Upcoming at the Assembly - 28 January

Monday 28 January 2008

Questions to the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone will ask the Minister whether or not the findings of the Health Inequality Report have been broken down by Health and Social Care Trusts; and to detail what action is being taken to tackle the widening inequality gap.

Alban Maginness (SDLP) will ask the Minister to detail the number of people who have received the influenza vaccination over the winter period.

UUP MLA Roy Beggs will ask the Minister to comment on the Review of Public Administration as it affects his department.

Michelle O'Neill (Sinn Féin) will ask the Minister to detail the priority he will give to interdepartmental and interagency work to provide wraparound services for children assessed as deaf through the neonatal Hearing Screening Programme.

North Antrim MLA Robert Coulter will ask the Minister to detail how much funding will be devoted to mental health provision, following the conclusion of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Sinn Féin’s Paul Maskey will ask the Minister to detail the funding allocation for the Belfast Health Trust for mental health services in the next financial year.

Jennifer McCann (West Belfast) will ask the Minister to detail the number of nurses who have been trained in suicide awareness and prevention.

South Antrim MLA Mitchel McLaughlin will ask the Minister to outline how family support and foster care are funded, in order to achieve the target of 10% reduction in children who are looked after by 2011.

Questions to the Minister for Regional Development

SDLP MLA Alasdair McDonnell will ask the Minister what emergency plans are in place to deal with flooding, where previous experience or an assessment by the department shows that a risk of flooding exists.

Martina Anderson (Sinn Féin) will ask the Minister what measures he took to ensure that public consultation was undertaken on matters relating to his department in the (i) draft Budget; (ii) draft Programme for Government; and (iii) Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland 2.

Lagan Valley MLA Paul Butler will ask the Minister what action he is taking to meet his commitment to be proactive in promoting the European Charter on Minority Languages in relation to the use of Irish road signage in (i) Northern Ireland; and (ii) the Gaeltacht quarter in West Belfast.

P J Bradley (SDLP) will ask the Minister for Regional Development what plans he has to review the criteria which restrict street lighting to groups of 10 or more houses in rural communities.

Questions to the Minister for Social Development

The Minister will be asked a number of questions on social housing. John Dallat (SDLP) will ask the Minister what action she is taking to ensure that her targets for new social and affordable house building are met. Alex Maskey (Sinn Féin) will ask the Minister to detail the projection for social housing units to be built in South Belfast in the next eighteen months. Dominic Bradley (SDLP) will ask the Minister to detail the number of social housing starts that will be achieved by the end of the year 2007-2008 and South Antrim MLA Thomas Burns will ask the Minister what progress has been made on the introduction of a system of developer contribution toward the provision of social and affordable housing.

Foyle MLA Pat Ramsey will ask the Minister for her assessment of her department's budget provision for combating fuel poverty over the next three years.

The DUP’s Mervyn Storey will ask the Minister what plans she has to use the additional resources announced by the Minister for Finance and Personnel on 15 January 2008.

Upper Bann MLA David Simpson will ask the Minister to outline her department's policy on locating Travellers' sites.

Sinn Féin’s Mickey Brady will ask the Minister to outline (i) the reasons why her department's submission to the Committee for the OFMDFM's inquiry into child poverty was 40 days late; (ii) the consequential action she is taking; and (iii) her commitment to the eradication of child poverty by 2020.

Caral Ní Chuilín (North Belfast) will ask the Minister to outline the steps her department is taking to address the variations in housing association policy; and what plans she has to bring all associations under the Northern Ireland Housing Executive's Tenant Handbook.

The SDLP’s Patsy McGlone will ask the Minister what initial assessment has she made on the reform of liquor licensing and regulation in Northern Ireland.

West Belfast MLA Sue Ramsey will ask the Minister to indicate what funding her department has provided in relation to festivals in Belfast in the last three years.

The DUP’s Allan Bresland will ask the Minister to detail the progress made by the Renewing Communities pilot scheme for rural areas.

P J Bradley (SDLP) will ask the Minister to detail the functions of her department that will be transferred to local government under the Review of Public Administration.

Dolores Kelly (Upper Bann) will ask the Minister to detail how her department will contribute to the vision of A Shared Future in Northern Ireland.

Lagan Valley MLA Paul Butler will ask the Minister to detail the reasons for her department's underspend in this financial year.

Sinn Féin’s Raymond McCartney will ask the Minister to confirm that there will be a full community consultation process on how best to utilise any land transferred to her department on the site of the former police station at Rosemount, Derry/Londonderry.

Declan O'Loan (SDLP) will the Minister for her assessment of the challenges that lie ahead in transferring regeneration activity to local government.

Executive Committee Business

Programme for Government and Investment Strategy

The First Minister and Deputy First Minister have proposed a motion “That this Assembly endorses the Programme for Government and Investment Strategy for Northern Ireland agreed by the Executive.”

Tuesday 29 January 2008

Executive Committee Business

Budget

The Minister for Finance and Personnel has proposed a motion: “That this Assembly approves the programme of expenditure proposals for 2008-09 to 2010-11 as set out in the Budget laid before the Assembly on 22 January 2008.”

Committee Business

Click here to see full the Assembly Committee Business Diary including times and venues.

Tuesday 29 January 2008

1.30pm - Agriculture and Rural Development Committee

Wednesday 30 January 2008

10.00am - Finance and Personnel Committee
10.30am - Regional Development Committee
10.30am - Employment and Learning Committee
2.00pm - Committee for the OFMDFM

Thursday 31 January 2008

10.15am - Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee
10.30am - Environment Committee
10.30am - Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee
11.00am - Social Development Committee
2.30pm - Health, Social Services and Public Safety Committee

Friday 1 February 2008

10.30am - Education Committee