From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Members of the Legislative Assembly
(
MLAs
;
Irish
:
Comhaltai den Tionol Reachtach
;
Ulster Scots
:
Laa-Makkan Forgaitherars
) are representatives elected by the voters to the
Northern Ireland Assembly
.
About
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The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members ? five from each of
18 constituencies
, the boundaries of which are the same as those used for electing members of the
UK Parliament
. Its role is primarily to scrutinise and make decisions on the issues dealt with by Government Departments and to consider and make legislation.
[1]
Responsibilities
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MLAs are responsible for representing their constituents in the
Northern Ireland Assembly
, and may also hold a number of
executive roles
within the
Northern Ireland Executive
.
MLAs are also responsible for proposing, debating, and voting on law in policy areas devolved to the Assembly.
MLAs may also be present on committees relating to specific policy areas, intended to serve a scrutiny function, and to examine bills within that subject area as part of the process of the bill becoming a law.
[2]
Salary
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The basic salary for an MLA is £55,000, while the
Speaker
,
ministers
and committee chairs receive an additional 'Office Holders Salary' on top of their basic salary.
[3]
History
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Previous similar legislators
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From 22 June 1921 until 30 March 1972 MPs of the
House of Commons of Northern Ireland
and Senators of the
Senate of Northern Ireland
in the
Parliament of Northern Ireland
legislated for Northern Ireland like MLAs do today.
Northern Ireland Assembly legislators
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Following a
referendum
on the Belfast Agreement on 23 May 1998 and the granting of
Royal Assent
to the
Northern Ireland Act 1998
on 19 November 1998; a
Northern Ireland Assembly
and
Northern Ireland Executive
were established by the
Labour
government of
Prime Minister
Tony Blair
. The process was known as
devolution
and was set up to give Northern Ireland devolved legislative powers. MLAs are responsible for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election
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The
Assembly Members (Reduction of Numbers) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016
resulted in the number of MLAs being reduced from 108 to 90. This change was first implemented in the
snap Assembly election
in March 2017.
[4]
Members of the Legislative Assembly
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See also
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References
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External links
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