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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“I understand that, from the Member's constituency perspective and generally across Belfast, there will be concern when there is an acquisition about what the future is for the people who work there. People are entitled to be concerned about their future, and, obviously, our intent is to try to ensure support for as many workers as we can. It is early days in those discussions. When I was in the States, I took the opportunity to mention the potential takeover by Boeing so that, if issues arise, we have access to discussions with senior people in America in order to protect jobs as best we can.”
“The Department is aware of the ongoing discussions between Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems about a potential acquisition. The Department is not aware of any immediate impact on its Northern Ireland operations, and it would be wrong to speculate on potential outcomes for Spirit locally as the discussions continue. My office is already engaging with Spirit to confirm a date for a meeting to discuss the current situation.”
“As I said, the Department funds around £10 million per annum to provide a range of ongoing financial supports for further education students, including further education grants, the hardship fund, Care to Learn, home-to-college transport, free school meals and clothing allowance. Education maintenance allowance is also available for eligible students. A further £4·5 million per annum is provided to the further education colleges to provide support to students with a disability. In the 2022-23 academic year, further education student support measures supported close to 13,000 students.”
“Part of my vision is about good jobs and better jobs for people and regional balance. Those things will all contribute to that. We are intent on doing as much as we can in that area in the time ahead.”
“As I said, we announced £1·7 million additional in recent times for further education students. There is a recognition that the costs attached to higher education are more significant for many students, but I want to ensure that there is a level of support available across all. If we had more money, we would certainly put more money into hardship funds to ensure that people have that. Getting people opportunities to get back into work and to get education and skills is vital. The further education colleges will play a key role in all that, and we need to ensure that we create pathways for people, on their own terms and bearing in mind that many have other responsibilities in their lives, to access skills, education and the ability to get back into the workforce.”
“The cost-of-living crisis continues to have a significant impact on many sections of our society, including students at further education colleges. Student support officers based in every college help students to access further education grants, and the hardship fund, the Care to Learn scheme, childcare, the education maintenance allowance, home-to-college transport and free school meals are also available. That total support is about £10 million a year. In recognition of the current difficulties, additional support totalling £1·7 million has been provided to colleges. I have also asked for a review of student support in further education to ensure that support measures are being targeted as well as possible on the basis of need.”
“It is a process that is not often followed and does not seem to be promoted much, yet the benefits of securing employment and of workers having control of their own employment are undoubtedly evidenced in areas where it has been successful. I have been alerted to the fact that there is not a significant uptake of that because there is a lack of information. On the work that I am doing here, we have commissioned research and will continue to make sure that that is available to more people to understand that that option may be available to them.”
“Yes. I have commissioned research on that. I am aware of that facility in my constituency where that has happened very successfully.”
“Growing social enterprise is a vital part of my economic vision. Social Enterprise NI, which delivers the social enterprise work programme, has a key role to play. As an initial measure, I have increased the budget for the programme. My Department will now work with Social Enterprise NI to develop an ambitious action plan to further grow the sector and to take forward the recommendations from the community wealth-building report, which was commissioned by the previous Communities Minister, Deirdre Hargey.”
“In the current financial year, three collaborative assured skills welding academies have been launched for delivery by the South West College, providing employment opportunities in Dungannon, Cookstown and Magherafelt. Work is ongoing with the six further education colleges to identify suitable collaborative proposals to meet the skills need of smaller companies in all sectors.”
“The Member is correct: in the past, the assured skills model was primarily used for larger companies and FDI. Working with a single company meant that it was easier to identify the number of vacancies and to secure a guaranteed interview. I have asked my officials to gear more academies towards SMEs throughout the North by getting multiple small companies to come together and collectively identify their needs. That has already started to happen. For example, in response to increased demand for skilled welders, more than 180 people, many with no previous experience, have completed welding training, with 150 hired by participating companies.”
“Assured skills academies are very effective in providing a successful pathway for individuals who are seeking a new career. Since 2011, 183 academies have been delivered, upskilling more than 2,900 individuals. All those who were trained were guaranteed a job interview, with over 2,500 gaining employment, which was a success rate of 86%. That has been a success for the local economy, with starting salaries totalling £55 million generated between 2011 and 2023. <BR /> <BR />Academies address the skills needs of investment companies and existing local companies by ensuring a pipeline of potential skilled, job-ready employees. The academy model is agile and is responsive to local economic and workforce needs, and it will continue to adapt.”
