Weekly Bulletin. What you need to know this week

Green light for new Children’s Hospital
On Wednesday (19 February), the Executive Office confirmed that its “flagship project”, a new £671 million children’s hospital development on the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital, had received the “green light”. The new hospital is set to be a 10-floor “state-of-the-art facility” with 155 beds, 10 theatres and an emergency department with the capacity to treat up to 45,000 children per year. It is expected to open in 2030. Both the First Minister and deputy First Minister welcomed the news. Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said that the development will help to improve healthcare services and “drive down waiting lists”. In response to the announcement, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt welcomed the “excellent news”, adding that he had tasked Departmental officials with identifying “key lessons” from the new Maternity Hospital when securing the management of this new project. DUP Health Spokesperson Dianne Dodds MLA welcomed the announcement and the impact it will have on patients and their families, as well as staff. However, she noted there were “lessons to be learnt” within the Belfast Trust and urged for the project to be carried out in a “timely and cost-effective manner”.
What Next: The Department of Health confirmed that work on the development was to commence in “a matter of days”.

Assembly approves GB Energy Bill despite concerns over “lack of detail” 
On Wednesday (19 February), NI Water chief executive Dr Sara Venning told the Assembly Infrastructure Committee that the public company is facing an investment gap of “at least” £800 million. In response to a question from Committee Chair Deborah Erskine MLA (DUP, Fermanagh and South Tyrone), Dr Venning confirmed that NI Water is “passed the point” of being able to fully deliver PC21, its business plan for April 2021 to March 2027. Keith Buchanan (DUP, Mid Ulster) asked about developer contributions, which he described as “consumer contributions,” arguing that consumers would “fundamentally” pay the costs. Dr Venning told the committee that discussions would be held during the week with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) on the proposals, but cautioned that the funding gap will not be met by revenue raising through developer contributions. She added that some developers may prefer these costs to allow for short-term solutions to the issue.
What Next: The Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has confirmed a consultation on developer contribution options will be launched in March. The Minister is also due to appear before the Infrastructure Committee next Wednesday (26 February) to brief members on her priorities and legislative programme. 

Budget Bill passes Second Stage in the Assembly
The Budget Bill passed its Second Stage in the Northern Ireland Assembly this week. During scrutiny, MLAs had not noticed that figures in the original report stated Stormont had trillions to spend in the Budget, rather than billions. The error was first pointed out Timothy Gaston on Monday (17 February), prompting a clarification from Finance Minister John O’Dowd. Mr O’Dowd said a correction will be placed in the Library for Members and added, “I hope that it is a typographical error rather than a substantive error”. The Minister has asked officials to determine how the mistake occurred. Opposition Leader Matthew O’Toole critiqued the Bill, stating: “While the Budget Bill may not go to a Division, it will be hard for us to jump up and down in ecstatic support for a Bill that authorises spending in the absence of a clear, strategic plan to deal with the crisis in our public services and to get waiting lists down. It does not provide a clear plan”. He was among other members who called for multi-year Budgets. Finance Minister John O’Dowd responded that he cannot introduce multi-year Budgets in the absence of a multi-year comprehensive spending review from the Treasury and Whitehall. The Minister added that he has committed to the House that if, “as a result of the comprehensive spending review, the Labour Government live up to their commitments to introduce a three-year resource budget and a four-year capital budget, I will follow that up with a Budget to my Executive colleagues that will then, hopefully, progress to the House.” 
What Next: The Budget was passed with only TUV MLA Timothy Gaston opposing and will now proceed to the Consideration Stage in the Assembly next week. 

First Minister Michelle O’Neill: “Delighted that construction is to begin within days on the new £671m state-of-the-art children’s hospital at the Royal Victoria Hospital. This major investment will provide children in need of care with the best facilities and the latest technology, offering them world-class healthcare right here at home. This is an enormous investment in healthcare, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on so many lives – from young patients and their families to the dedicated healthcare workers who provide invaluable care. I’m fully committed to continuing the work to transform our health service and ensure that everyone has access to the best facilities and treatments”.

DUP: “’Today is a good day for Northern Ireland, and for the deaf community’ – Communities Minister @gordonlyons uses sign language in the Chamber as he introduces the second stage of the Sign Language Bill”. [video]

Department for the Economy: “Economy Minister @Carchibald_sf today discussed outcomes from the Ethnic Minorities Employment and Careers Conference with representatives from the Ethnic Minority Employment and Entrepreneurship Network (EMEEN). The Minister said: “I am committed to fostering a vibrant, diverse and inclusive economy where businesses and individuals thrive. Our minority ethnic workforce brings incredible talent, perspectives and skills, which are vital for driving the competitiveness and dynamism of our economy”.

AERA Minister Andrew Muir: “The passing of this legislation [Sustainability (Transitional Provisions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025] ensures farmers can apply for the Farm Sustainability Transition Payment from 3 March. It also provides for the following schemes under the new Sustainable Agriculture Programme (SAP): Suckler Cow, Farming with Nature and Knowledge Transfer”.

