Simon Hamilton
Strangford · Democratic Unionist Party · Northern Ireland
“I have emphasised to the Member and the House before, that, whilst I accept that those are not good enough — that is why we have been developing the plan — there are alternative technologies in place that can present opportunities for those who just cannot get acceptable speeds.”
“I thank the Member for his intervention. There are some initiatives that I believe will help and act as a driver to improve broadband access. One such intervention is the broadband universal service obligation (USO), which is being taken forward by Her Majesty's Government.”
“I thank the Member for his question. However, he is conflating two issues. I wrote to his party leader, and indeed to all Assembly party leaders, before making the announcement that I did last week about wanting to publish the details of the businesses in receipt of the non-domestic RHI scheme. It was my intention to do that tomorrow.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Chancellor, in his autumn statement, made some more funding available for telecommunications, and my Department is studying that and seeking to avail itself of that to the fullest possible extent.”
“In addition, my Department is managing a contract for the delivery of the superfast rollout programme, which, by 31 December, will provide access to superfast broadband with speeds of at least 24 megabits per second to a further 38,000 premises, both business and residential, across Northern Ireland, including in the Newry and Armagh cons…”
“I signalled the intention to do this a few weeks ago. The Member and the House will know that inspections of all installations would have taken place over the 20-year lifetime of the RHI scheme.”
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“<BR /> <BR />I would be very brave and courageous if I were to say that this will absolutely continue, but there is already — I am sure that the Member will be aware of this from his constituency — anecdotal evidence amongst many exporters. Notwithstanding the issues that some importers will be facing, as a result of the current currency fluctuations, many exporting businesses are already reporting an increase, and that will have been recorded after the 9·5% increase figures were published. <BR /> <BR />The trade accelerator plan is also showing some early success. We have had seven companies participating in the GB market introduction programme, and they will meet potential customers at the end of October. All of those are new to the GB market, which is exactly what the intention of the plan was.”
“I concur with the Member that it is very good to see that Northern Ireland increased its exports, the only region in the UK to do so. We increased by a substantial amount — 9·5% of an increase — in our manufacturing exports over the last year. It is worth putting on record that it is nothing that we, as an Executive, do. We provide support, but, obviously, it is up to the companies themselves with the high-quality products that they have. We will give them all the support and assistance and will open doors for them, and that is our job, but it is the standout performance of, particularly, the likes of our life and health sciences sector, which increased its export sales by over 50% in the last year.”
“They can receive assistance towards market research carried out in the market by experienced trade advisers. There is also assistance with language translation and legal costs. I encourage all existing and potential exporters to work with Invest NI to expand their export operations or to take that first important step into exporting.”
“The trade accelerator plan also provides for additional market visits, more inward buyer visits and enhanced support to companies from Invest NI's trade advisers based in international markets across the globe. First-time exporters can also avail themselves of support towards their travel and accommodation costs when targeting the Great Britain market, and companies seeking to enter the Republic of Ireland market can avail themselves of support towards accommodation costs. <BR /> <BR />In addition, through Invest NI's existing programmes, companies seeking to enter an export market for the first time can participate in its long-established export skills workshop series, as well as in tailored programmes such as Going Dutch and Czech It Out.”
“I am very aware of the importance of exporting to our economy and of the need to encourage more local businesses to sell outside Northern Ireland. To help to maximise our export potential, I launched the trade accelerator plan, which is still being delivered by Invest Northern Ireland, in September 2016. The initiative builds on the wide range of support and advice already available to first-time and experienced exporters. It provides enhanced support and financial assistance to target and enter an export market. Enhanced support includes a Great Britain market introduction programme, initially for the construction sector, and a Great Britain and Republic of Ireland retail market development programme for the food and drink sector.”
“The long-term sustainability of the university sector in Northern Ireland is incredibly important to get right. I have had discussions with Queen's University and Ulster University, and both put forward their own proposals for making the sector financially sustainable in the longer term. It is absolutely right that they contribute to the debate in that way because, after all, they want to remain world-class, world-leading universities. Of course, an important element of that is ensuring that they are financially sustainable. I have had conversations with them, and I will have conversations with Executive colleagues as well. The Member will appreciate that it is an issue that will require wider support, no matter what my views or my party's views are. We need to consider it carefully and take a decision in the not too distant future.”
