Northern Ireland Assembly Flax Flower Logo

BUSINESS COMMITTEE
TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2008
IN ROOM 106, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS

MINUTES

The meeting began at 12.35 pm

Present:
The Speaker (Chairperson)
Mr B Armstrong
Mr PJ Bradley
Mr T Buchanan
Mr F Cobain
Mr P Maskey
Mr K McCarthy
Mr P McGlone
Ms C Ní Chuilín
Mr P Weir

Present (secretariat):
Mr T Reaney Clerk/Director General
Mr J Stewart Director of Clerking
Ms L Gordon Clerk of Business
Mr A Murphy Assistant Clerk of Business

In attendance:
Mr R Good Adviser to the Speaker
Ms F Leneghan Assistant Private Secretary to the Speaker
Mr H Widdis Legal Services
Mrs M Mageean Business Office

Observers:
Mr J Dallat Deputy Speaker
Mr D McClarty Deputy Speaker
Mr F Molloy Deputy Speaker
Mr G Kelly Junior Minister
Ms R Flanagan OFMDFM

  1. Introduction

1.1 The Speaker welcomed Mr Cobain to his first meeting since his appointment to the Committee, and advised that Mr Buchanan was attending in place of Lord Morrow.

  1. Minutes of the meeting held on 23 September 2008

2.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 23 September 2008 were agreed and were signed by the Speaker.

  1. Matters Arising

3.1 The Speaker referred members to paragraph 5.5 of the minutes (whether certain motions would be more appropriate as adjournment topics) and directed members to an advice paper provided in the packs. The Speaker provided an overview of the paper and reminded members that the clerks in the Business Office would be happy to provide further advice in relation to the structure of motions and adjournment topics.

3.2 Mr PJ Bradley raised an issue regarding the selection of amendments to motions and asked why the SDLP amendment was not selected for the motion on ‘Environmental Improvement Schemes in the Markets Area, Belfast’ to be debated later that day. The Speaker reminded members that clear rules exist on the admissibility of amendments and that he does not give reasons for selecting or rejecting any amendment.

3.3 The Speaker referred members to paragraph 5.6 of the minutes (motions of a similar nature) and informed members that the Business Office is considering current motions and motions that were debated previously. A report will be provided to members at the next meeting of the Business Committee.

3.4 In response to Mr Weir’s query about progress on the Speaker’s meetings with Whips, members noted that the full schedule of meetings had not yet been concluded.

  1. Finalisation of Order Papers for Plenary meetings in week commencing 6 October

4.1 There were no further changes to the draft Order papers for Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 October.

  1. Provisional arrangements for Plenary meetings in week commencing 13 October

Executive Business – week commencing 13 October 2008

5.1 In addition to Question Time on Monday 13 October, m embers agreed to schedule a motion to approve a Statutory Rule (Social Security (Students Responsible for Children or Young Persons) (Amendment) Regulations (NI) 2008) for Tuesday 14 October. Members allocated no specific time limit to this debate.

Committee Business

5.2 There was no Committee business.

Private Members’ Business

5.3 Members agreed to schedule the First Stage of a Private Members’ Bill, on the Community Use of School Premises, for Monday 13 October.

5.4 The Speaker referred to the ‘Increase in Energy Prices’ debate on Monday 29 September and, in particular, to the limited time left for Members’ contributions after the motion and the three amendments had been moved. The Speaker suggested that for future debates, where multiple amendments have been selected, the time allowed for moving each amendment should be reduced from the normal 10 minutes to 5 minutes, and that the time for winding each amendment should be reduced from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. The Speaker also suggested that the time allowed to the mover of the substantive motion would remain at 10 minutes, but that all other contributions would be limited to 3 minutes. Mr P Weir suggested that Standing Orders could be amended to allow for extra time to be added to debates where multiple amendments have been selected. After general discussion, the Speaker asked Whips to consider these issues further and to bring back their proposals to the next meeting.

5.5 Members agreed to schedule: two private Members’ motions on Monday 13 October and three private Members’ motions on Tuesday 14 October. Members further agreed to schedule one adjournment topic on Tuesday 14 October. Members proposed a total of five motions as follows:

5.6 Members therefore agreed to schedule the motions on ‘Regulation of Private Landlords’ (C N í Chuil í n, F McCann, M Brady) and ‘The Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults (POCVA)’ (J Shannon, S Hamilton, G Robinson) for Monday 13 October and the motions on ‘Financial Pressures Impacting on Public Spending’ (D McNarry, R Beggs), ‘Climate Change’ (T Gallagher) and ‘Omagh Bombing’ (D Ford, N Long, K McCarthy, T Lunn, S Farry, A Lo, S Neeson, K Deeny, B Wilson) for Tuesday 14 October. Members agreed that up to 1 hour 30 minutes should be allocated for each debate, with the usual speaking times.

5.7 Members proposed a total of three adjournment topics as follows:

5.8 A vote being called, the votes of party delegations were cast as follows:

5.9 Members therefore agreed to schedule the adjournment topic ‘Promoting the tourist potential of East Antrim’ (A Ross) for Tuesday 14 October.

  1. Any Other Business

6.1 The Speaker informed members that Mr F Cobain has appointed Mr D Kennedy as his substitute on the Business Committee.

  1. Date and Time of next meeting

7.1 Members agreed to meet at approximately 12.30 pm on Tuesday 7 October 2008 in Room 106.

The Speaker brought the meeting to a close at 1.05 pm.

William Hay
The Speaker

23 September 08 / Menu