Department for Health: “The Department has published official statistics on the NI Health and Social Care workforce and vacancies under active recruitment at 31 December 2024. Reports and tables”.

Core grant funding for health and social care charities branded ‘wholly inadequate’
On Wednesday, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt announced the allocation of £1.8 million in Core Grant funding for community and voluntary sector organisations. 25 organisations will receive funding under the scheme, out of 259 applications. Minister Nesbitt said he “regrets” the fact that the Health budget does not allow him to extend funding to more organisations. Celine McStravick, CEO of NICVA, said in a statement: “The current situation, where less than 6% of applicants received funding, reveals a serious misalignment between the Department’s reliance on our sector and its investment in our capacity to deliver.”

‘Historic day’ for deaf community as Sign Language Bill moves to Committee Stage
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has hailed the Second Stage of the Sign Language Bill as a historic event for the Deaf community in Northern Ireland. Minister Lyons told the Assembly the Bill “recognises and promotes British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language, and places duties on public bodies to take reasonable steps to ensure that the information and services they provide are fully accessible to individuals in the Deaf community.” Introducing the Bill, Minister Lyons used BSL to address members of the deaf community who were sitting in the gallery.

Education Minister introduces School Uniforms Bill in the Assembly
On Tuesday (18 February), Education Minister Paul Givan introduced a new Bill to the Assembly to reduce the costs of school uniforms. The Bill will make it a “legal requirement” for schools to follow guidelines on uniform cost and provide access to “the clothing allowance” to those at independent schools, which will come from the Education Authority. The Minister stated that the Bill was a “major step forward” for parents and guardians in Northern Ireland. He added that the Bill comes after hearing increasing concerns about the cost of uniforms on family budgets. The Bill will proceed to the Second Stage in March 2025.

Labour Market Statistics February 2025
On Tuesday (18 February), NISRA published the Labour Market Statistics for February 2025. Key figures include: unemployment rate has decreased by 0.1 percentage points (pps) over the quarter (October-December 2024); total number of weekly hours worked in Northern Ireland increased by 3.3%; and the economic inactivity rate remained unchanged over the quarter. Generally, payrolled employee numbers and earnings increased over the year. Over the same period, the employment rate decreased and the economic inactivity rate has increased.

Sustained collaboration needed to address climate change – Minister Muir
Speaking on Wednesday (19 February) at the ‘Love Our Planet and Our Neighbours’ event in Queen’s University Belfast, AERA Minister Andrew Muir encouraged sustained collaboration between government, industry and community was essential to addressing climate change. He added that collaboration is needed to address service duplication and to better connect communities in Belfast. The Minister added that “next steps” in addressing climate change involve the agreement of Northern Ireland’s first Climate Action Plan, the publication of the Green Growth Strategy and the roll out of schemes under the Sustainable Agriculture Programme. The Minister also welcomed Belfast City Council Good Relations Unit’s recent report (Segregation and the Environment: Breaking Down Barriers) and committed to establishing the Just Transition Commission this year.

Additional £9m investment in the Urban Villages Initiative
On Thursday (20 February) the First Minister and deputy First Minister announced a multi-million pound extension to the Urban Villages Capital Plan. The Urban Villages initiative is part of the NI Executive’s Together: Building a United Community Strategy, which is overseen by The Executive Office. This strategy aims to improve community infrastructure and “provide a positive legacy”. Areas classed as Urban Villages in Belfast include Ardoyne and Greater Ballysillan, Colin, EastSide, Sandy Row and the Markets areas and in Derry-Londonderry, the Bogside, Fountain and Bishop Street. The additional funding for the plan will facilitate the development of four new capital projects. First Minister Michelle O’Neill welcomed the investment and its “key role in promoting good relations”, while deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly added that the projects will be “landmarks” for “transformation”.

Sinn Féin to boycott St Patrick’s Day events at the White House
On Friday (21 February) Mary Lou McDonald TD, leader of Sinn Féin, announced that she will not be attending the St Patrick’s Day event in the White House this year as a “principled stance against the threat of mass expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza”. She added that she has been following President Trump’s comments on Gaza with “growing concern”. Mary Lou McDonald also stated that Sinn Féin will continue to “engage with the US administration at various levels”, despite it being “categorically wrong” on Palestine. First Minister Michelle O’Neill also released a statement saying that she will also not be attending the White House event in her capacity as First Minister of Northern Ireland. She added that “the US President’s comments on forced expulsion of the Palestinian people of Gaza cannot be ignored”. BBC News NI reported that “no invites have been officially issued yet”.

Government Chief Whip publishes Spring Legislative Programme
On Tuesday (18 February), Government Chief Whip, Minister of State Mary Butler published the Spring Legislative Programme following approval by Government. The current Dáil session of 13 weeks is the first of the new government. In a statement, Minister of State Butler confirmed that 21 Bills have been prioritised for publication, and a further 29 Bills have been scheduled for drafting. According to the Minister among the bills prioritised for legislation are “Important legislation around updating employment and equality acts, the national cybersecurity bill, licensing of professional home support providers and legislation on housing”. The Minister noted that the government is also prioritising legislation to tackle access to vaping products and criminal justice legislation. The Spring Legislative Programme can be viewed in full here.

