Caoimhe Archibald
East Londonderry · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“Taken together, that points to a scheme that is operating effectively in its early stages, while, of course, remaining under review as further evidence becomes available. <BR /> <BR />I therefore commend to the Assembly the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026.”
“I seek the Assembly's approval for the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (Employment and Earnings) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026. The statutory rule was made on 1 April and came into operation on 6 April. It is before the Assembly today under the confirmatory procedure.”
“The 2026 regulatory impact assessment estimates one-off employer familiarisation costs of up to £1·36 million, with wider HMRC implementation costs forecast at £1·5 million and annual systems maintenance costs of around £10,000. It may assist Members to note that early implementation has gone smoothly.”
“The amendment ensures the continued operation of those regulations and forms part of a wider package of legislative measures establishing statutory parental bereavement pay as an entitlement for bereaved parents.”
“The regulations before the Assembly today are a key part of that implementation and ensure the continued operation of the statutory parental bereavement pay framework. The policy objective is clear: to support bereaved working parents at a time of profound loss and provide a minimum standard of protection in law.”
“<BR /> <BR />The confirmatory procedure means that the regulations before the House today have come into operation before the Assembly debate has taken place and must then be approved by the Assembly within the relevant statutory period. In this case, the deadline for approval is 20 September 2026.”
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“When we look at the modern role of universities, it is important for them to provide civic leadership and to work with the wider public sector to ensure that higher learning is engaged with local communities and workplaces. Universities, schools and colleges can and should be hubs for co-design and co-creation of public policy alongside government at all levels, local communities and groups, as well as individuals. <BR /> <BR />There is a pressing need to look for ways in which to fund education that are sustainable and inclusive, and where attendance is determined by ability and not just the ability to pay. The universities here are well placed to take a bigger role in the development of our communities and in the creation of societal wealth, in addition to generating job opportunities.”
“To establish what government can do better, stakeholders have asked us to ensure that the skills strategy, the upcoming 14-19 review and the 20-24 strategy are well connected and do not operate in silos. They must be part of a broader goal to encourage higher productivity for the economy, build confidence and resilience in communities and grasp the opportunity now to set a strategy that caters for people to learn from 17 to 70 years of age. <BR /> <BR />Our young people in particular need to be given a better understanding of the context of the working world with which they will engage. That could include providing a greater degree of knowledge about the sustainability of workplaces, careers and the wider community.”
“Many different issues are connected to closing the identified skills deficit and to ensuring that our people and communities are equipped with the skills and capabilities that will bring them satisfying, well-paid and worthwhile work, with support and pathways for continued professional and other development throughout their working life. <BR /> <BR />The Committee has heard calls from many stakeholders for the delivery of a skills strategy to address skills gaps, promote entrepreneurship, increase productivity and reduce unemployment. Industry has alerted us to a shortage of skills in STEM subjects, so we need to address that and promote them to potential employees, particularly women, who remain under-represented in many STEM subjects and careers.”
“A vital ingredient will be ensuring government investment in helping, particularly SMEs, to establish learning and development programmes for staff to develop and upskill. We need greater investment in training to develop junior members of staff into middle managers and future leaders, and that will require access to courses in management, leadership and enterprise skills.”
“<BR /> <BR />There are many citizens with excellent transferable skills who could easily move into new sectors and have lots to offer employers. We heard particularly about older people who, out of necessity, continue to work, and those who were made redundant in certain sectors heavily affected by the pandemic. Employers tell us that they are looking for particular soft skills, such as communication, creativity and problem-solving. They may be able to train people who have those skills to become successful employees, making valuable contributions in a global market. <BR /> <BR />We want to see those people having the opportunity to reskill and upskill to achieve their potential.”
“For a long time, people with disabilities, older people, women, carers and other disadvantaged groups have struggled to participate to their full potential in the labour market. Therefore, conditions need to be flexible, and we need sectoral agreement between government, employers and unions for the likes of childcare and the payment of benefits while learning. <BR /> <BR />The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted skills areas where there are gaps, particularly in digital skills and STEM qualifications. We need to turn our attention to providing an incentive to bridge the gaps by making sure that people know about the opportunities. That is where enhanced career services fit in, giving advice to people of all ages about what they could become involved in.”
