Members return to the debate on the UUP's motion calling for the first and deputy first ministers to restore confidence in the political institutions after recent revelations in the Nama property deal scandal.

Deputy speaker Danny Kennedy calls a vote on the Sinn Féin amendment.

The oral vote is inconclusive and the house divides.

Sinn Féin's Declan Kearney asks the minister if he has read the auditor general's report on the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

He says it has indicated that there will be "devastating costs to the northern block grant for a period of 20 years or more".

Mr Kearney says this could amount to tens or hundreds of millions of pounds.

Image source, Tchara

He notes that the assembly's Public Acccounts Committee (PAC) will start its inquiry into the scheme on Wednesday.

Mr Hamilton says "it would not be appropriate for me to comment" given that the inquiry is looming.

"There are a lot of lessons to be learned," he says, "and I will be more than happy to listen to and respond appropriately to all recommendations that will be made by the PAC, the Audit Office, or whoever."

The DUP's Mervyn Storey asks the minister for his assessment of the impact the Dark Hedges near Armoy have had on tourism.

The tree-lined section of road in Mr Storey's North Antrim constituency attained iconic status after its use as a film location for the US television series Game Of Thrones.

Mr Storey is the chair of the Dark Hedges Preservation Trust, which is working to protect the famous 200-year-old beeches.

The minister says Game Of Thrones is "simply the biggest TV series in the world".

He says it has been estimated that the series has brought £148m to Northern Ireland.

Mr Hamilton says he recognises that the elderly trees "are under severe pressure" and that "we are going to preserve them for future generations".

Economy Minister Simon Hamilton now takes his place at the despatch box to field questions from members.

Richie McPhillips (below) of the SDLP is concerned about the proposed closure of the Housing Executive grants office in Enniskillen in his constituency.

The minister says that as the result of a consultation process he is happy to inform Mr McPhillips that the office "will be remaining and the six members of staff will not be moving to Omagh".

Mr Givan says his party leader Arlene Foster was opposed to the closure proposal.

"It was an issue that I know the first minister wasn't particularly pleased with whenever she caught wind of what was proposed," the DUP member says.

Ulster Unionist Roy Beggs asks about defective cavity wall insulation in Housing Executive properties.

The minister says there is "a UK-wide problem with cavity wall insulation installed in the 1980s".

Image source, Thinkstock

Mr Beggs raises the particular problem of fibre-based cavity wall insulation where damp fibres "can become a conductor rather than an insulator".

Mr Givan says he is happy to pass on the concerns to the Housing Executive.

"I have been in properties where it concerns me about the condition in terms of condensation," he adds.

Paul Givan is answering questions on his brief at the Department for Communities.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt rises to conclude his party's motion, saying there is "no room in this house or these institutions for ostrich politics".

He says Mrs Pengelly's remarks in the debate were "nothing more than a party-political diatribe".

He moves on, asking: "What do the people of Northern Ireland think of us in this chamber?

"There is no openness, there is no transparency," he says.

"We are the opposition and it is our job to scrutinise the executive".

He adds that his party will support the SDLP's amendment but not the one brought by Sinn Féin.

The assembly will return to the debate after question time.

Sinn Féin's Caitríona Ruane says her party wants a wider, all-Ireland commission of investigation that must examine Nama matters beyond its Northern Ireland portfolio sale.

She accuses the UUP of a "lack of ambition" in its motion.

"Sinn Féin wants to see truth," she concludes.

Alex Atwood accuses the DUP of creating "a smokescreen to deny accountability" over the Nama deal.

The SDLP MLA also turns on Sinn Féin, saying: "We know that the DUP want to resist higher levels of accountability on this matter.

"The issue is do [Sinn Féin] also resist higher levels of accountability on this issue?"

He also asks why the party that "purports to be all-Ireland" is resisting a call for the NCA and the Irish police to consider a joint, island-wide inquiry.

The NCA is "resolved to bring a case against those responsible for fraud", Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir believes, after meeting with its representatives last week, he tells the assembly.

It has pursued the matter in a "dogged" fashion, the Sinn Féin MLA says.

Image source, NCA

Bankers are speculators who were "responsible for wrecking the country and were at the heart of the Nama deal" have had their "debt forgiven and are now back living high on the hog", Mr Ó Muilleoir adds.

