The Northern Ireland Assembly sat on Tuesday 28 April 2026 for a session dominated by Education Minister Paul Givan's detailed response to an independent review of teacher workload, alongside sharp exchanges over higher education funding, ambulance response times and the second stage of a new energy decarbonisation bill. The sitting opened with two minutes of silence before moving to members' statements and a series of ministerial statements that generated significant and at times heated debate across party lines.

Education Minister Paul Givan presented his Department's formal response to the independent review of teacher and school leader workload, unveiling a 27-recommendation action plan he said represented "a decisive shift from piecemeal initiatives to a coordinated, system-level approach." Key commitments included limiting formal school-wide tracking points to no more than three per year, introducing a cadre of administrative support staff to absorb non-educational tasks from school leaders, and investing over £10 million in generative AI tools to reduce teacher workload. Givan cited proof-of-concept results suggesting AI tools had delivered average workload reductions of nearly 12 hours per week per participant. He also pointed to a 36.4% increase in starting teacher pay since February 2024, bringing the entry salary to £32,916.

The statement drew sharp exchanges. Sinn Féin's Liz Mason challenged the Minister, citing survey data that nine out of ten teachers report burnout, asking whether he was "content having that on your watch." Givan responded by saying he had met a school principal from her constituency that morning who "had nothing but praise regarding her vocation," and urged members to "talk up our education system, not talk it down." Alliance MLA Peter Mathison, Chair of the Education Committee, described the action plan as feeling "very light, given how chronic the issue of teacher workload has been," pressing Givan for more concrete deliverables. The Minister defended the plan as comprehensive and said trade union leaders had responded encouragingly when he met them the previous day.

UUP MLA Doug Beattie raised the case of Enda Dolan during members' statements, using it to renew his call for a dedicated sentencing council for Northern Ireland. He argued that simply raising the maximum sentence for drink and drug driving from 14 to 20 years was meaningless without a mechanism to ensure judges actually apply maximum sentences, noting that the maximum 14-year sentence had never been handed down. "A sentencing council is a council that will hold the judiciary to account to make sure that judges use the maximum sentence," he said, also calling for compulsory professional development for judges.

DUP MLA Philip Brett used his members' statement to attack Sinn Féin's stewardship of the Department for the Economy, citing warnings from Queen's University that funding failures would cost 2,700 student places and the earlier announcement of 250 job losses at Ulster University. "That is not simply a challenge for higher education but a direct attack on the Northern Ireland economy," Brett said. He described the record of Sinn Féin ministers at the Economy Department as "nothing short of a shambles."

Rural ambulance response times were raised by SDLP MLA Justin Donnelly, who told the Chamber that just one in seven category 1 emergency calls in rural areas were being responded to within the eight-minute target. He said the figure rose to 52% of calls missed in urban areas, describing both statistics as "unacceptable," and placed responsibility firmly with the Department of Health rather than ambulance service staff, who he said were "victims of pressures and inefficiencies in the wider health system."

Independent MLA Claire Sugden highlighted growing concerns about antisocial behaviour in Coleraine and Limavady, warning it was having a disproportionate impact on women and girls. She called for improved street lighting, better use of CCTV, more coordinated agency responses and earlier intervention, saying the issue could not be separated from the wider goal of ending violence against women and girls. SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin also raised women's health, noting Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK without a dedicated women's health strategy and that more than 37,000 women were waiting for gynaecological assessment or treatment. She referenced a constituent who had waited seven years for a gynaecological intervention and called on the Health Minister to act with urgency.

Givan also made a second statement reporting on the North/South Ministerial Council education meeting held on 22 April in Lisburn. The meeting, which he chaired alongside Finance Minister John O'Dowd and Irish Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD, discussed tackling educational disadvantage, special educational needs and early years education. Givan announced approval of three major special school capital projects moving to planning and design stages: a 320-pupil new-build for Longstone, a 220-pupil extension to St Gerard's Special School and a new 500-pupil special school in south Belfast. He also confirmed plans for a new Quillyburn Special School in Dromore, to be co-located alongside a new-build Dromore High School.

The Assembly then moved to the second stage of the Utility Regulator (Support for Decarbonisation Preparation) Bill, introduced by Economy Minister Conor Murphy. The short Bill would formally empower the Utility Regulator to provide advice and assistance to the Department for the Economy on developing energy policies aligned with the Climate Change Act (NI) 2022 and the Executive's target of 80% renewable electricity by 2030. A departmental consultation received 50 responses, with 76% expressing support for the Bill's intent. Committee for the Economy Chair Philip Brett confirmed Committee support for the Bill at second stage, noting the Utility Regulator's current legislative framework had not been updated to reflect the significant policy shift required under climate legislation.

Several procedural points of order were also raised during the sitting. Speaker Alex Maskey publicly rebuked ministers for failing to answer questions for written answer on time, saying that when ministers "do not allow themselves to be held to account by not responding at the appropriate time, that is a slur on Members of the House and therefore a slur on the people of Northern Ireland." He acknowledged he lacked enforcement powers but called on ministers to take their responsibilities and their Pledge of Office seriously.