Conor Murphy
Newry and Armagh · Sinn Féin · Northern Ireland
“More detailed consultations with individual childcare providers and parents are taking place this month and into February. The group agreed that the research would conclude in March 2025. The work is on schedule; there has been no delay. Childcare is an excellent example of various Departments coming together to deliver for our people.”
“The Bill looks at the issue of flexible working, but at every meeting that we have had with employers, we have made a point of talking to them about the need for them to be flexible, particularly in relation to women who are returning to the workforce, and to offer people arrangements that entice them back to the workforce and give them t…”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion. <BR /> <BR />Although the Department of Education leads on childcare, it is a priority for the Executive as a whole. When setting the Budget for this financial year, the Executive earmarked an additional £25 million for childcare.”
“As a matter of fact, I publicly launched the scheme and the courses in the Met last summer. My officials are also working with our six further education colleges to develop childcare microcourses for future delivery. <BR /> <BR />I also offered to assist Minister Givan's Department as required.”
“The group identified the need to better understand the business models for childcare, what type of support is needed to ensure the sector's financial viability and how support should be targeted. Given my Department's business expertise, we volunteered to take that work forward.”
“No tensions or obstacles have been placed in the way of any of that work, and I hope that that continues to be the case, because the issues are much more important than party political exchanges across the Chamber. We will continue to work in that manner.”
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“No tensions or obstacles have been placed in the way of any of that work, and I hope that that continues to be the case, because the issues are much more important than party political exchanges across the Chamber. We will continue to work in that manner. <BR /> <BR />I very much welcome, first, the prioritisation that the Executive gave to this important area and the fact that officials, Departments and Ministers have got down to working together to deliver. We must do more, we must do it quicker and we must do it better. We are all committed to doing so, but there are many points to be debated on the issue. When Mr Martin responded to Cathy Mason, he missed the point completely.”
“The Bill looks at the issue of flexible working, but at every meeting that we have had with employers, we have made a point of talking to them about the need for them to be flexible, particularly in relation to women who are returning to the workforce, and to offer people arrangements that entice them back to the workforce and give them the support that they need to continue with their caring responsibilities, be they mothers or other people with caring responsibilities. I assure Michelle Guy that there are no issues with that. Most people are a bit bewildered as to why the Members across the way tabled the motion, but there are certainly no issues with that or with our work on the post-19 issue, with the Department of Education on the careers issue or with other Departments on a range of issues.”
“In this case, we are working collaboratively and very well together. I have no idea as to why the DUP wants to suggest otherwise. I will continue to support Minister Givan in that important work. <BR /> <BR />A number of points were made in contributions. Both the Alliance Members who spoke referenced the 'good jobs' Bill and flexible working. The 'good jobs' Bill is open to further suggestions from, and consideration by, Committee members in particular and other Members.”
“More detailed consultations with individual childcare providers and parents are taking place this month and into February. The group agreed that the research would conclude in March 2025. The work is on schedule; there has been no delay. Childcare is an excellent example of various Departments coming together to deliver for our people. Officials in Invest NI, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Department for the Economy and the Department of Finance have done a terrific job, and I commend them all. <BR /> <BR />It would be understandable and, perhaps, acceptable for the Executive to be subject to criticism when we are not cohesive or are not working collaboratively, particularly on priorities that we have announced and set ourselves and for which we have secured support from all the parties in the Assembly.”
“The group identified the need to better understand the business models for childcare, what type of support is needed to ensure the sector's financial viability and how support should be targeted. Given my Department's business expertise, we volunteered to take that work forward. The research was scoped out and agreed by the group on 9 October, and, as part of the October monitoring round, the Department of Education transferred £153,000 to my Department to fund that research. The Department of Finance's innovation and consultancy services (ICS) was appointed to take forward the research, which got under way on 21 October. Consultations have taken place with a cross section of stakeholder organisations and 15 representative organisations in the childcare and wider sectors.”
