Debate contribution: Health and Social Care Pay Awards 2025-26
Debate contribution by Mr Philip McGuigan on .
- MLA
- Mr Philip McGuigan
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 23 September 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Health and Social Care Pay Awards 2025-26
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5129782
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.
Our health service is the most vital of our public services. It relies heavily on its greatest asset: its staff. The safety of staff and patients alike is compromised as a result of staff shortages. There is a huge hole in our health and social care services as a result of pay issues that affect the recruitment and retention of staff.
"I see and hear about that at first hand from nurses in my constituency of North Antrim. Nurses, the largest group in the health service, now feel that the only way forward to deal with their well-documented grievances is to take industrial action. That is unprecedented. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has my full personal support."
That was me speaking in 2019 in support of nurses and healthcare workers as they were about to go on strike because of pay and conditions. Here, today, I am equally frustrated, although certainly not as frustrated as nurses and healthcare workers, that we have reached a position where nurses feel once again that they have no option other than potential strike action. I absolutely support the commitment to the core principle of pay parity for health and social care workers across the North, as I did in 2019. Nurses and all other healthcare workers should not be in the position of again having to consider strike action to get the pay award to which they are entitled. I recently met the RCN, the British Medical Association (BMA) and other health unions, and I am well aware of the depth of their resolve and of their determination on behalf of their members. Clearly, they just want the issue to be resolved. The health service is important to us all. As elected politicians, we should work together to make it better for the people whom we represent: our constituents, who need and rely on the service. We also need to work better to ensure that it is better for those who work in it. Why are we here again? I am conscious that healthcare workers do not want to get involved in party political discussions or debates, but it is important for me to outline my thoughts on some of the issues. As we in the North of Ireland are tied to Westminster, there has been underinvestment in our public services for close to 15 years — 15 years of austerity. Our Executive are still not adequately resourced. Sinn Féin believes that the best long-term solution to improve health outcomes in the North is an all-island health service in a new Ireland. In the context of the current interim arrangements in the North, however, Sinn Féin has prioritised the issue of health. In the Executive, through the current and previous Sinn Féin Finance Ministers, Sinn Féin has prioritised Health budgets from the money that has been available to the Executive. The Department of Health's opening budget was £8·4 billion this year, which is £650 million higher than the 2024-25 budget. Over 50% of the Executive's available resources go to Health. The Department received allocations of £115 million as part of the June monitoring round, so its total budget for this year is £8·6 billion. Sinn Féin has prioritised Health, but, ultimately, the Health Minister is the Health Minister. Even though the Health Minister is not from my political party, I want him to succeed. We all need him to succeed. I have some sympathy with the Health Minister, as I do with all Ministers when dealing with their budgets. Ultimately, however, he is the person who decides how the money in the overall Health budget is allocated. The Health Minister is responsible for setting and funding Health priorities, including paying healthcare staff. I am disappointed that the Health Minister did not prioritise pay when he received his budget; that he has, so far, not resolved the issue of pay for health and social care staff; and that, as a result, we have again arrived at this position. It is a position that we must get ourselves out of. There must be a solution to the issue.
I assure the Health Minister that, in his efforts to find a resolution to the issue of pay for healthcare workers, he has full support from me, as Sinn Féin's health spokesperson. Furthermore, he can be assured that Sinn Féin Ministers in the Executive are totally committed to solving the problem. I am hopeful that an agreement can be reached to deliver the well-deserved and well-earned pay award. Sinn Féin will continue to work to make that a reality.
769 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: 0.06 (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 (0.90).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.98).
- 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 | 0.05 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.90 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.06 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.98 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.02 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.43 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.34 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.19 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:11 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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