Committee for Health

The Committee for Health is a Northern Ireland Assembly committee established to advise, assist and scrutinise the work of the Department of Health and Minister of Health (currently Robin Swann). The committee also plays a key role in the consultation, consideration and development of new legislation.^[1]

Until 2016, the committee was called the Committee for Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

2022–2027 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2022–2027 Assembly on 15 February 2024.

Party		Member[2]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Liz Kimmins MLA (Chairperson)	Newry and Armagh
	Alliance	Danny Donnelly MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	East Antrim
	UUP	Alan Chambers MLA	North Down
	Sinn Féin	Linda Dillon MLA	Mid Ulster
	DUP	Diane Dodds MLA	Upper Bann
	Sinn Féin	Órlaithí Flynn MLA	Belfast West
	Alliance	Nuala McAllister MLA	Belfast North
	SDLP	Colin McGrath MLA	South Down
	DUP	Alan Robinson MLA	East Londonderry

2017–2022 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2017–2022 Assembly on 23 January 2020.^[3]

Party		Member[4]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Colm Gildernew MLA (Chairperson)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	Pam Cameron MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	South Antrim
	SDLP	Sinéad Bradley MLA	South Down
	Alliance	Paula Bradshaw MLA	Belfast South
	People Before Profit	Gerry Carroll MLA	Belfast West
	Sinn Féin	Jemma Dolan MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	Alex Easton MLA	North Down
	Sinn Féin	Órlaithí Flynn MLA	Belfast West
	UUP	John Stewart MLA	East Antrim

Changes 2017–2022

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
10 February 2020		John Stewart MLA (UUP)	East Antrim	→		Alan Chambers MLA (UUP)	North Down
23 March 2020		Sinéad Bradley MLA (SDLP)	South Down	→		Colin McGrath MLA (SDLP)	South Down
16 March 2020		Jemma Dolan MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Pat Sheehan MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast West
2 November 2020		Alex Easton MLA (DUP)	North Down	→		Jonathan Buckley MLA (DUP)	Upper Bann
14 December 2020		Colin McGrath MLA (SDLP)	South Down	→		Cara Hunter MLA (SDLP)	East Londonderry
1 February 2021		Pat Sheehan MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast West	→		Carál Ní Chuilín MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast North
21 June 2021		Pam Cameron MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	South Antrim	→		Gordon Lyons MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	Upper Bann
7 July 2021		Gordon Lyons MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	Upper Bann	→		Pam Cameron MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	South Antrim
18 October 2021		Cara Hunter MLA (SDLP)	East Londonderry	→		Colin McGrath MLA (SDLP)	South Down
1 November 2021		Jonathan Buckley MLA (DUP)	Upper Bann	→		Deborah Erskine MLA (DUP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Source:^[5]

2016–2017 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2016–2017 Assembly on 2 June 2016.^[6]

Party		Member[7]	Constituency
	DUP	Paula Bradley MLA (Chairperson)	Belfast North
	DUP	Gary Middleton MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Foyle
	Alliance	Paula Bradshaw MLA	Belfast South
	UUP	Robbie Butler MLA	Lagan Valley
	People Before Profit	Gerry Carroll MLA	Belfast West
	DUP	Trevor Clarke MLA	South Antrim
	UUP	Jo-Anne Dobson MLA	Upper Bann
	SDLP	Mark H. Durkan MLA	Foyle
	Sinn Féin	Barry McElduff MLA	West Tyrone
	Sinn Féin	Daithí McKay MLA	North Antrim
	Sinn Féin	Catherine Seeley MLA	Upper Bann

Changes 2016–2017

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
20 June 2016		Barry McElduff MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone	→		Pat Sheehan MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Belfast
18 August 2016		Daithí McKay MLA (Sinn Féin)	North Antrim	→	Vacant
12 September 2016	Vacant			→		Ian Milne MLA (Sinn Féin)	Mid Ulster

2011–2016 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2011–2016 Assembly on 25 May 2011.^[8]

Party		Member[9]	Constituency
	Sinn Féin	Michelle Gildernew MLA (Chairperson)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	Jim Wells MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	South Down
	Sinn Féin	Michaela Boyle MLA	West Tyrone
	DUP	Paula Bradley MLA	Belfast North
	Sinn Féin	Mickey Brady MLA	Newry and Armagh
	DUP	Gordon Dunne MLA	North Down
	SDLP	Mark H. Durkan MLA	Foyle
	UUP	Sam Gardiner MLA	Upper Bann
	DUP	Pam Lewis MLA	South Antrim
	UUP	John McCallister MLA	South Down
	Alliance	Kieran McCarthy MLA	Strangford

