New Year Message from DUP and UUP places ​focus on improving health service in 2025

In his New Year message, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said that his party's objective is to make Northern Ireland work by having a first-class health service, top quality schools and a prosperous economy firmly within the United Kingdom.

Trumpeting party successes from 2024, he cited a “hugely successful” childcare subsidy scheme which he said has saved working families up to £160 per month and enabled them to access affordable childcare.

He added that 2025 will also see the completion of a broadband scheme which has made Northern Ireland one of the best-connected regions in the world.

But he insisted that if the health service is to be turned around that it will require things to be done differently.

“With the Labour government content to create new funding pressures, some suggest ‘revenue raising’ as being the silver bullet to fix all our problems. I disagree,” he said.

“Budgets have been repeatedly increased, yet many outcomes have been getting worse. Of course, budgets must align with rising costs and demand, but not by bringing in new taxes and placing a greater burden on working families who are already overstretched. There must be better spending of the taxes already raised.”

He suggested that recent revelations, like the cervical screening issues in the Southern Trust and failed building projects in the Belfast Trust, show “the urgent need for greater accountability and better management” in the health service.

“The change required in our health service is not new taxes, it’s accountability with proper management.

“The NHS should be the jewel in the crown of the United Kingdom, and I am determined to see it restored to the thing of beauty that it can be where we all make our contribution, and we all take care of each other.”

In broader politics, he said, the heart of Northern Ireland’s future is “the Union”.

“But being convinced of the Union means more than simply defending it, it means making it work for everyone. It means ensuring that Northern Ireland remains a place where people from all backgrounds can thrive and where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and pride in their community.

“This is not without its challenges. Political uncertainty, economic pressures, and unresolved issues around the protocol have tested us. Yet I firmly believe that we have the capacity to find solutions that respect our position within the United Kingdom, protect our place in the Union, and allow Northern Ireland’s economy to flourish.”

UUP leader Mike Nesbitt struck a philosophical note, emphasising the need to expect and embrace change.

He said: “Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, is famous for stating that ‘Change is the only constant’, this is true. It is how we manage that change, how we adapt to the circumstances, challenges and opportunities that the world presents to us.”

In 2025 the focus must be on change for the better, he added.

“As health minister there is much to do to bring the changes that the health and social care services have been needing for far too long. That change does not solely lie at my feet, or the feet of the department, or even at the feet of the health service itself.

“This change requires commitment from each minister around the executive table, from each MLA and councillor, from each person to consider how their decisions can impact positively or negatively on the entirety of our health and social care.”

There is much to do to address the needs in health and education, infrastructure and indeed every executive department, he said.

“This requires a commitment from every party that we can never collapse the institutions again, we must work together to build a Northern Ireland that benefits everyone, regardless of ideology, religion or identity.”

In the last few months, he said, he has seen what he believes to be “a genuine desire amongst the executive parties to bring forward truly collegiate working across every aspect of our Government”.

He added: “This can set the foundation for the change that everyone recognises is needed.”