“As a matter of fact, I publicly launched the scheme and the courses in the Met last summer. My officials are also working with our six further education colleges to develop childcare microcourses for future delivery. <BR /> <BR />I also offered to assist Minister Givan's Department as required. On 22 July, he wrote to me and the Health Minister asking us to assist with his Department's targeted business support scheme for childcare providers. On 1 August, I responded to Minister Givan and offered the assistance of a number of officials from my Department and Invest NI. Minister Nesbitt also provided a supportive response. <BR /> <BR />The working group, comprising the Department of Education, the Department for the Economy and the Department of Health, first met on 30 August.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion. <BR /> <BR />Although the Department of Education leads on childcare, it is a priority for the Executive as a whole. When setting the Budget for this financial year, the Executive earmarked an additional £25 million for childcare. As part of June monitoring, £25 million was allocated in full to the Department of Education. The claim that my Department was allocated £2 million is absolutely false. Although the Education Minister was in receipt of the full £25 million to fund childcare, I prioritised childcare in my Department and allocated £740,000 from my existing baseline to support pathways into the childcare sector. If the Member who proposed the motion had asked for an update since February, she would have been aware of that.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.”
“I invite the Member to engage with the tourism action plan and perhaps engage with the partnership board on that and to discuss it with the board, because all of the industry has been represented there. There was a strong presence at the launch from across the sector and across the North. People are enthusiastic about getting on with that work and growing the tourism industry in the way that we want to grow it over the next number of years.”
“North Down, I am sure, has plenty to offer visitors who will come to the area.”
“The whole region will benefit. There are something like 17 actions. We brought together a wide range of people from the industry. I have a firm view, which I have always had, that, if you are going to design policies and action plans, you need to co-design those with people in the industry at the coalface who know what works and what will not work and involve those with Tourism NI officials and officials from the Department. It will now be about delivery on that, and destination tourism is a part of that, because, clearly, we have a lot of outdoor and indoor attractions that have become part of our tourism map here and have been successful in drawing more visitors to the area. It is a matter of strengthening those but also growing the other destinations that are available.”
“It certainly increases the challenge. The difficulty is that that was introduced with no compensatory measures to support small businesses. It was, basically, introduced as a quick fix in one area without, in our view, any consideration of a region such as this in particular, where small and medium enterprises employ about 90% of our working population. There was no real consideration of the consequences or impact of that, and there was no alternative support to assist businesses to grow. <BR /> <BR />We have heard from quite a number of small businesses that that will be a challenge. I hope that it is one that they can meet. I hope that the arguments about mitigation and other supports land with the Government in the time ahead and that we get that support, but there is no doubt that it will be a challenge.”
“That will take time and effort, but it is a priority for the Department, so we will continue to focus on it.”
“I do not have an assessment of the proportion of good jobs, but, as I said, we set four priorities across the Department on productivity and promoting good jobs that all of its agencies have also undertaken and that are now part of the draft Programme for Government, which, hopefully, will be finalised in the near future. We have brought in outside advisers to assist us in that regard, and we have brought together a number of organisations regularly to provide advice and guidance. <BR /> <BR />It is not simply about the salary involved; it is about representation in the workforce and flexibility and value in your work. There are a range of factors that go into that. There is the Carnegie definition, and work continues on trying to achieve the outcomes that that envisages in terms of good jobs.”
“As I mentioned in answer to one of the questions on skills, there are specific programmes for women in the skills programme. We have had many engagements with people who represent women in employment and other women's interest groups. People with disabilities, young people and women comprise a higher proportion of the economically inactive than in the general population. The programme is tailored to get economically inactive people out of that situation. Of course, childcare will be a critical part of that, as it will allow people the opportunity to go back into employment or skills and learning. Those programmes need to be tailored with those groups in mind. That is our intention.”
