Debate contribution: Rates (Exemption for Automatic Telling Machines in Rural Areas) Order (Northern Ireland) 2025
Debate contribution by Miss Áine Murphy on .
- MLA
- Miss Áine Murphy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 10 March 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Rates (Exemption for Automatic Telling Machines in Rural Areas) Order (Northern Ireland) 2025
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4841015
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank the Minister for bringing the order to the House and welcome the opportunity to contribute to the positive impact that it will have on our rural communities. The order will continue a small but significant scheme that grants rates exemptions to ATMs that are situated in rural areas. As an MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, I know the essential service that ATMs provide in our rural towns and villages. Rural dwellers still rely heavily on cash to access goods and services, and, in many towns and villages, ATMs are the only means of accessing cash. Many people prefer to use cash to pay for things, which is a personal choice that must be respected. Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more difficult for rural dwellers to access cash, as towns and villages across the North lose their ATM provision. In recent years, many of the major banks have closed rural branches, effectively abandoning communities and leaving them without face-to-face banking services. My home town of Lisnaskea lost its last bank branch last year. The loss of that bank has been a huge blow to the area and has caused much disruption to businesses and residents alike, leaving them with no access to a 24-hour ATM or a complete banking service. Banking hubs have been a lifeline for many communities, but it has so far proved impossible for the community of Lisnaskea to avail itself of one. However, given the recent change in LINK criteria, I have lodged an application to have the town reassessed, which will, hopefully, provide the town with a banking hub and 24-hour cash access. The cost-of-living crisis and the rise of large online retailers make it difficult for rural businesses to turn a profit. ATMs are an essential driver of economic activity on our rural main streets and have a key role to play in rural regeneration. The order is an important step in protecting the remaining rural ATMs, and I hope that it will also act as an incentive for rural businesses to provide ATM services in future. I wholeheartedly support the order.
351 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 (0.87).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.87 | 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 | 0.95 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.04 |
| 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 12:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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