Minutes of Proceedings

The Assembly met at 10.30am, the Speaker in the Chair.

1. Prayers

Members observed two minutes’ silence.

2. Members’ Statements

Under Standing Order 24A, the following Members made a statement to the Assembly:

Mr Pádraig Delargy
Mr Phillip Brett
Miss Nuala McAllister
Mr Matthew O’Toole
Miss Jemma Dolan
Mr Keith Buchanan
Ms Kate Nicholl
Mr Philip McGuigan
Mr Tom Buchanan
Ms Sinéad McLaughlin
Mr Timothy Gaston
Mr Gerry Carroll
Mr Daniel McCrossan

The Principal Deputy Speaker took the Chair.

3. Opposition Business

3.1 Motion: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Proposed:

That this Assembly expresses horror at the epidemic of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland; expresses regret that several recommendations made in the Gillen Review, Report into the Law and Procedures in Serious Sexual Offences in Northern Ireland, particularly those relating to reforming laws around the defence of reasonable belief and to introducing pre-trial jury education, have not been implemented; and calls on the Minister of Justice to introduce pre-trial jury education and to bring forward legislation to reform the legal definition of reasonable belief, in line with the Gillen Review, by the end of the 2022-2027 mandate.

Leader of the Opposition

Amendment:

Proposed:

Leave out all after ‘implemented;’ and insert:

‘and calls on the Minister of Justice to consult on, and introduce, pre-trial jury education and to consult on proposals to clarify the legal definition of what constitutes reasonable belief in consent, by the end of the 2022-2027 mandate.’

Ms Joanne Bunting
Mr Maurice Bradley
Mr Stephen Dunne

Debate ensued.

The Question being put, the amendment fell (Division 1).

The Question being put, the motion was carried.

3.2 Motion: Tackling Online Violence Against Women and Girls

Proposed:

That this Assembly expresses alarm at the growing issue of online violence against women and girls, particularly the increasing use of deepfake imagery; notes that deepfake abuse disproportionately targets women, with studies indicating that over 90 per cent of non-consensual deepfake imagery involves female victims; acknowledges that current legislative frameworks are unfit in addressing emerging forms of online abuse, such as deepfake technology; calls on the Minister of Justice to commission a comprehensive review of existing criminal law on online violence against women and girls to ensure all forms of abuse are adequately captured and dealt with; and further calls on the Minister to write to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, requesting a clear timeline for the introduction of legislation to adequately criminalise deepfake abuse.

Leader of the Opposition

Amendment:

Proposed:

Leave out all after ‘deepfake technology;’ and insert:

‘recognises that online communication is a reserved matter; welcomes the UK Government’s recent announcement that they intend to make a new criminal offence for creating or sharing sexually explicit deepfake imagery; and calls on the First Minister and deputy First Minister to work with the UK Government, on behalf of the Executive, to ensure these changes are implemented quickly and in a way that adequately protects women and girls in Northern Ireland from this type of online violence.’

Ms Connie Egan
Ms Sian Mulholland
Ms Paula Bradshaw
Mr Stewart Dickson

Debate ensued.

The sitting was suspended at 12.58pm.

The sitting resumed at 2.00pm, the Speaker in the Chair.

4. Question Time

4.1 Communities

Questions were put to, and answered by, the Minister for Communities, Mr Gordon Lyons.

The Principal Deputy Speaker took the Chair.

5. Opposition Business (cont’d)

5.1 Motion: Tackling Online Violence Against Women and Girls (cont’d)

Debate resumed.

The Question being put, the amendment fell.

The Question being put, the motion was carried.

The Deputy Speaker, Mr Blair, took the Chair.

5.2 Motion: Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships

Proposed:

That this Assembly affirms the importance of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in fostering healthy young adult relationships and mitigating against violence against women and girls; acknowledges the findings of Ulster University’s Healthy Young Adult Relationships Project report, which highlights that RSE is not currently fit for purpose, particularly in addressing coercive control; and calls on the Minister of Education to work with the Minister of Justice to establish a task force with the purpose of enhancing RSE to include healthy relationships and ways to prevent violence against women and girls, and to review and implement the recommendations of the Healthy Young Adult Relationships Project report no later than December 2025.

Leader of the Opposition

Amendment 1:

Proposed:

Leave out all after the first ‘report’ and insert:

‘particularly concerns around RSE and understanding of coercive control; calls on the Minister of Education, in keeping with commitments flowing from the Executive’s Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Framework, to work with the Minister of Justice to develop an action plan with the purpose of coordinating interventions targeted at children and young people to promote healthy relationships and prevent violence against women and girls; and further calls on the Minister, having considered a wide range of views about enhancing healthy relationships, and respecting the right of parents to withdraw their child from elements of RSE, to review the recommendations of the Healthy Young Adult Relationships Project report.’