“Those organisations are critical in terms of their experience, their know-how, their record in working with people who are far removed from the labour market and their knowledge of the steps that are necessary to bring people back in and then, hopefully, on to other skills organisations, such as our colleges and universities. <BR /> <BR />We will continue to press the case in relation to the Shared Prosperity Fund to get an understanding. If the programmes are not funded, those who provide them and those who benefit from them and rely on them will be in a difficult situation. We will continue to try to get a handle on that.”
“Given the restrictions of Brexit, the ability to attract foreign labour is restricted. Regardless, we have an obligation to work with people who are trying to find their way back into the employment market to give them the support that they need. <BR /> <BR />A lot of the organisations that were involved previously relied on European funding, such as the European social fund (ESF) and the European regional development fund (ERDF). They then relied on the Shared Prosperity Fund, which brought them close to a cliff edge. We are now told that Shared Prosperity funding will continue for one more year but at a reduced amount. We have been trying to ascertain the level of support in that respect.”
“The Member's point is a critical one, because we have a situation in which there are very high levels of employment and low levels of unemployment, yet economic inactivity remains at a high level — I think that we said 26·5% — on average across the North. The further north and west that one goes, the percentage goes up.”
“It is therefore a commitment, and I intend to honour it, and I expect other Departments and the Executive as a whole to assist me in honouring it. <BR /> <BR />Thus far, we have got off to a good start. Programmes have been developed. There are more students there now than there were before. Land has been identified, while capital plans have been identified until, I think, 2032 in order to achieve the expansion. Of course, that good start has to be sustained and supported as we go on. Given the fact that it forms part of our Programme for Government, however, I would expect Executive support for doing so.”
“As I said in response to a previous question, the expansion to 10,000 students for the Magee project was a New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) commitment. All parties that were turning into Executive parties at that stage were committed to it, as were both Governments, who also had a contribution to make in that regard, because both of them drafted that particular agreement. That commitment has now been absorbed into the Programme for Government. <BR /> <BR />I have set up a task force to work on that, because, as I have said, it is not a matter of creating more spaces in the university but a matter of how the city accommodates the numbers. The Member, and others beside him, will know that the city itself has identified the growth of Magee as being a key catalyst for its overall economic performance and improvement.”
“<BR /> <BR />It is going to be a challenging year, and, as far as we understand, we are then into a three-year Budget cycle. The opportunity for us is to try to get the budget right over the course of this year for the further three years. That requires us to work together to achieve more efficient and effective outcomes, to make sure that everything that we spend reaches as far as it possibly can and to continue to work with the British Government to try to ensure a decent outcome.”
“The short answer is this: very challenging. Like, I have no doubt, most Departments, we got much less than what we bid for. That will present real challenges for us in areas such as skills and higher and further education, as well as for everything else that the Department is committed to supporting in the time ahead. <BR /> <BR />We have been meeting regularly — both before and since Christmas — to endeavour to make sure that our budgets stretch as far as they possibly can. We need more collaboration with other Departments. There is already a significant degree of collaboration with Executive colleagues on a range of matters. We also need to ensure that the First Minister, the deputy First Minister and the Finance Minister in particular continue to lobby for a better budgetary outcome for us.”
“As I stand here today, I cannot. I would need to get some sense of its effectiveness. I am, however, happy to write to the Member in the time ahead. <BR /> <BR />We will consider any schemes that are effective or working well and that we can afford to do. Affordability is a key issue for us. One then has to set that against the potential for missing targets and what that would do to society here. We will therefore continue to lobby for more support from London. In answer to an earlier question, I spoke about the GB Energy Bill. Where there are opportunities for assistance from there, we will continue to try to utilise it. As I said, however, I am happy to write to the Member with an assessment of the sustainable energy programme.”
“The challenge, as ever, for every Department is to have the finances to be able to do those things. Executive targets for reducing carbon emissions will include the need for much more energy efficiency. Much more energy efficiency will therefore be required in the time ahead. We will bring forward proposals and try to support them as best we can out of our Department's limited resources and also make an argument at the Executive table for collective responsibility when it comes to more energy efficiency and more use of renewables, a consequence of which will be a reduction in our carbon emissions.”
