All of Dr Steve Aiken OBE’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not flagged, uncertain or not yet analysed.
I thank the Member for giving way. That is a very important point, which exercised the Committee. If the Department is never going to use the power, why would it have it in the first place? It would send out a strong message to everybody if we agreed to the amendment. Charging for a certificate is not appropriate, and…
I declare an interest, because I was on the visit as well. Minister, will you comment on the fact that, when we went to the Ofek school, which is led by Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, we had to have our meeting in a bomb shelter? Why would a school for children need to have a bomb shelter?
Is the Minister confident that his appointment of Professor Mark Taylor as the clinical lead for reducing Northern Ireland's waiting times will serve as an important opportunity for a focus on why the number of procedures delivered on hospital theatre lists can sometimes differ from what are independently recognised…
Last week, along with several colleagues, I visited Israel. As a declaration of interest, the visit was paid for by the Israeli embassy in London. I thank all those whom we met: those of the Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Bahá'í and Druze faiths or of no faith; and those who consider themselves to be Israeli, Palestinian…
The Ulster Unionist Party recognises that President-elect Catherine Connolly is the choice of the Irish people, given at the ballot box, and has been duly elected. As a party, we respect the choice of the Irish people and will treat her, as we do all democratically elected heads of state, with the due respect that…
The Union Customs Code (UCC) defines the legal framework for customs rules and procedures in the EU customs territory. It was introduced across the European Union in 2016, but, because of its complexities, a transition period was set to run originally until 2020 and has now been extended to a final date of 31 December…
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail the reasons (i) their office has not provided approval for the Office of the Northern Ireland Executive in Brussels to brief the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee (DSC) on the forthcoming changes to the Union Customs Code; and (ii) they have…
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail any actions they are taking to understand the application of the forthcoming revised European Union Union Customs Code to businesses and to inform them of any potential impact.
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister, in relation to the comments by the First Minister in the Assembly Chamber on 20 October, that defence, foreign policy, and international trade are reserved matters, to detail whether they will consider referring the Minister for the Economy's direction to Invest NI…
To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to her Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments, whether she gave a Ministerial Direction to the (i) Permanent Secretary; and (ii) Chief Executive Officer of Invest NI.
To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to her Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments, (i) whether any assessment has been made of the economic impact if the defence and aerospace businesses where to relocate from Northern Ireland; and (ii) to detail the plans she has…
I thank the Member for giving way. We have heard a lot about grids and access to renewables. One thing that we have not heard about is synchronicity and inertia, which are vital. Does the Member agree that, in any future discussions, we need to make sure that we have enough conventional or nuclear supply to have…
Thank you very much indeed for giving way. Does the Member agree that it is an absolute scandal that the likes of NIE and the System Operator for Northern Ireland (SONI) have made considerable profits on those networks even though they have not invested in them at all, despite the fact that "severe weather events"…
First, I make a declaration of interest as a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) and a long-standing member of committee B. Last week, our committee submitted a report on UK/EU defence and security cooperation post-Brexit. The committee consists of members from the Oireachtas, Westminster and the…
To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister to detail any assessment that has been made of the Minister for the Economy's Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments on (i) conducting foreign, defence and trade policy that are not devolved matters; and (ii) the impact on…
To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to her Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments, to detail any discussions her Department has had with the (i) Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; and (ii) Department for Business and Trade, given that her statement…
To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to her Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments, to detail (i) the definition of genocide that she has instructed her Department to use; and (ii) whether this is an agreed definition with His Majesty's Government, who has…
To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to her Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments, to detail the legal authority she has to instruct Invest NI on foreign, defence or trade policy, which are not devolved matters.
To ask the Minister for the Economy, further to her Written Ministerial Statement on 16 October 2025 on Invest NI Review of Investments, to detail the legal grounds on which she can instruct a government body, in particular Invest NI, not to engage in UK overseas trade negotiations.
To ask the Minister of Finance to detail (i) the amount spent, to date, on the NOVA project; (ii) whether there are any penalties to the Northern Ireland Civil Service for ending the NOVA contract; and (iii) the reporting made by his Department on the NOVA project, including to whom and when.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, in light of House of Lords Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee's October 2025 report Northern Ireland after Brexit: Strengthening Northern Ireland’s voice in the context of the Windsor Framework, whether he has (i) reviewed his assessment that faithful…
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any engagement her Department has had with aerospace industry bodies on creating a bespoke aerospace defence apprenticeship training scheme in Northern Ireland.