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 am pleased to say that I will meet the Minister tomorrow to press the case on the proposed electronic travel authorisation, which I think will have a very negative impact on tourism here.”
“Taking action is a matter for me, as the Minister responsible. Tourism Ireland does promotion and advertising. The tourism industry as a whole is very much aware of it. Of our international visitors, 70% come through Dublin. Any barriers that are presented in that regard will have a significant chilling effect on the number of people who come north of the border. That is very important, particularly when we look at the statistics for the US market, because the spend and the return on investment in advertisement from there is very significant. <BR /> <BR />We have continually raised that issue. I wrote to the Minister responsible in London to seek an urgent meeting.”
“Much work has been undertaken since I came into office, and, as I said, we have put together both Departments and all three tourism agencies for the first time to work specifically on that project.”
“The Member has not been alone in that campaign, although I am not surprised that he speaks on his own behalf. I have overseen the arrangement between the three tourism bodies on the island and both Departments to come together on a number of issues, but, very particularly, in relation to the Fáilte Ireland brands. There has already been investment from the Fáilte brand in relation to the Causeway coast. There has been significant progress on Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, involving Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, since joining that brand. We are in discussion about the Ireland's Ancient East brand and the benefits that that would undoubtedly bring, given what that tourism branding brings to the east coast of Ireland.”
“You can see that that promotion, which is run by Tourism Ireland, has become very effective in providing visitors to here and a very significant spend, which, of course, is vital to our tourism and hospitality industry.”
“I do not share that view. The promotion by Tourism Ireland of the whole island has been increasing in strength. We have benefited significantly. As I said, the figures that were released this morning show that 5·4 million overnight trips were taken to the North between March 2023 and March 2024. That includes £1·2 billion of spend. Tourism Ireland promotes tourism off the island, and 37% of those trips were from outside of the island. In addition, 16·3 million day trips were taken, which is about another £1·1 billion of spend. We can see the investment in promotion, advertising and targeting markets. I was present at some of the engagements that have targeted tour operators in the United States, Canada and London.”
“Any additional money for Tourism Ireland will have a significant impact. This morning, NISRA released quarter 1 tourism statistics, which, for the first time, include an estimate of day trips taken to the North. That, along with overnight stays, shows the extent of the growth of our tourism business over the past number of years. We want to continue to encourage more growth. Promotional activity undertaken by Tourism Ireland saw £2 million spent on consumer advertising, £3 million on e-marketing and almost £1 million on targeted cooperative marketing with air and sea carriers. Based on that recent return and the statistics that were produced this morning, that is a growing success. We want to try to continue to encourage that.”
“Tourism is incredibly important to Ireland. It is a major part of our economy, and it helps to spread prosperity right across the island. In 2024, Tourism Ireland completed an analysis of the return on marketing and investment. For 2023, it calculated a return on investment of 25:1 for the top four markets of the US, Britain, Germany and France. The market that delivered the greatest return on the investment based on total investor spend was the US, at 48:1. That confirms it as a particularly important market for us. It is vital that we build on those impressive figures and support our tourism providers in showcasing Ireland's tourism offering. As part of that, I recently attended engagements with global tourism operators in Chicago, Toronto and London, having attended meetings with them in New York earlier in the year.”
“I have no doubt that start-ups, business support and support for growth will be very much part of every area's regional prioritisation of where they want to go with the economy. It will continue to be an important programme, and, of course, we will try to align it with our priorities for regional balance.”
“Go Succeed comes from a funding stream that was provided directly from London. Given our challenged financial circumstances, it was important that that funding stream would continue to support that, because a significant chunk of what Invest NI and regional balance seek to do is to secure start-ups and business growth across the whole region and to provide advice and support to businesses to allow them to grow, improve productivity, create good jobs and achieve more regional balance. In the first instance, we will look to continue that programme. The outworking of that will be aligned with the priorities that we have set, and with Invest NI's priorities. The idea is that partnerships, supported by councils, will come together to decide their own economic priorities.”
