Ulster Unionist Doug Beattie begins the discussion in the chamber on the shooting of a police officer in Belfst last night, saying that it was a "cowardly act" carried out by "career terrorists", and one that took "took months in the planning".

He says politicians have "failed the country" and they must show support for the PSNI.

DUP MLA Nelson McCausland, in whose North Belfast constituency the attack took place, says the attack was "reminiscent of the 70s and '80s", when police officers were regularly targeted during the Troubles.

And he warns: "Anyone could have been cut down and killed on the spot last night."

Assembly business begins with the shooting of a police officer in north Belfast as the matter of the day.

Automatic gunfire was sprayed across a garage forecourt on the city's Crumlin Road in last night, hitting the officer twice on the arm. He is in a stable condition.

Image source, Pacemaker

Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable George Hamilton said the shooting was a "planned operation" and "completely reckless", and a 36-year-old man has been arrested.

Police say their main line of inquiry is that "violent dissident republicans" may have carried out the gun attack.

It's all set to be a long day up here at Stormont, and here's a glance at what will be coming up in the chamber, external from midday...

You can bet we'll be here for much longer than those indicative timings suggest.

Whatever happens throughout the day, we'll be here to the end!

Conor Macauley
BBC News NI Environment Correspondent

Businesses availing of the RHI scheme have begun receiving letters about plans to publish their names.

Those who had objected to their names being published had their applications for anonymity assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Some have now been told their names will be put into the public domain.

In the letter, they are told that the "public interest overrides your objections" and the Department for the Economy will release their information on Wednesday.

With the questions to the Department for the Economy officials at an end, committee members discuss how to react to the proposed cost rescue plan for the RHI scheme.

Chair Steve Aiken says he is minded to "note" the draft legislation rather than approve or reject it.

Alliance Party MLA Stephen Farry says he feels "it's appropriate that we note it".

Mervyn Storey of the DUP says the legal advice the committee has received is professional and non-political but it will be challenged in court and the members "should strike a balance" with their decision.

It is agreed by the committee to note the proposal.

Stephen Farry echoes chair Steve Aiken's annoyance that Economy Minister Simon Hamilton has not appeared at the committee this morning to answer questions on the RHI cost mitigation plan.

The Alliance Party MLA says the proposal is "mired in politics" and the minister "has form for dong this at short notice in the teeth of an election".

Mr Farry adds that the minster has been known to make "a big, grand announcement and than after the election the thing falls apart".

The members become concerned about Mr McCormick's comment that that a "special adviser", refered to as a spad, had come up with the emergency legislation proposal.

Alliance Party MLA Stephen Farry wants to know if the adviser in question is one who has now "partially stood aside" from dealing with RHI matters - in other words, DUP adviser John Robinson.

Image source, Pacemaker

Mr Robinson, the adviser to Economy Minister Simon Hamilton, stepped aside from any future involvement in the flawed RHI scheme last week after failing to declare that his father-in-law is a claimant.

"I'm not sure that's what I'm here for, chairman," Dr McCormick says.

After an intervention from committee chair Steve Aiken, he says that "John Robinson was not present" at any of the discussions.

An idea to bring forward emergency legislation to stop the drain of money from the RHI scheme came from a ministerial adviser, Dr Andrew McCormick tells the committee.

The idea was presented over Christmas, the permanent secretary says, and was decided on 30 December.

Image source, Thinkstock

But he goes on to add that it did not come from an adviser within the Department for the Economy.

"Ideas can come from a range of different people - that is normal businesses, totally normal practice," he adds.

Dr Andrew McCormick says he underestimated the number of people who were aware of how lucrative the RHI scheme was when he says about 50 to 100 people knew it was a cash-cow.

He acknowledges that a newspaper report from the weekend shows that "I got the out by at least an order of magnitude".

"Somebody over and above a concerned citizen had a responsibility to say: 'Are you sure you're meaning to do this?'" he tells the committee.

"Shame on us for not having spotted the problem until too late, but there is also a significant issue as to why people continued to burn and nobody turn us.

