Member's statement: Public-sector Pay
Member's statement by Mr Paul Frew on .
- MLA
- Mr Paul Frew
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 22 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Public-sector Pay
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5123359
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I heard what Nuala McAllister said earlier, and I echo her comments about the Hillsborough law. It was a good day when that law was published. However, I will not leave things to chance or to the Labour Government, or even our own Health Minister. That is why I take the opportunity to raise my consultation on an individual duty of candour that will not only bring openness and transparency to our healthcare settings but will set up a new reporting regime, with independent eyes and greater protection for whistle-blowers. There is no doubt that the Executive are facing a number of challenges and issues that need to be resolved. Those challenges are extremely difficult, but that is what we are in politics for, is it not? It will be our people who will implement any and all of the Executive's initiatives that come forward now and in the future. If we truly want to make Northern Ireland work, and if we truly want to make it an attractive place to live and work, we have to do more to invest in our people. We have to do that by providing them with opportunities to grow businesses and have that entrepreneurial spirit but also by ensuring that those who go into professions — noble professions — and work for the state to provide services for us, are properly remunerated and valued. We need to invest in all our people, be that our healthcare staff who look after our elderly and vulnerable, our teachers who encourage our children to learn or our police officers who keep us safe. That is why the DUP wants to see a fair and complementary pay award that is relative to the rest of the UK. Pay parity must be the goal.
I call on the Finance Minister to make that a main priority during his tenure. Let us show the people of Northern Ireland that we value and believe in them and that they are worth it. What makes this country great is its people. Let us ensure that our people get the remuneration and conditions that they deserve. I ask and plead with the Finance Minister to look at the pay awards for this year. Let us get on with it. Let us remunerate our people for the valuable jobs that they do in providing for all our people, teaching our children, looking after our elderly and keeping us safe.
406 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: 0.05 (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 (0.99).
- 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 | 0.03 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.03 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.06 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.05 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.99 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.72 |
| Legacy of the Troubles, victims and paramilitarism | 0.24 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| 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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