“We are constantly assessing it. When a programme comes to an end, there is an assessment of what it has achieved. I have outlined some of the statistics for Go Succeed. There is obviously feedback from those who operate it in councils, enterprise agencies and others who are involved. There are also benchmarking exercises against other programmes. Given the uncertainty that has hung over funding in the past number of months, the determination was to make sure that funding was there to allow it to continue. As I said, we have largely secured that. There is still a question mark over the full level of funding. I intend to pursue that tomorrow. The strong focus on trying to continue the programme is a measure of the belief in its success. Of course, we will continue to assess its effectiveness as it goes along.”
“We pressed them for some time to ensure that the Shared Prosperity Fund was continued. That was part of the Budget announcement. That was welcome because we were heading towards a cliff edge in relation to funding for the Go Succeed project. As part of that announcement, there was a caveat, if you like, in that the Shared Prosperity Fund was to be reduced by 40%. Obviously, we have to analyse what that means for the Go Succeed programme, which, as I have outlined, has been very successful. We want to see it continue at the same level. Tomorrow, I will be in London to have a range of meetings with Ministers on that and a number of other matters. I intend to raise that directly with the British Government tomorrow.”
“Since its launch in November 2023, Go Succeed has established itself as a key part of our economic infrastructure. It is clear that it is having a positive impact on local entrepreneurs and businesses. To date, Go Succeed has provided start-up support to over 4,300 individuals across the North. Over 3,200 businesses have been provided with advice and guidance on how to grow their businesses. Almost 650 grants have been allocated to local entrepreneurs and their businesses. <BR /> <BR />I commend our councils on Go Succeed's progress to date. I look forward to working in partnership with them to support businesses across the North in future.”
“Over £600,000 has been put into the fund. Applications have been open since 30 October and will close after six weeks. We encourage applications from people who have experience or interest in the apprenticeship system and also from organisations that are not directly involved in current apprenticeships delivery but have an interest in becoming involved in that, because we certainly want to expand the proposition for apprentices and try to get as many people as possible involved in that.”
“As I said, the fund has opened. The application window will be open for six weeks and will close on 6 December. I encourage all elected public representatives who have an interest in the area to make sure that they spread the word among their constituents.”
“Those sessions were intended to help to raise awareness of the fund and encourage participation.”
“There was already significant engagement before the fund opened. I think that there have been over 200 sessions with over 200 stakeholders across education, training, employers, industry and the voluntary and community sectors.”
“Our apprenticeship system has been growing, and we now have over 13,000 apprentices. However, women, people with disabilities and people from disadvantaged areas are under-represented. I want to address barriers to participation in apprenticeships for those groups. The apprenticeship inclusion challenge fund will drive collaboration across the education, business and voluntary and community sectors to develop and deliver innovative solutions to those inclusion challenges. I am pleased to update Members that the fund, which is worth more than £600,000, opened for applications on Wednesday 30 October. The fund will connect more people across our communities with good job opportunities, promote regional balance and inspire lifelong learning, in line with my economic priorities. Projects will commence in January 2025.”
“It is a recognition that it is a huge challenge, and it is a warning to us that we have to proceed at a much greater pace than we have been doing to date. It is a whole-of-Executive challenge, and that is why, when I had a meeting with the biomethane companies, I wanted to arrange a meeting with DAERA and the Department for Infrastructure. There is no point in one Department giving people support to advance our objectives towards net zero and other Departments either being a hindrance or not providing the same support. It is a whole-of-Executive project, and it will reach the ambitious targets that we want to reach only if there is a whole-of-Executive buy-in. We need Departments to work at pace and work together to achieve that.”
“I might take up the rest of Question Time.”
“Biomethane has already been used in the gas network in, I think, the Dungannon area. There are targets to increase that usage by, I think, up to 30% over the coming years. We are already on the way in developing how biomethane is used. We see it as one of the key elements in our drive towards net zero and towards sustainable and secure energy supplies. I am sure that, in consideration of regulations or any other matters that the Department is dealing with, we will make sure that that is in line with our desire to see the economy grow sustainably around biomethane.”