“Both universities have very good programmes, some of which are run directly on the ground in South Belfast, to encourage more inclusion. I expect that those programmes include people who have arrived in this country to try to access further and higher education. There are inclusion programmes, and both universities are very proactive in that. If the Member or others sense that there is a gap where people who have come into the country need support — sometimes support is needed with translation and other services that may be provided by different Departments — I would like to hear about issues that arise in that regard, and I will be happy to speak to the universities about their programmes. However, I know that they are very proactive in that area.”
“Yes, I will. We are looking at ways to provide support to students, and I have asked officials to identify options for that. As I said in my previous response, however, the ability to increase support is limited by the very difficult circumstances that we find ourselves in as a result of 10 or 12 years of austerity. Nevertheless, I hope that the Executive can get a positive outcome in their negotiations with the British Government on this matter and that we get more support to enable us to support students.”
“Yes, I have spoken to both vice chancellors on a number of occasions prior to and since taking up office. I agree that we need collectively to work on the funding of students, access to university and the number of students going on to higher-level education. We are operating within very limited and constrained public finances. I hope that the situation improves as our negotiations with the Treasury develop, but I want to look at the matter as imaginatively as we can to ensure that the universities have the resources that they need and can take in more students in order to avail themselves of the facilities that they develop. We should look at doing that in such a way that means that students can access those facilities without an additional burden being placed them.”
“My assessment is that students already take on a significant level of debt in order to access higher education and that adding to that debt is not the right approach. I am committed to working with the higher education sector to embed sustainable funding arrangements that enable it to thrive and create more opportunities for our students.”
“I certainly will. He was very much at the forefront of that work, as was the BID organisation in Newry. Local elected representatives, volunteers and many others were also out helping at that time. It displayed the true spirit that is in our areas and many others. When those types of crises come along, people pull together to provide support to each other. I hope that, through the scheme that I funded, which is being run through the council, the level of support that is required for businesses will be delivered as quickly as possible.”
“The report 'High Street Task Force: Delivering a 21st Century High Street' will be of interest to a number of Departments. I have asked my officials to take forward the recommendations that are relevant to my Department. I understand that the Executive Office Ministers will shortly write to Executive colleagues inviting them to consider how they can take forward the findings of the report.”
“If there is a case for more investment in business improvement districts, I am very happy to talk to the Minister for Communities about that, but the more that we have people who are active and working in the local area deciding on the economic future and the best policy for that specific area, the better the outcome will be.”
“I am very happy to work cross-departmentally on anything that could improve our economy. Previously, I had a strong working relationship with my colleague Deirdre Hargey when she was Minister for Communities and I was Minister of Finance. Equally, I hope to have a strong working relationship with Gordon Lyons now that he has taken up that post. <BR /> <BR />One of the processes that I outlined in my vision for the economy was regional balance. When we have local actors deciding what the local priorities are with the support of government, we will get a much better policy outcome when it comes to local needs.”
“Business improvement districts are the responsibility of the Department for Communities. As Economy Minister, my assessment is that they are an excellent example of local collaboration and cooperation. BIDs enable local businesses to take decisions on the issues that matter to them and about which they know best. They can be drivers for the regeneration of our towns and city centres by making our towns and cities more attractive to visitors and creating a positive trading environment that helps local businesses to thrive.”
“I believe that the RHI scheme should have been concluded some time ago in the previous mandate. It is my intention to bring the matter to as speedy a conclusion as I can in as fair a way as possible. That will in turn allow us to access other available funding that has not yet been taken up and to look at other renewable schemes.”
“As I said in my previous answer, some of those issues have been addressed by the Windsor framework. If, as we move through the design of the scheme, there are outstanding issues, we are more than happy to take those up with the relevant authorities in London and Brussels.”
