COMMITTEE ON PROCEDURES
MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2007
ROOM 152, PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS
Present:
Lord Morrow (Chairperson)
Mr Mervyn Storey (Deputy Chairperson)
Lord Browne
Mr Willie Clarke
Mr Adrian McQuillan
Mr Sean Neeson
Mr Declan O’Loan
In attendance:
Ms Stella McArdle (Clerk)
Mrs Elaine Farrell (Assistant Clerk)
Ms Linda Hare (Clerical Supervisor)
Apologies:
Mr Raymond McCartney
Mr Ken Robinson
The meeting opened in closed session at 2.02 p.m.
Agreed: Lord Morrow and Mr Neeson to discuss the issue of infrastructure for electronic voting with the Refurbishment Steering Group and report back to the next meeting of the Committee on Procedures.
The meeting went into public session at 2.33 p.m.
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Apologies
Apologies are detailed above.
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Chairperson’s Business
There was no Chairperson’s Business
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Draft Minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2007
Agreed: The draft minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2007 were agreed.
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Matters arising
Agreed: The Committee agreed to discuss an amendment to Standing Order 15 at the next meeting.
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Ministerial Statements
The Committee discussed issues concerns outlined by the Business Committee in relation to Ministerial Statements.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Ministerial Statements should be available to Members at least 30 minutes in advance, that the Speaker should be consulted to determine if the notice given to him is adequate.
Agreed: That more information should be sought regarding a debate on a statement.
Agreed: That further information should be requested from OFMDFM on Ministerial Guidance to cover written ministerial statements.
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New Standing Order
The Committee discussed the possibility of introducing a new Standing Order which would allow the opportunity to comment on recent significant events or incidents. The Committee expressed some concern regarding the timing of notification to the Speaker.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that 10 minutes was an appropriate amount of time to be allocated to speak on “Matters of the Day”.
Agreed: The Committee agreed that Matters of the Day were an Assembly matter as opposed to an Executive one.
Agreed: the Committee agreed that the Speaker and Party Whips should be consulted prior to any agreement to the new procedure.
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Private Legislation
The Committee noted the public notice and the press release inviting written submissions to the Inquiry into Private Legislation.
Agreed: The Committee agreed the public notice and press release in relation to the Inquiry into Private Legislation
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Correspondence
The Committee noted correspondence from NICVA to the Speaker regarding the Bill of Rights Forum membership.
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Any other business
There was no other business.
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Date, time and place of the next meeting
The date of the next meeting is Wednesday 12 December 2007 at 2.00 p.m. in Room 152, Parliament Buildings.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 3.14 p.m.