Agriculture Minister Gordon Lyons brought the Direct Payments to Farmers regulations to the Assembly
Question Time with Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Finance Minister Conor Murphy
MLAs debated an SDLP motion on a Recovery and Investment Strategy
That's all from the hill for today.
We'll be back at Stormont tomorrow morning for another full plenary session of the assembly, including Question Time for the Health Minister, Robin Swann.
Do join us at 10:30 and, in the meantime, have a great evening.
Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd winds for the amendment.
He says the economy has been faced by "the perfect storm" caused by Brexit, Covid and a possible world recession to come.
"We need a united front," he says, adding that this is why the amendment is important.
Image source, NI AssemblyMatthew O'Toole (above) winds for the SDLP motion.
"How do we ensure that we have a fair and greener economy when we finally emerge from what we all agree is a hateful hibernation?" he asks.
"Let's maximise the opportunities that we have, our unique place in this continent. Let's stop talking down the Northern Ireland economy," he concludes.
The motion passes, as amended by Sinn Féin.
Image source, NI AssemblyEconomy Minister Diane Dodds replies to the debate.
She criticises the proposer, Sinead McLaughlin and the SDLP, describing them as "cheerleaders for the Protocol".
"Ms McLaughlin cannot hide her head in the sand to the damage being done to the businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland as a direct result of the Protocol," says the minister.
"While I do not underestimate the challenge ahead of us as we continue to respond to Covd-19 and its economic and societal impacts, now is not the time for petty points scoring," she concludes.
Image source, NI AssemblyJemma Dolan of Sinn Féin speaks out for her rural Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
"A strong, regionally-balanced inclusive economy is essential if we are to tackle the social and economic challenges facing us," she says.
'Any economic recovery must not repeat the mistakes of the past and it must provide decent and secure work," Ms Dolan adds.
Image source, NI AssemblyAt the end of Question Time, the members return to their debate on a Recovery and Investment Strategy.
"Forgive me for being the cynic in this house," says the DUP's Mervyn Storey.
The North Antrim MLA says that when you look at the SDLP motion and listen to some of the contributions "you would nearly think that we were in the first shot of the 2022 assembly elections".
"The motion reads like and sounds like a party manifesto," he adds.
On to topical questions, and Ulster Unionist Mike Nesbitt asks about the amount of funds currently unspent and in danger of being returned to the Treasury at the end of the financial year.
Mr Murphy says the Department of Finance is still receiving information from other departments so he can't give a figure but "we do intend to bring an updated paper to the executive this Thursday".
He says there will be contingency plans "to ensure that the full value of that goes back into the local economy".
Image source, NI AssemblyMr Nesbitt asks if the minister of justice has entered a bid for further funding for the police given the chief constable's warning that he may have to lose several hundred officers.
The finance minister says this follow-up question refers to next year's budget:
He says: "We didn't receive any increase for any department so any bids or pressures identified by the Department of Justice, or indeed any other department have to be set against that reality".
Image source, NI AssemblyDUP MLA Michelle McIlveen asks if Mr Murphy will work with other ministers "to assist businesses which service the aviation industry and that have been badly impacted by Covid-19 restrictions".
The minister says his department "is in the process of implementing a £10m package of support for the Belfast airports under the emergency powers granted by the first and deputy first ministers" and the infrastructure minister is funding support of £1.2m for the City of Derry Airport.
Image source, NI AssemblyFinance Minister Conor Murphy is next at the lectern to take questions from the members.
Ulster Unionist Robbie Butler asks the minister for "an update on his department's engagement with The Executive Office on the Troubles' Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme".
Mr Murphy says that, as part of the draft budget, the executive has allocated £6.7m towards the preparation costs for the introduction of a scheme," but he adds that "the wider payments issue requires urgent attention".
He says ministers have been trying for some time to arrange a meeting with the secretary of state and this is now due to take place tomorrow.
In reply to a follow-up question from Mr Butler, the minister says the latest estimation they have of the possible cost of the scheme is between £600m and £1.2bn.
Image source, NI AssemblyThe speaker moves on to topical questions, a 15-minute slot that allows members to raise issues not covered in the main part of Question Time.
Tom Buchanan of the DUP has a question about the forthcoming 2021 census.
He says he's concerned that Ms O'Neill's party, Sinn Féin, "put out false information across the media that this was simply an exercise carried out solely to purge eligible voters off the register in Northern Ireland, which is factually incorrect".
She replies that she's currently speaking as "joint head of government", but she adds that "the Electoral Office's role should be to facilitate people to get registered to vote, to make it easy for people to exercise their franchise".
Image source, NI AssemblyNicola Brogan of Sinn Féin asks "for an update on how the Racial Equality Strategy 2015-2025 is addressing racism and eradicating hate crime".
Junior Minister Declan Kearney takes this one.
He says that "unfortunately, racism and hatred remains an unwelcome presence in our society" and outlines some of the progress made on the strategy.
Mr Kearney describes "a very sobering meeting" with the executive's representative racial equality sub-group recently, which he describes as "something of a reset moment".
We'll return to the Recovery and Investment Strategy debate later.
It's time for Questions to the Executive Office, represented this week by the Deputy First Minister, Michelle O'Neill.
UUP leader Steve Aiken asks for an update on "engagement with the European Commission on the impact of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland".
Ms O'Neill says she and the first minister met EU Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič on 3 February following the EU's triggering of Article 16.
It was agreed "to work together to address the remaining Protocol issues".
