Debate contribution: Ageing Population: Strategic Plan
Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on .
- MLA
- Mr Timothy Gaston
- Party at the time
- Traditional Unionist Voice
- Date
- 25 February 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Ageing Population: Strategic Plan
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4815188
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Several Members congratulated Claire on bringing her first private Member's motion to the House, following 11 years as an MLA. Some expressed shock at that being the case. I take the opportunity to say that the parties on the Business Committee and you, Mr Speaker, should today reflect on the fact that all Members should get a fair crack of the whip when it comes to securing motions for debate in the Chamber. My predecessor, Jim Allister, sat in the Assembly for 13 years and never had an opportunity to bring such a motion to the House. Yes, progress has been made, but there is more to be done. I trust that the Business Committee will consider what I have said. I add my voice to those commending Claire for bringing her motion to the House. When the Member for West Belfast brought his first private Member's motion to the House, I said that it fell to this corner of the Chamber to address issues that others have failed to address, and the same applies to today's motion. Last September, the Committee for the Executive Office heard from the Older People's Commissioner and Age NI. The story relayed to the Committee was one of a section of society that feels ignored. Age NI's lived experience survey results from 2023 painted a picture of a large section of our community that feels "sidelined", "forgotten about", "dismissed" and:
"no longer important to the health service."
Some said that they felt that they:
"were not encouraged to seek treatment"
and that the pain that they experienced was "not treated seriously". Older people have been failed by successive Executives. The pledge in the Programme for Government 2011-15 to extend age discrimination legislation did not materialise. There has been a failure to renew the active ageing strategy, which expired in 2022. There was no commitment to legislate on age discrimination in the draft Programme for Government in 2016. New Decade, New Approach promised legislation, but, again, nothing has come forward. There is no commitment to do anything in the current draft Programme for Government. Put simply, devolution is failing to deliver for pensioners. When one looks at the statistics, it is clear that there is an urgent need to plan for an ageing population. We have heard today the figures and projections as laid out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency in 2022. They are quite clear, so let us break them down. The number of children aged between zero and 15 is projected to decrease over the next quarter of a century, from 389,400 in mid-2022 to 299,500 in mid-2047. That is a decrease of 23·1%. The number of people aged between 16 and 64 is projected to decrease over the same period by 4·6%. By way of contrast, the number of people aged 65 and above is projected to grow from 335,400 in 2022 to 501,700 by 2047. In light of that, the case for urgent planning is clear in health, housing and infrastructure. I will now touch on another issue that Members have, to date, overlooked: how we, as legislators, are contributing to the problem of a lack of children and young people. We need an upcoming generation to maintain our society: people who are able to keep the economy going when we are in retirement; people to operate the social care and health system on which, as we age, we will be increasingly dependent. That brings me to the greatest shame in our Province, one which is taking place not in spite of the law of the land but expressly because of it. At the end of last month, the Department of Health published stats showing an increase of 77% in the number of abortions compared with the 2020-21 figure. The most basic step that we must take to start addressing the issues of an ageing population is to stop killing our young. Decisions taken in this place have ensured that our ageing population will continue to age. The draft Programme for Government ignores our older population. I trust that, through Executive Office Committee evidence sessions and consultation responses, the Executive will put that right when we finally get to see the agreed Programme for Government.
707 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: 0.48 (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 (0.68).
- Subject area: Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
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 | 0.22 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.13 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.35 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.47 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.78 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.48 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.68 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.31 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.92 |
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.08 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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