Member's statement: Samaritans
Member's statement by Mr Peter Martin on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter Martin
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 25 February 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Samaritans
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4814983
Read the official Assembly record
Text
The Samaritans have been providing essential support and services to people in Northern Ireland since 1961. Their dedicated volunteers support millions of individuals through life-saving conversations. They are the only 24/7 suicide prevention charity working across Ireland and the UK, day and night, 365 days a year. Recently, delegates and volunteers came together in my constituency for a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bangor branch. I am extremely proud to represent a constituency where that transformative work has been going on for so many years, with so many dedicated volunteers. They are real-life heroes. During 2023 alone in Northern Ireland, they answered 100,000 calls and emails, responding to 300 calls a day, equating to a call every four and a half minutes. They have 600 trained listening volunteers, who delivered more than 30,000 hours of support. Yet, their life-saving efforts have been repeatedly hampered by a chronic deficiency in suitable funding. In the past, the Samaritans would have received a very modest £12,000 from the Department of Health, but that was cut by 50%. In recent times, they have been increasingly forced to rely on the goodwill of the many people who donate to the organisation. As everyone knows, however, it is neither sustainable nor secure to rely wholly on public contributions. Last week, the Samaritans were informed by the Department of Health that they did not secure any core funding grant from the Health Minister. It is worth remembering that the core grant equates to 0·02% of Health's £8·5 billion budget. My office spoke to the Northern Ireland Samaritans immediately after the decision, and they said that they were at a total loss. The organisation's life-saving work could not fit in more neatly to the economic concept of invest to save, but that seems to be lost on the Department of Health. The Health Minister must review that decision urgently, look at options and increase the core grant funding, even modestly. No one in the Chamber or beyond can consciously dismiss the severity of the problems now facing that organisation and many others. With their Department of Health funding now culled, the services are at further risk. In a world where mental health services are increasingly in demand, we cannot afford to lose the Samaritans and the life-saving work that they do.
386 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 (0.95).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits.
- 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.95 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.77 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.22 |
| 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 12:01 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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