Mr David Brooks
Mrs Diane Dodds

Amendment 2:

Proposed:

Leave out all after the first ‘coercive control;’ and insert:

‘agrees that recommendations on the future policy direction for RSE will be best addressed following the completion of the inquiry by the Committee for Education into RSE curriculum and provision, which is due to conclude in January 2025; calls on the Minister of Education to, in the interim, outline the completed and planned actions from his Department to implement relevant recommendations from the Gillen Review; and further calls on the Minister to confirm when he will produce an action plan to deliver on his Department's responsibilities under the Strategic Framework to End Violence Against Women and Girls.’

Mr Nick Mathison
Mrs Michelle Guy
Ms Connie Egan
Ms Sian Mulholland

Debate ensued.

The Question being put, amendment 1 fell (Division 2).

The Question being put, amendment 2 was made (Division 3).

The Question being put, the motion, as amended, was carried.

The Deputy Speaker, Dr Aiken, took the Chair.

5.3 Motion: Gender-Responsive Budgeting

Proposed:

That this Assembly recognises the role of gender-responsive budgeting in addressing systemic gender inequalities, enhancing the effectiveness of public expenditure, and improving public scrutiny; notes with concern that previous budgets and programmes for government have not adequately supported the advancement of gender equality, resulting in missed opportunities to address and reduce gender disparities; and calls on the Minister of Finance to work with Executive colleagues to introduce comprehensive gender-responsive budgeting measures for the 2025-2026 Budget, including the introduction of thorough gender impact assessments, the allocation of resources to proactively address and reduce gender inequalities, and the use of transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess measures aimed at improving gender equality.

Leader of the Opposition

Amendment:

Proposed:

Leave out all after ‘recognises’ and insert:

‘the importance of addressing systemic inequalities in our society by enhancing the effectiveness and scrutiny of public expenditure; notes with concern that previous budgets and programmes for government have not adequately supported the advancement of gender equality, resulting in missed opportunities to address and reduce gender disparities; welcomes, however, the ongoing development of a Gender Equality Strategy by the Department for Communities in conjunction with affected stakeholders; further welcomes progress introducing gender pay reporting by employers in Northern Ireland by the end of this Assembly mandate; and calls on the Minister of Finance, having first consulted with Executive colleagues, to consider the merits of introducing gender-responsive budgeting measures, including gender impact assessments, the allocation of resources to proactively address and reduce gender inequalities, and the use of transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess gender equality.’

Ms Diane Forsythe
Mr Paul Frew
Mr Phillip Brett

Debate ensued.

The Question being put, the amendment fell (Division 4).

The Question being put, the motion was carried.

6. Adjournment

Proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

The Speaker

Ms Paula Bradshaw spoke to her topic regarding Integrated Education Provision in South Belfast.

The Assembly adjourned at 6.03pm.

Mr Edwin Poots
The Speaker
14 January 2025
 

Northern Ireland Assembly

14 January 2025 – Division 1

Amendment: Ending Violence Against Women and Girls

Proposed:

Leave out all after ‘implemented;’ and insert:

‘and calls on the Minister of Justice to consult on, and introduce, pre-trial jury education and to consult on proposals to clarify the legal definition of what constitutes reasonable belief in consent, by the end of the 2022-2027 mandate.’

Ms Joanne Bunting
Mr Maurice Bradley
Mr Stephen Dunne

The Question was put and the Assembly divided.

Ayes: 31

Noes: 47

AYES

Dr Aiken, Mr Allen, Ms D Armstrong, Mr Beattie, Mr Bradley, Mr Brett, Mr Brooks, Ms Brownlee, Mr K Buchanan, Mr T Buchanan, Mr Buckley, Ms Bunting, Mr Butler, Mrs Cameron, Mr Chambers, Mr Clarke, Mr Crawford, Mrs Dodds, Mr Dunne, Mrs Erskine, Ms Forsythe, Mr Frew, Mr Givan, Mr Harvey, Mr Irwin, Mr Kingston, Mrs Little-Pengelly, Mr Lyons, Miss McIlveen, Mr Robinson, Mr Stewart.

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr Bradley, Ms Bunting.