“<BR /> <BR />I was also pleased to see that the project was recently awarded £4 million by DAERA under its sustainable utilisation of livestock slurry phase 2 project, which will fund mobile slurry separators to produce feedstock for anaerobic digestion.”
“I recently visited the companies involved in the mid-Ulster biorefinery cluster to discuss their plans to create a nutrient energy and carbon services sector based on a centralised agricultural feedstock biorefinery. I was interested to hear about the project and the opportunities and challenges that the cluster faces. I have agreed to schedule a round-table meeting with the biorefinery cluster and senior officials from my Department, the Department for Infrastructure and DAERA to facilitate a discussion on a range of issues, including planning, single farm payments and nutrient management policy.”
“Research indicates that, due to our large agriculture sector, we have significant potential to use biomethane to support our path to net zero. Biomethane can provide a locally produced and sustainable source of energy that could help to decarbonise the gas network and transport while enhancing the security of our energy supply and improving waste management practices. Biomethane could present significant economic opportunities for the rural economy by creating good jobs, raising productivity and addressing historical regional imbalances. There is also potential to develop new revenue streams from by-products of the production process, such as digestate and biogenic CO2. My Department is currently working towards a policy framework to support the development of an economic and sustainable biomethane sector.”
“That is a judgement for university to make. We are not in the business of making that judgement. Given that there was a public element to the appointment process, we wanted to ensure that the university was satisfied that its recruitment processes were followed in accordance with its own procedures in that instance, and that is what we were assured about. We did not ask any questions about the status of the candidates.”
“As I said in my original response, universities have autonomy in their recruitment and retention procedures. I communicated with the university, and it provided me with a response, assuring me that the recruitment to the posts was carried out in accordance with its processes. That is a matter for the university. There is no further role for me in that regard.”
“As autonomous institutions, universities are responsible for their policies and procedures, including recruitment and retention. Regarding the recent appointments of co-directors to lead Ulster University's new strategic policy unit, I have received assurances from the vice chancellor that an established process was followed and exercised appropriately.”
“Yes, it is. We received an interim plan with a number of asks not just of Executive Departments, primarily ours, but of the Government in the South. We have communicated with our Ministers and with Ministers in the South on that. We hope to compile answers to questions about the task force's work fairly quickly. It is still the intention of the task force to publish a final report this side of Christmas, and I look forward to receiving that.”
“There will certainly be opportunities for Coleraine; additional courses have been introduced there, and there has been £16·5 million of capital investment there over the past year. <BR /> <BR />The university has autonomy over how it divides its resources, so the Member will have to discuss that with the university. I am confident, however, that the university is committed to all its campuses.”
“Our universities rely largely on funding from us. They are as challenged, as we are, when it comes to providing funding. I am sure that, were more funding available, we could provide more funding across all our university campuses. <BR /> <BR />Ulster University has a commitment to all three of its campuses. That is the proposition of the university. There is a particular focus on the Magee campus, because there is recognition of the all-party support for expansion and a target has been set for student numbers there. Ulster University is working closely with the Department and the Magee task force to achieve that outcome. That is not to say that any of the other campuses will be neglected.”
“The expansion of Ulster University's Magee campus is a commitment in 'New Decade, New Approach' and a priority in the draft Programme for Government (PFG). It is, therefore, my focus at this time. I have no plans for a similar task force for the Coleraine campus. However, I fully support and recognise the benefits of Ulster University's three-campus model. Over the past 10 years, my Department has provided £16·5 million in capital grants for investment in the Coleraine campus. My Department is also working with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and Ulster University to develop proposals for a centre for food and drug discovery at Coleraine, as part of the Causeway Coast and Glens growth deal. I will continue to collaborate closely with Ulster University to support the sustainability of all its campuses.”