“To do that, the strategy must be inclusive and provide support mechanisms to help people of all abilities to have access to rewarding work, where they continually build their resilience and confidence, and to deliver great benefits for employers. <BR /> <BR />We should push forward a targeted plan to help families that face intergenerational low educational attainment and worklessness to build confidence. We need to give them the financial and emotional support required to get into the kind of work that is rewarding but also provides opportunities for training and advancement in their chosen field. <BR /> <BR />Our workforce need to be offered flexibility in how, with employers, they develop responsive and productive businesses.”
“Stakeholders spoke passionately to us about building a culture of lifelong learning, where there are lifelong learning opportunities for all. That may or may not involve formal qualifications but would certainly benefit workers in terms of confidence, resilience, setting personal goals and making a contribution not only to their employers but to their families and communities. <BR /> <BR />There is no doubt that that will require further investment and a range of delivery channels, including within the community, at universities and further education colleges, and to be driven by employers who can co-design that learning to improve profitability and employee well-being. We were urged to ensure that there is a focus on delivering a skills-for-all approach.”
“I put on record my thanks to those who participated for their time and effort and to the Committee staff for their work in organising it and compiling the report. <BR /> <BR />The Department's new skills strategy will be a key driver for economic growth, particularly as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, and has the potential to make a vital contribution to the economic recovery and to enable us to build resilience into the economy. The strategy's design must support individuals, communities and industries to adapt to the demands of the global economy as well as to meet the changing needs of the local economy. <BR /> <BR />Recent research highlighted that over one third of adults here said that they had not taken part in learning since leaving full-time education, which is much higher than in England, Scotland or Wales.”
“I am glad to speak as Chair of the Committee for the Economy and to move the motion. <BR /> <BR />The Committee undertook this mini-inquiry to seek views from a range of stakeholders on what the framework for the new skills strategy should cover, strategically and practically, and produced this special report highlighting a range of themes. <BR /> <BR />We met a range of 50 stakeholders including industry bodies, employers, recruitment specialists, universities and colleges, student reps, the third sector representing people with disabilities, older people and women, social enterprise, trade unions, qualification awarding bodies and Departments. That afforded us an excellent insight into what the framework for a new skills strategy should be to help to rebuild our economy on a local and global platform.”
“I, too, thank the Minister for the very welcome statement. As she said, it is important that we give people hope for the way forward. As she will be aware, the pandemic has highlighted and, in some ways, reinforced social, economic and health inequalities across our communities. It has exposed some very difficult issues that need to be addressed in a strategic way. Will she set out how the Executive will address those issues as we move forward to recovery and try to build a different and better society?”
“That is something that everyone here should be able to get on board with, in order that we can have the conversation about what we invest in and how we pay for it.”
“Again, that was a New Decade, New Approach commitment covering infrastructure, skills and job creation. A green new deal can be a major driver for the type of jobs-led recovery that we want to see: infrastructure development to support decarbonisation; training opportunities for our young people; investment in R&D to help with job creation in expanding fields such as renewable energy; and a retrofitting programme to help tackle fuel poverty. Obviously, paying for all those things will be a huge challenge. I have already spoken about how difficult a Budget we face. One reason that Sinn Féin advocates the devolution of greater fiscal and borrowing powers is to give the Executive the ability to plan for the type of recovery that we in the North need: a recovery that is responsive to our local economy and citizens.”
“They are important employers in their own right in all our communities. We need to support them to get back to doing business when it is safe and to rebuild their confidence and capacity, and that will require both practical and financial intervention to help them respond to the new working normal. There is a particular role for Invest NI in that, and its remit needs to support SMEs and microbusinesses as well as those seeking to export. I will continue to raise that matter with Invest NI and the Department for the Economy. <BR /> <BR />Finally, we need to have a real focus on a green recovery, and, again, that requires taking a real cross-departmental approach. I was glad to see the focus on a green recovery in the Economy Minister's strategy. A clear commitment to a green new deal would have sent out a very positive signal, however.”
“<BR /> <BR />Going forward, the Committee wants attention to be paid to particular areas to enable economic recovery, and there is likely broad support for that. One such area is the need to support our young people who have been badly hit by the pandemic. Young people are more likely to have been furloughed. Recent Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) statistics show that there are 26,000 more unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds than at the same time last year. We therefore need to ensure that there is a strategy to provide opportunities for young people, and it is an area in which there is a need for the cross-departmental approach to economic recovery that I talked about earlier. <BR /> <BR />We also need to support our small businesses, self-employed people and entrepreneurs, who have been badly hit by the pandemic.”
