Debate contribution: Search and Rescue Register
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 20 January 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Search and Rescue Register
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5348534
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Northern Ireland search and rescue (NISAR) coordinates, supports and assures the quality of voluntary search and rescue provision for high-risk missing persons across Northern Ireland to ensure that the statutory risk tasking authority, which is responsible for requesting, directing and overseeing search and rescue deployment, has access to the appropriate capability and capacity to support delivery of search and rescue operations within the NISAR remit. When organisations apply to join NISAR, the application process facilitates the gathering of relevant information against set criteria, including the skills that each organisation can provide and that will be deployed by the statutory tasking authority. That capability is assessed by a NISAR subgroup of statutory organisations with responsibility for providing search and rescue services against any gaps in current service provision. Through that process, NISAR can identify where an organisation may add value in supporting the tasking authority in high-risk missing person searches. The process for applications to join NISAR is focused on assessing capability, readiness and suitability to contribute to the NISAR arrangements. A review and refresh of the NISAR framework, including the application process, is in progress. The Department continues to support the NISAR voluntary organisations through ongoing engagement and support on operational search and rescue issues at practitioners group meetings. The Department also provides approximately £100,000 of grant funding each year, subject to availability of budget year-on-year, which is shared across the current nine voluntary search and rescue organisations to help to sustain their capability.
244 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).
- 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 | 0.02 | 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 | 0.50 | No |
| 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 | 1.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:15 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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