“I point out to the Member, as I have to the House before, that Horizon 2020 is available to many states — I think that there are about 12 — outside the European Union. The state that benefited most per capita from FP7, which was the predecessor to Horizon 2020, was, I think, Israel. There are clear opportunities for states not in the EU to benefit from such funding arrangements, as well as from whatever Her Majesty's Government may put in place to replace, or perhaps as an additionality to, Horizon 2020.”
“It is an aspect of the ongoing negotiations that will see the UK exit the European Union. The Department will have an interest in and feed into the overall negotiations to help to ensure that Northern Ireland gets the best possible outcome. Interestingly, the number of non-EU international students now slightly outweighs the number of EU students. That would not have been the case a number of years ago. The universities are, rightly, looking to not just their own neighbourhood but to Europe and the wider world. <BR /> <BR />The funding position has been assisted by the Chancellor's recent announcements on securing Horizon 2020 funding right up to and beyond leaving the European Union. It is another issue that will be sorted out in the negotiations.”
“There are some very high-quality boarding schools in Northern Ireland that are competitively positioned against their competition in, say, Great Britain. <BR /> <BR />There are several ways, including those that I mentioned, in which education can, with a bit of nurturing, help and support, become a really important export industry for Northern Ireland.”
“The fact that 71% of graduates in Northern Ireland achieve a first-class degree or a 2:1 sends a good signal to potential students. We also have high-quality education and training in Northern Ireland, which can be sold — for want of a better word — outside Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />When I was in the Middle East recently, I had an opportunity to visit Dubai Healthcare City, which has a partnership between Queen's University and the Dubai Government. It is a fantastic opportunity for us to take our expertise there and work in partnership with the Government in the United Arab Emirates. There is huge potential for universities. I know that Ulster University is also engaged in similar aspects. <BR /> <BR />I think that there is also potential with boarding schools.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Our broad education sector, of which universities are a key part, has huge potential as an exporting sector. We do not automatically think of education as an export sector compared with health and life sciences, agri-foods or other parts of the manufacturing sector, but I believe that it is in several ways, not least because of the quality and high standard of the education system in Northern Ireland. As for attracting students, as I mentioned in my initial response, and attracting academic talent, we have a university system in which over 70% of university research activity is rated as internationally excellent or world-leading. That helps to attract students and academics here.”
“In addition to trade missions, universities have access to Invest NI support, and funding is available to assist with flights and accommodation to visit potential new markets. In their international outreach efforts, the universities can also avail themselves of the support that is offered by the Northern Ireland bureaux in Washington and Beijing.”
“<BR /> <BR />As for attracting international students, universities can participate in international visits coordinated by Universities UK International and access relevant networks and research. Education, including higher education, has significant export potential. Invest NI now has a manager working with the education sector as a whole to increase international activity. Invest NI is working with local universities to explore ways in which it can assist them to increase the number of international students enrolled. Universities have participated in trade missions, utilising the in-market teams and consultants to research and set up meeting programmes with potential partner universities or student recruitment agents.”
“Higher education institutions in Northern Ireland are autonomous and responsible for increasing their international activity. Within that overall context, my Department's higher education strategy, Graduating to Success, committed to ensuring that the institutions reviewed their international strategies and set challenging targets to enhance their international standing. Each institution now has an international strategy in place to increase collaboration and the inward and outward mobility of students and staff. My Department, together with counterparts in other devolved Administrations, provides funding to Universities UK International, which supports universities in their international efforts.”
“I am sure that, like any good employer, it will ensure that its workers are kept abreast of developments in this uncertain time.”