"That should affect how this is assessed by the courts."

Next year's RHI scheme overspend is expected to hit Stormont's budget by £28m, the Economy Committee hears.

If the Department for the Economy's budget is cut by that full amount, the business development agency Invest NI, universities, further education colleges would suffer the worst consequences.

"There would be a very big economic impact if [that was to happen]," civil servant Stephen McMurray says.

Committee chair Steve Aiken says major concerns around the cost-cutting plan surround the impact it could have on the agri-food sector, with the poultry sector claiming it will be badly hit.

But Dr Andrew McCormick says Stormont's Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has not raised concerns with the proposals.

Economy Committee Chair Steve Aiken presses the officials about the economic impact of the RHI scheme's cost mitigation plan after beneficiaries of the scheme told MLAs last week that the measures would have a disastrous impact on their businesses.

Mr Aiken wants to know whether a compensation package may be on offer for firms that "may go to the wall" as a result of the cut in their RHI subsidies.

Dr Andrew McCormick says the initial cost rescue plan is intended as a short-term, one-year-only measure and compensation is not being considered at this stage.

A permanent solution will be introduced from April 2018, he explains, and if its shown "against my expectation" that the short-term plan is "in some way unfair" then it "can be put right" in the long-term fix.

Stormont's Department of Finance has not yet approved the proposals to cut the cost of the RHI scheme, Andrew McCormick tells the Economy Committee.

MLAs will vote on the plan in a matter of hours, but Dr McCormick says there "is no good reason why" that Finance Minister Máirtín Ó Muilleoir would not rubber-stamp the plan before the assembly sits at 12:00.

"This is an overwhelmingly strong option - the case for approving it is there and clearly demonstrated," the Department for the Economy permanent secretary says.

"It's based on a sound analysis of the options and there's plenty of solid information on which its built."

Ulster Unionist Steve Aiken takes the chair and gets this morning's Economy Committee sitting under way, and notes that Sinn Féin MLAs are continuing their boycott of assembly committees, as they have done for the past two weeks.

He also says he is disappointed the Economy Minister Simon Hamilton, who was asked to appear before the committee this morning, will not be present.

Instead, Department for the Economy permanent secretary Dr Andrew McCormick is joined by two civil servants, who will answer queston from the committee on the RHI mitigation plan.

First up this morning, the assembly's Economy Committee will scrutinise Minister Simon Hamilton's  plan to mitigate the £490m cost of the controversial Renewable heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

The so-called cash-for-ash scandal surrounding the scheme is one of the major reasons why Stormont collapsed, and the economy minister has produced amending legislation that would reduce tariffs paid to about 1,800 people who got into the scheme before November 2015.

Last week, Mr Hamilton and his department's permanent secretary Dr Andrew McCormick appeared before the committee to outline the plans, and the proposals were then debated by MLAs in the assembly with a view to voting on them.

But the discussion was adjourned to allow further scrutiny of the on the cost-cutting plan, and the debate will resume today.

This morning, Dr McCormick will answer more questions on the proposed legislation, which has already been met with opposition from an organisation representing claimants of the RHI scheme, which says it would be "catastrophic" for businesses and would only add to the cost to the taxpayer.

BBC News Northern Ireland

Sinn Féin is expected to announce its new Stormont leader today.

Health Minister Michelle O'Neill is widely tipped as the politician who will take over from former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, who has retired due to illness.

Image source, Pacemaker

Over the weekend, Mrs O'Neill took a prominent position sitting next to party president Gerry Adams at a conference on Irish unity in Dublin.

She was elected to the assembly in Mid Ulster in 2007.

Welcome to Stormont Live on this cold and frosty January morning.

We're into the final week of business at the Northern Ireland Assembly before members go their separate ways for the election campaign, but there's still plenty of work to get through.

This morning from 10:40, we have a specially-convened meeting of the assembly's Economy Committee to discuss Minister Simon Hamilton's plans to reduce the potential financial damage caused by the disastrous Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

The at midday there's a full meeting of the assembly, with more heated debate on the RHI rescue plan expected.