BBC News Northern Ireland

Michelle O'Neill may be seen as the future of Sinn Féin, but she grew up steeped in the history of Northern Ireland's Troubles.

Born Michelle Doris on 10 January 1977, she was raised in the village of Clonoe in rural County Tyrone and hails from a family of prominent Irish republicans.

Image source, Pacemaker

Her assembly career began in 2007, when she joined Martin McGuinness and Francie Molloy as a Mid Ulster MLA.

Now she will face one at the forefront of Sinn Féin leadership north of the border.

Read more: Who is Michelle O'Neill?

Threatened strike action in schools by teachers in the NASUWT union on 31 January is raised with the education minister by Ulster Unionist Robbie Butler.

Peter Weir says he is "disappointed" that the union is engaged in industrial action in a dispute over teachers' pay.

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Mr Weir explains that education management and unions had "constructive" talks on 12 January and agreed to exchange position papers, with a further meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

"I think that is at least a positive step forward," the minister says.

BBC News Northern Ireland

Sinn Fein has announced that Michelle O'Neill is the party's new leader in Northern Ireland.

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The Mid Ulster MLA has been a minister in the Northern Ireland Executive for six years, and leads the Department of Health.

Mrs O'Neill takes over from Martin McGuinness, who stood down from frontline politics last week.

The debate on the proposals to cut the cost of the RHI scheme is paused for Peter Weir to take his place at the despatch box to face questions from MLAs on his brief at the Department for Education.

Sinéad Bradley of the SDLP is a member of the Economy Committee, which has been holding extra meetings to consider the minister's proposals on the RHI scheme.

She criticises Sinn Féin members for not turning up for committee meetings.

"It's particularly difficult to witness that happen at a time when they are otherwise very busy on the airwaves trying to play the blame game," the South Down MLA says.

Last week, Sinn Féin's Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir announced that he would begin a public inquiry into the RHI scandal, but Ms Bradley challenges the party on why it delayed the triggeting of such an investigation.

She adds: "Why was there an extended delay in this? Perhaps a suspicious mind might actually think maybe there's something that they're a little bit uncomfortable with that could be laid bare, and imagine that would happen on the even of an election."

MLAs from parties other than the DUP are "trying to smear" Arlene Foster over her role in the RHI scheme, the DUP's Gordon Lyons says.

He says "so much of the debate" on the issue has bee about "trying to hurt or to damage" his party leader.

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Accusing TUV leader Jim Allister and others of a smear campaign, he says he hopes MLAs "will be able to put the party politics to the side" in today's debate.

"The position that we are in requires action," he explains.

Regulations to cut the cost of the RHI scheme are only a short-term, 12-month solution but could save as much as £28m in the next financial year, DUP MLA Gordon Lyons points out.

He adds that Economy Minister Simon Hamilton told Stormont's Economy Committee that the proposals were "right to support" because they "address the worst excesses of the scheme" and will "relieve the pressure on the budget" and will "support those who legitimately applied" to the initiative.

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"Those are the things that should be guiding our thoughts," he tells his fellow MLAs.

"If these regulations are not brought in we're going to have to look at finding the money from elsewhere," the East Antrim MLA says, urging MLAs to be "realistic".

"Doing nothing", he says, "is not an option," and "has very serious consequences".

The assembly's examiner of statutory rules has reported that she is not happy but just about content with the RHI cost-cutting proposals, Mike Nesbitt tells the assembly.

The Ulster Unionist leader says a judicial review is inevitable and RHI scheme beneficiaries are preparing to take legal action against any attempt to change the scheme's subsidy rates.

The concern, Mr Nesbitt says, it that the scheme could therefore end up costing much more than the £85,000 a day when legal costs and compensation could be added to the taxpayers' bill.

"Very little additional certainty has been added" to the plan by delaying this debate by a week, he concludes, and adds that his party will listen carefully to what Economy Minister Simon Hamilton has to say before the vote.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt says his party will not stand in the way of the assembly approving the cost controls for the RHI scheme, but he makes the point that the seven-day adjournment on the debate over the plan, which he proposed, was needed to aid the scrutiny process.

He points out that his UUP colleague Harold McKee found out by way of an assembly question last week that 62% of biomass boiler installations through the RHI scheme did not replace existing heating systems.

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He asks: "How does that help the environment when we're putting in even more heating installations?"

Alliance Party leader Naomi Long intervenes to point out that a significant number of those new installations were put in place at a time when poultry producer Moy Park, a major beneficiary of the scheme, was expanding and were therefore "genuine".

