Order Paper
Date: 05 May 2026
The Assembly to sit at 10.30am
Indicative timings for order of business
1. Prayers
2. Members’ Statements
3. Public Petition
Install Street Lighting at Drumaness Bus Stop
Mr Nick Mathison
4. Assembly Business
Motion: Committee Membership
Proposed:
That Mrs Julie Middleton replace Mr Peter Martin as a member of the Committee for Education.
Mr Trevor Clarke
Mr Harry Harvey
Mr David Brooks
5. Executive Committee Business
Consideration Stage: Northern Ireland Fiscal Council Bill (NIA Bill 18/22-27)
Minister of Finance
Motion: The Coronavirus Act 2020 (Extension of Provisions Relating to Live Links for Courts and Tribunals) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026
Proposed:
That the Coronavirus Act 2020 (Extension of Provisions Relating to Live Links for Courts and Tribunals) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026 be approved.
Minister of Justice
6. Question Time
7. Committee Business
Motion: Extension of Committee Stage – Areas with Natural Constraints (Payments) Bill (NIA Bill 24/22-27)
Proposed:
That, in accordance with Standing Order 33(4), the period referred to in Standing Order 33(2) be extended to 22 January 2027, in relation to the Committee Stage of the Areas with Natural Constraints (Payments) Bill.
Chairperson, Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
8. Private Members’ Business
Motion: Voluntary and Community Sector Funding
Proposed:
That this Assembly recognises the social and economic value of the voluntary and community sector and the vital role it plays across Northern Ireland in supporting vulnerable people, strengthening communities and delivering essential public services; regrets that many organisations have been forced to scale back or withdraw services and lay off valued staff due to the mishandling of the Local Growth Fund by the British Government; notes that the Northern Ireland Executive has realised savings from European Structural and Investment Fund succession without reinvestment in community and voluntary services; laments the failure to put in place timely and adequate replacement funding arrangements when it became clear that the British Government would not change the funding profile on the Local Growth Fund; and calls on the Minister of Finance to ring-fence sufficient funding in the multi-year budget to fully address the shortfall and provide long-term stability for the voluntary and community sector.
Mr Mark Durkan
Mr Matthew O’Toole
Motion: Protecting Victims of Coercive Control
Proposed:
That this Assembly recognises the deep and lasting trauma that coercive control has on its victims; notes that perpetrators can exploit court proceedings through coercive behaviours, particularly within family courts, in an effort to re-traumatise their victims; acknowledges that coercive control falls within the definition of abusive behaviour, as defined by the Domestic Abuse and Civil Proceedings Act (Northern Ireland) 2021; further acknowledges the legal safeguards within the Act, including protecting victims from direct cross-examination, access to civil legal aid, and special measures in court; expresses concern that many of these provisions remain only partially implemented and that victims continue to face barriers to justice due to restrictive eligibility criteria and complex evidential requirements; and calls on the Minister of Justice to urgently commence all outstanding protections under the 2021 Act, to simplify and extend access to legal aid for victims, and to ensure that family court proceedings cannot be exploited by perpetrators to exert coercive control.
Ms Aoife Finnegan
Mrs Ciara Ferguson
Ms Emma Sheerin
9. Adjournment
- Access to Early Intervention and Family Support Services in North Antrim
Ms Sian Mulholland
