Member's statement: ADHD: Commissioning of Services
Member's statement by Mr Peter McReynolds on .
- MLA
- Mr Peter McReynolds
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 27 January 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- ADHD: Commissioning of Services
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5344981
Read the official Assembly record
Text
In April 2024, I presented a petition to you, Mr Speaker, which had been signed by 4,500 people and called for the commissioning of ADHD services in Northern Ireland. I pleaded with the then Health Minister to meet ADD-NI to discuss the need for those services in Northern Ireland and the impact that they would have. Since then, I have also pleaded with the current Health Minister to meet us, and I am pleased to say that we got that meeting with the Health Department. At that meeting, we made clear the urgent need for departmental intervention for those who are living with the condition, and, crucially, those who are potentially living with it, in Northern Ireland. A report was commissioned, and we were told that it would be finished by the end of the 2024-25 financial year. We were then told that it would be finished by the start of the summer, which then became the end of the summer and then Christmas. Now, we are told that it is finished and with Health officials, but it still has not been published for anyone other than the Department to review. I am chair of the all-party group on ADHD. We are being held back from doing all that we can in the Northern Ireland Assembly to support the ADHD community. The report is already 20 years too late, and we cannot meet to discuss its findings because we still have not even seen them. I am pleased that the Health Minister is sitting in front of me as I make this statement. I urge him to do the right thing and take that important first step by publishing that report to get change and justice for children, young people and adults alike across Northern Ireland. For too long, people who live with the condition have struggled and lived in silence. The ADHD community is positive, driven and proactive. We will not stop fighting for the justice that it deserves in the face of the removal of shared care arrangements, lengthy waiting lists for diagnosis and the impact of the lack of support on stress levels, which can include self-medication, substance abuse and mental health issues.
366 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: 0.04 (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 (0.96).
- 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-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 | 0.06 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.96 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | 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 | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| 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 14:21 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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