Minutes of Proceedings - 07 October 2008
Present:
Mr Peter Weir, Chairperson
Dr Stephen Farry
Mr Alban Maginness
Mr Alex Maskey
Mr Allan Bresland
Mr Danny Kennedy
Mr David McNarry
Mr Declan O’Loan
Mr Jimmy Spratt
Attendees:
Mr Kevin Shiels, Committee Clerk
Ms Aoibhinn Treanor, Clerk
Mr Oliver Bellew, Assistant Clerk
Mr Lindsay Dundas, Clerical Officer
3.04pm the meeting opened in public session.
-
Apologies
Apologies were received from Mr R McCartney, Mr J O’Dowd and Mr D Simpson. Mr A Bresland deputised for Mr I Paisley Jnr.
-
Draft minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2008
Agreed – The draft minutes were agreed.
-
Matters Arising
3.1 The Chairperson advised Members that the Committee deadline for written submissions had passed and that no responses had been received.
3.2 The Chairperson advised Members that the NIO had received one further response to its consultation. The additional response was received from Lisburn City Council and supported the draft Order.
3.3 A response from the Grand Orange Lodge was tabled for Members’ information. The response contained anonymised examples of increased insurance premiums being paid by Orange halls and also information on halls with no insurance.
3.4 The Clerk briefed the Committee on various other organisations in relation to giving evidence before the Committee. Members noted that a response had been received from the Ancient Order of Hibernians, advising the Committee that it was generally content with the proposals and would not be giving evidence. Members noted written evidence from the Law Society which confirmed they would not be giving oral evidence. The Clerk advised Members that the Ulster Council of the GAA had not submitted any correspondence nor made contact, therefore oral evidence from representatives of the Insurance Industry would be the final evidence to the Committee.
Agreed: Members agreed to discuss the Law Society submission in closed session later in the meeting.
-
Evidence Session
Members noted a written submission from Stephen James of Oval James Insurers entitled The Story So Far. In advance of oral evidence from representatives of the Insurance Industry, the Chairperson invited Members to declare relevant interests.
The Chairperson welcomed the following representatives of the Insurance Industry and invited them to brief the Committee:
Stephen James – Oval James Insurance Brokers and Board Member, Faculty of Insurance Brokers
Stephen Boyles – Business Manager, Zurich Commercial and NI Chairman of the Association of British Insurers
The representatives gave an oral submission to the Committee. This was followed by a question and answer session.
Mr Kennedy joined the meeting at 3.21pm.
The Chairperson thanked the representatives of the Insurance Industry for the briefing. The Representatives left the meeting at 4.02pm.
The meeting was adjourned due to a division in the Assembly Chamber at 4.08pm.
Mr McNarry and Dr Farry joined the meeting at 4.21pm.
The meeting was reconvened in closed session at 4.22pm.
A memo from the Assembly’s Assistant Legal Adviser was tabled for Members’ attention. The memo addressed comments contained within the submission from the Law Society regarding Equality Impact screening undertaken by the NIO. It was agreed that the legal opinion should be referred to the NIO for comment.
The Chairperson advised Members that, due to the tight timescale to complete its remit, the Committee needed to give the Clerk a steer in relation to:
- the generality of the Draft Order;
- the proposed ‘sunset’ clause; and
- any other issues.
Members gave some initial thoughts on these issues and it was agreed that a more detailed discussion on the Committee’s draft report would be held on 14 th October 2008.
-
Any other business
None.
-
Date and time of next meeting
The Committee agreed that it would meet on Tuesday 14 October 2008 at 3pm in Room 135.
5.01pm the Chairperson adjourned the meeting.
