Ministerial Statements
The Minister of Health made a statement entitled
"Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together"
This statement set out the Minister's
"ambition for a world-class health and social care system."
This statement set out the details of the Health and Wellbeing 2026 document launched by the Minister on Tuesday 25th October. This document is
available here.
You can read the statement and questions on it here.
The Minister of Finance made a statement on the
October Monitoring Round.
The Minister highlighted a number of announcements which he felt would please fellow MLAs including
"the British Government being pressed on a fiscal stimulus in the autumn statement on 23 November. Also, there is a shot in the arm for our local economy through a small stimulus package here today, and some good news on financial transactions capital that will not be returning to the Treasury."
Read the statement in full and questions on it here.
The Minister of Justice made a statement on the
Rationalisation of the Court Estate
This statement outlined her decision to overturn the decision to close Armagh, Ballymena, Limavady, Lisburn, Magherafelt and Strabane courthouses.
Read the statement in full here.
Executive Committee Business
The Minister for Communities brought the
Welfare Supplementary Payment (Benefit Cap) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016
This draft statutory rule was approved by the Communities Committee on 13 October.
The Minister of Finance brought the
Rates (Increased Reduction for Recreational Hereditaments) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016
These regulations secure an increase to 100% rate relief for community amateur sports clubs without a licensed bar area on their premises.
Doug Beattie (UUP) brought a motion entitled "HMP Maghaberry: Paramilitary Prisoners."
Sinn Fein tabled an amendment which was successful, being voted for by Green, Alliance, Sinn Fein, SDLP and Ind Uni. The motion therefore passed as follows:
"That this Assembly notes that HMP Maghaberry is unique on these islands and much of Europe for the challenges it faces as a result of housing prisoners with diverse backgrounds who are subject to different court processes depending on the nature of their charges; recognises that all prisoners and all prison staff must be treated with dignity and respect; believes that there is a need for ongoing and comprehensive prison reform; and calls on the Minister of Justice to work jointly with the planned independent review to examine the operation of the separated regime, evidencing the need for any changes and providing useful information for stakeholders to take forward, as proposed by the report from the Fresh Start panel on the disbandment of paramilitary groups."
The UUP and TUV voted against the amended motion, DUP abstained.
Read the debate here.
The DUP brought a motion on nursing shortages.
An SDLP amendment was unsuccessful (with only Greens, TUV, SDLP, Alliance and UUP voting in favour). The unamended motion then passed unanimously as follows:
"That this Assembly acknowledges the ongoing problem of nursing shortages in Northern Ireland; recognises the work carried out by former Health Ministers and health and social care trusts to address this problem; and calls on the Minister of Health to build on these efforts by working proactively with our colleges and universities to promote nursing as a career choice and to work collaboratively with the relevant bodies to train and retain more nurses, thus reducing the total spend on agency workers and assisting long-term workforce planning."
Read the debate in full here.
Jennifer McCann (SF) brought a motion entitled "Education Services: Partnership Working." The motion received unanimous support.
"That this Assembly recognises the value of partnership working between schools and community services, including the role that this can play in increasing educational achievement for pupils; and calls on the Minister of Education to ensure that adequate resources are invested in developing and expanding such services."
Read the debate in full here.
Mervyn Storey (DUP) brought a motion on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. This motion also passed unanimously:
"That this Assembly notes the importance of small and medium-sized enterprises to the economy of Northern Ireland; recognises their resilience in the face of many challenges; believes that many small and medium-sized enterprises are not realising their growth and development potential; and calls on the Minister for the Economy to ensure that the economic strategy supports small and medium-sized enterprises that want to grow."
Read the debate in full here.