“Yes. As I mentioned, I have spoken to the company's local and corporate management. Obviously, like any business, particularly in that incredibly fast-moving sector, it faces a huge number of challenges. I think that they understand. Certainly, I know that local management understands, and senior management in Japan also appreciates the work that has been done in Northern Ireland. The fact that it has grown from such a small base in Northern Ireland to having 800 employees across a range of sites — some in the Member's constituency — is testimony to the skills of the workers here. It would not have invested or grown here if it had not been for the benefits that employing people from Northern Ireland brings to its business.”
“Sometimes there is a feeling that this is all very Belfast-centric, but that is not the case when it comes to manufacturing. Since 2011, Invest NI has given a significant volume of support to our manufacturing sector — £270 million. That has unlocked nearly £2 billion of investment by those companies and has secured or created 13,000 jobs across Northern Ireland. The sector is still integral and very important to our economy, and we will continue to support it in the fashion that we have done over the last five years.”
“What Fujitsu does in Northern Ireland is not manufacturing, it is more around contract services, managed services and digital services. Clearly, the manufacturing sector in Northern Ireland, in spite of what some commentators would have us believe, remains an integral and strong part of our economy. The sector has faced challenges over the last number of days, months and years and, unfortunately, some wish to characterise it as a sunset sector. I do not see it in that way at all; quite the opposite. In spite of some notable setbacks in recent times, employment in the sector has grown: there was a 4·1% growth in employment in the manufacturing sector as evidenced recently by the annual business register and employment survey. <BR /> <BR />Interestingly, the council with the biggest manufacturing sector is Mid Ulster.”
“It also provides managed services for Libraries NI and has recently secured some work from the Education Authority. At the risk of repeating myself, the best aspect of our long-standing and productive relationship is the help and support that we have given Fujitsu to help plant and grow its business in Northern Ireland through Invest NI and through our universities and colleges. As the company considers its future direction, I hope that our long-standing relationship and knowledge of what Northern Ireland offers the business will stand us in good stead and are valued by the company moving forward.”
“I hope so. Northern Ireland workers have the reputation for being very loyal to companies, whether indigenous or inward investors. I know that companies have to take decisions in the light of the challenges they face but I hope that our long-standing relationship — Fujitsu has had some sort of presence in Northern Ireland for 35 years — stands us in good stead. As an Executive, we have a good relationship with the company. In a previous role, I, and the First Minister and deputy First Minister, met the chairman of Fujitsu and keep in regular contact with local management. <BR /> <BR />There is also a long-standing relationship with the public sector in Northern Ireland. Members may be familiar with the fact that Fujitsu runs the Civil Service HR Connect shared service.”
“We needed to do, and I did, two things in the immediate aftermath of the announcement. First, I emphasised to the company at the highest possible level that Northern Ireland is a good place for it to do business, particularly, as I said to Mr Durkan, because of the skills mix that we have and the strong skills that Fujitsu has in its current workforce. Secondly, I said that Northern Ireland presents opportunities, as the company looks at adjusting and strengthening its business with an eye to the future. The Member mentioned fintech and cybersecurity; I mentioned agri-tech. We should concentrate not all but most of our efforts on the strong and emerging sectors in our economy to ensure that they take it forward into the future.”
“I thank the Member for his question. Another area that I would add to that list is agri-tech. I know that Fujitsu has been looking to get into that more, and, again, it is an area in which Northern Ireland has a standout reputation. These sorts of announcements are not good. You would rather not have them.”
“Obviously, nobody knows that better than the company. When you are discussing skills and having a conversation about the skills of the workforce here, the company understands and appreciates it, and I think that my role as Minister is to underscore that and offer some assurance for the future. <BR /> <BR />There are opportunities from this announcement as the company looks to redistribute some employment from around Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. There may be opportunities for Northern Ireland, and I think that, with the highly skilled workforce in Fujitsu in Northern Ireland and with the strong skills pipeline that we have, there could well be opportunities for Northern Ireland to seize, even though, at first glance, this looked like bad news.”