NOES

Dr Archibald, Ms K Armstrong, Mr Baker, Mr Blair, Mr Boylan, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Carroll, Mr Delargy, Mr Dickson, Miss Dolan, Mr Donnelly, Mr Durkan, Ms Egan, Mrs Ennis, Mrs Ferguson, Miss Flynn, Mr Gaston, Mr Gildernew, Miss Hargey, Mr Honeyford, Ms Hunter, Mr Kelly, Ms Kimmins, Mr McAleer, Miss McAllister, Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Mr McGuigan, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McMurray, Mr McNulty, Mr McReynolds, Mrs Mason, Mr Mathison, Mr Muir, Ms Mulholland, Miss Á Murphy, Mr C Murphy, Ms Nicholl, Mr O'Dowd, Mr O'Toole, Ms Reilly, Mr Sheehan, Ms Sheerin, Ms Sugden, Mr Tennyson.

Tellers for the Noes: Mr McGrath, Ms McLaughlin.

The Amendment fell.

Northern Ireland Assembly

14 January 2025 – Division 2

Amendment 1: Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships

Proposed:

Leave out all after the first ‘report’ and insert:

‘particularly concerns around RSE and understanding of coercive control; calls on the Minister of Education, in keeping with commitments flowing from the Executive’s Ending Violence Against Women and Girls Strategic Framework, to work with the Minister of Justice to develop an action plan with the purpose of coordinating interventions targeted at children and young people to promote healthy relationships and prevent violence against women and girls; and further calls on the Minister, having considered a wide range of views about enhancing healthy relationships, and respecting the right of parents to withdraw their child from elements of RSE, to review the recommendations of the Healthy Young Adult Relationships Project report.’

Mr David Brooks
Mrs Diane Dodds

The Question was put and the Assembly divided.

Ayes: 32

Noes: 45

AYES

Dr Aiken, Mr Allen, Ms D Armstrong, Mr Beattie, Mr Bradley, Mr Brett, Mr Brooks, Ms Brownlee, Mr K Buchanan, Mr T Buchanan, Mr Buckley, Ms Bunting, Mr Butler, Mrs Cameron, Mr Chambers, Mr Clarke, Mr Crawford, Mrs Dodds, Mr Dunne, Mrs Erskine, Ms Forsythe, Mr Frew, Mr Gaston, Mr Givan, Mr Harvey, Mr Irwin, Mr Kingston, Mrs Little-Pengelly, Mr Lyons, Miss McIlveen, Mr Robinson, Mr Stewart.

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr Brooks, Ms Brownlee.

NOES

Dr Archibald, Ms K Armstrong, Mr Baker, Mr Boylan, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Carroll, Mr Delargy, Mr Dickson, Miss Dolan, Mr Donnelly, Mr Durkan, Ms Egan, Mrs Ennis, Mrs Ferguson, Miss Flynn, Mr Gildernew, Miss Hargey, Mr Honeyford, Ms Hunter, Mr Kelly, Ms Kimmins, Mr McAleer, Miss McAllister, Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Mr McGuigan, Mr McHugh, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McMurray, Mr McReynolds, Mrs Mason, Mr Mathison, Ms Mulholland, Miss Á Murphy, Ms Ni Chuilin, Ms Nicholl, Mr O'Dowd, Ms O’Neill, Mr O'Toole, Ms Reilly, Mr Sheehan, Ms Sheerin, Ms Sugden, Mr Tennyson.

Tellers for the Noes: Ms Hunter, Mr O’Toole.

The Amendment fell.

Northern Ireland Assembly

14 January 2025 – Division 3

Amendment 2: Relationships and Sexuality Education and Healthy Young Adult Relationships

Proposed:

Leave out all after the first ‘coercive control;’ and insert:

‘agrees that recommendations on the future policy direction for RSE will be best addressed following the completion of the inquiry by the Committee for Education into RSE curriculum and provision, which is due to conclude in January 2025; calls on the Minister of Education to, in the interim, outline the completed and planned actions from his Department to implement relevant recommendations from the Gillen Review; and further calls on the Minister to confirm when he will produce an action plan to deliver on his Department's responsibilities under the Strategic Framework to End Violence Against Women and Girls.’

Mr Nick Mathison
Mrs Michelle Guy
Ms Connie Egan
Ms Sian Mulholland

The Question was put and the Assembly divided.

Ayes: 52

Noes: 24

AYES

Dr Aiken, Mr Allen, Dr Archibald, Ms D Armstrong, Ms K Armstrong, Mr Baker, Mr Beattie, Mr Boylan, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Butler, Mr Carroll, Mr Chambers, Mr Crawford, Mr Delargy, Mr Dickson, Miss Dolan, Mr Donnelly, Mr Durkan, Ms Egan, Mrs Ennis, Mrs Ferguson, Miss Flynn, Mr Gildernew, Miss Hargey, Mr Honeyford, Ms Hunter, Mr Kelly, Ms Kimmins, Mr McAleer, Miss McAllister, Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Mr McGuigan, Mr McHugh, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McMurray, Mr McReynolds, Mrs Mason, Mr Mathison, Ms Mulholland, Ms Ní Chuilín, Ms Nicholl, Mr O'Dowd, Ms O'Neill, Mr O'Toole, Ms Reilly, Mr Sheehan, Ms Sheerin, Mr Stewart, Ms Sugden, Mr Tennyson.

