Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
I despair at the political maturity and debate in this place and the hypocrisy that comes from some parties, which, in my opinion, are interested only in point-scoring and playing games and, no matter what section of the community they claim to represent, are not really interested in the lives of the people of…
I have to admit that today's political circus might be amusing if the cost-of-living crisis were not so deep or the outcome of the proceedings today were not so predictable. Although the sitting might carry some intrigue for the press, workers on the picket lines, patients lying in hospital corridors and everyone who…
I thank the Member for giving way. To add insult to injury on the protocol, we hear language such as that used by Ursula Von Der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who, last week, compared Britain's actions in Ireland to the situation in Ukraine. The irony is not lost that Britain has led the way in…
On 7 December 1922, exactly 100 years ago, the elected unionist representatives to the predecessor of this House, the Northern Ireland Parliament, unanimously declined to leave the Union of the United Kingdom and join the Irish Free State. One hundred years later, it remains the unanimous view of every unionist…
On a point of order, Mr Acting Speaker. A previous point of order was made about the general tenor of the debate in the Chamber, but I want to make a specific point of order request. One of the Speaker's very clear rulings is that Members should not engage from a sedentary position. A Member on this side of the House…
On a point of order, Mr Acting Speaker. In the last Assembly debate, there was an incredible amount of chuntering and bickering going on in the Chamber, and I could not hear what the Member speaking was saying. The chuntering then was coming from one side of the Chamber. Today, it is coming from the other side of the…
I thank the Member for giving way. If he is consistent on the point that it was wrong to hold the institutions down for three years when the Bengoa report, for example, had been produced — it was not published; it sat on a shelf, and the Health Minister in post then was Michelle O'Neill — why did the SDLP not call for…
Thank you, Mr Acting Speaker, for once again taking the Chair as we seek — it looks like, once again, in vain — to elect a Speaker. I nominated Patsy McGlone. He has accepted that nomination although he is not here in person because of a prior commitment. I have a five-year-old child, who I helped get packed up for…
On a point of order, Mr Acting Speaker. The House will be aware of Mr Beattie's history when it comes to misogyny. Is it in order, Mr Acting Speaker, to use such language in relation to women in this Chamber?
Merry Christmas to you all. It is warm in here, is it not? It is a bit of a shame that many of our people sitting in their homes right now are cold. Many businesses are looking at their energy bills and saying that they will just not survive this winter. Many service providers are wondering what they can cut just to…
I thank the Member for giving way. Will she agree with me that we have just heard a speech from the former caretaker Minister in which he was effectively defending the indefensible? The reality is that he made promises not to this House, which he should have done, but to the citizens of Northern Ireland about payments…
If we manage to elect a Speaker today and go on to elect an Executive, the subject of today's recall motion will be answered. We can all get back to work, put our collective force together and create a solution to enable the £600 energy support payment to go out to all households. Sadly, however, from what I have…
That has been well discussed. The Government said that they were going to deliver it. It is up to them to deliver it. We will continue to push the Government on that at Westminster, but what we will not do is say that we can deliver things that are not in our gift to deliver. We are not going to be like the SDLP,…
Will the Member acknowledge that he gave assurances to the public that the payments would come in November? No other party in the Chamber fell for Conservative dishonesty but the party to my right. My constituents are now in a worse position, because they had budgeted on the assumption that they would receive that…
I thank the Member for giving way. Does he agree that one organisation that is certainly not suffering from the cost-of-living crisis is that which is based at Connolly House, an organisation that continues to be one of the largest landlords on this island, continues to host champagne receptions across the globe and…
We believe that devolution needs a firm foundation to succeed. That foundation will never be in place as long as the issues around the protocol are unresolved. I recognise that the sitting has a special benefit for Sinn Féin as it provides a useful distraction from proceedings at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin,…
The recall of the Assembly is nothing more than a farce. We know that it is a stunt. The public know that it is a stunt. The other parties know that it is a stunt as well; many of their members have told us so privately. So it should come as no surprise to the House to hear that the DUP will not support either of the…
Today we meet for the fifth time since May to try to elect a Speaker, to reinstate the Assembly and to allow MLAs, mandated by the electorate to represent them and to work here on their behalf, to get on with the job. As we meet in the comfort of this well-heated and well-lit Building, I am acutely aware that tens of…