Private Member’s Bill - May to July 2021
This article will take you through some of the interesting PMBs (Private Member’s Bills) introduced into Stormont in the past months.
What is a Private Member’s Bill?
A Private Member’s Bill is effectively a motion put forward by an MLA or a group of MLAs who are not in the executive or hold a ministerial position.
The PMBs:
COVID-19 Sports Sustainability Fund
Tabled: 22/06/2021
Ms Paula Bradley MLA - North Belfast DUP
Mr Alex Easton MLA - North Down DUP
This relates to a report from the Northern Ireland Audit Office which showed that the Sports Sustainability Fund from the Department for Communities and NI Sport provided more money than necessary to certain sports clubs and organisations. This motion called on the Minister for Communities to give a full explanation of the department's actions and called for a full independent public inquiry into the fund and other similar schemes.
Status of Irish Grass Fed Beef for Local Farmers
Tabled: 10/06/2021
Mr Declan McAleer MLA - West Tyrone Sinn Fein
Mr Philip McGuigan MLA - North Antrim Sinn Fein
Ms Emma Sheerin MLA - Mid Ulster Sinn Fein
Ms Jemma Dolan MLA - Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn Fein
This motion is focused on the promotion of the application of Irish Grass Fed Beef for PGI status, which effectively means that Irish Beef would be viewed as a unique geographic agri-food by the European Commission. As pointed out in the motion, PGI status meat products are sold at 1.2 times the sale of value of comparable products. This motion proposes that the application be supported due to the all-island nature of Irish Grass Fed Beef and that the Minister for Agriculture should engage appropriately with all the relevant actors and stakeholders to meet the criteria for PGI status to benefit the local farming community.
Voting Rights (Revised Wording)
Tabled: 10/06/2021
Ms Nicola Brogan MLA - West Tyrone Sinn Fein
Ms Jemma Dolan MLA - Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn Fein
Ms Sinéad Ennis MLA - South Down Sinn Fein
Mr John O'Dowd MLA - Upper Bann Sinn Fein
This motion proposes that NI follow the lead of Scotland during their independence vote and institute a voting age of sixteen years old and above for elections and referendums. The power to institute is held by the UK government, so this motion is more of an attempt to gain attention to the issue rather than a legitimate policy motion which can be taken up by Stormont.
Access to Physiotherapy in Postnatal Care
Tabled: 19/05/2021
Ms Kellie Armstrong MLA - Strangford Alliance
Ms Paula Bradshaw MLA - South Belfast Alliance
This motion calls on the Minister of Health to work with Health and Social Care Trusts and GP practices to ensure that all postnatal patients are referred to a women’s health physiotherapist six weeks after delivery and that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on postnatal care are implemented consistently across all trust areas.
Project Stratum
Tabled: 19/05/2021
Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA - East Londonderry Sinn Fein
Mr John O'Dowd MLA - Upper Bann Sinn Fein
Mr Declan McAleer MLA - West Tyrone Sinn Fein
Ms Jemma Dolan MLA - Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn Fein
Ms Nicola Brogan MLA - West Tyrone Sinn Fein
This motion focuses on Project Stratum which looks to provide higher quality broadband to as much of NI as possible (especially to rural areas which have not previously had access to competent broadband). The motion itself is focusing on how some properties have been excluded from the project due to inaccurate information being used and calls on the Minister for Economy to ensure that the properties eligible for Project Stratum are included in the rollout.
Crisis in Wastewater and Sewerage Capacity
Tabled: 18/05/2021
Mr Jonathan Buckley MLA - Upper Bann DUP
Mr David Hilditch MLA - East Antrim DUP
Mr George Robinson MBE MLA - East Londonderry DUP
This motion calls for the Minister for Infrastructure to bring forward a strategy to enhance and expand NI’s existing water and sewage infrastructure with a focus on regional inequalities. The recent issues with water and sewage infrastructure has led to delayed expansion of NI’s current infrastructure due to a lack of capacity in our water systems. This was highlighted when the ‘heatwave’ led to NI Water recommending people limit water usage due to the excess amounts of water used during the abnormal weather.