“It was disappointing that the economic recovery action plan did not include the New Decade, New Approach commitments on workers' rights. We have heard many times in the Chamber, and in commentary over the past year, about the need to recognise our essential workers. Upholding and strengthening their rights, as was agreed by all parties before the restoration of the institutions, will send out a strong signal. I know that the Economy Minister has previously spoken about wanting to have a skills fund and an economic recovery fund. I wonder whether the Finance Minister in his response can reflect on any discussions that he has had with the Economy Minister about funding her economic recovery plan.”
“It was a missed opportunity, however, to set out an Executive vision of an overarching strategy for economic recovery that had cross-departmental buy-in and that clearly set out the response to the new trading arrangements post-Brexit. It is really important that we look to those new trading arrangements and deal with the difficulties that have resulted from implementing a major change in trading. We must politically and diplomatically work with businesses to do that and then support them to respond to the new reality and the opportunities that it presents, including the reorientation of supply chains locally and across the island. We can rebuild and strengthen the all-island economy through cooperation that benefits North and South.”
“That would give businesses the confidence to be able to plan going forward. Hopefully, we will see a longer-term stimulus coming from the British Government, because, let us be clear: that is exactly what is needed to reboot the economy when it is safe to reopen. <BR /> <BR />That brings me to the publication, last week, of the Economy Minister's economic recovery action plan. It was good to see a plan for economic recovery. I do not think that any of us would disagree with the plan's priority areas of skills, a greener economy, trade and investment.”
“It looks like that for the incoming year, too. <BR /> <BR />The Budget for the forthcoming financial year is still in draft form. Tomorrow, the British Chancellor will announce further allocations. Those allocations will be welcome. However, they show the lack of strategic thinking from the British Government last November, when it was clear that we faced a second wave of restrictions. They have been reactive, rather than proactive, during this crisis. One has only to look at the furlough scheme, which was mooted to cease at the end of October and, subject to a last-minute reprieve, was extended until the end of January and then to the end of April. Hopefully, a further extension will now be forthcoming. EU states, like France, gave certainty months ago that their job support schemes would continue into next year.”
“I will not rehearse all that, other than to say that it is my strong view that, having responsibility for businesses, the Economy Minister, in particular, must look at flexibilities that could be introduced in existing schemes to provide that much-needed support. <BR /> <BR />As we look forward to the incoming financial year, we know that this is a difficult Budget and that there are constraints on what the Executive would like to do to deliver on the type of recovery that we want and need. That, of course, is not helped by a single-year Budget and the resulting inability to plan spending over the next few years. It is also exacerbated by the way in which funding for COVID support has come to the Executive over the past year — a bit here and a bit there — making it impossible to plan properly how to spend it.”
“The Committee is concerned that many aspects of the Department's work in key COVID and EU exit response areas are unfunded going into the new financial year, as well as the Department's reliance on advance bids for funding being met in-year. The issues that have been highlighted around the deficit in funding for skills have the potential to derail any economic recovery or development if they are not addressed. With the demands on the Executive's funding, the Committee worries that the Department's needs will not be met. <BR /> <BR />I will now make some remarks as Sinn Féin's economy spokesperson. Yesterday, as part of my contribution, I reflected my view that groups of businesses and workers still need specific support packages with the funding that is available to spend before the end of the financial year.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Department indicated that its draft capital allocation of £89·8 million represents 70% of its capital spending plans. However, officials suggested that they were broadly content with that allocation and, again, believe that they will be able to make successful bids for additional funding in-year. The Committee welcomed the allocations for aspects of New Decade, New Approach and city deals and will continue to monitor progress on those commitments. <BR /> <BR />The Committee is aware of the heavy toll that pressurised working on COVID relief has taken on departmental staff, which is exacerbated by the number of vacancies in the Department.”
“The Committee, therefore, supports the Department in its belief that skills will be key to economic recovery and greater prosperity going forward. Members, again, expressed concern when officials highlighted that the Department would require £460 million of additional funding to bring spending back to 2010-11 levels in real terms. <BR /> <BR />To that end, the Committee has written to the First Minister and deputy First Minister to highlight the need for investment in skills and to advocate that the Executive look favourably on skills-related bids that the Department makes going forward. Similarly, the Committee has written to the Economy Minister to urge her to prepare the necessary bids for submission to the Executive once additional funds have been identified.”
