Ulster Unionist Alan Chambers refers to the recent outbreak of infection in Kilkeel County Down, which he describes as "textbook".

He says the return to normality will be slow and will "quite rightly " be guided by medical and scientific advice.

Image source, NI Assembly

Paula Bradshaw of Alliance says she supports the regulations.

She says the reopening of hospitality and the resumption of sport "have given a considerable boost".

Image source, NI Assembly

Outgoing deputy chair of the Health Committee Pam Cameron says there’s a need to examine communications around travel for members of the public.

“Many travel agents, indeed many who are self-employed, are in dire straits” she adds.

The DUP MLA puts on record “that Robin Swann is not dangerous” - a reference to a recent event at the Europa Hotel in which DUP MP Ian Paisley chanted comments about the health minister alongside singer Sir Van Morrison.

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Cara Hunter says local business owners have “breathed the greatest sigh of relief” at reopening their doors.

The SDLP MLA adds that the Covid-19 support package delivered by the executive has also been greatly welcomed.

“I believe, as do many right across this house, that we have yet to see the full impact of the pandemic on mental health,” adds Ms Hunter.

Chair of the Health Committee, Colm Gildernew, praises the vaccination programme and the drive to reduce the number of Covid-19-related hospital admissions.

“We are almost at 3,000 deaths” in NI due to Covid-19, adds Mr Gildernew.

He outlines committee members’ consideration of the easements which have been presented to MLAs this afternoon.

“We understand the tight timeframes,” says Mr Gildernew, but adds that the committee would welcome being given more advanced sight of the regulations.

Image source, NI Assembly

In his role as Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson, Mr Gildernew urges “caution as the Delta variant still poses considerable risk”.

He calls on individuals to “adhere to the public messaging” and for the Health Department to ensure the test and trace strategy is robust to deal with emerging cases.

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Next on the agenda are motions to approve three statutory rules on the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations.

Robin Swann is back at the lectern to open the debate.

He outlines the rules to be discussed.

Amendment number 4 was made on 20 May and made a number of changes, including an exemption for the Irish Cup Final to be used as a learning event.

Easements were also made to the restrictions relating to hospitality venues.

The second amendment being debated applies to face coverings, and was introduced on 24 May.

It applies to indoor venues and the minister says the restrictions can be eased in the future.

The third regulation, made on 28 May, allowed the full resumption of indoor competitive sport.

"Our vaccination programme remains a primary line of defence and I am pleased to report that demands remains very strong," the minister says.

Unionist councillors on Derry City and Strabane District Council have withdrawn from a bonfire working group.

The group, which has been used as a forum to discuss the regulation of bonfires and other cross-community issues, was established in 2017.

Both the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said at a council meeting they would not nominate to the group this year.

The SDLP's Brian Tierney has called on them to reconsider their position.

Read more on this story here.

The long-awaited pension for people badly injured during the Troubles has once again been delayed.

The scheme, which was due to open for applications on 30 June, will now not open until 31 August.

It is already running more than a year behind schedule.

Read more on this story here.

Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent

If a lot of this sounds familiar it’s because it is.

In 2017 the then Health Minister Michelle O’Neill published a similar wish list – Stormont was on the political precipice once again and within three weeks of the plan being published devolution collapsed.

Uncannily NI is in a similar position once again. The big differences however are that waiting list numbers are bigger and there’s a different minister at the helm.

While Robin Swann seems to have been in post a long time - this is his first real test of dealing with bread and butter health issues.

Until now the pandemic has been his priority.

However, for this plan to see the light of day it's relying on a great deal, including recurrent investment; political backing and most importantly political stability.

There is also the added problem of not having enough staff in post to see it through.

The public have been waiting long enough.

While Robin Swann is keen to spread the responsibility among his executive colleagues, ultimately he is the health minister and the buck stops with him.

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“Are you concerned about the current political instability at the top of the executive and the danger it could end in a place which distracts from the delivery of this plan?”

That’s the question from the minister’s UUP colleague Robbie Butler.

It relates to the ongoing stand-off between the DUP and Sinn Féin over language and culture law, and the appointment of first and deputy first ministers.

“It is a concern,” responds Robin Swann.

He adds that when the assembly last collapsed, there was a flat line in departmental budgets.

The minister adds that he has letters “from nearly every member in this assembly” in relation to a constituent on a waiting list.

“This is how the members of this House address what is more than a political crisis in NI, this is a health crisis,” he adds.

The minister's UUP colleague, Alan Chambers, says the statement offers hope to those on waiting lists.

He asks Robin Swann if he believes he will have the public support and "clinical buy-in" that patients will travel a little further for treatment.

"I think we have the support of the people of NI," says the minister.

Image source, NI Assembly

Paula Bradshaw of Alliance asks about the scheme allowing patients to seek treatment in the independent sector in the Republic of Ireland and have the cost reimbursed.

Has he thought about a similar scheme for NI?

The minister says there will still be travelling costs etc for those getting treatment in the Republic. "It's not a full reimbursement," he says.

Image source, NI Assembly

Jonathan Buckley of the DUP asks the minister about his comments around an increase in pay for staff.

Robin Swann responds that there have been ongoing conversations with the trusts on this issue.

The health minister adds “this is about a holistic approach” and that it will be in place and delivered “by the end of July”.

Image source, NI Assembly

SDLP MLA Cara Hunter says no public representative should have to endure the comments made at the Europa hotel last week.

She asks the minister what mental health support will be provided to patients on a waiting list.

