Assembly recalled in bid to progress Dáithí's law
The DUP has made clear it will again block any attempt to elect a speaker
Last updated 14th Feb 2023
The Stormont Assembly will be recalled later to try and pass a new organ donation law in Northern Ireland.
Rival parties are attempting to ramp up the pressure on the DUP to end its boycott of devolution, but the unionist party has made clear it will again block any attempt to elect a speaker.
The recall petition is attempting to get MLAs to implement a new opt-out organ donation law named after six-year-old Belfast boy Dáithí MacGabhann, who is waiting a heart transplant.
The petition, which was tabled last week by Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill, gained the necessary 30 MLA signatures to secure the sitting.
It is due to take place at 12pm today (Tuesday).
Several previous attempts to restore devolution have already failed because the DUP has not supported the election of a speaker.
Without a speaker in place, the Assembly cannot proceed with further business.
The Assembly is also required to be up and running to pass the regulations required to implement the opt-out organ donation system.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson confirmed his party will again block the election of a speaker.
The party is preventing the functioning of both the Assembly and the ministerial Executive in protest at the post-Brexit protocol.
The opt-out organ donation system was passed by MLAs last year, but the secondary legislation required to implement it cannot be approved in the Assembly due to the current political stalemate.
The opt-out system would mean adults in Northern Ireland would be presumed to be donors, unless they take a decision to opt out. It is being implemented to increase donation rates in the region.
If the Assembly cannot pass the secondary legislation, then attention will turn to Westminster where the DUP has introduced an amendment to the Government's Executive Formation Bill to facilitate the passing of the regulations.
The Bill deals with the legislation required to extend a deadline for holding a fresh Assembly election in Northern Ireland.
It will be for the Speaker's Office at Westminster to decide whether to permit the DUP's planned amendment on the organ donation regulations.
The NIO has cast doubt on the prospect of it being permitted, saying the scope of the Bill is very narrow.
An NIO spokesman said: "The Department for Health has laid the statutory rule to enable the Assembly to progress the legislation, meaning that the election of a speaker would allow this important and life-saving piece of legislation to be addressed this week.
"The Executive Formation Bill is focused solely on the Executive formation period and the secretary of state's corresponding election duty and, as such, it consists of only one substantive clause only.
"The scope of the Bill is therefore very narrow, and amendments on issues other than the Executive formation period are highly unlikely to be in scope.
"The secretary of state urges the NI parties to come together on this and reminds them that people in Northern Ireland expect and deserve the devolved institutions to be functioning fully."
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