Sinn Féin’s Catherine Kelly asks “for an update on the negotiations on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland”.

The deputy first minister says most parts of the protocol are reserved matters but a number are being worked on by DAERA.

Ms Kelly asks “how strong is the possibility of a no-deal Brexit?”.

Ms O’Neill says “there cannot be a hard border on the island of Ireland”.

She says the executive has agreed that a programme of readiness planning should be adopted across departments and will take into account that the protocol will be implemented regardless of the outcome of negotiations.

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The DUP’s Thomas Buchanan asks the ministers “for an update on the appointment of a Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse”.

Ms O’Neill says the public appointment competition for a commissioner opened on 9 June and was widely publicised.

The closing date for applications was 3 July 2020.

The DUP’s Keith Buchanan asks the ministers “for an update on the implementation of New Decade, New Approach (NDNA)”.

Ms O’Neill says there are over 200 proposals.

She says some of the NDNA proposals are being introduced at a departmental level, despite the executive’s focus being on Covid-19.

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Claire Bailey of the Green Party wants an update “on the work of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition”.

Declan Kearney, the Sinn Féin junior minister, takes the question.

He says it’s currently being concluded and that a final report is anticipated at the end of this month.

In a supplementary question, Ms Bailey asks if the political will to implement the recommendations from the report exists?

Mr Kearney says the expectation is the report will be given to the TEO at the end of the month and brought to consideration at that time.

“These are very contentious issues, very challenging,” he adds.

Jemma Dolan of Sinn Féin is up next. She asks the minister’s “what assurances they can give that the recommendations of the Hart Inquiry will be implemented fully”.

Michelle O’Neill says the recommendations will be “implemented fully”.

She adds that an application process to appoint a statutory Commissioner for Survivors of Institutional Childhood Abuse was recently launched adding it’s anticipated a commissioner will be “appointed in late summer”.

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The DUP’s William Humphrey wants “an update on the Urban Villages Initiative in north Belfast”.

Ms O’Neill asks Junior Minister Declan Kearney (above) to answer the question.

Mr Kearney says “since the launch” of the strategic framework document in 2016, work has progressed to create “stronger communities and relationships”.

He adds that there are 11 projects ongoing in the area, which are having an impact on a variety of aspects of life.

There are 19 capital projects in the area says the minister, eight of which have been completed he adds, with three others moving to construction.

The DUP's Jonathan Buckley has the first question:

To ask the First Minister and deputy First Minister for an update on the issues delaying payment to victims from the Troubles-related incident Victims Payment Scheme.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill says important issues remain to be resolved including the designation of an executive department to carry out administration on behalf of the board, security of funding and clarity on how exemptions are to be interpreted.

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Mr Buckley welcomes the allocation of £2.5m to the scheme.

He wants assurances from the minister that "she will not impede, nor frustrate the roll out" of the pensions payment.

The minister says she wants to reassure victims, who have been waiting far too long, that everything that can be done to put an "appropriate" scheme in place is being done.

The DUP's Paula Bradley asks about the designation of departmental responsibility.

She says the justice minister has already said she would oversee it.

Mrs O'Neill says Department of Justice staff have agreed to assist the Executive Office (TEO) with a number of key tasks.

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The Deputy Speaker Roy Beggs reopens proceedings in the chamber after lunch.

The first item of business is question time for the Executive Office - the first and deputy first ministers are present in the chamber.

The principal deputy speaker informs members that the session is suspended until 14:00.

We’re off to grab a quick bite of lunch, but when we return there’ll be more action in the chamber.

The next item on this afternoon’s agenda is Question Time for the Executive Office and the Health Minister Robin Swann.

We hope you’ll join us then.

Sinn Féin's Liz Kimmins says she thinks "a majority of us are on the same page on this".

She says they are not asking the minister "to hand out the money on this" but to bring proposals to the right people.

Referring to Mrs Kelly's speech, she says it's "quite unfair" to say the only complaints are coming from north and west Belfast in terms of taxi drivers.

