Some of the messages revolve around the disclosure of the source of the information Mr Bryson gave to the Finance Committee when he appeared before it last year, the chair says.

In the transcript, Sinn Féin member Thomas O'Hara asks the blogger what his idea is in relation to revealing his source to committee members.

Mr Bryson's response is: "I will tell the committee my source, I'll give them a name in confidence (obviously any old name but they can't because they can't break committee confidence)."

Ms Pengelly says "this is a very serious issue".

"There is potentially collusion", Ms Pengelly says, between Mr Bryson and "someone potentially employed by Sinn Féin" in "misleading the committee in relation to their evidence".

TUV leader Jim Allister has passed correspondence from Jamie Bryson - what he says is a transcript of messages between the loyalist blogger and Sinn Féin member Thomas O'Hara - to the Finance Committee.

Chairperson Emma Pengelly says it contains a previously unreported reference to Mr Ó Muilleoir, but she adds that there are messages missing from the transcript.

"There are edited - we are not getting the full transcript," she says.

The committee is now in public session, with Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir due to appear shortly...

We're approaching a full hour since the Finance Committee was due to begin quizzing Máirtín Ó Muilleoir... but we've still not heard a word as members sit in private session.

Meanwhile, the finance minister is in the coffee shop at Parliament Buildings.

Across the water, Theresa May has told delegates at her Conservative Party's conference that it can build a "united Britain" in which "fairness is restored".

Image source, AP

The prime minister said the UK must change after the "quiet revolution" of the Brexit vote, urging people to "seize the day".

Outgoing Alliance Party leader David Ford tells the BBC about the high and low points of his 15-year spell as the helm.

We are back after a lunchtime wander around the wonderfully autumnal Stormont estate, and all set for what could be an interesting afternoon with the Finance Committee.

Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir is appearing before MLAs to answer questions on secret communications between his party and loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson ahead of a Stormont inquiry into the £1.2bn sale of Northern Ireland property loans by the Republic of Ireland's National Asset management Agency (Nama).

Image source, Press Eye

Sinn Féin's former Finance Committee chair Daithí McKay resigned in August amid claims he facilitated the coaching of Mr Bryson on how to present his evidence to the committee.

Mr Ó Muilleoir was also on the committee at the time, and today's line of questioning is likely to focus on how much he knew about the coaching Mr Bryson was given.

He has already denied any knowledge of the back-channel communications.

Mark Devenport
BBC News NI Political Editor

David Ford is to step down as the leader of the Alliance Party.

The South Antrim MLA and former justice minister, the party's longest-serving leader, will end his term tomorrow, with deputy leader Naomi Long will taking over in an acting capacity.

Image source, Pacemaker

Contenders for the leadership will have two weeks to lodge their nominations and a leadership election is due in four weeks' time.

But party insiders are predicting that Mrs Long may be the only candidate.

Chairperson Conor Murphy sets the date and time of next week's meeting - at the Loaf Cafe on Belfast's Grosvenor - and adjourns the committee.

Join us at 14:00 for what promises to be a lively meeting of the Finance Committee as Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir answers questions about the committee's Nama inquiry.

David Dowey says they need financial support from government  "to move the movement as a whole forward".

Providing current accounts for members is a priority for the unions, he explains.

And without support to pay for changes, such as IT systems, the smaller unions will not be able to engage in improved services, he adds.

Brian McCrory of the Irish League of Credit Unions is concerned about the increased regulation imposed on credit unions as a result of the banking crisis.

He says it has imposed "a disproportionate and unreasonable administrative burden upon all credit unions in Northern Ireland".

"We're not banks," Mr McCrory says.

"We didn't cause or contribute to the collapse in global markets, or plunge the economy into crisis," he adds.

The DUP's Mervyn Storey notes that powers over corporation tax and IVAs lie with Westminster, but he raises the question of commercial rates relief.

"That is an issue that rests with us here," he says.

Image source, PA

The North Antrim MLA says some business people have been highly critical of the rates exemption enjoyed by charity shops, with some telling him it is "a scandal, it shouldn't happen".

Mr Storey asks Mr Dowey how the credit unions would answer critics from the financial industry regarding rates.

Mr Dowey says he could understand the concerns if the money were being spent by the unions in some other way, but "the money is coming back into the community".

Representatives of the Ulster Federation of Credit Unions and the Irish League of Credit Unions arrive to begin their briefing for the committee.

David Dowey of the Ulster Federation asks the members to support calls for credit unions to be exempt from paying corporation tax.

Mr Dowey says the greatest threat to the credit union movement is the growth of IVAs (Individual Voluntary Agreements), which are agreements people can make with their creditors to pay all or part of their debts.

He says IVAs are being advertised as a "get out of jail free card" and that "people are being encouraged to walk away from their debt".

And while we're on the topic of the Nama deal, the Republic of Ireland is to set up a commission of investigation into the sale of the agency's Northern Ireland loans.

It will examine a range of issues, including valuations, disposal strategy and conflicts of interest.

Nama took control of a portfolio of Northern Ireland properties in the aftermath of the Irish banking and property crisis, and sold it to a US investment fund for £1.2bn in 2014.

But there has since been a series of allegations about impropriety in the sales process.

Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir will be questioned this afternoon over what he knew about secret contacts between a former Sinn Féin MLA and a loyalist blogger ahead of Stormont's inquiry into the biggest property sale in Northern Ireland's history.

Mr Ó Muilleoir is due to appear before the Finance Committee, where he will answer questions about allegations that Jamie Bryson had been coached on how to present his evidence to the investigation.

Image source, Press Eye

The claims led to the resignation as an MLA of the committee's former chairman Daithí McKay.

It was revealed Mr McKay secretly advised Mr Bryson ahead of his appearance at the Nama inquiry.

Welcome along to Wednesday's Stormont Live coverage from up here on the hill.

First up this morning, we've got the Economy Committee, with the Ulster Federation of Credit Unions and Irish League of Credit Unions briefing MLAs on some of the issues they face.