Marshalled list of amendments
8 May 2025
Item 4: Order Paper 100/22-27 - Monday 12 May 2025
Motion: Tackling Unacceptable Cancer Waiting Times
Proposed:
That this Assembly expresses grave concern at Northern Ireland's cancer waiting time statistics; believes it is deplorable that between October and December 2024, less than a third of patients were seen within 14-days following an urgent referral for breast cancer; stresses that lengthy waits for a diagnosis can negatively impact on a patient's prognosis, available treatment options, and their mental health; notes the £215 million allocation in the Executive's budget for 2025/2026 for addressing waiting lists; further believes this funding must be ring-fenced for initiatives which increase short-term capacity, whilst driving forward lasting improvements to efficiency within our health service; highlights, in particular, the value of elective care centres, rapid diagnosis centres, and mega clinics in addition to service reviews; welcomes the commitment in the Programme for Government to establish a Delivery Unit within the Executive Office to drive reform and transformation across the public sector; believes that the Delivery Unit can and should play a key role in supporting the Department of Health to reduce hospital waiting times; and calls on the Minister of Health, in this context, to engage proactively with his Executive colleagues on how best to apply ring-fenced funding for tackling waiting lists going forward.
Mrs Diane Dodds
Mr Alan Robinson
Amendment
Leave out all after 'hospital waiting times;' and insert:
'and calls on the Minister of Finance to commit to introducing ring-fenced, multi-year funding to reduce waiting times over the remainder of this Assembly mandate.'
[Mr Colin McGrath]
[Mr Daniel McCrossan]
[Mr Patsy McGlone]
Motion: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia
Proposed:
That this Assembly recognises International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia; affirms its commitment to equality, diversity and human rights; believes that every citizen should be free to live free from discrimination, violence or harm; agrees that it is unacceptable that the Sexual Orientation Strategy has not been published more than ten years after the Executive committed to it; notes the recommendation of the LGBTQI+ Strategy Expert Panel; and calls on the Minister for Communities to publish an LGBTQI+ Strategy without further delay.
Ms Kellie Armstrong
Ms Sian Mulholland
Mr Eóin Tennyson
Mrs Michelle Guy
Amendment 1
Leave out all after 'harm;' and insert:
'notes the recommendation of the LGBTQI+ Strategy Expert Panel; further notes the recent Supreme Court ruling that a woman is defined by biological sex; further believes that future policy development in Northern Ireland should respect this ruling; and calls on the Minister for Communities to continue the development of the Gender Equality and Sexual Orientation strategies as part of his Department's phased approach to the Executive's Social Inclusion strategies.'
[Mr Brian Kingston]
[Mr Maurice Bradley]
Amendment 2 (mutually exclusive to amendment 1)
Leave out all after 'Expert Panel;' and insert:
'calls on the Executive to reverse its decision to ban the sale or supply of puberty blockers to those under 18 years of age; and further calls on the Minister for Communities to publish an LGBTQI+ Strategy without further delay.'
[Mr Gerry Carroll]
