Justice Minister Naomi Long says she wants to use a "person-centered approach" to her work to make a "real difference for some of the most vulnerable" who are affected by crime and the justice system.

"I want to ensure that we look at the system through the eyes of the most vulnerable victims and witnesses so that we can working together deliver real change."

She says she doesn't want the system to "retraumatise" people, particularly those who are victims of domestic and sexual offences.

Image source, NI Assembly

She intends to introduce legislation to outlaw abusive behaviour in a domestic context, such as emotional control, as well as physical or sexual violence.

Victims of stalking are not adequately protected by existing legislation, says the Alliance Party leader, so she intends to address that with new law too.

Hate crime legislation is also set to be updated, based on the recommendations of a judge-led review of existing laws.

Image source, NI Assembly

Justice Committee chair Paul Givan gets things going for the regular Thursday afternoon meeting.

He welcomes Justice Minister Naomi Long and hands over to her to begin her briefing about the key issues and priorities for her department.

Northern Ireland Assembly

Here's the agenda for this Justice Committee sitting.

Image source, NI Assembly

Looks like Justice Minister Naomi Long and her department's permanent secretary Peter May are in for a long afternoon - two hours and 40 minutes has been set aside for their appearance briefing to the MLAs.

The session has just started - you can watch it by clicking on the play button on the video at the top of this page.

The Communities Committee ties up a few loose ends and chair Paula Bradley brings proceedings to a close.

We'll be back after lunch when Justice Minister Naomi Long answers questions from MLAs on the Justice Committee - join us at 14:00 if you can.

The selection scheme for applicants for social housing is criticised by Kellie Armstrong, the Alliance Party MLA, who says it's "forcing people into homelessness".

She says there are "young men in their droves not qualifying for houses because that selection scheme deliberately discriminates again them" and she urges the officials to "catch yourselves on".

Image source, Getty Images

Department for Communities official Paul Price tells her the scheme has been reviewed and 20 changes to it have been recommended.

"A review of how [selection scheme] points work can't add one home to total supply but it can try and make the waiting list a better way of responding to housing need and fairer," he adds.

He says the proposals for change are "quite significant" and are with the Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey for consideration.

Committee chair Paula Bradley raises the issue of tower blocks in her North Belfast constituency, some of which were to be transferred to new landlords while others were to be demolished under a "tower block strategy".

It emerged in 2018 that the Housing Executive was considering the future of its 33 tower blocks, including possibly demolishing some of them over a 20-year period.

More than £300m is needed over the next three decades years just to ensure the tower blocks are maintained to standard, according to the executive's board.

Department for Communities official Louise Warde Hunter says work on the "tower block strategy" was delayed by the Grenfell Tower tragedy of 2017.

Civil servant Paul Price, who deals with housing supply policy, makes a point about the New Lodge tower blocks (above) in north Belfast and the work they require.

"The Housing Executive really cannot mount a case for keeping these in the long term," he says.

Communities Committee chair Paula Bradley returns to one of the issues she raised with Minister Deirdre Hargey this morning - when will there be greater regulation of the private rented sector?

Departmental official David Polley (below) says already deposit protection and landlord registration schemes are already in place.

Image source, NI Assembly

He says officials would like to transfer some of that regulation to councils.

The Department for Communities has a list of landlords but no enforcement powers while the councils have enforcement powers but no list of landlords, he explains.

Louise Warde Hunter is a deputy secretary - one of the most senior officials - in the Department for Communities and her remit covers housing, urban regeneration and local government.

She is leading a panel of civil servants in briefing the MLAs on the Communities Committee about the work she and her officials do.

The colleagues with her this afternoon are Paul Price (right), who oversees the Housing Executive and social housing policy, and David Polley (left), who is the department's head of housing supply policy.

Image source, NI Assembly

Ms Warde Hunter says levels of housing stress - when households have to pay too large a proportion of their income in housing costs - "show no sign of reducing" and demand for homes is rising.

She tells the committee that as of March 2019 about 26,500 people are in housing stress - that's about 2,700 more than in 2016-17.

The Department for Communities has "ploughed resources" into new social homes but the increasing need is "hampering the impact of our efforts", adds the civil servant.

Image source, NI Assembly

There's a smile from Deirdre Hargey as her appearance before the Communities Committee comes to an end.

Next up, the committee will hear from Department for Communities officials about matters relating to housing, urban regeneration and councils.

Paula Bradley brings the ministerial Q&A to a close with a question about the sports development body Sport NI, external - she says its "remarkable" that the organisation's accounts haven't been cleared since 2017-18.

How confident, she asks, is the communities minister in Sport NI's ability to manage its affairs to an acceptable standard?

Deirdre Hargey says her officials have been engaging with Sport NI "over issues more generally within the organisation and obviously the knock-on effect that that would have in the terms of the accounts".

Image source, Sport NI

She says there have been discussions with its accounting officer and with the Northern Ireland Audit Office in relation to the body.

"We're still waiting on a further report coming out to look at the implementation and the recommendations that are coming from that," says Ms Hargey.

The Northern Ireland Audit Office has been working on a report - Governance Issues at Sport NI, external - with the aim of publishing it this year.

The SDLP's Mark H Durkan throws a shedload of questions at the minister about all sorts of issues.

