Minutes of Proceedings

The Assembly met at noon, the Acting Speaker, Mr Chambers, in the Chair.

1. Speaker's Business

Assembly proceedings

The Acting Speaker confirmed that the sitting had been convened following receipt of a valid notice (Appendix 1). The notice was signed by not less than 30 Members, in accordance with Standing Order 11.

2. Election of Speaker and Deputy Speakers

The Acting Speaker outlined the procedure for the election of a Speaker under Standing Order 4.

Mr Robbie Butler nominated Mr Mike Nesbitt as a candidate for the Office of Speaker and Mr John Stewart seconded the nomination.

Mr Mike Nesbitt indicated his agreement to accept the nomination.

Mr Matthew O'Toole nominated Mr Patsy McGlone as a candidate for the Office of Speaker and Ms Sinead McLaughlin seconded the nomination.

Mr Patsy McGlone indicated his agreement to accept the nomination.

Debate ensued.

The Question being put that Mr Mike Nesbitt be Speaker of the Assembly, the Motion was negatived by cross-community vot (Division 1).

The Question being put that Mr Patsy McGlone be Speaker of the Assembly, the Motion was negatived by cross-community vote (Division 2).

There being no successful election of a Speaker, the Acting Speaker informed the Assembly that the next item of business would be the adjournment.

3. Adjournment

Proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

The Speaker

The Assembly adjourned at 1.54pm.

Mr Alex Maskey
The Speaker
30 May 2022

Northern Ireland Assembly

30 May 2022 - Division 1

Question put, That Mr Mike Nesbitt be appointed as Speaker of this Assembly.

The Question was put and the Assembly divided.

Ayes: 27
Noes: 26

AYES

UNIONIST:

Dr Aiken, Mr Allen, Mr Beattie, Mr Butler, Mr Elliott, Mr Nesbitt, Mr Stewart, Ms Sugden, Mr Swann.

OTHER:

Ms Armstrong, Mr Blair, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Brown, Mr Carroll, Mr Dickson, Mr Donnelly, Ms Eastwood, Ms Egan, Mr Honeyford, Mrs Long, Miss McAllister, Mr McReynolds, Mr Mathison, Mr Muir, Ms Nicholl, Dr O'Lynn, Mr Tennyson.

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr Butler, Mr Stewart.

NOES

UNIONIST:

Mr Allister, Mr Bradley, Mr Brett, Mr Brooks, Mr K Buchanan, Mr T Buchanan, Mr Buckley, Ms Bunting, Mrs Cameron, Mr Clarke, Mrs Dodds, Mr Dunne, Mr Easton, Mrs Erskine, Ms Forsythe, Mr Frew, Mr Givan, Mr Harvey, Mr Irwin, Mr Kingston, Mrs Little-Pengelly, Mr Lyons, Miss McIlveen, Mr Middleton, Mr Poots, Mr Robinson.

Tellers for the Noes: Mr K Buchanan, Ms Forsythe.

The following Members voted in both Lobbies and are therefore not counted in the result:

Mr Durkan, Ms Hunter, Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McNulty, Mr O'Toole.

Total Votes              53        Total Ayes              27 [50.9%]

Nationalist Votes       0        Nationalist Ayes       0 [0.0%]

Unionist Votes         35        Unionist Ayes           9 [25.7%]

Other Votes              18        Other Ayes             18 [100.0%]

The motion was negatived by cross-community vote.

The following Members' votes were cast by their notified proxy in this division:

Mr Allen voted for Mr Beattie and Mr Elliott.

Ms Bunting voted for Mr Brett, Mr Buckley and Mr Easton.

Mr McGrath voted for Mr Durkan.

Mr Muir voted for Ms Armstrong, Mr Blair, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Brown, Mr Donnelly, Ms Eastwood, Ms Egan, Mr Honeyford, Mrs Long, Mr Mathison, Miss McAllister, Mr McReynolds, Ms Nicholl, Dr O'Lynn and Mr Tennyson.

Northern Ireland Assembly

30 May 2022 - Division 2

Question put, That Mr Patsy McGlone be appointed as Speaker of this Assembly.

The Question was put and the Assembly divided.

Ayes: 53
Noes: 26

AYES

NATIONALIST:

Dr Archibald, Mr Baker, Mr Boylan, Miss Brogan, Mr Delargy, Mrs Dillon, Miss Dolan, Mr Durkan, Mrs Ennis, Mrs Ferguson, Miss Flynn, Mr Gildernew, Miss Hargey, Ms Hunter, Mr Kearney, Mr Kelly, Ms Kimmins, Mr McAleer, Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Mr McGuigan, Mr McHugh, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McNulty, Mrs Mason, Miss Á Murphy, Mr C Murphy, Ms Ní Chuilín, Mr O'Dowd, Ms O'Neill, Mr O'Toole, Miss Reilly, Ms Sheerin.

UNIONIST:

Ms Sugden.

OTHER:

Ms Armstrong, Mr Blair, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Brown, Mr Carroll, Mr Dickson, Mr Donnelly, Ms Eastwood, Ms Egan, Mr Honeyford, Mrs Long, Miss McAllister, Mr McReynolds, Mr Mathison, Mr Muir, Ms Nicholl, Dr O'Lynn, Mr Tennyson.

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr McGrath, Ms McLaughlin.