“Those schemes are key to the Department's plan to help the economy to recover by stimulating spending. Again, members are concerned about whether funding will be forthcoming and whether those schemes will provide value for money as part of an economic stimulus package. <BR /> <BR />Advance bids of £167 million for economic recovery funding in 2021-22 were made in October 2020. The Department acknowledged the difficulties around timing with respect to recovery spending; applying funds too early risks their being wasted or underspent, while applying them too late risks their being ineffective or coming too late to support business recovery. <BR /> <BR />Skills development will be a vital part of building recovery. The Committee has undertaken considerable work on that.”
“Officials highlighted that the Department would face £17·8 million of unfunded inescapable resource pressures. In addition, existing COVID relief schemes will mean an unfunded pressure of £31·7 million in 2021-22. Those deficits do not address further requirements to provide support to businesses and other stakeholder groups as a result of COVID and EU exit. <BR /> <BR />Committee members are concerned that so many vital streams of work do not yet have identified funding streams. The Department’s dependence on additional funding allocations from the Executive and the Treasury does not represent good budgeting. The Department has made an advance bid for £147 million for COVID relief in 2021-22 to cover a high street voucher scheme and a holiday-at-home voucher scheme.”
“In addition, the Department has been allocated £12·2 million for operating the protocol. The Committee noted those funds and has requested that the Department provide details on how the protocol-related funding will be spent. <BR /> <BR />The non-ring-fenced resource DEL baseline budget will be allocated across seven business areas. Committee members expressed concern that the allocations for economic and business development and for InterTradeIreland were static, considering the role of those business areas in providing funding and other support to businesses as a result of COVID and EU exit. Officials confirmed that they had anticipated that the Department’s advance bids for funds in 2021-22 would allow additional resources to be applied in those business areas to supplement the baseline budgets.”
“Although the Committee has seen the high-level funding allocations, members would greatly appreciate having much greater granularity in the detail that is provided to the Committee, down, say, to the level of £1 million and above. <BR /> <BR />The Department’s non-ring-fenced resource DEL baseline remains at £805·4 million for 2021-22, despite the significant pressures placed on its budget because of COVID and Brexit. The Department has indicated that it has already made substantial advance bids for funding in the 2021-22 financial year. However, the Committee has expressed some concerns about that kind of budgeting. <BR /> <BR />The Department has been allocated a further £15·8 million of non-baseline funding for EU exit, EU match funding and its share of the Executive’s change in A-level policy funding.”
“The Committee's intention in undertaking those inquiries was to inform the Department’s development of policy, and it is always gratifying to see the Committee’s work featuring so prominently in such a major piece of departmental policy. As I highlighted yesterday, the economic recovery action plan requires considerable in-year funding beyond the draft Budget allocation of almost £300 million. I urge the Economy Minister to engage with the Finance Minister and other Executive colleagues to ensure that that necessary funding is forthcoming. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the draft Budget for 2021-22. It is timely that I do that and that I indicate the unsatisfactory nature of the Budget process from the perspective of Committee scrutiny.”
“<BR /> <BR />The Committee registered some concern that the Department’s modelling for COVID response schemes has lacked accuracy, leading to considerable underspends on early schemes, including over £50 million being returned to the centre last year. The Committee appreciates the greater flexibility to move funds between COVID relief efforts, which was announced by the Finance Minister. However, the Department for the Economy has continued to make significant returns to the centre as well as making significant bids for urgent in-year funding. <BR /> <BR />The Committee welcomes the Minister for the Economy’s publication of an economic recovery action plan, which draws heavily on the Committee’s micro-inquiries into energy, skills and rebuilding the economy.”
“As I have said in previous Budget-related debates over the past year, we are in very strange budgetary times, which has had an impact on the Department for the Economy’s budgeting. <BR /> <BR />The Committee was briefed by departmental officials at its meeting on 10 February 2021 on the Department’s allocation in the draft 2021-22 Budget. As I indicated in yesterday’s debate on the spring Supplementary Estimates and the Vote on Account, over the past year, the Committee has engaged regularly with officials on budgeting in relation to COVID and EU exit. The Department has seen vast budget inflows and outflows, making scrutiny extremely difficult for the Committee.”
