Edwin Poots in new dressing down of assembly members

He told MLAs that “sittings of the assembly are not just another engagement in Members’ diaries” and the chamber was “not just another meeting room”.

“At any one time there are only 90 people who have the immense privilege of participating in this chamber and they are given that privilege by the people.

“As an institution, this assembly is the prime source of authority for devolved matters.

“With the privilege given to us to be here, comes the responsibility to exercise that authority by representing our constituents, holding ministers to account and taking decisions to change policy, and the law, to address the issues impacting our whole community.”

Mr Poots said these were “not casual matters”.

“They require a level of formality to ensure that these responsibilities are discharged properly and with fairness to all members,” he said.

“Therefore, issues like how we present ourselves and avoiding clutter in the chamber are purely small symbols of protecting the dignity of the chamber.

“Respecting our courtesies and procedures is about respecting the serious business we have to do and respecting the people who put us here to do it.

The speaker added he would have more to say in future about “our standards of debate”.