She says all taxi drivers have a right to express their concerns.

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The DUP's Paul Frew backs the motion.

He praises the committee for bringing the motion to the assembly.

Mr Frew says there are still ministers with "a can't do attitude".

He says it's very bad when a party on a scrutiny committee "becomes a defence mechanism" for it's own minister.

Alliance’s Andrew Muir is up next.

He says he has “engaged with many businesses and people” who work in the sectors mentioned in motion.

Mr Muir says those working in haulage without contracts are “teetering on collapse” as a result of the pandemic.

He calls for a “tailored package of support for those hardest hit”.

Mr Muir says supporting the motion unamended “would be asking a fish to claim a tree and I’d be reluctant to do that”.

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Keith Buchanan of the DUP says he supports the motion and will not be supporting the amendment.

He outlines the impact that bus operators have had during the pandemic.

“Purchasing, insuring, maintaining” are all costs that have to be covered during the pandemic, says Mr Buchanan.

He refers to Mr Muir’s fish climbing a tree comment, and says “the fish got some help or guidance maybe it could attempt to climb that tree, it’s not impossible”.

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Sinn Féin's Cathal Boyle says he welcomes the committee motion.

He says that during the pandemic a lot of ministers didn't have the authority to do things "but stepped up and came up with plans and came up with ideas".

He says Mrs Kelly is mounting a "rearguard action to protect her minister".

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The UUP's Roy Beggs says people involved in these industries "have been severely adversely affected over the past number of months".

He says there is already a self-employed scheme in place and it's important that there is not double funding.

Mr Beggs says this is why he had supported an executive-led scheme.

Dolores Kelly moves the SDLP amendment.

It reads:

To leave out from ‘these industries’ to ‘Minister for Infrastructure’ and insert:

‘the powers of the minister for infrastructure are limited to regulation of the transport and transit sectors; welcomes the work undertaken by sectoral bodies and the minister for infrastructure to ease burdensome regulation during the emergency period; further recognises that these industries have not been included in specific executive support packages for private businesses; and calls on the executive’.

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Ms Kelly begins by saying “it’s very clear to see that there are some people, regretfully, politicising statutory committees”.

“There is a deliberate misdirection and deliberate confusion,” she adds.

She says in relation to all sectors, “everyone here feels a great deal of gratitude” for their work throughout the pandemic.

“This minister has led from the front,” adds Ms Kelly, and says she has listened to industry representatives.

“The fact is, all of those self-employed sectors have been able to avail of the financial support offered by the minister for the economy,” says the SDLP MLA.

She says it’s “very clear to see where the party political point scoring is coming from”.

The message is, “if there are opportunities” for the executive to help in any way, she says, “I would ask the members of this house to support” the amendment.

We're fairly rattling through the business and are now dealing with the seventh item on today's agenda.

It's a motion brought by the Committee for Infrastructure on Concerns over Covid-19 Guidance and Financial Support to Industry Sectors.

It calls for support for the taxi, haulage, driving instruction, and private hire bus and coach sectors.

Committee chairperson Michelle McIlveen of the DUP says the committee "is aware of a number of industries who feel they have been let down at this time".

They have approached the Department for Infrastructure but "adequate support has not been forthcoming or has been unsatisfactory".

She outlines the approaches made to the committee by the taxi industry, with the majority of drivers having to stop work due to the coronavirus regulations.

Miss McIlveen says the minister informed the committee that her department's responsibility lay only in regulation.

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The DUP MLA explains the similar concerns experienced by the road haulage and freight transport sectors.

She recounts the plight of driving instructors "feeling forgotten and invisible" at this time.

There is still no indication when driving tests will resume, she adds.

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Nichola Mallon winds on the debate.

The minister begins by reiterating comments from other members about the work those in the transport sector have done during the pandemic.

She says this will run from September to August next year, adding that any extension would come from the Department of Transport.

“This is very much about balancing risk, this is what I very much do in this job on a daily basis, particularly in this area,” says Ms Mallon.