“The proposed scheme will have similarities to RESS in the South and the contracts for difference scheme in Britain. Similar auction-based schemes have also been successful across other European countries and are a well-established option for incentivising renewables. Previous research that was commissioned by the Department identified that type of scheme as being one that would provide the optimal form of support for the North, and the recent consultation confirmed it as the preferred option of the power sector stakeholders. From that, a bespoke local scheme is being developed. Any scheme that we introduce will take account of the lessons that have been learned from other schemes on these islands and will address the specific needs of our local market.”
“Options for microgeneration support, including domestic renewable generation, such as solar panels, will continue to be evaluated as part of our net zero ambitions. The Windsor framework enables the extension to the North of the VAT relief for energy-saving materials that was previously available only in Britain. That means that people here will also be able to apply zero rates of VAT to the installation of energy-saving materials, such as heat pumps and solar panels. Homeowners may wish to seek independent advice on solar panels, heat pumps and other energy efficiency matters from organisations such as the NI Energy Advice service. Those technologies have the potential to provide an attractive payback to homeowners without grant support.”
“Stakeholder engagement will be essential as we move forward to deliver a final scheme design, maximising the community benefit opportunities and ensuring prosperity for all.”
“The Department is developing a renewable electricity support scheme (RESS) to incentivise investment, ensure a fair price for electricity that is produced locally and encourage diversification to support security of supply. Following a recent consultation, officials have been working with consultants to define the optimal scheme structure. High-level design for the scheme will be published this month as part of the Department's response to the consultation. The next phase will involve modelling and a financial impact assessment alongside the establishment of a legislative pathway, state aid approval and institutional roles and responsibilities that are necessary for delivery.”
“It is my hope that the present regulations will continue to operate from now until then to help parents who suffer the loss of a child through death or stillbirth. I commend the regulations to the Assembly.”
“<BR /> <BR />The regulations have introduced a new entitlement for employees who are bereaved parents to take two weeks' bereavement leave from work and also be entitled to a statutory payment. The policy objective is to provide support and create a baseline for employees who are bereaved parents who have tragically experienced the death of a child under the age of 18 or through a stillbirth. <BR /> <BR />The regulations are the first step to introducing a greater package of support through which those rights and entitlements will be extended to those who experience a miscarriage up to the end of the 23rd week of pregnancy, and it will be available from the first day of employment.”
“I am grateful to the Members for responding to the debate. I am also grateful to the Committee for its consideration. I recognise that it is not the ideal situation, but I think that the Committee understood that there was a very narrow window in which to renew these regulations and put them on a more permanent footing than was the case in the transitional phase that they have gone through in the past number of years. <BR /> <BR />The objective is that the end point is April 2026, but, if these actions can be taken quicker than that, I will be happy to get them done as quickly as possible, because I recognise that people are waiting on the support. I am grateful to Philip McGuigan for his support for the measures.”
“These regulations make amendments to secondary legislation in consequence of the parental bereavement leave and pay being created and operationalised. It is normal for that to occur when a new statutory leave and payment is created. These amendments were made with the approval of the relative Executive Departments as well as the necessary Whitehall Departments. For the first iteration of these regulations, a letter was sent to the other Ministers, informing them of the decision to make the regulations. This current version of the regulations maintained that principle in order to ensure continuity of the rights. <BR /> <BR />I am happy to hear Members' views in the debate, and I will make a winding-up speech at the end.”
“The current weekly rate is £172·48, and Members should note that that amount is traditionally uprated each year along with other statutory payment amounts through an amendment by the Department for Communities. I understand that the next uprating exercise will be made within the next few weeks for the new amounts to be set. <BR /> <BR />Finally, the regulations create the terms for HMRC in taking on the responsibility to make the payment to the employee when their employers cannot or are unable to pay. Those are in exceptional circumstances, for example, during a winding-up order, administration or a receiver having been duly appointed. <BR /> <BR />The third set of regulations is the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023.”
“Similar to the leave regulations, this set also establishes the available options for how the right can be taken: for example, as two blocks of one week or a single block of two weeks, taken within 56 weeks of the date of the child's death or stillbirth. It also includes the terms for continuous employment in relation to certain types of employment, dispute resolutions or transfers of contracts. That ensures that an employee would not miss out on the right because of those processes. <BR /> <BR />This also outlines and defines the requirement for earnings and sets the amount of statutory payment and the applicable percentage to be paid in the event that an employee earns less than the statutory payment amount. That is set at 90%.”