“We have done an energy efficiency scheme for businesses through Invest NI, and we want to look at what more we can do for domestic customers.”
“The Finance Minister will bring rates proposals to the Executive shortly, and I think that she intends to provide as much support as she can to the business community. When I was the Minister of Finance, we reduced the business rate by 18% because we recognised that it was a high burden. The vast bulk of our businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises, so that was a challenge to them. <BR /> <BR />I will, of course, continue to work with Executive colleagues. We all have different responsibilities in relation to that. For example, the Department for Communities has responsibility for the high street, and TEO had the high street task force. We need to work together. Growing the economy is an Executive priority, and I expect all Executive colleagues to row in behind measures, plans and propositions that aim to support that.”
“The Finance Minister will continue to engage with the Treasury on that. <BR /> <BR />We will continue to try to grow the economy through the development of strategies, the promotion of our businesses and the promotion of investment in the area to try to increase the overall level of prosperity, which will, in turn, benefit the tourism and hospitality sector. Through the additional investment that I have put into Tourism Ireland, we will continue to promote this place as a destination and make sure that we get more international visitors, albeit with the challenges that we face with the ETA that I was just speaking about.”
“Just last week, we launched the task force report on tourism and hospitality, in which there is an ambition to grow that industry and its income. I hope that, in doing that, we will secure employment for people and businesses in that sector. <BR /> <BR />I have no doubt that these are challenging times. We came out of COVID, with all the challenges that it presented, particularly to hospitality and other small businesses, and moved immediately into an energy crisis and a cost-of-living crisis in which the material costs for the people providing tourism offerings increased and the income of those who were trying to avail themselves of those offerings reduced. That presents a significant challenge. The addition of the increase in National Insurance contributions for employers is particularly challenging for small businesses.”
“Just last week, I engaged with the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) forum, on which a number of business organisations are represented. I did not hear that level of concern, but, if the Member has, we will endeavour to engage on that. <BR /> <BR />The report to the Committee last week was, if you like, a summation report on the consultation. The next step is to develop that into policy, which would ultimately lead to legislation, advice and guidance or other measures that might bring forward the measures that are needed in order to secure better employment for people. We will, of course, keep the Committee involved, and it will have opportunities, during its deliberations, to engage with business organisations, trade unions and others on the content of the Bill.”
“The 'good jobs' employment rights consultation proposed to introduce the right to up to one week of leave pro rata for unpaid eligible carers over a rolling 12-month period, to provide care for a family member or other dependant who has a longer-term or otherwise significant care need. We will continue to engage on that, and there are opportunities for those who represent carers to have an input. They already have done, and they will continue to have an input as we develop policy on that issue and turn it into legislation and other proposals that may come forward over the next year.”
“I held my 'good jobs' employment rights public consultation between 1 July and 30 September 2024. My officials and I have engaged constructively with stakeholders throughout. My consultation focused on four key aspects of a 'good job': terms of employment; pay and benefits; voice and representation; and work-life balance. Some 192 consultation responses were received, highlighting a range of views and observations. Detailed analysis of those responses is almost complete. That analysis and other policy considerations will inform my decisions about the content of the employment rights Bill that I will bring to the Executive for agreement in the months ahead.”
“Those include programmes targeting people who are disabled or neurodiverse or who have barriers to entering employment or learning. Additional funding is provided for a series of women returners' initiatives to help individuals to use learning to gain confidence and skills to re-enter the workforce. Local further education colleges and universities are taking the lead on delivering all skills fund programmes.”
“We engage with industry — with clusters and with individual companies — to ensure that we have the bespoke training, through, for example, skills academies, that is needed for a particular area in order to create a skills pipeline for the people who operate in that area. <BR /> <BR />The skills fund aligns with my economic plans. It already supports a range of initiatives targeting up to 8,000 individuals to upskill this financial year. Those initiatives include a new SKILL UP programme, developing our workforce in the childcare sector and training for green skills. I am also focused on ensuring that we offer support to people facing additional barriers to accessing learning and employment. A number of new initiatives are being supported to provide training and additional support to individuals who are economically inactive.”
