Topical question AQT 2055/22-27
Topical question by Mr Trevor Clarke on .
- MLA
- Mr Trevor Clarke
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 16 February 2026
- Type
- Topical question
- Assembly reference
- AQT 2055/22-27
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5391569
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Mr Clarke asked the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, following on from a previous question about the leafy suburbs of South Belfast, where residents have problems with the bins, and noting that, as the Minister's colleague will know, there are similar problems with the bins in South Antrim, and that, in one of his responses, he referred to the difficulties with waste and the quality of that waste, whether he will put on record his support for a home-grown industry that offers a solution in Northern Ireland and the proposal, which has been there in excess of 10 years, for an incinerator at the Hightown quarry, rather than having to send that waste to landfill or, indeed, shipping it off the shores of Northern Ireland in order for someone else to burn it.
135 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Follow-ups by the same MLA in the Chamber
These were assessed together with this record:
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 (0.91).
- 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 | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.07 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.91 | 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 |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.99 |
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.01 |
| 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 14:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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