“It also sets the requirement that an eligible employee must have worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more. Members should note that it is my intention to remove that requirement from April 2026.”
“The regulations implement the powers of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 that were added by the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. They also set the requirements and conditions for being entitled to statutory payment, including the relationship to the child who has died, notice periods and evidence requirements.”
“Both options are to be taken within 56 weeks. The regulations also set out how the right interacts with other statutory leave rights and calculations for a week's pay in other circumstances to ensure that anyone taking the leave is not at a disadvantage. Finally, it sets the terms for an employee's return to work and the protections in place during parental bereavement leave. It also establishes protection from detriment from taking advantage of the rights, so that an employer cannot treat the employee less favourably as a consequence of their decision to take the leave. I commend this set of regulations to the Assembly. <BR /> <BR />The second set is the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (General) (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023.”
“<BR /> <BR />I commend to the Assembly for approval the following three sets of regulations. The first are the Parental Bereavement Leave (No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023. They implement the powers of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 that were added by the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022. The regulations ensure that the right to leave is available to eligible employees on day 1, and they set out the requirements and conditions for being entitled to the leave; the relationship to the child who has died; how the request should be made; and options for changing the request for leave in the event that circumstances change. The regulations establish the available options for how the right can be taken, for example, in two one-week blocks or a single block of two weeks.”
“The transitional provisions go further to ensure that a seamless process is in place for bereaved parents exercising their rights across the two-year period. That is because the entitlement period extends for 56 weeks after the death or stillbirth of a child, and, due to the multiple remaking of regulations and the various time-limited operational periods, measures had to be created to provide a mechanism to carry over that entitlement. Any steps or actions already taken by the bereaved parent were to be counted into the new version, thereby preventing bereaved parents from having to go through unnecessary steps and processes. Other than that change, the regulations are, in effect, identical in purpose and form to those shared with the Committee in draft form in 2022.”
“Those businesses will get help with the payments and any administrative costs. Guides, calculators and forms are provided by HMRC to assist in the decision-making and record-keeping requirements. <BR /> <BR />I will soon turn to the policy positions and features of each set of regulations, but I draw the Assembly's attention to a feature that is present in all three sets of regulations that are before Members: the presence of transitional provisions. The transitional provisions were developed and introduced to ensure continuity of the right for parental bereavement leave and pay in the period between the first version of the relevant regulations and now, because the first sets would have fallen in late 2022, in effect ceasing the rights.”
“While it is important to ensure that eligible employed parents are given the rights, it is also important to recognise the challenges that employers, particularly SMEs, face in delivering on their responsibility as employers in the current economic climate. The projected set-up and administration costs to employers are expected to be relatively small. Across all employers in the North, those costs are expected to amount to £279,000 in the first year for familiarisation costs and up to £85,000 per annum from then on for total payments. There are, however, allowances made for businesses by HMRC in how it is funded, including small employers' relief, which is available for businesses with less than £45,000 paid in the previous tax year for class 1 National Insurance.”
“Those rights to parental bereavement leave and pay make the North one of the few places worldwide to recognise and understand the effect that the death or stillbirth of a child has on parents. It also sets the minimum expected standard that employers must provide in support of those parents at such a traumatic and emotional time. The Assembly has made this one of the first places to offer a full two weeks of leave and to set a minimum level of pay, and, with the further changes that I plan to introduce, it will be one of the most wide-ranging entitlements to parental bereavement leave and pay in Europe. <BR /> <BR />I turn to the regulatory impact of the package and the new rights.”
“<BR /> <BR />Parental bereavement leave is a day-1 right, which means that eligible employed parents are able to take up to two weeks off work to grieve, no matter how long they have worked for their employer. Currently, eligible parents who have worked for their employer for six months or more at the time of their child's death will also be able to claim statutory parental bereavement pay. It is my intention to introduce further regulations that will also make that element a day-1 right. Officials are moving that work along to meet the target of April 2026. <BR /> <BR />Both the leave and pay elements can be taken at any time within 56 weeks after a child has died or is stillborn. It can be taken as a single block of two weeks or two separate blocks of one week each.”
