Marshalled List of Amendments

11 April 2024

Item 7: Order Paper 23/22-27 – Monday 15 April 2024

Motion: Reducing Child Poverty

Proposed:

That this Assembly expresses profound regret at the findings of the recent NI Audit Office report on Child Poverty, including the shocking finding that one in five children in Northern Ireland are living in relative poverty and nearly 10 per cent of households are unable to afford basic goods; calls on the Minister for Communities to lay before the Assembly, no later than September 2024, a comprehensive child poverty strategy which includes specific and measurable targets to reduce child poverty by the end of this mandate; and further calls on the Minister to work with the Minister of Finance to agree an ambitious ring-fenced budget to deliver on the aforementioned child poverty reduction targets by the end of this mandate.

                          [Mr Matthew O’Toole]

[Ms Cara Hunter]

Amendment 1

Leave out all after ‘before the Assembly,’ and insert:

‘an integrated and comprehensive anti-poverty strategy underpinning a future Programme for Government, as agreed in previous mandates, to include specific and measurable targets to reduce child poverty with targeted prevention strategies, as well as robust monitoring mechanisms to measure outcomes and to enable data to be collated and analysed; and further calls on the Minister for Communities to work with the Minister of Finance to agree the necessary funding package to deliver on child poverty reduction targets by the end of this mandate.’

[Ms Sian Mulholland]

[Ms Kellie Armstrong]

[Mr Nick Mathison]

Motion: Baby Loss Certificate Scheme and Pathology Service

Proposed:

That this Assembly acknowledges the grief, pain and trauma caused by the loss of a baby during pregnancy; recognises that the trauma felt is exacerbated by bereaved parents having to travel to England for a post-mortem due to the absence of a local perinatal and paediatric pathologist; further recognises the potential of an all-island paediatric pathology service so bereaved parents can access post-mortems on the island of Ireland; believes parents should have the option to have their child's memory recorded with an official certificate free of charge; and calls on the Minister of Finance to develop a Baby Loss Certificate Scheme for those parents that have lost a baby during pregnancy before 24 weeks.

                              [Ms Liz Kimmins]

[Miss Órlaithí Flynn]

[Mrs Linda Dillon] 

Amendment 1

Leave out from ‘further recognises’ to ‘Ireland’ and insert:

‘seeks the reinstatement of a regional paediatric pathology service in Northern Ireland, whilst recognising the potential for mutually beneficial cross-border cooperation; further recognises the need to urgently and sustainably address shortages in the perinatal and paediatric pathology workforce;’

                                                                                                            [Mrs Diane Dodds]

[Mr Alan Robinson]