Member's statement: Dementia Action Week
Member's statement by Mrs Linda Dillon on .
- MLA
- Mrs Linda Dillon
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 May 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Dementia Action Week
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4963706
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Today, I mark Dementia Action Week. I thank the Alzheimer's Society for the pin that it gave me as I came in here today and for all the work that it does with families and those who, unfortunately, suffer from the effects of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The issue is a serious challenge for our health and social care system. In the North, treating dementia currently costs us £1 billion a year, and it is estimated that, in the next 15 years, that figure will rise to £2 billion. That is a serious cost to our economy, our society and our health system, but the greatest cost is to families: to those who suffer from dementia and to the people who love, support and look after them. We therefore need to make sure that we do all that we can. There is much work happening in the field of research. Many drugs are coming online that can either delay or prevent dementia. We need to work hard, and our Minister needs to look at what can be done to ensure that those drugs are available to all who need them. We also need early diagnosis. We talked yesterday about the availability of and access to GPs. If people cannot access GPs and other services in the health sector, they will not get diagnosed, and it will then be too late for the medication to be of any use to them. I call on the Minister of Health to address and action that issue and to make sure that all people can get early access not only to GP services but to the services that are needed to diagnose them fully. People have been crying out for help for many years. I am sure that there are Members in the Chamber today who have been affected. In my family, my cousins looked after their mummy, and my uncle looked after his wife, for many years as though she were an egg. She was a beautiful person inside and out. They did everything for her that they possibly could, and they did it with the support of the Alzheimer's Society. I acknowledge that it did a lot of work, but they were the ones who were there day in, day out. Her husband, daughter and sons cared for her, loved her, fed her and made sure that they talked to her just as they had talked to her every other day of her life. They did not treat her any differently, and that was so important. To be able to do that, people require support from all of us in government to support them in the community, through the benefits that are available and through the health service. Every element of what we do here needs to be about supporting those families and the people affected. We must remember the many families who are impacted on, and there will be so many more. None of us knows whether we will be that person. I hope every day that it will not be me or anybody whom I love, but none of us knows. I therefore ask everybody to support Dementia Action Week, and I ask the Health Minister to make sure that people have early access to GPs and other health services.
552 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 (0.91).
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Disability (including neurodivergence and mental health), disabled people and disability or sickness benefits | 0.96 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:32 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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