Member's statement: Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal, March 2026
Member's statement by Mr Stewart Dickson on .
- MLA
- Mr Stewart Dickson
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 23 March 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Marie Curie Daffodil Appeal, March 2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5465223
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I will use my Member's statement to mark Marie Curie's daffodil appeal for the month of March, an appeal that, this year, reaches its 40th anniversary. That is indeed a significant milestone, and it is right that the Assembly takes a moment to recognise that. Marie Curie provides palliative care at the end of life to thousands of people across Northern Ireland in their homes and in the Belfast hospice. The nurses, volunteers and support staff who deliver that care do so with immense dedication. That support means so much not just to the patient, the person who is at the end of their life, but to the whole family around them. The scale of the challenge is significant. Research shows that around 90% of people in Northern Ireland would benefit from a palliative care approach at the end of life. Yet too many face real barriers to accessing that support when they need it. The Health Committee of the Assembly published a 'Report on Access to Palliative Care Services' in December 2025. The direction of travel is clear: we need to invest in community-based services that allow people who are dying at home to be cared for at home or closer to home, rather than ending up in acute settings at the worst moment of their life. Marie Curie has four asks of the Assembly and our Health Department: that palliative care is prioritised in government policy and planning; that crisis situations are avoided so that people can be cared for in the place of their choosing; that no one dies without support; and that, as a community, we are informed and empowered to know when and how to access those services before things reach crisis point.
There is a real opportunity here for the Minister to make significant strides before the next election. I urge him to take those asks seriously. People in Northern Ireland deserve a better end to their lives, and there is no second chance to get this right.
334 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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