Order Paper
Date: 12 May 2025
1. Prayers
2. Members’ Statements
3. Question Time
4. Private Members’ Business
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
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