“I thank the Member for his question. He will be familiar, from a constituency basis, with Fujitsu's operations in Northern Ireland. There are about 250 people working at Timber Quay in Londonderry, and I think that is actually the company's biggest individual site in Northern Ireland. It is a significant employer in the north-west. The Member mentions the high skill level of the workforce there and across Fujitsu's Northern Ireland operations. Given that the review that the company announced earlier in the month is ostensibly about ensuring that it has the skills, as a business, to be equipped for the future challenges that the digital economy presents, the emphasis of my interventions and conversations will always be around the highly skilled workforce that Fujitsu has in Northern Ireland.”
“This process will be complex and challenging. It will likely affect several thousand individuals across all of Fujitsu's European, Middle Eastern, Indian and African operations, including all the company's sites in the United Kingdom. The review will also take several months to complete. While recognising that Fujitsu's Northern Ireland operations will not be exempt from this overall review, I have tasked officials from Invest NI to continue to maintain regular communication with the company. I and my Executive colleagues will continue to engage with Fujitsu management at the very highest levels to seek to ensure the best possible outcome for Northern Ireland.”
“<BR /> <BR />Following the announcement on Tuesday 11 October that Fujitsu would be undertaking a major review of its European, Middle Eastern, Indian and African operations, I spoke directly with Mr Duncan Tait, group director and corporate executive officer of Fujitsu Japan and Fujitsu's senior executive vice president and head of Europe, Middle East, India, Africa and the Americas, to reinforce Northern Ireland's long-established relationship with Fujitsu. I also emphasised the continuing contribution and excellence of the Northern Ireland workforce as well as the competitive opportunities that investing in Northern Ireland continues to present to Fujitsu as it shapes its business for the future. <BR /> <BR />Fujitsu is seeking to determine how best to re-equip its business to enable it to best compete in the digital economy.”
“Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker; I was just moving in there. <BR /> <BR />Fujitsu has been a significant employer in Northern Ireland for over 35 years. Given the company's strategic importance, the Executive, my Department and Invest NI have always maintained a close relationship with local and parent company management at the highest levels. Invest NI liaises and works regularly with the company at an operational level as well as at a higher strategic level to help ensure that Northern Ireland plays the fullest part in the delivery of Fujitsu's worldwide corporate strategy.”
“In answer to the Member, who is behind me, all of that must be wrapped in an envelope of what we can do to make it as affordable as possible, particularly for big energy users in Northern Ireland. There are some potentially tough decisions within all of that, but we have to have that big, open, honest conversation about future energy policy, and I want to kick-start that in the not-too-distant future.”
“I look at all the issues facing the economy in Northern Ireland, and there are many challenges facing Northern Ireland and our business community, but perhaps the biggest is energy, not just the price, particularly for higher users, but the security of supply. It affects our competitiveness, and it is particularly affecting our manufacturing businesses. I do not want to be alarmist and start talking about the lights going out, but I have concerns about future generation capacity in Northern Ireland. <BR /> <BR />We have to have a big, open, honest conversation about future energy policy in Northern Ireland, a conversation that has to touch on grid infrastructure, generation capacity, interconnection, storage and future renewables policy.”
“When he had me in the west of the Province, in Omagh, Mr Buchanan took the opportunity to take me to some landowners who were experiencing some difficulties with NIE. It was not that they had objections to what was being done; it was the manner in which it was being done. I am meeting NIE this week, and I want to raise some cases that Mr Buchanan, and other Members, have raised with me. I am happy to raise the Member's issue as well, if he brings it to my attention in more detail.”
“I appreciate that the Member may not want to go into detail in the House, but if he writes to me with details of the case, I will be happy to take it up with NIE on his constituent's behalf. The Member asked me — a couple of weeks ago, I think — about BT and has raised the issue of NIE. He knows that they are both regulated industries so they are not directly accountable to me. They are not my responsibility. Even so, I hear a lot about them from Members such as him and in direct correspondence from businesses. I am currently hearing from landowners in different parts of Northern Ireland, particularly in County Tyrone, who are experiencing difficulties with NIE working, or wanting to work, on their land.”
“I want to encourage more of that to happen and use all available funding measures at our disposal to ensure that there is more going on in a community setting than is currently the case.”