Ulster Unionist Steve Aiken, who chaired the Economy Committee session on the RHI cost rescue plan this morning, intervenes to say the scheme has cost £30m this year "and we're spending £85,000 a day" as a result of the scheme.

He says there is no business case or plan for the minister's proposals, and the committee has received legal advice that the regulations may be subject to challenge in the courts.

The DUP's Gordon Lyons (above) says Mr Aiken may have been too busy chairing the committee to hear that economy department permanent secretary Dr Andrew McCormick's references to the the business plan, which "ticked all the boxes in terms of regularity and propriety".

Stephen Walker
BBC News NI Political Correspondent

Outside the chamber, the finance minister says the proposed cost rescue plan for the RHI scheme is "deeply, deeply flawed".

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir says Sinn Féin has an open mind on what way its MLAs will vote on the plan later.

The proposal put forward by Economy Minister Simon Hamilton falls short of "a comprehensive solution", Mr Ó Muilleoir adds.

A public inquiry into the RHi scheme "will find out why the process failed and what lessons must be learned moving forward", the DUP's Emma Little Pengelly says.

She comes to the defence of her party leader Arlene Foster, who was enterprise minister when the scheme was set up in 2012.

"The evidence to the [Public Accounts Committee] last Wednesday clearly highlights that this was not a failing by just one person," she says.

The South Belfast representatives adds that if MLAs pin the blame on one person "we are destined to make the same mistake again".

Today's main event begins now, as the assembly now debates Economy Minister Simon Hamilton's proposed plan to mitigate the financial damage of the failed Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

It is projected that the green energy initiative's overspend will cost taxpayers an extra £490m over the next 20 years.

Mr Hamilton and his Department for the Economy staff have drawn up legislation - the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2017, external - in a bid to halt the flow of public money through the scheme.

Image source, Tchara

This debate started in the assembly last Monday but was suspended for a week to allow MLAs to consider further information from the Department of Finance and the assembly's examiner of statutory rules.

Gordon Dunne of the DUP is the first to speak today, and he welcomes the plan put forward by the minister, who is a DUP colleague.

"Lessons must be learned from the scheme," the North Down MLA says.

DUP MLA Edwin Poots says political "instability creates vacuums" and "in vacuums "evil people step in".

"It's incumbent on each and every one of us," the Lagan Valley MLA says, "to continue to provide stability and leadership and be there for the people of Northern Ireland."

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Alliance Party MLA Trevor Lunn says that whoever carried out the gun attack did not "care if there would be collateral damage".

Mr Lunn adds that he hopes the attack on the police officer will not put other people off joining the PSNI as that would be a "success for the people who did this".

Bullets missed gas tanks and fuels pumps at the filling station when a police officer was shot last night, DUP MLA William Humphrey tells the assembly.

"We could've been looking at real carnage," the North Belfast representative (below, left), who was at the scene of the attack last night, adds, "from reckless, inhumane, evil people."

Image source, Press Eye

Ulster Unionist Ross Hussey, a former police officer, tells the assembly this is his last chance to speak on policing matters as he will shortly be retiring from politics.

"I hope that in the next assembly no politician has to stand up and condemn a murderous attack on a police officer," he adds.

Julian O'Neill
BBC News NI Business Correspondent

Independent MLA Claire Sugden says "concerned that someone would take advantage" of the political instability at Stormont.

She says she also has an interest in the matter as justice minister.

MLAs must "stand united" in opposition of the attack on a police officer last night, she adds.

The minister pays tribute to police officers, who "put their lives on the line every day" for the people of Northern Ireland.

"Armed struggle is a dead end," People Before Profit's Gerry Carroll says.

"Decades of armed struggle by the Provisional IRA did not end in victory and a much smaller campaign carried out today is even less likely to achieve anything," the West Belfast MLA tells the assembly.

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TUV leader Jim Allister says Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly, who spoke earlier, "still honours and glories in" acts of terrorism.

That, he adds, gives "succour, provides a crutch" and "causes them to conclude that if it's OK for the Provos it's OK for them".

Those who carried out that shooting on a police officer are "nothing but despicable cowards", Alliance Party leader Naomi Long tells the assembly.

"I send our best wishes to [the police officer] today," she adds.

Green Party MLA Claire Bailey says that when the officer returns to duty "he will be the hero".

"We must continue to work to make sure this does not happen again," Ms Bailey adds.

Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly says he understands the officer shot in north Belfast last night was in his early 20s.

The North Belfast MLA says there is a duty on everyone to pass information they might have about the attack to police.

Image source, Press Eye

Nichola Mallon of the SDLP says MLAs are divided on many things but are united in their condemnation of the shooting.

"It is right that we stand united and we send that very strong message who were involved in the attack last night," she adds.