“I thank the Minister for his response. The Minister said that he was putting a halt to the construction of facilities. Those contracts were awarded by his Department. Is he seriously interfering in contracts and procurement to score political points?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. The Minister will know that the Casement Park project can have a transformative impact in west Belfast and in the wider Gaelic games community. We all want to see the project delivered. Can the Minister explain why, five months after she made the very welcome announcement, the planning approval process has not yet been completed and is causing further delay?”
“I welcome the progress to date and the announcement that was made last week after I met the Minister and raised the importance of the scheme. Indeed, the right public transport infrastructure will help public transport to bounce back after the pandemic. Minister, what is the timescale for delivery of the project, and will it be in place when that section of the A6 is completed? Will cycling infrastructure be put in place to encourage active travel?”
“I thank the Minister for her response. She will be aware that representatives of the sector have raised significant frustrations with the first scheme, given the high level of ineligibility and the fact that others did not receive full payment. Can the Minister give her assessment of the scheme and say whether she believes that it is serving the needs of industry? Will she commit to engaging with representatives of the sector who believe that their concerns are not being heard?”
“Perhaps the Finance Minister could update us on any discussions that have been had or bids that have been made in respect of further business supports. <BR /> <BR />The Minister will be aware that the Tory Chancellor is due to make a Budget statement this week. I am hopeful that there will be an announcement of an extension to the furlough scheme. I am sure that the Minister agrees that businesses — some sectors in particular — will require support to continue beyond the end of April. I ask the Finance Minister to continue to make representations and to urge the Chancellor to move finally to support some of those whom he has excluded in the past year. <BR /> <BR />We will debate the incoming year's Budget tomorrow, so I will keep my remarks about that until then.”
“Another sector that has been badly hit is the events sector. It previously missed out on support and is not included in the tourism and hospitality support scheme. Again, that could be rectified by bidding for more funds for that scheme and amending the criteria. With £250 million to be allocated, it is difficult to justify not bidding to support businesses and workers who are struggling. We all recognise and appreciate the significant work that departmental officials are putting into delivering schemes, but there are people out there who are really struggling. It is important that all efforts are made to get support to them while that money is available, especially if it is a case of relaxing or amending the criteria of existing schemes rather than designing new ones.”
“That could be rectified by the Economy Minister making a bid for funds to extend the criteria of the existing scheme.”
“There are some self-employed people who have been failed by the British Chancellor because they became self-employed too late in the previous tax year to qualify for the self-employed income support scheme and who were self-employed for too long to qualify for DFE's scheme.”
“The Finance Minister will be aware that the Department for the Economy handed back some £54 million in COVID funding in January, and, since then, bids for further supports from DFE have not been forthcoming. That is despite, as the Chair of the Finance Committee highlighted, groups of businesses having little or no specific support. The Finance Minister will be aware of those because they are issues that have been raised with him, and it has been well rehearsed that there is a good case for support to be made available. That includes support for travel agents, who everyone will recognise have been badly hit. They have been out significant sums from returning deposits and have had a lack of any new bookings. There are also independent agents who do not have premises so have had little other support.”
“However, the Department indicated that it would seek over £200 million in annually managed expenditure (AME) for 2021-22 in order to cover commitments that had been made. <BR /> <BR />A Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle, that perhaps gives some illustration of the financial roller coaster that the Department for the Economy has been on over the past year, and, as you will appreciate, it has made the Committee's scrutiny role very difficult to fulfil. However, the Committee remains committed to providing as much scrutiny as possible. <BR /> <BR />I will now make some brief remarks as Sinn Féin economy spokesperson. As I outlined, it has been a very difficult and busy year with bids and allocations from all Departments, particularly the Department for the Economy.”
“Also, £17·6 million of resource DEL easements were identified and utilised in other departmental spending, including £3·8 million towards meeting the European social fund (ESF) shortfall. The Minister sought £16 million for Invest NI to replace any European regional development fund (ERDF) shortfall. Additionally, £93 million that was received for the high street voucher scheme was returned and has been included in bids for 2021-22. <BR /> <BR />The current lockdown restrictions meant that a number of anticipated spends could not be utilised as planned. A further £12·4 million in COVID support funding was returned to DOF as it could not be utilised during the current restrictions.”
