An attempt to restore Stormont to pass stalled organ donation laws is set to fail as the DUP is refusing to drop its boycott over Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol.
MLAs have been recalled to the Assembly on Tuesday in a bid to elect a new Speaker and hold a debate to progress the legislation.
But the DUP has made clear it will continue to block the election of a Speaker, meaning no other business can be discussed.
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An opt-out donation system was passed by MLAs last year, but secondary legislation required to implement it has been delayed due to Stormont's collapse.
The legislation - named after six-year-old Belfast boy Dáithí MacGabhann who is awaiting a heart transplant - has become a key issue in the debate around the political impasse.
Since last year the DUP has been blocking Stormont power-sharing in protest against the protocol, which has angered unionists for creating trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Several previous recalls of the Assembly have all ended in failure due to the DUP's stance.
DUP East Antrim MLA Gordon Lyons said organ donation should not be used as "blackmail" for the return of devolution.
He said legislation to fully enact Dáithí's Law can be progressed at Westminster via a government bill which is being introduced to extend the Assembly election deadline.
Mr Lyons added: "Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will work with the government and the House of Commons Speaker to table an amendment to the Executive Formation Bill in Parliament.
"Parliament is sovereign and has legislated on numerous issues for Northern Ireland. We wish to not only ensure that the law is introduced but that there is no delay to the timescale originally envisaged."
He added: "Warnings that devolution and the protocol were incompatible were ignored by many of the same parties who now feign surprise that the DUP continues to be guided by our mandate.
"There will be no restoration of the NI Assembly and Executive until the protocol is replaced with arrangements that unionists, as well as nationalists, can support."
The Northern Ireland Office said the Assembly was the "quickest and simplest way" to implement Dáithí's Law.
It said it was "highly unlikely" an amendment could instead be made to the Executive Formation Bill.
A spokesman added: "The Executive Formation Bill is focused solely on the Executive formation period and the Secretary of State's corresponding election duty and, as such, it consists of only one substantive clause.
"The scope of the Bill is therefore very narrow, and amendments on issues other than the Executive formation period are highly unlikely to be in scope."
Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan, whose party tabled a motion to recall the Assembly, said they will be in the chamber in an effort to elect a Speaker and pass the necessary regulations.
He urged "no more delay in getting this legislation into law".
Mr Sheehan added: "We owe it to little Dáithí and all those people desperately waiting on an organ transplant.
"I would urge all parties to work together in the Assembly on Tuesday and let’s get this done."
Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said the DUP’s refusal to enable the Assembly to sit is “unedifying and serves no purpose”.
She said: "The regulations are already drafted and ready to go. There is neither excuse nor reason for further delay. The DUP needs to stop playing games with people’s lives and get on with the job its MLAs were elected to do."
UUP leader Doug Beattie said the onus is on Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to act.
He said: "I don't believe the sitting of the Assembly will achieve anything other than straining relations further.
“The Ulster Unionist Party will be there, but we know that the DUP will not allow a Speaker to be elected and business will conclude. So, the onus is still on the Secretary of State to act to prevent further delay to the organ donation legislation."
SDLP MLA Colin McGrath said the Assembly recall was an "opportunity for MLAs to come together and deliver something that would make a real difference to the lives of many people".
"The SDLP will be at Stormont tomorrow giving our full support to Dáithí's Law and expressing our solidarity with the MacGabhann family, but we will also be warning the DUP that if they continue to put their selfish identity politics above the needs of people across the North then inevitably people will begin to consider change to attain a better future for themselves and their families,” he said.
Dáithí underwent another heart procedure in England last week.
On Monday, his father Máirtín MacGabhann said an "opportunity" will be missed due to the DUP's stance.
He told BBC Talkback: "It's going to have to be Westminster, but again that's another few weeks of uncertainties and it's weeks that we don't have really."
Mr MacGabhann added that speaking to political parties, "I keep hearing the word possibility, could, would".
He added: "I need more than that, I need guarantees at this stage."
The opt-out system would mean people in Northern Ireland would be presumed to be donors, unless they take a decision to opt out. It is being implemented to increase donation rates in the region.
Do you support the opt-out system? Are the politicians letting Daithi and the public down once more? Let us know in the comments.
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