“<BR /> <BR />We have had discussions on AI with the Department responsible in Westminster to get a sense of the direction of travel under the British Government, what they might legislate for and how that might impact on us, as well as to see how we can enhance the use of AI to support our local manufacturing. One of my four objectives is productivity, which is about using the latest technology to improve the outcome of manufacturing in particular. We want to ensure that all our manufacturers have access to the latest thinking and learning. We will invest in an AI centre to ensure that people have a resource to go to for advice and support in that area.”
“I have had a number of meetings with the manufacturing sector in Mid Ulster over the past year or 18 months, most recently last November. It is doing a remarkable job, and its organisation through the board of Manufacturing and Engineering Growth and Advancement (MEGA) adds strength to what it is delivering. We discussed with MEGA opportunities and challenges in the manufacturing and engineering sector in Mid Ulster, including the need for a skilled labour force, and how the Department and its partner organisations can align our provision with the needs of the industry.”
“The latest economic evidence shows that the local labour market continues to remain very challenging, with an annual undersupply of 4,300 workers, unemployment remaining historically low at 1·6%, economic inactivity remaining high at 26·5% and many sectors reporting recruitment challenges. With over 90% of the 2030 workforce already in employment, we must work with employers and sectors to support a culture of lifelong learning and to invest in skills to address current shortages and meet future challenges. I am committed to addressing skills shortages. As I set out in my skills statement last July, I have created a skills fund, investing in a range of training interventions focused on growth sectors and transferable skills.”
“I agree with the First Minister in that we are putting significant effort and resources into those plans. We want to ensure that tourism, which the question relates to, has an opportunity, through the priorities that I have set in the Department and that are now included in the Programme for Government, to improve regional balance, access to jobs and productivity growth and to help with some of the green initiatives taking place in tourism for net zero. It is an important industry and a very important part of our economy. It has been undervalued, in my opinion, for too long, and the task force plan that I have put together provides a degree of focus and, importantly, provides for engagement with the tourism industry on the development of those plans and their implementation going forward.”
“<BR /> <BR />Of course, I would be very happy to visit some of the facilities there. I have passed by them often enough on the road up to Derry, but I would be very happy to stop when the opportunity arises.”
“I had a very constructive meeting with several members of the tourism cluster, and the Department and Tourism NI recognise the value of all tourism clusters in the North, which raise the profile of those destinations and enhance the capability of tourism providers. Tourism NI has worked closely with a number of individual businesses and has experience of the Loughinsholin tourism cluster, as well as other tourism clusters. Looking forward, it will be important to continue engagement between the tourism cluster, Tourism NI and Mid Ulster District Council. The tourism vision and action plan commits to the development of a set of destination stewardship plans for destinations across the North, and clusters can be key partners in shaping the delivery of those plans.”
“I am pleased to confirm that I launched my tourism vision and action plan on Wednesday 15 January. The final document is available on the Department's website. The vision and action plan sets out how we plan to grow our tourism sector over the next 10 years, and I have set a strategic goal that tourism expenditure from overnight visitors will exceed £2 billion by 2035. I am indebted to the Tourism Partnership Board, which helped to identify 17 activities that are critical to achieving that ambition in a way that promotes regional balance, raises productivity, creates good jobs and lowers carbon emissions.”
“We will, of course, continue to try to promote tourism wherever we can and try to ensure the best possible outcome for people in the tourism industry.”
