BUSINESS COMMITTEE
TUESDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2008
IN ROOM 106, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
MINUTES
The meeting began at 12.45 pm
Present:
The Speaker (Chairperson)
Mr B Armstrong
Mr T Burns
Mr F Cobain
Mr P Maskey
Mr K McCarthy
Mr P McGlone
Lord Morrow
Ms C Ní Chuilín
Present (secretariat):
Mr T Reaney Clerk/Director General
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. Minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2008
1.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2008 were agreed and were signed by the Speaker.
2. Matters Arising
2.1 There were no matters arising.
3. Finalisation of Order Papers for Plenary meetings in week commencing 1 December
Executive Committee Business
3.1 Members agreed to schedule a motion to suspend Standing Orders, tabled by the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, for Monday 1 December. Members further agreed to schedule the Consideration Stage of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Bill for Monday 1 December and the Consideration Stage of the Pensions (No. 2) Bill for Tuesday 2 December.
4. Provisional arrangements for Plenary meetings in week commencing 8 December
Executive Business – week commencing 8 December 2008
4.1 In addition to Question Time on Monday 8 December, m embers agreed to schedule the Further Consideration Stage of the Pensions (No. 2) Bill and the Second Stage of the Education Bill. Members further agreed to schedule the Consideration Stage of the Public Authorities (Reform) Bill, the Further Consideration Stage of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Bill and the Final Stage of the Pensions (No. 2) Bill for Tuesday 9 December.
Private Members’ Business
4.2 Members agreed to schedule one private Members’ motion on Monday 8 December and one private Members’ motion on Tuesday 9 December. Under the system of allocating private Members’ business, the UUP and DUP proposed the following motions to fill the two available slots:
- ‘Current Economic Downturn’ (D McNarry, L Cree)
- ‘Shell Fish Regulations’ (D Hilditch, A Ross)
4.3 Members therefore agreed to schedule the motion on ‘Current Economic Downturn’ (D McNarry, L Cree) for Monday 8 December; and the motion on ‘Shell Fish Regulations’ (D Hilditch, A Ross) for Tuesday 9 December. Members agreed that up to 1 hour 30 minutes should be allocated for each debate, with the usual speaking times.
4.4 Members further agreed to schedule one adjournment topic on Tuesday 9 December. Mr P McGlone proposed the Adjournment topic on ‘The Redeployment of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development jobs from Derry/Londonderry’ (M Bradley). Members therefore agreed to schedule the adjournment topic for Tuesday 9 December.
5. Any Other Business
5.1 The Speaker referred to speculation about the possibility of a request from the Executive for an additional plenary sitting on Monday 15 December and sought clarification from the junior Minister, Mr G Kelly. The junior Minister informed members that the Executive hoped to be in a position to write to the Speaker soon. He went on to advise that the proposed business would focus on issues related to the outcome of the December monitoring round. Mr F Cobain expressed concern that Assembly committees would have little or no opportunity to scrutinise Departments’ inputs to the December monitoring round. In those circumstances, he indicated his grave reservations about the appropriateness of bringing the outcome to the Assembly in the timescale envisaged by the Executive. Other members indicated their support for the position of committees. The Speaker asked the junior Minister to bring the Committee’s views back to the Executive and it was agreed that the issue would be revisited at next week’s meeting. Members agreed, however, that should an extra sitting take place on Monday 15 December, Standing Orders would be suspended in relation to the requirement to hold Question Time.
5.2 Mr F Cobain raised an issue regarding the availability of Ministerial Statements to some parties in advance of them being generally available. The Speaker undertook to investigate the issue.
6. Date and Time of next meeting
6.1 Members agreed to meet at approximately 12.30 pm on Tuesday 2 December 2008 in Room 106.
The Speaker brought the meeting to a close at 1.15 pm.