She thanks the committee for their “diligence” in dealing with the matter, and asks that the assembly endorse the motion.

The Principal Deputy Speaker Christopher Stalford moves the house to an oral vote and it passes.

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Sinn Féin’s Cathal Boylan says he welcomes the motion.

He says the issue has particularly been impacting bus and lorry drivers during the pandemic.

Roy Beggs of the UUP (above) says he welcomes the motion being debated.

Mr Beggs says GPs have been “stressed and have had a very heavy workload” during the pandemic, which has had consequences for drivers.

He outlines a number of the issues which may occur if an extension was not provided.

Alliance’s Andrew Muir says “lorry and bus drivers are key workers” and thanks all transport workers throughout the pandemic.

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Chairperson of the Infrastructure Committee Michelle McIlveen on the DUP is up first.

She says during Covid, the committee has worked with the minister and the department in “making the required mitigations for those most affected by the lockdown”.

Ms McIlveen adds that the crisis has meant, drivers needing a medical assessment “are having difficulty in gaining access to a medical professional” but she says a solution has now been found.

Although the committee had little time to look at the motion, Ms McIlveen says they did their best to provide scrutiny of it.

Next up is a legislative consent motion (LCM) on the Business and Planning Bill.

An LCM allows the parliament at Westminster to legislate on devolved matters that would normally be dealt with at Stormont.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon apologises for the tight timescale and explains that the bill is currently with the House of Lords and is expected to become law later this month.

She says the bill is designed to address the move from crisis response, to recovery from Covid-19.

The minister says clause 15 of the bill allows her department to issue one-year licences to certain bus and lorry drivers.

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She explains the details of the system - including the need for a medical assessment for applicants.

To address the difficulty of getting medical appointments during the Covid crisis current licences were extended for seven months.

Ms Mallon says the proposed legislation prompts the question whether a new power is needed to issue one-year licences.

"The honest answer to that is, I don't know," she admits.

The minister says no-one knows what the future will hold, but she believes "it is prudent to keep other options open" given the need to keep supply chains open.

She says DVA is working to return to the usual arrangements as soon as possible.

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Finance Minister Conor Murphy rises to wind on the debate.

He says he believes the scheme is “worth reinstating” for those living in rural communities.

The situation regarding the long-term need for the scheme may change in the future, says the minister, depending on how many people become used to contactless payments.

“The purpose of this exemption is to try and provide support to rural businesses,” he adds.

Mr Murphy says he welcomes the establishment of an all-party group in the assembly to look at fair banking.

The deputy speaker directs members to vote on the motion. It passes with no dissenting voices.

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The SDLP’s Pat Catney apologises for arriving a little late to the debate.

He says this represents “everything that is fair for a rural community” and thanks the minister for bringing forward the statement.

Sinéad Bradley, Mr Catney’s party colleague, says this is not an incentive to bring an ATM or cash machine to a rural area, but does “help with the viability of retaining one there”.

The importance of having access to that money in rural areas, she says, will go to local shops.

She questions how an area around an ATM is rated and wants further clarification on this.

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Both Jonathan Buckley of the DUP and Matthew O'Toole (above) of the SDLP welcome the measure.

Mr Buckley says that as the banks have gradually left the rural towns, "that has had a devastating impact on connectivity, in conversations and even in the access to cash".

Mr O'Toole says "it's a welcome reminder that these institutions can do positive, practical things".

Sinn Féin’s Maolíosa McHugh says this is “legislation that is so important to the rural communities”.

He refers to incidents in his local area where banks closed.

“When banking had abandoned rural towns, it had such an impact on our communities,” says Mr McHugh.

“The facility to acquire cash had, in many ways, completely gone,” he says.

“It exposed rural communities in many ways.”

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UUP MLA Steve Aiken speaks in his role as chairperson of the Committee for Finance.

He says that at the minute “businesses need all they can get to help them survive, not least those operating in rural areas”.

He says the committee welcomes the reinstatement of the statutory rule.