State to attend international property conference to attract residential construction investment
Senior officials from the Department of Housing and the Department of Enterprise are to join executives from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, the IDA and the Irish property industry at next month’s European Real Estate Investment Conference in Cannes, reports RTÉ News. The Irish delegation are heading to the event for the first time, in an effort to attract investment into residential construction, amid concerns that major funds are pulling out of residential construction in Ireland. According to RTÉ, a number of sovereign wealth funds and pension companies are expected to attend presentations by the Irish contingent. The organisers of the Irish Real Estate Investment Pavilion, have said the event is an opportunity for representatives to “speak directly to key decision makers across European real estate and our participation will help attract the capital required”. Meanwhile, the Irish Housebuilders Association has reportedly said there is “palpable concern” residential construction will not rise this year, due to a drop in the number of viable planning permissions combined with a lack of serviced land, infrastructure and funding for apartments.

Opposition leaders issue joint statement as row over Dáil speaking rights resumes
In a joint statement issued this week, the five leaders of the main Opposition parties have said the government’s latest proposals to resolve the row over speaking rights in the Dáil, are “utterly unacceptable and will not be tolerated” reports the Irish Times. The row kicked off last month when Opposition leaders banded together to condemn the situation whereby a group of Independent TDs (the Regional Independents) who had negotiated the Programme for Government, were to be afforded Opposition speaking rights. The government’s new plan proposes the creation of new Dáil time named “Other Members’ Questions”. However, in the joint statement Opposition leaders have described the proposals as “yet another cynical attempt to manipulate speaking time in order to grant special privileges to TDs who were part of negotiating the Programme for Government and clearly and unambiguously support the Government”. The Opposition parties have said they will attend a meeting of the Dáil Reform Committee meeting next Wednesday, but that what is on offer from the Government is completely unacceptable.

An acceptance of digital political campaigning by Northern Ireland’s political parties
Writing for the Belfast Telegraph, Andrew Madden provided an analysis of the shift in political campaigning in the “social media age”. He writes following the release of figures on Northern Irish party spending during the general election campaign. He noted that garnering support during an election campaign has shifted from a domination of canvassing towards a focus on online advertising by political parties. Madden claimed that this shift has led to an increase of “attack ads” by parties, alluding to the fact that some content of online advertisements would not be said on the doorsteps of homes. Madden noted that political advertising “is not strictly regulated in the UK”. When concluding, Madden stressed that as social media “tightens its grip”, political advertising on social media will “skyrocket”.

Monday 24 February 2025
Executive Business at the Assembly: Consideration Stage: Budget Bill
Assembly Question Time: Economy Minister, Justice Minister
Private Members’ Business at the Assembly: Delivering a New Deal for Private Renters

Tuesday 25 February 2025
Executive Business at the Assembly: Further Consideration Stage: Budget Bill
Private Members’ Business at the Assembly: Strategic Planning for an Ageing Population
Assembly Question Time: Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

Tuesday 25 February 2025
Retail NI Future High Streets-Future Challenges Summit, Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office

Wednesday 26 February 2025
Funding February: NICVA’s Funding Fayre 2025, NICVA, Belfast
Assembly Committee for Infrastructure – Ministerial Briefing

Thursday 27 February 2025
Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor (DBEC) Summit 2025, ICC Belfast
Assembly Committee for Communities – Ministerial Briefing

Friday 28 February 2025
Consultation closing: Active Travel Delivery Plan [Department for Infrastructure]

Saturday 1 March 2025
Alliance Party Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast

Tuesday 4 March 2025
Consultation closing: Using biofuels to transition away from fossil fuels for heating [Department for the Economy]

Wednesday 5 March 2025
InterTradeIreland Venture Capital Conference 2025, Croke Park, Dublin 

Thursday 6 March 2025
SME Big Breakfast Briefing: Reduce Energy Costs with Net Zero Action, Glenavon Hotel, Cookstown
Consultation closing: New Fuel Poverty Strategy for NI [Department for Communities]

Friday 7 March 2025
Institute of Directors NI Women’s Leadership Conference, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast

Thursday 13 March 2025
Belfast Chamber Business Lunch with Minister for Infrastructure, Windsor Park, Belfast
Social Enterprise NI Conference, Girdwood Community Hub

Thursday 13 March 2025
Consultation closing: Draft Budget 2025-26  

Wednesday 26 March 2025
AgendaNI Northern Ireland Housing Conference 2025, Europa Hotel, Belfast  

Thursday 27 March 2025
Invest NI Powering Productivity Conference, La Mon Hotel, Belfast

Monday 7 April 2025
Consultation closing: Living with Water in Derry/Londonderry Draft Plan

Thursday 24 April 2025
Consultation closing: Increased socialisation of Connection Costs in Electricity Distribution [Department for the Economy]

Wednesday 14 May- Saturday 17 May 2025
Balmoral Show, Eikon Centre, Lisburn

June 2025
British Irish Council hosted by the NI Executive