Changes 2011–2016

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
23 January 2012		Michaela Boyle MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone	→		Sue Ramsey MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast West
6 February 2012		Sue Ramsey MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast West	→		Sue Ramsey MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Belfast West
		Michelle Gildernew MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone			Michelle Gildernew MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
23 April 2012		Mark H. Durkan MLA (SDLP)	Foyle	→		Conall McDevitt MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South
2 July 2012		Michelle Gildernew MLA (Sinn Féin)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→	Vacant
10 September 2012	Vacant			→		Maeve McLaughlin MLA (Sinn Féin)	Foyle
15 October 2012		John McCallister MLA (UUP)	South Down	→		Roy Beggs Jr MLA (UUP)	East Antrim
4 September 2013		Conall McDevitt MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South	→	Vacant
16 September 2013		Paula Bradley MLA (DUP)	Belfast North	→		David McIlveen MLA (DUP)	North Antrim
		Sue Ramsey MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Belfast West			Maeve McLaughlin MLA (Chairperson, Sinn Féin)	Foyle
30 September 2013	Vacant			→		Fearghal McKinney MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South
4 July 2014		Sam Gardiner MLA (UUP)	Upper Bann	→		Jo-Anne Dobson MLA (UUP)	Upper Bann
23 September 2014		Jim Wells MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	South Down	→		Paula Bradley MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	Belfast North
6 October 2014	Vacant			→		Rosie McCorley MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast West
		David McIlveen MLA (DUP)	North Antrim			George Robinson MLA (DUP)	East Londonderry
		Roy Beggs Jr MLA (UUP)	East Antrim			Michael McGimpsey MLA (UUP)	Belfast South
1 December 2014		Gordon Dunne MLA (DUP)	North Down	→		Paul Givan MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley
11 May 2015		Paula Bradley MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	Belfast North	→		Alex Easton MLA (Deputy Chairperson, DUP)	North Down
3 June 2015		Mickey Brady MLA (Sinn Féin)	Newry and Armagh	→	Vacant
14 September 2015	Vacant			→		Daithí McKay MLA (Sinn Féin)	North Antrim
5 October 2015		Thomas Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone	→		Paul Givan MLA (DUP)	Lagan Valley
9 November 2015		George Robinson MLA (DUP)	East Londonderry	→		Gary Middleton MLA (DUP)	Foyle

2007–2011 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2007–2011 Assembly on 17 May 2007.^[10]

Party		Member[11]	Constituency
	DUP	Iris Robinson MLA (Chairperson)	Strangford
	Sinn Féin	Michelle O'Neill MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Mid Ulster
	DUP	Thomas Buchanan MLA	West Tyrone
	UUP	Robert Coulter MLA	North Antrim
	Independent	Kieran Deeny MLA	West Tyrone
	DUP	Alex Easton MLA	North Down
	SDLP	Tommy Gallagher MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	SDLP	Carmel Hanna MLA	Belfast South
	UUP	John McCallister MLA	South Down
	Sinn Féin	Carál Ní Chuilín MLA	Belfast North
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey MLA	Belfast West

Changes 2007–2011

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
20 May 2008		Carál Ní Chuilín MLA (Sinn Féin)	Belfast North	→		Claire McGill MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone
15 September 2008		Robert Coulter MLA (UUP)	North Antrim	→		Sam Gardiner MLA (UUP)	Upper Bann
29 June 2009		Tommy Gallagher MLA (SDLP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Dolores Kelly MLA (SDLP)	Upper Bann
4 July 2009		Iris Robinson MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	Strangford	→		Jim Wells MLA (Chairperson, DUP)	South Down
14 September 2009		Thomas Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone	→		Iris Robinson MLA (DUP)	Strangford
12 January 2010		Iris Robinson MLA (DUP)	Strangford	→	Vacant
15 January 2010		Carmel Hanna MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South	→	Vacant
26 January 2010	Vacant			→		Conall McDevitt MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South
1 February 2010	Vacant			→		Thomas Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone
24 May 2010		Conall McDevitt MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South	→		Tommy Gallagher MLA (SDLP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
		Dolores Kelly MLA (SDLP)	Upper Bann			Mary Bradley MLA (SDLP)	Foyle
13 September 2010		Thomas Buchanan MLA (DUP)	West Tyrone	→		Paul Girvan MLA (DUP)	South Antrim
		Claire McGill MLA (Sinn Féin)	West Tyrone			Mickey Brady MLA (Sinn Féin)	Newry and Armagh
22 November 2010		Mary Bradley MLA (SDLP)	Foyle	→		Pól Callaghan MLA (SDLP)	Foyle

1998-2003 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 1998-2003 Assembly on 30 November 1999.^[12]

Party		Member[13]	Constituency
	SDLP	Joe Hendron MLA (Chairperson)	Belfast West
	SDLP	Tommy Gallagher MLA (Deputy Chairperson)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	DUP	Paul Berry MLA	Newry and Armagh
	UUP	Joan Carson MLA	Fermanagh and South Tyrone
	SDLP	Carmel Hanna MLA	Belfast South
	Sinn Féin	John Kelly MLA	Mid Ulster
	UUP	Alan McFarland MLA	North Down
	NI Women's Coalition	Monica McWilliams MLA	Belfast South
	Sinn Féin	Sue Ramsey MLA	Belfast West
	DUP	Iris Robinson MLA	Strangford

Changes 1998-2003

Date	Outgoing member and party		Constituency	→	New member and party		Constituency
11 September 2000		Joan Carson MLA (UUP)	Fermanagh and South Tyrone	→		Robert Coulter MLA (UUP)	North Antrim
21 January 2002		Carmel Hanna MLA (SDLP)	Belfast South	→		Annie Courtney MLA (SDLP)	Foyle
11 March 2002		Alan McFarland MLA (UUP)	North Down	→		Tom Hamilton MLA (UUP)	Strangford

See also

• Committee