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr Mathison, Mr McMurray.

NOES

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

Tellers for the Noes: Mr Brooks, Ms Brownlee.

The Amendment was made.

Northern Ireland Assembly

14 January 2025 – Division 4

Amendment: Gender-Responsive Budgeting

Proposed:

Leave out all after ‘recognises’ and insert:

‘the importance of addressing systemic inequalities in our society by enhancing the effectiveness and scrutiny of public expenditure; notes with concern that previous budgets and programmes for government have not adequately supported the advancement of gender equality, resulting in missed opportunities to address and reduce gender disparities; welcomes, however, the ongoing development of a Gender Equality Strategy by the Department for Communities in conjunction with affected stakeholders; further welcomes progress introducing gender pay reporting by employers in Northern Ireland by the end of this Assembly mandate; and calls on the Minister of Finance, having first consulted with Executive colleagues, to consider the merits of introducing gender-responsive budgeting measures, including gender impact assessments, the allocation of resources to proactively address and reduce gender inequalities, and the use of transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to assess gender equality.’

Ms Diane Forsythe
Mr Paul Frew
Mr Phillip Brett

The Question was put and the Assembly divided.

Ayes: 28

Noes: 43

AYES

Ms D Armstrong, Mr Bradley, Mr Brett, Mr Brooks, Ms Brownlee, Mr K Buchanan, Mr T Buchanan, Mr Buckley, Ms Bunting, Mr Butler, Mrs Cameron, Mr Chambers, Mr Clarke, Mr Crawford, Mrs Dodds, Mr Dunne, Mrs Erskine, Ms Forsythe, Mr Frew, Mr Gaston, Mr Givan, Mr Harvey, Mr Irwin, Mr Kingston, Mrs Little-Pengelly, Mr Lyons, Miss McIlveen, Mr Robinson.

Tellers for the Ayes: Mr Bradley, Ms Forsythe.

NOES

Dr Archibald, Ms K Armstrong, Mr Baker, Mr Blair, Mr Boylan, Ms Bradshaw, Mr Delargy, Mr Dickson, Miss Dolan, Mr Donnelly, Mr Durkan, Ms Egan, Mrs Ennis, Mrs Ferguson, Miss Flynn, Mr Gildernew, Miss Hargey, Mr Honeyford, Ms Hunter, Mr Kelly, Ms Kimmins, Mr McAleer, Miss McAllister, Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone, Mr McGrath, Mr McGuigan, Mr McHugh, Ms McLaughlin, Mr McMurray, Mrs Mason, Mr Mathison, Ms Mulholland, Miss Á Murphy, Ms Ní Chuilín, Ms Nicholl, Mr O'Dowd, Ms O'Neill, Mr O'Toole, Ms Reilly, Mr Sheehan, Ms Sheerin, Mr Tennyson.

Tellers for the Noes: Mr McCrossan, Mr McGlone.

The Amendment fell.

Northern Ireland Assembly

Papers Presented to the Assembly on 14 January 2025.

1. Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly

2. Bills of the Northern Ireland Assembly

3. Orders in Council

4. Statutory Rules

5. Legislative Consent Memorandums

6. Assembly Reports

7. Written Ministerial Statements

Cash Advance From The NI Consolidated Fund (Minister of Finance)

8. Publications Laid in the Northern Ireland Assembly

9. Publications Presented in the Northern Ireland Assembly

Northern Ireland Assembly Legislation:

Stages in Consideration of Public Bills

First Stage: Introduction of Bill.
Second Stage: General debate of the Bill with an opportunity for Members to vote on its general principles.
Committee Stage (Comm. Stage): Detailed investigation by a Committee which concludes with the publication of a report for consideration by the Assembly.
Consideration Stage (CS): Consideration by the Assembly of, and an opportunity for Members to vote on, the details of the Bill including amendments proposed to the Bill.
Further Consideration Stage (FCS): Consideration by the Assembly of, and an opportunity for Members to vote on, further amendments to the Bill.
Final Stage: Passing or rejecting of Bill by the Assembly, without further amendment.
Royal Assent.

Proceedings as 14 January 2025
2022-2027 Mandate
Executive Bills