Debate contribution: State Pension Access: Terminally Ill People
Debate contribution by Mr Maurice Bradley on .
- MLA
- Mr Maurice Bradley
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 31 March 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- State Pension Access: Terminally Ill People
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4872102
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The Democratic Unionist Party is committed to improving care and support for those with a terminal illness. Our parliamentarians have supported a change in the law to allow those with a life expectancy of up to 12 months to get faster and easier access to certain benefits and pensions.
Marie Curie commissioned Loughborough University to conduct research that found that giving working-age terminally ill people access to their state pension could almost halve the rate of poverty in that cohort, lifting more than 8,600 people a year out of poverty at the end of their life. We recognise that the previous Government outlined the logistical challenges that would be involved with the differences between working age and pensionable benefits along with contribution records. That said, if we can do anything to reduce the burden and stress that people face at the end of their life, we must explore the available options. Research has shown that working-age people who live with a terminal illness are a third more likely than any other working-age people to live in poverty. Many people with a terminal illness have a higher energy bill, as they try to keep warm and, at the same time, use medical equipment. We have all seen the cost of energy rise, but for the terminally ill, those rises make their situation even bleaker. Following a diagnosis of some conditions, such as motor neurone disease, a person's energy bill can rise by as much as 75%, meaning that terminally ill people are vulnerable to fuel poverty. People who are facing the end of their life should not be struggling to heat their homes or run vital medical equipment. The state pension is a safeguard in our welfare system against poverty. By extending that safeguard to terminally ill people of working age, we can prevent thousands of people dying in poverty. We believe that the Executive should work with the Westminster Government to ensure that the social security system adequately supports people with a terminal illness, ensuring dignity in their final months. That is the very least that we can do.
354 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not qualifying”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.03 (qualifying needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not qualifying).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.96).
- 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-qualifying 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 | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.96 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.03 | At or below not-qualifying 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 | 0.98 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:16 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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