Minutes of Proceedings
Session: 2008/2009
Date: 05 May 2009
Venue: Room 106
The meeting began at 12.30 pm
1. Introduction
1.1 The Speaker noted apologies from the junior Minister, Rt Hon J Donaldson and from Mr P Maskey.
2. Minutes of the meeting held on 28 April 2009
2.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 28 April 2009 were agreed and were signed by the Speaker.
3. Matters Arising
3.1 The Speaker referred members to paragraph 5.6 of the minutes and advised members that legal advice had been taken on the issues raised by Mr P Weir and that the motion is admissible.
4. Finalisation of Order Papers for Plenary meetings in week commencing 11 May
Private Members’ Business
4.1 Lord Morrow referred members to paragraph 5.8 of the minutes and sought clarification on the availability of the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The Speaker then drew the attention of members to a letter from the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety advising that he would be unable to respond to the three health related motions on 11 and 12 May. The Minister’s letter also advised that he would be unable to give a commitment to attend plenary sessions for the foreseeable future. Junior Minister Kelly reported that the Minister would be available for Question Time on Monday 11 May, but not for any other business that week. However, Mr McGimpsey had also made it clear that he was not in favour of another Minister responding to the motions, in view of the sensitive nature of the issues. After further discussion, the Speaker advised members that he had arranged to meet the First Minister and deputy First Minister later in the day to discuss issues surrounding the letter from the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, and more general issues relating to Ministerial availability. The Speaker informed members that he would update Whips on the outcome of this meeting as soon as possible, with a view to reconvening the Committee to allow business for the following two weeks to be confirmed.
5. Provisional arrangements for Plenary meetings in week commencing 18 May
Executive Business
5.1 Aside from Question Time on Monday 18 May, there was no further Executive Business notified.
Committee Business
5.2 There was no Committee business.
Private Members’ business
5.3 Members agreed to schedule two private Members’ motions on Monday 18 May and three private Members’ motions on Tuesday 19 May. Members agreed to schedule one adjournment topic for Tuesday 19 May. Business was considered under the system of allocating private Members’ business, with the DUP and Sinn F éin having two slots each and the UUP one slot. The following motions were proposed to fill the five available slots:
- ‘Restructuring of the Executive and Assembly ’ (D McNarry)
- ‘RUC Museum’ (J Shannon, J Spratt, S Hamilton)
- ‘Juvenile Justice System’ (S Ramsey, M O’Neill, C McGill)
- Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’ (K McCarthy, D O’Loan, J O’Dowd, J McCallister, I Paisley Jnr and others)
- ‘Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority’ (D McKay, M O’Neill, J O’Dowd).
5.4 Members therefore agreed to schedule the motions on ‘Restructuring of the Executive and Assembly’ (D McNarry) and ‘RUC Museum’ (J Shannon, J Spratt, S Hamilton) for Monday 18 May; and the motions on ‘Juvenile Justice System’ (S Ramsey, M O’Neill, C McGill), ‘Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’ (K McCarthy, D O’Loan, J O’Dowd, J McCallister, I Paisley Jnr and others) and ‘Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority’ (D McKay, M O’Neill, J O’Dowd) for Tuesday 19 May. Members agreed that up to 1 hour 30 minutes should be allocated for each debate, with the usual speaking times.
5.5 Members agreed to schedule one adjournment topic for Tuesday 19 May. One adjournment topic was proposed by Mr P Ramsey entitled ‘Flooding in Andersontown and Falls’ (A Attwood). Members therefore agreed to schedule the adjournment topic ‘Flooding in Andersontown and Falls’ (A Attwood) for Tuesday 19 May.
6. Any Other Business
6.1 The Clerk/Director General, Mr T Reaney, advised members that an emergency planning group had been established within the Assembly Secretariat to put in place arrangements for dealing with any Swine Flu outbreak. He undertook to keep members updated on any further developments.
7. Date and Time of next meeting
7.1 Members agreed to meet at approximately 12.30 pm on Tuesday 12 May 2009 in Room 106.
The Speaker brought the meeting to a close at 12.55 pm.