“At that time, my Department asked for views on whether it would be appropriate to introduce a set of rights for parental bereavement leave and pay akin to what was in place in Britain. The consultation found that there was unanimity among respondents that the introduction of parental bereavement leave and pay was the right thing to do. That sentiment was echoed across all respondent groups. <BR /> <BR />Sadly, there are around 250 child deaths a year in the North, including around 90 stillbirths. The intention of the new right is to support bereaved working parents by providing a new statutory right to leave for eligible employees as well as a statutory payment element. It was estimated that that entitlement would support over 450 bereaved working parents a year.”
“A further two statutory instruments were made by HMRC with the concurrence of the Department for Communities and Treasury. This package of three sets of regulations is not the original regulations that were made in March 2022; it is the third additional version of those regulations. Each additional version was made to ensure that the right to parental bereavement leave and pay continued while the Assembly was not sitting. Those regulations ensured that hundreds of bereaved parents were supported over the last two years. <BR /> <BR />I will now outline the overarching background and the features of the right that cut across the leave and pay aspects. The policy to which the regulations give effect was subject to a full public consultation in 2020.”
“I seek the Assembly's approval for the Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (General) (No. 2) Regulations 2023; the Parental Bereavement Leave (No. 2) Regulations 2023; and the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation) (No. 2) Regulations 2023. The regulations were all made on 28 September 2023 and came into operation on 29 September 2023. <BR /> <BR />Members should note that there were a further three statutory rules that form part of the overall legislative package brought forward by my Department that are subject to either the negative procedure or, as in the case of the commencement order for the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, no Assembly procedure.”
“I am very much looking forward to working with the Committee to try to advance and make some progress on all the issues that were raised and, as we all suggested, to have ambitious targets that we intend to achieve over the mandate.”
“It is not a satisfactory situation, to say the least. <BR /> <BR />Steve Aiken talked about the student cap and finances. Of course, the question is how we will fund universities if the cap is lifted and more people attend them. During the debate on the first motion that the Assembly agreed, there was an acknowledgement that we are underfunded and that Treasury needs to work with us to address that. I hope that, in that context, we can work on getting more students and apprentices in the time ahead. <BR /> <BR />Once again, I thank Members for their contributions. As I say, I am very heartened by the strong sense that we are all on the same page.”
“Officials in the South and my Department are, as I say, working through some of the issues to make sure that there are no gaps in eligibility. There is a degree of collaboration on that. I am very much looking forward to the formal reworking of the North/South arrangements, because we can achieve a lot of work on the issue in the time ahead. <BR /> <BR />There was a discussion on the apprenticeship levy. It is important to say that the apprenticeship levy is a reserved matter. We have no remit in the payment or the allocation of the funds that come from it. The Department provides £30 million a year to support the funding of apprenticeship training. The public sector pays into the levy but does not have recourse to the funding here. That is an issue that people have identified for some time. It needs to be addressed.”
“It is not simply about pay; it is about a range of opportunities and conditions that are attached to jobs, some of which include the ability of people to have representation in the workforce, something that has reduced over the years. <BR /> <BR />Pádraig Delargy raised the issue of cross-border apprenticeships. There is a significant degree of collaboration in that regard. I have already spoken to Simon Harris, who is my counterpart in the Southern Government, in relation to the matter. The intention is very clearly to continue the work that has already begun to try to reduce the barriers to people, particularly those who live in border areas, being able to access the education and opportunities that they need. An apprentice in the North can work for a company in the South.”
“We have a very good FE sector. There is potential for it to grow and offer more opportunities for more people. I want to see it expanding and growing and the people who work in it being properly recompensed. Those people have argued to be put on the path of equality of pay progression along the lines of teaching. I am committed to doing that. <BR /> <BR />Mike Nesbitt asked about the definition of a good job. Of course, there are varying definitions. That is why we have asked Dr Lisa Wilson to help us in relation to good jobs. She has expertise in that area and will bring together all the available evidence. It is not about creating a definition that rigidly applies; it is about getting more understanding of the range of factors that go in to good jobs.”