Committees of the Northern Ireland Assembly
What is a committee?
Committees are groups of MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) who look at specific subjects such as health, education, justice and more. Committee members come from different political parties.
Committees:
- hold the Northern Ireland Executive (the government) to account
- hold inquiries
- ask for your views
- examine bills (proposed laws) and decide on amendments (changes)
- introduce their own bills
Committees have a remit which says what areas they are responsible for. Committees can look at anything in their remit.
Read more about Assembly Committees and how they work >>
Northern Ireland Assembly Committees 2022-2027
Follow the work of Assembly Committees during the 2022-2027 mandate:
Calls for Evidence - Have your say
As part of their regular scrutiny duties, Committees may ask stakeholders and members of the public for their views on a particular subject or piece of legislation.
This is a chance for you to have your say and help Committees with their work.
You can check out current calls for evidence below:
Please note that these consultation links will take you to our Citizen Space survey site.
- Sign up to learn more about the Inquiry (Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries and Workhouses) and Redress Scheme Bill and how to get involved
- The Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee would like to hear your views on the proposal for a Regulation on the safety of toys and repealing Directive 2009/48/EC (closes 11 July 2025)
- The Committee for Health would like to hear your views on the Adult Protection Bill (deadline for responses is Friday 26 September 2025)
- Assembly and Executive Review Committee would like to hear your views on Assembly Committee engagement on cross-cutting Executive strategies (deadline for responses is Tuesday 30 September 2025)
- Assembly and Executive Review Committee would like to hear your views on the development of a formal process and guidance on the handling of Westminster Statutory Instruments (deadline for responses is Tuesday 30 September 2025)
View the status of all our consultations by visiting our Citizen Space hub hompage.
You can also view previous calls for evidence on our Citizen Space 'Find activities' page.
Guidance for witnesses and submitting evidence
The guidance information below is useful for providing eveidence to an Assembly Committee.
This may be in the event of replying to a consultation on an inquiry or on legislation that a Committee is scrutinising. It may even be in the event that you have been called to provide evidence to a Committee.
The guidance lets you know what to expect, how best to make your contribution, and who to contact if you have any questions.
Northern Ireland Assembly Committees 2017-2022
Northern Ireland Assembly Committees 2016-2017
Information about the work of the Northern Ireland Assembly Committees during the 2016-2017 Mandate.
Northern Ireland Assembly Committees 2011-2016
Information about the work of the Northern Ireland Assembly Committees during the 2011-2016 Mandate.
Northern Ireland Assembly Committees - Earlier Mandates
- Committees during the 2007 - 2011 (this link redirects to the Assembly archive website)
- Committees during the first Mandate (this link redirects to the Assembly archive website)
Statutory Committees
Section 29(1)(a) of the Northern Ireland Act (1998) requires that Standing Orders 'make provision for establishing committees of Members of the Assembly (statutory committees) to advise and assist each Northern Ireland minister in the formulation of policy with respect to matters within his/her responsibilities as a minister'.
Standing Committees
The Northern Ireland Act 1998 and Assembly Standing Orders numbers 51, 52 and 54 to 59 provide for the establishment of standing committees.
Standing committees are permanent committees of the Assembly and have specific roles assigned to them within Standing Orders.
Follow the Assembly Committees on Twitter
Follow our Committees on Twitter for all the latest on the issues affecting Northern Ireland and the work the Committees are overseeing...
- Committee for Education (@NIACfEd)
- Committee for the Executive Office (@NIAEOCttee)
- Public Accounts Committee (@NIA_PAC)
- Committee for Justice (@NIAJusticeComm)
- Committee for Health (@niahealth)
- Committee for Communities (@NIA_Communities)
- Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (@NIAAgriEnvRA)
- Committee for Finance (@NIAFinance)
- Committee for Infrastructure (@NIAInfra)
- Committee for the Economy (@NIAEconomy)
- Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee (@NIA_DSC)
Privacy Notice for Assembly Committees
Assembly Committees may handle your personal information if you provide evidence to a Committee during a meeting, provide a written submission to an inquiry or call for evidence, or participate in a Committee event.
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and any personal information you provide is protected and used in line with data protection legislation.
For full details, please read the Privacy Notice for Assembly Committees.
