Two MLAs have asked more oral and written questions at Stormont in the last year than all of largest party Sinn Féin’s representatives combined.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has gone into recess for the summer and will return for plenary and committee business in September.
Figures from the Assembly website show a wide range in the number and questions asked to ministers in the Executive since it returned from recess in September 2024.
Some MLAs have asked close to 1,000 questions in the last year in either verbal or written form, while some have tabled just two.
Despite having 27 MLAs, representatives from the largest party in the Assembly asked fewer questions than the two highest individual MLAs.
DUP MLA Michele McIlveen and TUV MLA Timothy Gaston tabled more than 1,900 questions in the last 10 months, while Sinn Féin has asked 1,512 questions in the same time frame.
MLAs from the DUP asked a total of 5,071 questions, followed by the SDLP on 4,509, Alliance with 3,223 followed by Sinn Féin.
The number of questions asked by MLAs at Stormont by party.
SDLP MLAs feature among the highest individuals when it comes to asking questions of ministers, with Daniel McCrossan, Justin McNulty and Mark H Durkan each peppering ministers with more than 800 questions each in the last year.
Mr McCrossan, who is one of the most prolific question askers in Stormont having submitted 875 questions, said asking questions of ministers was “vital for transparency”.
“As the assembly’s official opposition, the SDLP uses oral and written questions as essential tools to hold ministers accountable and demand answers for the public we represent,” Mr McCrossan said.
“These mechanisms are vital for transparency and ensuring that Executive decisions are properly scrutinised.
“It’s not surprising that some Executive parties choose to ask fewer questions, doing so risks exposing their own ministers’ lack of delivery on key issues like healthcare, housing, or the A5 road project that I’ve repeatedly pressed ministers on. The public deserves answers.”
The 10 MLAs who have asked the most oral and written questions in Stormont in the last year.
Understandably, many of the MLAs who feature among those who have asked the least amount of questions are ministers in the Executive.
Communities minister Gordon Lyons has asked two questions while Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has asked 12.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has asked 59 during that time, more than half of her party’s MLAs.
Outside of Executive ministers, nine of the 10 MLAs with the lowest number of questions hail from Sinn Féin’s ranks.
They include South Antrim MLA Declan Kearney with 11, South Belfast MLA Deirdre Hargey with 15 and South Down MLA Sinéad Ennis with 21.
A spokesperson for Sinn Féin said it was “committed to representing our constituents, ensuring accountability at all levels – at the Executive, on the floor of the Assembly and through our work in Assembly committees”.