Order Paper

1. Prayers

2. Members’ Statements

3. Assembly Business

Motion: Suspension of Standing Order 20(1)

Proposed:

That Standing Order 20(1) be suspended for 24 September 2024.

Business Committee

4. Question Time (cancelled) 

3.1 Health

5. Private Members’ Business

Motion: Lowering the Voting Age for 16 and 17 Year Olds

Proposed:

That this Assembly notes the motion agreed by the Assembly, in November 2012, calling on the British Government to introduce legislation to change the voting age to 16; regrets that previous British Governments failed to introduce such legislation; further notes the manifesto commitment of the Labour Government to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in all elections; believes that the voting age should be reduced to 16 for all elections and referendums; and calls on the British Government to introduce legislation to accommodate this change.

Mr Danny Baker

Mr Pádraig Delargy

Ms Emma Sheerin

Miss Áine Murphy

Motion: High-quality Mobile Coverage in Rural Areas

Proposed:

That this Assembly recognises the need for high-quality mobile coverage in rural communities across Northern Ireland; supports the roll-out of the Shared Rural Network by the UK Government and four leading mobile network operators and welcomes progress to date; expresses concern that further investment in new and existing phone masts under this initiative has been jeopardised by major delays in the planning process; believes no community should be left behind as a consequence; notes with disappointment the Minister for Infrastructure’s failure to engage directly or meaningfully with the mobile infrastructure industry since February 2024; urges the Department for Infrastructure to update planning guidance to local councils in order to advance this project and ensure the planning system supports the delivery of rural mobile infrastructure more generally; and calls on the Minister to urgently address barriers to extending the 4G and 5G mobile network in rural and hard-to-reach areas of Northern Ireland.         

Mrs Deborah Erskine

Mr Stephen Dunne

Mr Keith Buchanan

6. Adjournment

• Child Poverty in North Belfast

Miss Nuala McAllister

Statements by Ministers may also be taken at any time subject to the Speaker’s approval.
Notice of Statements will appear on the Annunciator.