NOES

UNIONIST:

Mr Allister, Mr Bradley, Mr Brett, Mr Brooks, Mr K Buchanan, Mr T Buchanan, Mr Buckley, Ms Bunting, Mrs Cameron, Mr Clarke, Mrs Dodds, Mr Dunne, Mr Easton, Mrs Erskine, Ms Forsythe, Mr Frew, Mr Givan, Mr Harvey, Mr Irwin, Mr Kingston, Mrs Little-Pengelly, Mr Lyons, Miss McIlveen, Mr Middleton, Mr Poots, Mr Robinson.

Tellers for the Noes: Mr K Buchanan, Ms Forsythe

Total Votes                  79        Total Ayes             53 [67.1%]

Nationalist Votes         34        Nationalist Ayes   34 [100.0%]

Unionist Votes             27        Unionist Ayes         1 [3.7%]

Other Votes                 18        Other Ayes            18 [100.0%]

The motion was negatived by cross-community vote.

The following Members' votes were cast by their notified proxy in this division:

Mr Allen voted for Mr Beattie and Mr Elliott.

Ms Bunting voted for Mr Brett, Mr Buckley and Mr Easton.

Mr McGrath voted for Mr Durkan.

Mr Muir voted for Ms Armstrong, Mr Blair, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Brown, Mr Donnelly, Ms Eastwood, Ms Egan, Mr Honeyford, Mrs Long, Mr Mathison, Miss McAllister, Mr McReynolds, Ms Nicholl, Dr O'Lynn and Mr Tennyson.

Appendix 1

Northern Ireland Assembly

Notice of an Earlier Meeting Under Standing Order 11

The undersigned Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly give notice to the Speaker, under Standing Order 11, that the Assembly should meet on Monday 30 May 2022 for the purpose of electing a Speaker and Deputy Speakers, appointment of a First Minister and deputy First Minister and to debate the following Motion:

Appointment of Executive Ministers and the Formation of an Executive

That this Assembly supports the urgent appointment of Executive Ministers; calls for the formation of an Executive without further delay to ensure the democratic outcome of the election is respected; and further calls for immediate action to be taken by an incoming Executive to address the issues pressing down on the public, including the cost of living crisis, the challenges in our health system and other fundamental issues which demand immediate government attention.

Dr Caoimhe Archibald           Mrs Naomi Long

Ms Kellie Armstrong             Mrs Cathy Mason

Mr Danny Baker                    Mr Nick Mathison

Mr John Blair                         Mr Declan McAleer

Mr Cathal Boylan                   Miss Nuala McAllister

Ms Paula Bradshaw               Mr Patsy McGlone

Ms Nicola Brogan                 Mr Colin McGrath

Mr Patrick Brown                  Mr Philip McGuigan

Mr Pádraig Delargy               Mr Maolíosa McHugh

Mr Stewart Dickson              Ms Sinead McLaughlin

Mrs Linda Dillon                   Mr Justin McNulty

Miss Jemma Dolan                Mr Peter McReynolds

Mr Danny Donnelly              Mr Andrew Muir

Mr Mark Durkan                   Miss Áine Murphy

Ms Sorcha Eastwood             Mr Conor Murphy

Ms Connie Egan                    Ms Carál Ní Chuilín

Mrs Sinéad Ennis                  Ms Kate Nicholl

Mrs Ciara Ferguson              Mr John O'Dowd

Miss Órlaithí Flynn              Dr Patricia O'Lynn

Mr Colm Gildernew             Ms Michelle O'Neill

Miss Deirdre Hargey           Miss Aisling Reilly

Mr David Honeyford           Mr Pat Sheehan

Ms Cara Hunter                   Ms Emma Sheerin

Mr Declan Kearney             Mr Eoin Tennyson

Ms Liz Kimmins

Northern Ireland Assembly

Papers Presented to the Assembly on 14 May 2022 – 30 May 2022

1. Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly

2. Bills of the Northern Ireland Assembly

3. Orders in Council

4. Statutory Rules

SR 2022/172 The Income-Related Benefits (Local Welfare Provision Disregard) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Department for Communities)

SR 2022/176 The Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) (Revocation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Department of Health)

SR 2022/177 The Child Support (Amendments Relating to Information) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Department for Communities)

SR 2022/178 The Child Support (Amendments Relating to Electronic Communications) Order (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Department for Communities)

For Information Only

SR 2022/173 The Pension Schemes Act 2021 (Commencement No. 4) Order (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Department for Communities)

SR 2022/175 The Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 (Commencement No. 2) Order (Northern Ireland) 2022 (Department for Communities) 2021

5. Legislative Consent Memorandums

6. Assembly Reports

7. Written Ministerial Statements

Implementation of the Elective Care Framework (Minister of Health)

Update from Ministerial Summit held on 16 March 2022 (Minister of Health)

8. Publications Laid in the Northern Ireland Assembly

The Sports Council for Northern Ireland Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 (Department for Communities)

Census 2021 - Population and Household Estimates for Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)

9. Publications Presented in the Northern Ireland Assembly

Business Plan and Inspection Programme 2022-23 (Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland)

PROXY VOTING NOTICES – MONDAY 30 MAY 2022

The following Members notified the Speaker, under Standing Order 112, that they wished to avail of proxy voting arrangements for the sitting on Monday 30 May 2022: