Upcoming at the Assembly - 26 November

By Sean Kelly from NICVA

Published on 26 Nov 2007

An overview of upcoming business at the Assembly from 26 November 2007 to 30 November 2007.

Monday 26 November 2007

Questions to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister

SDLP MLA Alban Maginness will ask the Minister to detail whether or not his Office will include a declaration of independence in a future Order in relation to the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, in order to improve the autonomy of this post; and to ensure that the Commissioner, as a 'constitutional watchdog', is made answerable to an Assembly committee, rather than to a government department.

Paul Butler (Sinn Féin) will ask the Minister what plans his Office has to produce proposals in relation to child protection. Party colleague Jennifer McCann will later ask the Minister to detail whether or not it intends to place child protection issues on the agendas of the next plenary meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council.

Newry and Armagh MLA Cathal Boylan will ask the Minister if he will give a timescale within which the review into an older people's commissioner will be completed.

David Simpson (DUP) will ask the Minister if his Office will report on responses to the recent consultation on the Gender Goods and Services Directive.

Sinn Féin’s Daithí McKay will ask the Minister if his Office will identify the funds within the draft Budget 2008-2011 that will be directed towards the objective of eradicating poverty. Additional questions on the Draft Budget in relation to making a more equal society and achieving gender equality will follow from party colleagues Raymond McCartney and Paul Maskey.

Mitchel McLaughlin MLA (South Antrim) will ask the Minister to provide an update on the progress of the European Union Economic Taskforce.

Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin) will ask the Minister what steps his Office is taking to ensure full community consultation on the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland and the draft Programme for Government. Party colleague Martina Anderson will later ask the Minister whether or not his Office intends to include measures to address regional disparities, as a sub-pillar of the Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland 2.

Trevor Lunn (Lagan Valley) will ask the Minister to provide a definition for 'New Ethnic Minority Communities', as referred to in the draft Programme for Government 2008-2011.

The UUP’s Roy Beggs will ask the Minister what action his Office is taking in relation to the findings of the report 'An Analysis of Public Expenditure on Children in Northern Ireland'.

Patsy McGlone (SDLP) will ask the Minister to detail whether or not his Office endorses the policy document 'A Shared Future'.

Alliance’s Anna Lo will ask the Minister to make a statement on a Single Equality Bill, in relation to the draft Programme for Government.

Questions to the Minister for Employment and Learning

Robert Coulter (UUP) will ask the Minister what plans he has to establish reliable baseline figures for numeracy and literacy challenges for adults in Northern Ireland.

The SDLP’s Declan O'Loan will ask the Minister what is his assessment of the role that community training organisations can take in working alongside further education colleges; and what action he is taking to ensure that community training organisations are adequately funded.

Sinn Féin’s Paul Butler will ask the Minister what consideration he will give to developing the Springvale site as an educational centre; and if he will bring forward proposals in relation to the achievement of this objective over the lifetime of the current Assembly.

Alex Attwood (SDLP) will ask the Minister to detail whether or not his department will, as a matter of urgency, fund the Workers’ Educational Association and the Ulster People’s College beyond August 2008, in order to enable full consideration and review of funding of the community education sector, following the unsuccessful bid to the Comprehensive Spending Review. Naomi Long (Alliance) will later ask the Minister if he will make a statement on the future of community education, in light of the proposed end of funding to the Educational Guidance Service for Adults, the Workers' Educational Association and the Ulster People's College.

Michelle O'Neill (Mid Ulster) will ask the Minister to detail the number of people with disabilities who attended Queen's University Belfast, or the University of Ulster, in each of the last three years.

Questions to the Minister for Finance and Personnel

Sinn Féin MLA Mickey Brady will ask the Minister to detail, broken down by constituency, the number of deaths attributed to the misuse or abuse of drugs in each of the last five years.

Trevor Clarke (DUP) will ask the Minister what action he will take to increase the uptake of rate relief.

Alliance MLA Anna Lo will ask the Minister if he will make a statement on funding of the arts within the draft Budget 2008-2011.

Lord Browne (East Belfast) will ask the Minister if he will make a statement on the means through which the rating system can be used to encourage a more environmentally friendly use of resources.

Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin) will ask the Minister to detail the number of equality impact assessments carried out by his department in the last 12 months.

Trevor Lunn (Alliance) will ask the Minister if he will make a statement on the budget allocated to the Community Relations Council.

Motions for Debate

Draft Programme for Government and the draft Investment Strategy

The Chairperson of the Committee for the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister has proposed a motion: “That this Assembly notes the draft Programme for Government 2008-2011 and the draft Investment Strategy 2008-2018.”

Tuesday 27 November 2007

Motions for Debate

Draft Budget

The Chairperson of the Committee for Finance and Personnel has proposed a motion: “That this Assembly takes note of the draft Budget, announced on 25 October 2007 by the Minister for Finance and Personnel.”