Next up is the consideration stage of the Private Tenancies (Coronavirus Modifications) Bill.

If passed the bill would provide additional protection for private tenants during the pandemic by extending the notice periods from four weeks to 12 weeks.

Gerry Carroll of People Before Profit has bought 14 amendments to the bill.

He says that even if all his amendments are accepted, "this piece of legislation will not go far enough in my view to protect those renters".

Image source, Getty Images

The first amendment seeks seeks to extend the notice period to one year.

Another seeks to extend the retrospectively to the date the bill was published.

A final amendment would allow for a rent waiver if a tenant has been affected by the coronavirus.

Edwin Poots is then invited by the principal deputy speaker to pay tribute to his father, Charles Poots.

He begins by saying his thoughts are also with his party colleague Jeffrey Donaldson, whose father recently died, as well as Oliver McMullan of Sinn Féin whose daughter passed away.

Mr Poots says he "thanks God for my mother and father and for the start they gave me in life".

He says they "didn't always have lots of money" but "I had a really good start in life as I had really good parents".

He says his father was a committed politician and quips to the deputy speaker he should be "thankful you have me to deal with and not him because he could've been a little more fiery than me".

Image source, NI Assembly

Mr Poots then recalls how his father "narrowly avoided being murdered" by the INLA in 1976, something Mr Poots says he himself was "quite bitter about for many years".

But he says that through watching his dad "mix and mingle" with members of the Roman Catholic community, and how he "dealt with that in such a gracious way" it "enabled me to overcome the bitterness in my heart that shouldn't have been there in the first place".

"Dad lived a long life" says Mr Poots, adding, "he had a good life".

Principal Deputy Speaker Christopher Stalford gets the ball rolling.

He informs the members that he will be suspending business at 10:50 to allow for a minute's silence in the chamber in honour of the front line workers who have died saving the lives of others during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Stalford begins by expressing the condolences of the assembly to former MLAs Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and Oliver McMullan who have both experienced close family bereavements.

Image source, NI Assembly

He then pays tribute to former DUP politician Charlie Poots, the father of Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots, who died recently,

"But for the vision of people like Charlie Poots and Ian Paisley, I wouldn't be here as a DUP assembly member," Mr Stalford says.

Image source, Pacemaker

Welcome to Tuesday’s live coverage of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Today we have a full plenary meeting of the assembly from Parliament Buildings at Stormont.

The main items of business today are debates on a bill to strengthen Northern Ireland’s domestic abuse laws as well as emergency legislation to protect private tenancies during the Covid crisis.

The assembly sits at 10:30. Do join us then.