Order Paper

1.   Prayers


2.   Members’ Statements

3.   Question Time

3.1     Finance

4.   Committee Business

Motion: Extension of Committee Stage – Northern Ireland Fiscal Council Bill (NIA Bill 18/22-27)

Proposed:

That, in accordance with Standing Order 33(4), the period referred to in Standing Order 33(2) be extended to 27 March 2026, in relation to the Committee Stage of the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council Bill.

Chairperson, Committee for Finance

Motion: Extension of Committee Stage – Administrative and Financial Provisions Bill (NIA Bill 19/22-27)

Proposed:

That, in accordance with Standing Order 33(4), the period referred to in Standing Order 33(2) be extended to 27 March 2026, in relation to the Committee Stage of the Administrative and Financial Provisions Bill.

Chairperson, Committee for Finance

5.   Private Members’ Business

Motion: Addressing Skills Gaps between Young People and Businesses

Proposed:

That this Assembly notes the importance of promoting economic opportunity to deliver social justice and a truly reconciled society; recognises the significant job creation delivered by investment in Northern Ireland over the last few years; acknowledges that a lot of that investment was based on the linkage in skills development, between higher education and businesses in receipt of investment; regrets that opportunities are being missed because too many skills gaps remain and there are too many occasions when that skills linkage does not exist; expresses support for prioritising support into skills development and employment for the 19,000 young people in Northern Ireland not in education, employment or training; and calls on the Minister for the Economy to establish a talent development agency, similar to Skillnet Ireland and other similar agencies in Europe, to ensure greater alignment between skills development in further and higher education and what businesses actually require.

Mr David Honeyford
Mr Eóin Tennyson
Ms Paula Bradshaw
Mrs Michelle Guy

Motion: Drug Testing Schemes

Proposed:

That this Assembly recognises the role of harm reduction initiatives in preventing drug-related deaths at festivals and concerts; acknowledges that the Health Service Executive’s rapid drug checking schemes have operated successfully at events such as Electric Picnic for a number of years, providing warnings to concertgoers on potent and potentially lethal substances; notes the ongoing work between the PSNI, Forensic Sciences Northern Ireland and Queen’s University to develop a rapid drug testing scheme which would enable harmful drugs to be identified and public alerts issued within 24 hours; further notes that we remain the only part of these islands without such provisions; stresses the need for collaboration between the Forensic Sciences laboratory at Seapark and the Health Service Executive, who have developed the capacity to deliver onsite drug testing at festivals across the rest of the island; and calls on the Minister of Health to confirm when these schemes will be rolled out by his Department in conjunction with the relevant agencies.

Miss Órlaithí Flynn
Mr Philip McGuigan
Mrs Linda Dillon

6.   Adjournment

• Lack of Development of Tribeca, Belfast

Mr Phillip Brett