“She highlighted a considerable shortfall of approximately £70 million in funding that would have come from EU sources but is not anticipated to be replaced by the British Government's Shared Prosperity Fund. <BR /> <BR />By the January monitoring round at the beginning of this year, things had changed. The expectation that a recovery phase was beginning was gone, and we found ourselves in the current restrictions and lockdown. As part of January monitoring, the Department submitted bids of £33·9 million for five inescapable non-COVID pressures; five COVID-19 bids totalling £54·7 million to support economic recovery; and one high-priority bid of £8 million for higher education for quality-related research.”
“The Committee has campaigned for greater flexibility for movement of funds across COVID relief schemes, and thanks must be given to the Finance Minister for the additional flexibility that has been introduced. <BR /> <BR />The relaxation of restrictions last summer gave false hope for our direction of travel, and the Department's bids in the summer exercise reflected the belief that a recovery phase approached. However, we now know that that was overly optimistic and again required the return of substantial funds that could not be spent. As late as December, the Minister briefed the Committee that the Department was looking at a shortfall of approximately £140 million in its budget.”
“The Department of Finance made a number of urgent allocations to the Department as part of that exercise, including £23·1 million for interventions for apprenticeships and further education safe learning. The Department's 32 bids were considered key to addressing the economic recovery. Those bids and a further six inescapable pressures total £88 million resource deal in 2020-21, with future resource DEL funding commitments of £63 million up to 2023-24 and an ongoing recurrent commitment of over £8 million per annum. The modelling for COVID response measures has been difficult. Over £50 million in underspend was returned to the centre in the summer from the Department's initial COVID schemes.”
“I intend to speak on the in-year monitoring rounds, the several COVID allocations, unspent funds and the difficulty for the Committee in being able to scrutinise budgets this year. The Department for the Economy has been delivering schemes to help businesses and individuals cope with the impact of restrictions on their livelihoods. I put on record the Committee's appreciation of the hard work and dedication of the Department's staff. All credit must be given for the work that has been done against a very difficult backdrop in order to deliver support. <BR /> <BR />A Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle, you will be aware that, in the summer, there was an exercise when the Department for the Economy made 32 bids across 13 themes, including assistance to business; skills and youth training; tourism; the energy strategy; and university research.”
“That is something that we should all get on board with. I urge Members to support our motion today and send a clear signal to our businesses and communities that we are going to deliver the certainty and stability that have been sadly missing since the referendum in 2016.”
“<BR /> <BR />As political leaders, it is now incumbent on us to show the way forward and to emerge from the very difficult year that we have experienced because of the pandemic and from the past five years of uncertainty created by Brexit. We need parties to get on board with that in order to end the stunts and the unhelpful and dangerous raising of tensions. <BR /> <BR />As we deal with the new reality, it is important that there are strong working relationships across these islands North/South and east-west. I am sure that I do not need to remind Members of Ministers' statutory responsibilities in that regard. <BR /> <BR />We now have an opportunity to build a stronger local economy that is part of an all-island economy that brings the potential for greater prosperity for all citizens across the island.”
“It needs to be a cross-Executive strategy because, when it comes to the new trading realities, there are important roles for all Departments and Ministers, and, similar to yesterday, when it comes to setting out a vision for our economy, that needs cross-Executive support and buy-in from all Ministers. That is why we proposed an Executive subcommittee on the economy involving all relevant Ministers. It is particularly so if we want to deliver on the greener, fairer recovery that has been talked about by many parties in the Chamber. For that reason, we will not support the amendment to the motion, which is directed at the Executive Office.”
“to send out a message that we are open for business, but, most importantly, to offer the support to our local businesses and entrepreneurs to give them the tools that are needed to take advantage of opportunities to build and strengthen local supply chains across the island. <BR /> <BR />In a year that has seen global trade stumble, it is vital that, in planning the economic recovery from COVID, we enable our talented local business people to grow and develop their businesses and create sustainable jobs. <BR /> <BR />The overarching economic strategy needs to act as a driver for our local economy both in the recovery from COVID-19 and in responding to the new trading reality.”
“<BR /> <BR />We also need to focus, beyond dealing with the immediacy, on how we can benefit from the protections afforded to the North through the protocol and build on those protections and on the opportunities to bring investment and jobs to the North because of our ability to continue to trade east-west and to have continuing access to the EU single market with its 450 million consumers. Those are two of the biggest economies in the world. <BR /> <BR />We need to be given a positive vision for that. Our motion calls for the development of:”