“Those changes would require considerable set-up costs, and the ongoing costs could be substantial. In parallel, I have asked a cross-departmental senior officials group on carers to look at the options available to support our unpaid carers.”
“The 'good jobs' employment rights consultation proposed to introduce a right to up to five days of leave for unpaid, eligible carers over a rolling 12-month period to provide care for a family member or other dependant who has longer-term or otherwise significant care needs. It remains my goal to introduce paid carers' leave entitlement. However, that would be subject to Executive and Assembly approvals and the identification of necessary funding by the Executive. <BR /> <BR />The Ulster University's Economic Policy Centre has been engaged to consider the potential cost of paid entitlement. In addition to the annually recurring costs of providing paid carers' leave, there are implications such as the availability of funding for any HMRC system changes that would be required.”
“I hope that we can make progress on the issue, in collaboration with other Departments that have a responsibility, in the course of the mandate so that we have a plan in place as quickly as possible.”
“I have met groups that campaign on the issue of the lack of post-19 provision for people with learning difficulties and other challenges. I agree that it is an area that has been left for far too long without any provision being made or perhaps, indeed, any responsibility being taken. It is a complex issue. I am determined to work with ministerial colleagues and other Departments to see where the responsibilities lie and what we can do collectively. There is undoubtedly a gap in provision. There has been for some time, and I commend those who have been campaigning on that. We have an opportunity in the mandate to scope it out and see what actions are required.”
“My 'good jobs' employment rights consultation sought views on the proposals on flexible working and carers' leave to help address barriers to employment for carers and to enable those with disabilities to enter or remain in work. The consultation closed on 30 September, and responses are being analysed. In addition, we know that a lack of suitable post-school provision for those with special educational needs (SEN) causes many carers to consider leaving work or reducing their hours to support the young person. That is why I have tasked officials to review the position on skills and training provision and the relevant legislative protections and to bring forward options for improvements.”
“<BR /> <BR />An InterTrade UK body has been set up to try to ensure that any barriers that might exist to east-west trade are addressed. The First Minister and I attended a meeting in London a while back in relation to a discussion about that under the previous Administration. I have no further advice on how that body is functioning or how it is performing its duties. It is not directly responsible to my Department, but certainly, we are happy to give it any assistance if we hear from it at any stage in the future.”
“Of course, that is not in InterTradeIreland's remit, and I am not bringing any politics into it. <BR /> <BR />There are enormous opportunities. The statistics on North/South trade and how it has grown significantly over the past number of years are already there for people to examine. There is nothing political in that. That is businesses getting on with doing what they do best, which is doing business with each other and creating prosperity. They see opportunities in the protocol arrangements to further enhance that. The requests and their engagement with InterTradeIreland have increased significantly as a consequence of that, so we wish to support InterTradeIreland in assisting our businesses, people who employ people in your constituency, to get on and do it as best they can.”
“A number of vacancies have been filled as a consequence of the meeting that we had in Armagh a couple of weeks back. A number of further vacancies will arise early in the new year. For some of those, the duty of appointment will fall to the northern side of the border. There is another one to be filled from the southern side. Of course, we want to ensure that the board continues to have the membership that it requires and that input in managing and overseeing the work of InterTradeIreland. It is critical that, when the opportunities arise to make appointments, we do so quickly and we put in the best possible people to fill those positions.”
“The Member is right: there was €30 million of funding from the Shared Island Fund for that joint initiative between Invest NI, InterTradeIreland and Enterprise Ireland. One of the programmes was to encourage female entrepreneurship. I am told that there was a very encouraging response to that programme. Of course, we want to promote more entrepreneurship and more opportunity for start-up for female business people across the island. They are very much under-represented among business leaders, and so we want to ensure that that is corrected. The programme is, in many ways, a pilot scheme, if you like — a testing ground for that — and the responses, to date, are encouraging. Of course, if that is the case, we want to take more initiatives to try to promote female entrepreneurship.”
