) (No.3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
Debate contribution by Dr Caoimhe Archibald on .
- MLA
- Dr Caoimhe Archibald
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 14 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Coronavirus Act 2020 (Registration of Deaths and Still-Births) (Extension) (No.3) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4589596
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
I thank the Members who have commented on the order and welcome their remarks about it. I reiterate my thanks to the Chairperson and members of the Finance Committee for their scrutiny. As Members have reflected, our objective with the order is to continue to provide a registration service that meets the public's needs and to allow time to develop the permanent legislation to replace the existing Coronavirus Act provisions. I will deal with a couple of points that were raised by Members. I acknowledge and recognise the sentiments and frustrations that have been recorded by members of the Finance Committee. Obviously, the issue only came to light when we were doing the final checks on the drafting of the legislation. I am sure that Mr Frew does not doubt the sincerity of my remarks in the previous debate on this. It is something that we want to move on as quickly as possible.
I put on record my thanks to my officials in the GRO for all their work on the order and on the development of the new baby loss certificate scheme and for finding a way in which to progress the scheme through the legislation. As Mr Frew said, it is a silver lining of the slight delay that we now face. It is not ideal to have a temporary scheme. We are therefore absolutely committed to putting it on a permanent statutory footing as soon as possible.
To touch on Mr Carroll's comments, I will discuss with my officials the issue of individuals who do not have English as their first language. In closing, I say that I hope that the Assembly will support the order. The powers that it contains have enabled us to provide a modern, efficient and empathetic registration service during a critical time. By extending the powers today, we can sustain the service while creating an opportunity to embed the provisions permanently in law. I therefore ask Members to approve the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Registration of Deaths and Still-Births) (Extension) (No.3) Order 2024.
348 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).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.99).
- Subject area: Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy.
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.37 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.01 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.87 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.09 |
| Immigration, asylum, race, ethnicity and Travellers | 0.02 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.01 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:13 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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