“I will write to the Member specifically about the levels of support, impact and positive benefit that it has produced, and I am sure that it will be positive. I accept that it does not always show up that easily in a lot of the measurements that we use, but the real benefit is in exactly what the Member and I have been talking about: hard-to-reach people in hard-to-reach communities who are able to take the first step back into education, with confidence, in their own community setting and with their peers. Clearly, it is a first step. If they want to reach a certain level, particularly degree level, they cannot do all their education in a community setting, but it certainly breaks the ice for them to be able to do some of their early-stage qualifications there.”
“Having had very few qualifications, she had picked up more and was now applying to study midwifery at Queen's. It is that sort of community-based education story that we do not hear enough of, and, having seen it at first hand, it is an area that I want to support through the Department. <BR /> <BR />I am aware that colleges provide services in the various settings that the Member mentioned, and I want to see more of that happen. I do not think that enough of it happens. We have perhaps not been as supportive of community-based educators in recent times as we should have been.”
“I entirely agree with the Member about the very important role that community providers play in learning and skills development in our community. I saw that quite early on in my term when I visited the Shankill Women's Centre at the invitation of Diane Dodds and William Humphrey. I saw for myself the fantastic work that they are doing there. What struck me were the stories that I heard from participants in a wide range of courses. These were people who had not perhaps had the best experience in formal education, who felt that they were pushed outside of the system and who found it difficult to come back inside. It was a big step for them to go back into any form of education. One story in particular shone through for me. It was from a young lady who had a family of four but had gone back into education.”
“It is a company that has gone from strength to strength in Northern Ireland, and I want to see that continue. Obviously, it has borne the brunt of the issue that it had with the HMRC tax credit contract. I want to work with the company to see that it comes through that and continues to put down firm roots in Northern Ireland and grow its employment here.”
“It is very much a matter for HMRC to decide what it wants to do. It is a stand-alone Department in terms of governance within the United Kingdom Government. It is doing various inquiries and inspections into the overall contract. I know Concentrix; I know the company. The Member's party colleague the Finance Minister attended the official launch of the new development down at Maysfield.”
“<BR /> <BR />On the particular issues that the Member raised in respect of safeguards, I will take that away and will write back to the Member. I do not want to give him a half-hearted or indeed a wrong answer here now. I would rather give him a comprehensive and full answer on the issues that he has raised.”
“I am obviously aware of the particular issues that there have been with Concentrix. Concentrix has been successful in growing its company in Northern Ireland over the last number of years. It is putting down roots in Belfast through the redevelopment of the Maysfield site, and I want to encourage that company to continue to grow. It is facing particular issues, as the Member knows, around tax credits and payments. I have been in contact with the company and its head here in Northern Ireland. It has been following the instructions given to it by HMRC. It is the unfortunate victim, I believe, of the fallout of some political criticism of the contract. That does not take away from the impact that it has had on individuals. I certainly dealt with the impact in my constituency, and I am sure that the Member has dealt with the impact as well.”
“Here we are now with an Audit Office report coming forward saying that this has been a success and it has worked. We will have to continue to be bold and brave in the public sector over the next number of years in government. I will certainly do that, and I know that my Executive colleagues will continue to be innovative in dealing with the many challenges that we face.”
“The net increase was approximately 8,000 more jobs in the private sector rather than in the public sector; that is good news. It shows that the Executive's policy of rebalancing the economy is working. <BR /> <BR />It is in the news today, with the report on the voluntary exit scheme. The Member will know that I was involved in that. As Finance Minister, I helped to develop and implement that policy. It was new. It was novel. It was innovative. There are a lot of people in the House, and in the media, who want us to be bold and innovative, but then, when we are bold and innovative, they want to talk it down. This is a policy that worked. <BR /> <BR />I can remember sitting in TV studios and being asked, "What will you do when this does not work? What will you do when you don't get enough people coming forward?".”