Green New Deal
Tabled: 17/05/2021 Plenary date: 24/05/2021
Mr Stewart Dickson MLA - East Antrim Alliance
Mr John Blair MLA - South Antrim Alliance
Mr Andrew Muir MLA - North Down Alliance
Ms Paula Bradshaw MLA - South Belfast Alliance
Ms Kellie Armstrong MLA - Strangford Alliance
Mr Chris Lyttle MLA - East Belfast Alliance
The Green New Deal is a wide ranging set of policies which the Alliance party announced during their annual conference. It focuses on economic recovery post-pandemic, tackling climate change and finding ways for both those objectives to help each other. We recently did an interview with Stewart Dickson MLA where we discussed the Green New Deal, which can be found here: (put link here)
Electric Vehicle Charging Network
Tabled: 14/05/2021
Mr Andrew Muir MLA - North Down Alliance
Ms Paula Bradshaw MLA - South Belfast Alliance
Mr Stewart Dickson MLA - East Antrim Alliance
Mr John Blair MLA - South Antrim Alliance
This motion calls on the Infrastructure Minister, again, to create a plan which would develop a wider network of Electric Vehicle charging points and to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles in NI. NI has a very limited charging network, as pointed out by the motion, this is due to a lack of investment in the area while surrounding regions have placed more importance on these networks. The motion fits in with the new green deal which Alliance would bring to Stormont as a PMB in the following days (as can be seen above).
Counselling Services
Tabled: 10/05/2021
Mr Thomas Buchanan MLA - West Tyrone DUP
Mrs Pam Cameron MLA - South Antrim DUP
Mr Jonathan Buckley MLA - Upper Bann DUP
This motion calls on the Minister of Health to ensure that the Draft Mental Health Strategy 2021-2031 includes a commitment to adequate and sustainably funded counselling services, that are proportionate to need, easily accessible to all regardless of where they live, with a waiting time target of 28 days, quality-assured, of sufficient duration utilising all delivery options available, and drawing on the available trained counselling workforce in Northern Ireland.
Inclusion of Trade Unions and New Decade, New Approach Commitments
Tabled: 10/05/2021
Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA - East Londonderry Sinn Fein
Mr John O'Dowd MLA - Upper Bann Sinn Fein
Ms Jemma Dolan MLA - Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn Fein
This motion calls on the Minister for the Economy to honour the commitments in ‘New Decade, New Approach’ regarding civic engagement and to put in place, urgently, a partnership model, which includes the trade union movement, to plan for economic recovery and to inform the development of economic policy and strategies.
Defending Workers
Tabled: 07/05/2021
Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA - East Londonderry Sinn Fein
Mr John O'Dowd MLA - Upper Bann Sinn Fein
Ms Jemma Dolan MLA - Fermanagh and South Tyrone Sinn Fein
This motion calls on the Minister for the Economy to bring forward legislation that would strengthen redundancy protections and protect against fire and rehire tactics by certain industries. This follows the post-furlough job losses in the retail, hospitality and aviation sectors, who have been accused of firing and rehiring unnecessarily. Following the firing and rehiring, some of these workers have been given worse terms and conditions following their rehiring.
Strategies to Protect Peatlands and Woodlands
Tabled: 04/05/2021 Plenary Date: 11/05/2021
Mr Patsy McGlone MLA - Mid Ulster SDLP
Mrs Dolores Kelly MLA - Upper Bann SDLP
Mr Colin McGrath MLA - South Down SDLP
Ms Sinéad Bradley MLA - South Down SDLP
This motion calls on the Minister of Agriculture to produce fully resourced strategies and implementation plans to protect, preserve and enhance our peatlands and woodlands without further delay. This motion was in response to the peat fire in the Mournes, but this was an issue that existed before the Mournes fires as 180 hectares of woods and peatland were damaged due to fires in 2020.
Unfettered Access to Medicines and Medical Devices
Tabled: 04/05/2021 Plenary Date: 17/05/2021
Mrs Pam Cameron MLA - South Antrim DUP
Mr Jonathan Buckley MLA - Upper Bann DUP
This motion calls on the Minister for Health to work with his Executive colleagues to resist disruptions to East-West trade for medicines and medical products in all circumstances. This is in relation to the grace periods and new trade difficulties which may occur due to the NI Protocol.