"If I miss something come back to me 'cos there's a lot there," says Deirdre Hargey.

Image source, Getty Images

She reassures the Foyle MLA that her Department for Communities will make sure payments to welfare claimants continue while work proceeds on extending the welfare mitigations.

She makes reference to the two-child rule, where the child element in universal credit and tax credits is restricted to the first two children in a family.

The communities minister explains that she is considering introducing extra mitigations in that area, with a projected cost of £180m for one suggested scheme.

Sinn Féin's Sinéad Ennis raises the issue of the Casement Park GAA stadium and says she was shocked to discover there was one one full-time planner working on the project's planning application, given the "size and magnitude" of it.

The South Down MLA says people "can be cynical and draw their own conclusions" about why that was the case, adding she'll not share her views about it in public.

Image source, Getty Images

She says the people calling for the planned stadium to be reduced in size and capacity have an "absolute lack of understanding" of the popularity of gaelic games.

"I don't think that the quarter of a million Gaels across Ulster should be punished for the fact there's been no ministers to take those decisions," she adds.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey assures Ms Ennis there'll be "no undue delay" in the project because the planning application is "moving at pace" and the stadium "needs to developed as soon as possible".

Alliance Party MLA Kellie Armstrong raises concerns about grants to improve the living accommodation of people with a disability who live in social housing.

The Strangford representative also says the Disabled Facilitates Grants system, external needs a "complete and utter overhaul" because it's "just not working well for people".

Image source, Getty Images

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey says she'll be working with Stormont's finance department to put in place a long-term strategy for improving social housing.

She commits to discussing the Disabled Grants System with Ms Armstrong after the committee session and says she'll give the feedback to her officials in the Department for Communities.

The DUP's Jonathan Buckley raises the issue of funding for the new Casement Park (below), saying there's "been recent speculation that an additional bid for £33m" for the project was made to the Stormont executive.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey says what's been written in the press is "not true".

"It's known that the budget [for the stadium] has increased - we don't know the final figure yet because planning has not been granted, the application is still in the system," she adds.

She says the overall estimate is now about £110m, with some of it coming from the GAA.

Image source, GAA

Mr Buckley asks if the minister agrees with the GAA's position "that no additional increase in their contribution is viable at this time".

Ms Hargey says the funding plan involves an "80-20 split" but discussions are continuing with the GAA and officials will have a better of the requirements after the planning decision.

Mr Buckley says the GAA has "recorded a record annual revenue of almost €74m (£62m) in 2019".

The minister says there was no contribution from the governing bodies of the related sports for some of the other recent stadium developments in Northern Ireland.

Committee chair Paula Bradley asks if the communities minister has plans to introduce compulsory registration of private landlords, saying that some people are "living in dreadful conditions".

Deirdre Hargey says the number of private rentals has doubled over the past 10 years.

Image source, NI Assembly

"I am looking at what we can do to strengthen protections in the private rented sector, to look at issues of security of tenure, looking at the issue of regulation going forward," she says.

Ms Hargey says its "more of a cottage industry" as most landlords in Northern Ireland only own one or two properties.

BBC News NI discovered last week that rents for tenants in Housing Executive properties are to increase by 2.75% from April, meaning an average weekly rise of £1.79.

The arms-length social housing body faces a significant shortfall in funding.

Image source, Getty Images

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey reveals that the Housing Executive wanted to increase rents by 7%.

She tells the Communities Committee that request was rejected because of the "adverse impact that that would have on tenants".

She says her department is looking at "new financial solutions" for the Housing Executive.

Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey will be under "immense pressure" due to the "mammoth amount of work" for which her department is responsible, says Paula Bradley.

The committee chair delves into the issue of the welfare mitigation for the so-called "bedroom tax".

Image source, Reuters

About 38,000 households in Northern Ireland receive financial support that protects them from the tax but the scheme is due to end on 31 March.

At the start of this month, Ms Hargey said she would extend the mitigation scheme, which will cost about £23m a year.

Ms Hargey says the department is on course to get the legislation rubber stamped before the end of March and is trying to get it introduced and accelerated through the assembly.

Communities minister Deirdre Hargey begins her Q&A with a short briefing on some of the big issues and says she has a "huge department with a wide-raging brief".

The minister says the initial priority is to progress legislation that needs to be renewed before the end of March, including "extension of the welfare mitigations package, the bedroom tax, the benefits cap and other existing mitigations".

Image source, NI Assembly

There's a long list of other issues to deal with, such as the revitalisation of the Housing Executive and consultations on liquor licensing and gambling laws.

The minister says there will be a focus on progressing the redevelopment of the GAA stadium at Casement Park in west Belfast.

The project features in he New Decade, New Approach document, which saw the return of the assembly last month after its three-year hiatus.

Image source, NI Assembly

You can watch the proceedings live by clicking on the play button on the video at the top of this page.

Northern Ireland Assembly

Here's what's on the agenda for the Communities Committee this morning.

Image source, NI Assembly

After a quick run through some general business, Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey and her department's top official Tracy Meharg will outline their top priorities.

The committee will then hear from departmental officials who deal with issues such as housing, urban regeneration and councils.

After that there's a few bits of legislation to assess.