Marshalled List of Amendments
Tuesday 5 May 2026
Item 8 – Order Paper 168/22-27 – Tuesday 5 May 2026
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
Amendment 1
Leave out all after ‘Local Growth Fund by the’ and insert:
‘ UK Government; notes that the Northern Ireland Executive has realised savings from European Structural and Investment Fund succession without reinvestment in community and voluntary services; notes the financial challenges facing all Executive Departments and therefore does not believe it would be prudent to add to these challenges by devolving the administration for these schemes to local Ministers; laments the failure of the UK Government to put in place timely and adequate replacement funding arrangements; and calls on the Minister of Finance to press the UK Government to align the aims and funding objectives of the Local Growth Fund with the Executive’s Programme for Government to provide clarity for the voluntary and community sector.’
[Ms Diane Forsythe]
[Mr Harry Harvey]
[Mr Brian Kingston]
Amendment 2 (mutually exclusive to amendment 1)
Leave out all after ‘Local Growth Fund by the British Government;’ and insert:
‘notes the failure of the British Government to adequately replace lost European Structural and Investment Funds; and calls on the British Government to properly resource the Executive to allow 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 Colm Gildernew]
[Mr Declan Kearney]
[Mrs Sinéad Ennis]
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
Amendment
Leave out all after ‘evidential requirements;’ and insert:
‘further recognises that the failures exposed by the Máiría Cahill case demonstrate the consequences of systems that do not adequately protect victims of abuse and coercion; calls on the Minister of Justice to ensure that the lessons learned from that case are fully reflected across all relevant proceedings, including family courts, so that victims are not re-traumatised or placed at a disadvantage; and further calls on the Minister 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.’
[Mr Timothy Gaston]