Robin Swann says he hopes there is some level of reassurance in what he has announced to the chamber today.

Image source, NI Assembly

Colm Gildernew, the chair of the Health Committee, begins by condemning comments which were made about the health minister last week at an event at the Europa Hotel by singer Sir Van Morrison and DUP MP Ian Paisley.

Mr Gildernew asks the minister “what discussions have been held with other executive colleagues” about the framework document and funding.

Robin Swann thanks the Sinn Féin MLA for his “words of support”.

“While there were people appearing on stage last week, I was working on this,” adds the minister.

As for funding, the health minister says he’s relying on “in-year monitoring rounds” to enable his department to start some of the work included within the framework.

Image source, Getty Images

The health minister turns to long-term solutions contained within the Elective Care Framework document.

The vast majority of patients on waiting lists are outpatients, explains Robin Swann.

“We will continue to develop opportunities to transform” the outpatient service, he adds.

“Mega clinics are a way of bringing multi-disciplinary staff together” to ensure greater throughput, explains the minister, adding “they can short circuit unnecessary delays in treatment”.

The UUP minister adds that it’s “vital we look at the skills mix required to deliver services” to ensure staff “have the right skills at the right level” to meet the needs of patients.

“Investment and reform are now both required,” says the minister.

He commits that if investment is forthcoming, by March 2026 “no one should wait more than 52 weeks for a first out-patient appointment” or 26 weeks for diagnostic appointment and by the same date “we will have eradicated the gap between demand and capacity of elective care”.

Health Minister Robin Swann turns to the issue of funding.

He says there is a need for long-term budgetary provisions as “short-term funding will only ever deliver short-term solutions”.

While Covid has been a priority for the last year, the minister adds that the focus must shift to waiting lists “as we owe it” to staff and patients “to rebuild our health service”.

Mr Swann adds “we need to think big and think differently” about how services are provided now and in the future.

“To do this right we will require a commitment to major sustained investment for at least the next five years,” says the UUP minister.

He says the Elective Care Framework, published today, is aimed at presenting sustainable reform.

Image source, PA Wire

He adds that the document includes short, medium and long-term actions.

As for immediate actions, the minister says he’s announcing the establishment of a new cross-border health care scheme for patients to “receive treatment in the Republic of Ireland’s established private sector and to seek reimbursement up to the cost of the equivalent treatment to the HSC in NI”.

“This scheme will be operating within weeks,” adds the minister.

The trust booking teams will also start booking patients prior to surgery to ensure all booking surgery slots are being taken, explains Mr Swann.

Robin Swann says this issue “is the highest priority I believe for government in NI”.

The health minister adds that the waiting list figures “are nothing short of appalling”.

As of 27 May, the latest hospital waiting list figures, there are “more than 330,000 patients waiting for their first consultant-led outpatients appointment”.

“Our waiting times are the worst of any UK region and it is simply not acceptable to me that the people of NI should receive a lower standard of care than other parts of the UK,” says Mr Swann.

Image source, PA Media

“While everyone in our health service” has done all they can “to ensure any negative impact on patients has been kept to a minimum” during the pandemic, the minister says that waiting lists “keep getting worse” and will take years to resolve.

Minister Swann adds that issues in waiting times have existed long before the onset of Covid-19, adding that “the pandemic has simply pushed them over the edge”.

That concludes one ministerial statement, and now it’s time for another.

Health Minister Robin Swann is in the chamber to outline the detail behind the recently published Elective Care Framework.

He’s called to the podium by Deputy Speaker, Roy Beggs.

Steve Aiken of the UUP asks the minister if she was “fully aware of this when you had your first day brief”.

The chair of the Finance Committee also asks “why was the department trying to defend the indefensible?”

Infrastructure minister responds that the issue “was not in my first day brief”.

Nichola Mallon adds that in terms of the first appeal of the original judgement, the “department carefully considered the initial decision” and the “legal advice optioned by the department” suggested it had a “reasonable prospect of success”.

Image source, PA Media

Alliance MLA Andrew Muir says this matter does “warrant and independent investigation”.

He asks the minister what she’ll do to ensure that road resurfacing takes place across NI.

Ms Mallon responds that “there needs to be an external investigation into this”.

As for going forward and the implications for her department's budget, Ms Mallon says firstly she’ll accept the judgement and seek insight from the independent investigation, a review of procurement and ensuring “we work as quickly as possible” to get capital investment delivered in terms of road resurfacing.

“How much has been spent in terms of legal disputes” up to this point, asks Cathal Boylan of Sinn Féin.

Nichola Mallon says “the judgements have caused me very serious concern and I want to be absolutely satisfied that all the actions in terms of corrective measures, were taken and were taken at the earliest opportunity as soon as they were identified.”

“The damages are still to be determined by the court,” she adds, and explains that officials say “this might take some time to complete”.

Image source, Getty Images

Dolores Kelly, the minister’s SDLP colleague, asks how the process went “so terribly wrong in the first instance”.

The infrastructure minister again reiterates that she will seek advance from an independent investigation.

Newly appointed chair of the Infrastructure Committee, Jonathan Buckley of the DUP, asks the minister to explain “more about the independent investigation she intends to put in place”.

Nichola Mallon responds “I’m consulting with officials and legal advisers about how best we do this”.

The infrastructure minister adds that she wants to understand what actions were taken by officials at the time and since.

She adds that she was “keen to come to the floor of the assembly in person” to provide MLAs will reassurance.