Debate contribution: Children’s Hospice: Funding
Debate contribution by Mr Alan Chambers on .
- MLA
- Mr Alan Chambers
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 14 October 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Children’s Hospice: Funding
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4590231
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I have nothing but admiration for our hospice and palliative care staff. Their contribution can have an enormous impact on not only the people whom they directly support but those people's loved ones. That is especially important in the case of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice. As is the case with the delivery of so many parts of health and care, end-of-life care has been greatly impacted on by inflationary pressures and rising demands, but it is a system that we simply could not do without. As such, there is a perfectly reasonable expectation that the state will provide funding towards its costs. The Department of Health already commits significant funding to it each year. I was glad that, within days of the restoration of the Executive in February, my party colleague Robin Swann was able to move quickly to reinstate funding that was at risk of removal and to place some of the other funding on a recurrent basis. I am sure that many of us wish to see even greater funding being invested not only in end-of-life care but in the hugely important work that the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice does through its respite and short breaks services. Week after week, the Assembly debates motions calling on the Minister of Health to fund one thing or to increase funding for something else. It is almost as if some parties and some MLAs have forgotten how they voted on this year's Budget. We sit through non-binding debates and Question Time, with MLAs asking the Minister to do things that their very actions have prevented. Nevertheless, I am quite sure that funding for the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice will be on the Minister's radar, as will be all the other remaining issues, because, as I said, it is an incredible service that we simply could not do without.
308 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 (0.76).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.05 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.76 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.77 |
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.19 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.03 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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