MLAs only manage eight Bills this year
The Assembly has passed less legislation in its second year with only eight Bills compared with its first year when it managed 13.
The Assembly’s role also involves examining the work of government departments. All proposed legislation goes before the appropriate committee for revision and agreement before coming before the Assembly for debate and approval.
This session the Assembly held 516 committee meetings and produced 38 reports.
The breadth of issues covered included the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee Report into the Role of Credit Unions, the Employment and Learning Committee Report on the Review of Teacher Education, which looked at changes to St Mary’s and Stranmillis, and the Assembly and Executive Review Committee’s First Report on the Arrangements for the Devolution of Policing and Justice.
Inquiries, held to elicit public views, are another way that the committees are able to influence the shape of legislation.
The Environment Committee launched its Climate Change Inquiry in May 2009, holding sessions to inform Northern Ireland’s contribution to the UK Climate Change Bill.
