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Would it cost the Irish government £880m to provide free GP care?
31 January 2023
CLAIM: Provision of GP appointments that are free at the point of delivery would cost the Dublin Exchequer an extra £880m per year.
Rating
INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
On 17 January, crossbench peer Lord Kilclooney claimed: “To provide free GP care in the Republic of Ireland, which already exists in NI as it
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Uncategorized
Are driving examiners striking across the UK?
13 December 2022
CLAIM: A BBC report said that driving examiners and rural payment officers at sites across the UK are planning to strike.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
On 29 November, the BBC reported that driving examiners and rural payments officers represented by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are planning to
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Did the GDP gap between NI and Britain’s wealthiest regions grow by almost 44% between 2000 and 2014?
5 December 2022
CLAIM: Between 2000 and 2014, the gap in GDP per capita between NI and the three wealthiest regions of GB increased by 44%.
Rating
INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
Ireland’s Future used inappropriate data to reach its conclusion By coincidence, analysis of official GDP data leads to results which are similar but not the
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Do far more young people in Northern Ireland have no qualifications, compared with peers in England?
23 November 2022
CLAIM: Based on figures from 2015, an average of 6.3% of young people across the nine regions of England had no qualifications - compared with 10.4% of those in NI.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
This statistic is accurate, based on analysis from a recent research paper. However, its use lacks some context – in particular, about NI’s “brain drain”.
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Does the UK have more food banks than McDonald’s?
24 October 2022
CLAIM: There are more food banks across the UK than McDonald’s restaurants
Rating
ACCURATE
Finding out the exact number of food banks in the UK is difficult. However, even by low estimates, there are far more food banks than
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Will £400m of unspent public funds be wiped out by a budget deficit?
24 September 2022
CLAIM: A £400m pot left unallocated by Stormont is going to be used to cover ongoing spending by departments.
Rating
INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
Northern Ireland currently has around £270m in unallocated public money As things stand, this money will not be used to cover existing shortfalls – or
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Is childcare the biggest cost for NI families, after housing?
1 September 2022
CLAIM: Childcare is the biggest cost for households across Northern Ireland outside of mortgages and rent.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
Childcare isn’t relevant to every home – but, for such households, this claim is backed by evidence. Annual surveys show that for over half of
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Economy
Did average pay plummet by 3.7% in the three months from May?
24 August 2022
CLAIM: Workers’ wages decreased by an average of 3.7% between May and the start of August
Rating
INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
There are several different measures of real-terms wage changes One official measure showed wages fell by 3.7% in the three-months up to and including May
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Is NI subject to EU fuel VAT rates, which cannot be reduced below 5%? 
17 August 2022
CLAIM: Fuel VAT is currently 20% but, if Westminster reduced this to zero to help with the cost of living, this would not apply in NI. Local fuel VAT is set in Brussels, and EU rules stipulate this cannot be lower than 5%.
Rating
ACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
UK VAT is 20% for petrol, diesel and commercial energy use, and 5% for domestic energy Current EU rules apply to NI but not the
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Is Belfast the most lucrative city in the UK for students’ landlords?
27 July 2022
CLAIM: Belfast is the most lucrative city in the UK for landlords of student properties, with a total of £1.8bn in rent collected from students annually.
Rating
INACCURATE
MLA Gerry Carroll made this claim based on a story in the Belfast Telegraph That story was based on a report from insurance firm CIA
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Economy
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Europe
Is the Belfast-Derry/Londonderry train no quicker than it was during Victorian times?
6 July 2022
CLAIM: The train between Derry/Londonderry and Belfast takes 2 hours and 20 minutes. The journey is 70 miles long, meaning this service travels at the same speed as Victorian-era trains.
Rating
INACCURATE WITH CONSIDERATION
On BBC Radio Ulster’s show Talkback on June 9, during a discussion about the impact of Brexit and EU funding on Northern Ireland, Dr Ben
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