“The overall picture is a good one. Data from September 2014 to September 2015 show a 1·1% increase in overall employment levels; that is a good thing and is to be celebrated. It follows more recent data that show that the employment levels continue to rise and are at the highest level since 2009. <BR /> <BR />One of the most interesting statistics that you can draw from the register this year is the public/private sector balance, or rather rebalance. The Member will be familiar, as a member of the Finance Committee, that the Executive have been focused in the last number of years on rebalancing our economy. It is good to see in the register that, over the year, there was a decrease in public-sector employment by 2·6% and a commensurate increase in private sector employment, also of 2·6%.”
“Again, that belies an impression that many would have. We have to continue to work closely with our manufacturing sector to ensure that we can not only mitigate the impact of those job losses but actually continue to grow our sector in the way that we have been doing over the last number of years.”
“<BR /> <BR />There was an overall increase in Northern Ireland of some 7,750 jobs, which is 1·1%, between September 2014 and September 2015. In the manufacturing sector in particular, which we are told is a sunset sector and is on its way out, there was an increase of 3,162 manufacturing jobs over that one-year period, which is a 4·1% increase. Interestingly, the construction sector, again a sector that has struggled, was up by over 4% as well. <BR /> <BR />Notwithstanding the impact of job losses in Caterpillar, Bombardier and elsewhere, it is continued good news for Northern Ireland, especially in manufacturing. It is interesting to see that it is areas like mid-Ulster and the west of the Province that have the highest percentage of manufacturing jobs in the whole of Northern Ireland.”
“The manufacturing sector has been the subject of debates, discussions and questions in the House over the last number of months. The survey and the register show very good results for the sector. I reiterate that I would not come to the House and dismiss for a second issues such as the impact of the loss of 200 to 250 jobs at Caterpillar, which will affect the Member's constituency, or, indeed, at Bombardier or some of the other well-publicised job losses, particularly in the Ballymena area. I would not for a second say that they were unimportant; they have had serious and significant impacts, particularly for the people affected. However, as I have said in the House, and publicly as well, it belies a positive trend in the overall manufacturing sector, and the register shows that clearly.”
“I will give the same view now as I did when I was Health Minister, which is that I very much support in principle the idea of developing a graduate medical school in the north-west, as it made sense for the health reasons that I mentioned. Obviously, that has to be done in connection with available finances and all the requisite business cases and so forth. In principle, however, absolutely it is something that I support, and I look forward to working with the university, and, indeed, colleagues to make it happen.”
“<BR /> <BR />I have not had the discussions that the Member has had, but I expect that we will have discussions as the university develops its plans and ideas for a graduate medical school in the north-west.”
“I have not had any discussions in my current position with the Minister or with the colleagues whom the Member mentions, although it is something that I am familiar with from my time as Health Minister. I am seeking to draw on my knowledge from that time. <BR /> <BR />There was a very good proposal, although it was in its infancy and early stages and required significant development by the university, to open a graduate medical school in the north-west. That was a good and positive thing that could address two issues in particular. One was high locum costs in the Western Trust area — I have now reverted quickly to my previous role, as the Member will notice — and an issue with general practice, which was raised by Paula Bradley in the House yesterday. Those issues are pertinent to the Western Trust area.”
“I am willing to work with any and all operators to develop routes from Northern Ireland, particularly to key strategic markets, and I want to be a bit more directly involved and interventionist in doing that, as it is clear to me that other regions do it. If we want to increase and enhance our connectivity — I am sure that everybody in all corners of the House would agree that that is a good thing for Northern Ireland — we will have to be more directly involved in doing that. I have already had engagement with some airlines, and, indeed, with all the airports, and I look forward to more over the weeks and months ahead. Hopefully, that will bear fruit in more routes from Belfast and from City of Derry.”
“I am sure that the Member asked the question having not wanted to lose the direct transatlantic flight to Newark. As I mentioned in the previous answer, we were faced with a very difficult and challenging set of circumstances back in the summer. We took the decision that we did. There was a broad team approach, both from the private sector and across the political sector, to taking that decision. I believe that we did the right thing. Some may disagree with that, but I think that it was fundamentally the right thing to do to maintain Northern Ireland's only direct transatlantic route.”