Written Ministerial Statement

The content of this written ministerial statement is as received at the time from the Minister. It has not been subject to the official reporting (Hansard) process.

The Executive Office - Tier 1 National Pandemic Exercise: Pegasus

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Published on Wednesday 17 September 2025

Mrs O’Neill (The First Minister) and Mrs Little-Pengelly (The deputy First Minister):  We are writing to advise members that, on the 18th of September, NI Executive departments will commence participation in the first phase of Exercise PEGASUS, a UK ‘Tier 1’ pandemic preparedness exercise set to assess the ability to respond to a pandemic.

A pandemic remains the top risk of the UK’s National Risk Register. Exercise Pegasus is an opportunity to test our capabilities, plans, protocols and procedures in the event of another major pandemic.

Led by the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and delivered with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), Exercise PEGASUS will be the largest ever simulation of a pandemic and will involve participation from every UK Government Department, the Devolved Governments and other key stakeholders. It will likely require the involvement of all Departments here.

Further exercise phases will take place on 9 October and 30 October.   Each phase will simulate the developing stages of a pandemic: emergence, containment, and mitigation. A fourth phase (recovery) is also planned for 2026. A final report aims to be published in Winter 2026.

We will provide an update following completion of the exercise.