Debate contribution: Baby Loss Certificate Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on .
- MLA
- Mr John O'Dowd
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 26 May 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Executive Committee Business
- Heading
- Baby Loss Certificate Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5582498
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Since I came into the Chamber this morning, we have discussed hundreds of millions of pounds and passed the Further Consideration Stage of two pieces of legislation — one on how we regularise spend and the other on how we monitor spend. None of those is more important than what we are about to do now with the baby loss certificates and the regulations around them. It has been a simple, collective act of the Assembly and the team that we rely on, whether the Registrar General and his team in the GRO or the broader public service and Civil Service, to enact the legislation.
This is a team effort today. We are about to clear the final legislative hurdle to ensure that we can issue certificates to those who have lost a baby before 24 weeks.
As all Members who contributed to the debate said, the certificate will not replace the loss of the baby. What it will do is acknowledge the loss, the baby and the family's grief. Families will reflect on their loss in different ways, but we have allowed baby loss certificates to be issued. Without patting ourselves on the back, we should therefore be collectively proud that we have done that in a collegiate and respectful way. As Members said, the scheme will go live in mid-June. The Registrar General and his team and I have put the resources in place. We expect there to be significant demand for certificates in the first weeks and months. We will work our way through the applications and respond to families as quickly as possible. The scheme will be widely advertised, and we will hold an event ahead of the launch date to ensure that the public are aware of the scheme and know how to apply to it. We will then get certificates out to families as quickly as possible. The final piece of clunky legislation that we have to produce in this place for the scheme will hopefully pass in the next few minutes, and the next step will be to issue certificates.
347 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).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- 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 | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.01 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.35 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.58 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.39 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.01 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.01 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:40 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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