“There is a determination between myself as Minister for the Economy and my southern counterpart to make sure that InterTradeIreland has what it needs to do the job, because the outcome from that will be beneficial to economic growth across the island.”
“I am certain that, over a number of years, there was not enough. InterTradeIreland is best placed to work on the interest from companies abroad that might consider investing or setting up here, due to the dual market access. It is also of significant interest to companies on both sides of the border with regard to how they can advance their own position to export. Therefore, we want to ensure that InterTradeIreland is resourced sufficiently to meet that challenge. There has been a significant increase in staff numbers and resource. There was an almost £2 million increase in funding for the organisation this year. We are going to look at further development plans for InterTradeIreland.”
“Certainly, the presentation from the companies that spoke to us at the meeting bore testimony to that. We want to continue to encourage it so that we can see advanced manufacturing continue to grow and be a strong performer on the world stage.”
“We have a good advanced manufacturing sector and a strong manufacturing sector. His constituency, South Antrim and other constituencies, such as Mid Ulster, are very well represented in that regard. At the meeting, we had a presentation about advanced manufacturing clustering — something that InterTradeIreland has promoted. There were companies from North and South talking about how they had worked together. We know that, where companies come together in clusters, there is a sharing of knowledge, expertise and business opportunities, and that we tend to get more innovation and export opportunities and, therefore, more growth for those companies. The advanced manufacturing clustering programme that InterTradeIreland has focused on has the potential for huge benefit.”
“Of course, we want to ensure not only that our businesses are in a position to take advantage, but that the organisation that is resourced to assist them has sufficient resources to do so.”
“There has been an increase in InterTradeIreland's staff numbers in recent times. InterTradeIreland has to be resourced to deal with the outcomes of the protocol and dual market access. We want to ensure that InterTradeIreland is best placed to try to work on the interest that there is, not just outside the island of Ireland but within the island of Ireland, in how companies can get into trading arrangements, North to South and South to North. <BR /> <BR />From my recollection, the staffing cohort has gone up from about 45 to roughly 67. InterTradeIreland will develop further business plans in order to meet the challenges that it anticipates with the growing interest in the North/South and dual market access arrangements.”
“If industries and opportunities around geothermal should develop across the island, it will be keen to make connections between people. At the moment, we are at the experimental stage. I hope that we can quickly move on to exploring the outcomes that can be achieved from that.”
“That was not a subject of discussion at the meeting that we had in Armagh under the North/South arrangements. Nonetheless, the Member is correct that geothermal energy can play an important part in our journey towards net zero. We need to explore all alternatives to using fossil fuels to heat properties. I understand that two experiments are exploring the potential of geothermal. One is on the Stormont estate, down at Dundonald House, and the other is, I think, at one of the agricultural colleges, although I am not sure which one. Those two experiments are being rolled out. On the basis of the analysis from them, we are happy to explore the potential for geothermal, not just here but across the island, and any collaborations that can be made. <BR /> <BR />InterTradeIreland is keen to promote clusters.”
“The NSMC appointed members to the board of the trade and business development body, InterTradeIreland, and the Council agreed to hold its next NSMC trade and business development meeting in spring 2025. <BR /> <BR />I commend the statement to the Assembly and welcome questions.”
“The Council welcomed the work of InterTradeIreland alongside Enterprise Ireland and Invest NI in developing a cross-border enterprise cooperation scheme, which was awarded €30 million of Shared Island funding. <BR /> <BR />Ministers welcomed the presentation from businesses on the benefits of InterTradeIreland's programme of supports. The NSMC also welcomed a presentation from the advanced technologies in manufacturing cluster on the benefits of clustering and how the development of the cluster was supported by InterTradeIreland. The Council noted InterTradeIreland's strategic ambition in the area of clustering. <BR /> <BR />The NSMC approved the reappointment of Margaret Hearty as chief executive officer of the trade and business development body, InterTradeIreland, for a four-year term with effect from 21 April 2025.”