Image source, NI AssemblyDr Aiken asks if the EU representative showed any recognition of listening to the "very legitimate concerns" of the people of Northern Ireland, particularly the unionist community, about "the very invidious nature of the Irish Sea border itself" and "the fact that the Protocol is part of the problem and not part of the solution".
Ms O'Neill says Mr Šefčovič "listened intently to what was said in the meeting".
She says everyone's efforts should be aimed at finding solutions, "to give the businesses the clarity, stability that they crave".
Image source, NI AssemblyChristopher Stalford says his party, the DUP, will not be supporting the motion but they will be supporting the Sinn Féin amendment.
That amendment withdraws criticism of the Sinn Féin and DUP ministers, Conor Murphy and Diane Dodds, contained in the original motion.
The pandemic is costing the Northern Ireland economy £100m per week," Mr Stalford says.
The South Belfast MLA adds that there have been projections of up to 100,000 job losses as a result of the pandemic.
Caoimhe Archibald moves a Sinn Féin amendment to the SDLP motion:
It reads that everything after the line "will have on jobs" is left out of the motion but is replaced by:
"agrees that all executive ministers must contribute towards delivering a comprehensive economic recovery strategy; and calls on the executive to develop a comprehensive recovery and investment strategy that will transform public services, create more jobs and help build back better from the crisis.".
This is backed by Caoimhe Archibald, John O’Dowd, Philip McGuigan and Jemma Dolan.
Image source, NI AssemblyDr Archibald outlines some of the financial interventions made to support businesses and individuals during the pandemic.
However, she says: "There do remain those who have been excluded from support schemes to date and that still needs to be addressed".
Image source, NI AssemblySDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin proposes this motion on economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
She is a former chief executive of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.
"This assembly has a choice. We can moan about the situation we face or we can get on with it and fix it. The SDLP has always focused on solutions, " the Foyle MLA says.
Image source, PacemakerNext on the agenda is a private members' motion brought by a number of SDLP MLAs on a recovery and business strategy:
That this Assembly recognises the deep and lasting impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on people, communities and businesses across Northern Ireland; further recognises the severe impact that restrictions have had on our society and economy and the devastating impact that the conclusion of the furlough scheme will have on jobs; regrets that the minister for the economy and minister of finance have failed to produce a comprehensive Covid-19 recovery plan prioritising employment and efforts to build back better; expresses concern that the minister for the economy has failed to outline a strategy for maximising the potential for job creation and growth as a result of dual market access guaranteed under the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland; and calls on both ministers to work with their executive colleagues to establish a comprehensive recovery and investment strategy that will transform public services, create more jobs and help build back better from the crisis.
The motion is signed by Matthew O'Toole, Colin McGrath, Sinéad McLaughlin and Dolores Kelly.
John Blair is the first MLA to make a contribution to an assembly debate by video link.
Some assembly members had called for remote proceedings, due to the pandemic.
The Alliance MLA says he wants to stress the importance of the agri-food industry to the Northern Ireland economy.
"Future payments need to support farming and rural communities whilst benefiting the sustainability and profitability of farming and, more crucially, also the environment," he adds.
Image source, NI AssemblyGreen Party leader Clare Bailey says the party broadly welcomes the regulations.
She says they would like to see further changes to the payments' system aimed at "continuing to delivering better outcomes for both nature and land use".
Agriculture Minister Gordon Lyons winds up the debate and the regulations pass on an oral vote.
The SDLP's Patsy McGlone says the payments have been the main income stream for farmers "for many years".
He says that if they ended suddenly it would be "a significant shock" for the farming industry".
Mr McGlone says the fixed ceiling on payments represents a real terms year-on-year decrease in payments to farmers.
Image source, Ni AsemblyUlster Unionist Rosemary Barton says the UK's departure from the EU and its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) represents one of the most significant changes to policy in the past 50 years.
Sinn Féin's Declan McAleer chairs the assembly's Agriculture Committee.
He says committee members were assured by Agriculture Department officials that "there would be no substantive policy changes made", and there would be no changes experienced on the ground by farmers as a result of the alterations to the regulations.
Mr McAleer says the simplifications make sense, but he lists a number of policy areas where, he says, the department has "failed to make" sufficient progress.
Image source, NI AssemblyThe DUP's William Irwin says the regulations being debated today are "important and necessary to ensure that we have a functional payments system".
"Farming and the environment very much go hand in hand, and one cannot realistically survive without the other," he says.
Image source, NI AssemblyAgriculture Minister Gordon Lyons is on his feet next to introduce the debate on the Direct Payments to Farmers Regulations.
He explains that the current financial support for farmers, including the basic payment scheme, "are worth over £293m annually to farmers in Northern Ireland".
The regulations being debated today aim to ensure that the current scheme continues to operate effectively "and to implement efficiencies and simplifications wherever possible".
Mr Lyons says leaving the EU has enabled Northern Ireland to development an agricultural support framework "better suited to local needs."
Image source, NI AssemblySpeaker Alex Maskey calls the members to order.
He begins by raising the matter of threats made to ministers, members of the assembly, journalists, cultural figures "and ordinary families".
Mr Maskey says if he granted all the requests made by members they could end up having a Matter of the Day condemning a specific threat at the beginning of every sitting.
The speaker says the parties "may wish to come together to explore how a substantive discussion on these issues could be added to the order paper in the time ahead."
Mr Maskey takes the members through some housekeeping business including an explanation of the introduction of remote contributions to debates, which start today.
He then turns to the first item on the agenda.
It's a public petition brought by Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd calling for the extension of the Covid Payment.