The scandal has been "damaging to all sectors of our community", he claims, but adds that businesses have confidence and support in him that it will get to the truth of the deal.

Jim Allister refers to a statement made by the then first minister Peter Robinson (below) last year, in which he described former Nama adviser Frank Cushnahan as a "pillar of the establishment".

"Anyone who watched the jaw-dropping Spotlight programme may well have thought that statement said more about the establishment than anything else," the TUV leader tells MLAs.

Image source, AP

He says the assembly should be "seeking to hunt down whether or not there was political influence that laid the basis, that facilitated, that was part of that which was rotten about all of the Nama escapade".

He asks why the assembly, in his view, seemingly does not want to delve into a claim the Spotlight programme that Mr Robinson and Sammy Wilson could lobby Nama for a discount in the deal.

"Some to which this comes too close to want to hide their head in the sand," he adds.

There is widespread revulsion" in wider society about the "recent shenanigans" of the Nama deal, according to People Before Profit Alliance's Gerry Carroll.

"[There is a] rotten culture of reverence for people in suits with big bank accounts," he adds.

The Nama scandal shows that "when it comes to the interests of property developers, parties will go the extra mile for them", the West Belfast MLA claims.

Steven Agnew of the Green Party says anyone who claims not to understand the difference between the "criminal and political" aspects to the deal is "clearly just deflecting from their own party's involvement" in the matter.

He says that the scandal must be properly scrutinised by MLAs, "or else we fail in our duty".

He says he is disappointed that Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness are not in the chamber for the debate, adding: "This is a first and deputy first minister who wish to act without accountability to this house."

The North Down MLA refers to "cronyism that exists in Northern Ireland politics" and "political interference" in the Nama deal.

"We've got to move away from this cronyism," he adds.

Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party says party loyalty is limiting the ability of committees in scrutinising the actions of the executive.

"Until we have a situation in terms of scrutiny committees, where people are prepared to move beyond the purely party political, our backbench scrutiny is always going to be limited," he says.

TUV leader Jim Allister raises a point of order, questioning why Mrs Pengelly did not make a declaration of interest before addressing the assembly on the Nama deal.

Her husband Richard Pengelly "was at the heart of the department which made some dodgy recommendations" regarding Nama, he says.

He also points out that Mr Pengelly was a special adviser to then first minister Peter Robinson at the time of the deal.

He asks: "Should there therefore not have been a declaration of interest from Mrs Pengelly before she embarked on her excursion of deflection?"

Deputy speaker Patsy McGlone says he will raise the matter with the speaker.

Emma Pengelly says she is speaking on behalf of the DUP and as chairperson of the Finance Committee.

She says that everyone in the house wants to get at the truth regarding the "revelations".

However, she says the National Crime Agency has advised the committee against proceeding its inquiry "given the stage of their investigations".

She adds that the NCA has said "there could be a serious risk to the investigation".

Mrs Pengelly says it is "disappointing and surprising" that the UUP has brought forward today's motion.

Claire Hanna of the SDLP introduces her party's amendment calling for the creation a joint investigation team between the NCA and the Irish police.

She says there is public concern that the assembly is "leaving our scrutiny role to the media".

The South Belfast MLA criticises comments made by former finance minister Sammy Wilson MP that the BBC Spotlight team is "a bunch of biased bigots and amateurs".

And she adds that there worries of about political interference in the deal and "foot-dragging" in investigations into the deal.

Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd brings his party's amendment to the motion and says he does not believe a fresh inquiry into the scandal by Stormont's Finance Committee will serve a useful purpose.

He does "not believe in trial by media", he says, adding that that if offences have been committed those involved "should be brought before a court".

Mr O'Dowd says Mr Smith appears to be more concerned about the executive than about Nama.

"Something stinks at the heart of Nama," he says.

He adds that Stormont's Finance Committee inquiry may not be able to expose truth of the deal, saying that its lack of powers to compel Nama to appear before it lessens its credibility.

He says the emphasis should be on the Irish governemnt's new commission of inquiry into the Nama affair.

Mr Smith notes a number of the recommendations made in the committee's report and questions whether they have been implemented.

He says the Northern Ireland public needs assurances on executive actions.

Image source, Pacemaker

"What actions have the government taken to date to fix the reputational damage?" he asks.

"I have yet to see much evidence" he says.