“I hope that the research that has been done is not borne out. I hope that events such as the Open on the north coast are more successful than previous events there, and all the plans are in place to try to do that. We will support that, because, despite the setback with the approach of the Home Office, we will try to encourage growth in tourism and will spend more money on promoting tourism. <BR /> <BR />The assessment done by Tourism Ireland was that one in five North American visitors would reconsider coming. I think that it was a higher number of European visitors who would consider whether they would come because of the ETA scheme. I hope that that does not manifest itself and that people do decide to come, but that is some of the research that has been done.”
“The scheme is to be implemented by the British Home Office, which has been a bit vague about how it intends to enforce it. It talked about no checks when crossing the border, which would be welcome, and intelligence-led enforcement of the scheme. I am not quite sure what that means, and, despite our many engagements with the Home Office, we are still not quite sure what that means. The implementation of the scheme is the responsibility of the Home Office. We do not have a role in that, but we have a role in representing the interests of the tourism industry, and those interests are firmly against the imposition of the scheme.”
“The target date for the completion of the transfer of functions is October 2025. That will ensure that the current policy continues beyond that date.”
“I am not sure that the Speaker judges the appropriateness of questions. <BR /> <BR />The tourism action plan continues to support the development of hotels outside the Belfast area. It ensures that there is an adequate mix and scale of tourist accommodation across the North that meets visitors' expectations. The Department for the Economy will review its policy to support that and to transfer the accommodation support scheme from Invest NI to Tourism NI, as recommended in the Lyons report. We are working closely with colleagues in Tourism NI and Invest NI to bring forward that transfer of responsibilities through a working group. That also involves an independent assessment of the local visitor accommodation sector in order to inform departmental policy and scope further financial assistance schemes to be put in place by Tourism NI.”
“That would have covered an estimated percentage in the high 90s of our international visitors, who come for roughly that length of time. Those solutions were put to the Home Office. It has already worked to find some practical solutions to other issues. For instance, people who are resident south of the border but are not necessarily Irish citizens can travel without an ETA. For some reason, French school groups can travel to Britain without an ETA, yet we did not get movement on our situation. <BR /> <BR />There is a strong fear and recognition that this is potentially damaging to our economy. International visitors are high spending and provide a significant income for our tourism providers, so we will continue to press that case.”
“You have to judge the positivity of a meeting not by the pleasantness of the conversation, which was very pleasant, or by the exchange of information — we provided further written information to the Minister and the Home Office — but by the outcome, which was not positive. The outcome was that they went ahead, and not only did they go ahead but they announced an increase in the fee from £10 to £16 for the electronic travel authorisation document. <BR /> <BR />Our preferred solution was not to go ahead with the scheme at all, in recognition of our particular and unique circumstances here. Our secondary proposal was to allow a five- to seven-day waiver for people travelling from the South into the North but not intending to go on to Britain.”
“Tourism has grown substantially in recent years, and there is considerable potential for further growth. However, the introduction of the electronic travel authorisation scheme threatens that progress. That is why, on behalf of the industry, I continue to lobby the British Government for a solution. With 67% of our overseas holidaymakers arriving via the South, seamless all-Ireland travel is key to the success of our tourism sector. The ETA introduces a financial and bureaucratic barrier for tourists to travel into the North. Undoubtedly, that will put off some people from visiting here, which will, in turn, impact on expenditure by international visitors in the local economy.”
“UU is in negotiation with the owners of sites that are located within walking distance of the existing campus in order to purchase suitable land and buildings to support the future growth of student numbers. That work continues, and I hope that announcements will be made on some of it in the very near future.”
“The Department for Infrastructure has been and will remain engaged with the task force. It is looking at issues such as the restriction on ownership of houses in multiple occupation in areas that are in proximity to the Magee campus. I circulated a draft report and a final report to all Executive colleagues to keep them informed of developments. The project is part of the Executive's Programme for Government, and it was part of an all-party agreement. It is now part of the Programme for Government, and, in that sense, I believe that all the Executive will ensure that they will put what is required into the development so that the 10,000 places are delivered from other Departments as well. I will remain engaged with colleagues as necessary, but I know that some of them have already been engaged with the task force, which is very welcome.”