Order Paper
Date: 18 November 2025
The Assembly to sit at 10.30am.
Indicative Timings for Order of Business.
1. Prayers
2. Members' Statements
3. Executive Committee Business
Further Consideration Stage: Deaths, Still-Births and Baby Loss Bill (NIA Bill 13/22-27)
Minister of Finance
Motion: The draft Farm Sustainability Payment Scheme (Eligibility etc) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025
Proposed:
That the draft Farm Sustainability Payment Scheme (Eligibility etc) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025 be approved.
Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Legislative Consent Motion: Pension Schemes Bill
Proposed:
That this Assembly agrees, in line with section 87 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, to the principle of the extension to Northern Ireland of the provisions of the Pension Schemes Bill, relating to terminal illness, alienation or forfeiture of occupational pension, validity of certain alterations to salary-related contracted-out pension schemes, pensions dashboard and contractual override, which was introduced in the House of Commons on 5 June 2025.
Minister for Communities
4. Question Time
5. Private Members' Business
Motion: Review of Northern Ireland's Fireworks Legislation
Proposed:
That this Assembly recognises the widespread distress and disruption caused by the misuse of fireworks across Northern Ireland; acknowledges the serious impact on animals, wildlife, and people, including those living with trauma or heightened sensitivity to noise; notes that the Explosives (Fireworks) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 have not kept pace with modern availability and usage; and calls on the Minister of Justice to commission an urgent and comprehensive review of fireworks legislation to ensure that it provides appropriate safeguards, promotes responsible celebration, and better protects the welfare of people, animals, and communities.
Mr Doug Beattie
Mr Robbie Butler
Mr Jon Burrows
Ms Diana Armstrong
Motion: Delivering Better Cancer Services and Outcomes
Proposed:
That this Assembly deplores current waiting times for patients accessing cancer services in Northern Ireland; notes with concern recent analysis by Cancer Research UK which indicates that the percentage of local patients with urgent suspected cancer who start treatment within sixty-two days is much lower than England and Scotland; further notes with concern that Northern Ireland has the lowest one-year survival rate in the United Kingdom for both pancreatic and ovarian cancer, and that the proportion of cancer patients diagnosed at an early stage has not improved in the last ten years; expresses alarm that studies have shown that a four-week delay in cancer treatment increases the risk of death by between six and eight per cent; calls on the Minister of Health to make a concerted effort to drive down wait times, including through the delivery of additional capacity in Health and Social Care Trusts and the ambitious implementation of the Elective Care Framework; and further calls on the Minister to expedite the delivery of a Cancer Research Strategy for Northern Ireland.
Mrs Diane Dodds
Mr Alan Robinson
6. Adjournment
- The Urgency of Delivering the Birch Hill Centre for Mental Health
Mr Declan Kearney
