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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“As I said, the Department invests about £30 million annually in apprenticeships: from level 2 apprentices who leave school at 16 to those who take up a higher level apprenticeship. Over 13,000 people are undertaking employment and learning through our apprenticeship programmes.”
“I am interested to see what changes the current Government might make in relation to that. Of course, we will make representations like that to them, to say that we need to see the benefit coming back to us.”
“The latest figures show that approximately £73 million was raised by businesses here. The difficulty for us is that that is not ring-fenced; it comes as part of the block grant. I would gladly welcome £73 million coming into the Department to be put towards apprenticeships and skills, but that is a debate for the Executive as a whole because they would be taking it off other critical public services. <BR /> <BR />I get the frustration of businesses about their input when they do not see the value of the output coming back to them. We invest about £30 million in apprenticeship training annually, but, still, a consistent theme that I hear from businesses that I meet is that they do not see the value of their investment. I am sure that, when the Member meets businesses, she hears the same.”
“The apprenticeship levy was imposed by the British Government on both our public and private sectors. The Independent Fiscal Commission concluded that there is a strong case for devolving the levy, not least because it complements the Executive's responsibility for economic development and skills. I will consider the implications of the new growth and skills levy, which the British Government recently announced to replace the apprenticeship levy. Having done that, and as necessary, I will liaise with my colleague the Finance Minister, who is responsible for leading on fiscal matters with the British Government.”
“As I say, the intention is to do a lot of this online so that travel, childcare and other issues, which, traditionally, reduce the opportunities for people to engage in learning, will, hopefully, be mitigated.”
“As I said, it will be a mixture of online courses, largely focused through the regional colleges. South West College and all the regional colleges will be engaged in this. We have an excellent network of campuses, right across the North, and that estate has been added to. I had an opportunity to go to Coleraine to the opening of a new campus last week. It is a very effective way of delivering those courses to make sure that they get right into local communities and to make sure that people in rural communities can benefit from them. <BR /> <BR />I would advise people from the Member's constituency to engage with South West College to ensure that they are aware of what is available.”
“There is as much a focus on reskilling as there is on bringing people into those areas of work at entry level.”
“The plan for digital skills focuses on lifelong learning and access to that area, so it is about reskilling and upskilling. In addition, the £12 million that we set aside at the start of the summer for skills is focused on lifelong learning. That will be critical because, to have a fairly high level of employment, in order to try to continue to grow our businesses and our economy, we need to be able to access people who are not currently economically active and upskill people who are already in work and to create courses. That is why a lot of those courses have been created with, in particular, our small and medium-sized economy in mind, because it is difficult to release people from small companies, and to ensure that they are online and accessible, including to women, who may be returning from caring duties.”
“<BR /> <BR />We are increasingly getting into the use of AI and determining how that will be used. In the not-too-distant future, I intend to bring a paper to the Executive to discuss how the Executive, as a whole, engage in the whole area of AI. That is to make sure that we have policy in that regard, a clear understanding of what possible benefits it can bring and what use it can be in our own public-sector services and for the growth of economy.”
“We are engaging with that. Last week, I spoke at a conference on AI to make sure that it is part of our plan. There is a significant debate on the use of AI: some people see it as a threat; other people see it as an advantage. It is an effective tool that can be used in a beneficial way if it is used properly. We do need to engage with that. The purpose of Project Stratum and Project Gigabit was to ensure that people were connected, so that they have the ability to access online services and content, and to ensure that we develop courses and skilling opportunities in such a way that people can access those. There is a spread of courses across our regional network of colleges and delivered online to make sure that those are available to people.”
“Project Gigabit will address premises that are unable to access gigabyte-capable broadband and that are not part of the suppliers' commercial plans.”
“The 'Digital Skills Action Plan 2024-2034' seeks to develop alternative pathways into the digital sector via upskilling and reskilling. The courses are delivered through the universities and subregional network of colleges with a focus on online provision. Enabling online delivery is particularly beneficial for people in rural areas. Project Stratum is improving broadband services for over 80,000 premises that were previously unable to access services of 30 megabits per second. Some 97% of those premises are in the open countryside or in settlements with populations of fewer than 1,000 people.”
“We are in dialogue. We set up a working group for the three tourism agencies — Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Northern Ireland and Tourism Ireland — and both Departments to work through the issues. We are making progress. Some of the branding might be quicker than other bits, but, as the Member will be aware, there is already a scheme funded through the Shared Island Fund in relation to the Fáilte brand and how it links with the north coast. I think that about €9 million is being spent there on supporting people to engage with that. Yes, it is something that we are focused on. I will meet Minister Martin at next month's North/South sectoral meeting. There has already been a meeting of the inter-agency group that is dealing with it, and we hope to make progress on that in the near future.”
“The entire North will be covered in the marketing campaign for the tournament, because the visitors who come here do not come for just three or four days on the north coast. They will go across the region, and there will be a significant marketing effort to ensure that they come here, stay, enjoy it, spend money and, perhaps, spend longer than the duration of the tournament. If the Member watched the coverage of the Irish Open from County Down last month, he will have seen that the promotional material that was shown in the breaks from the golf highlighted all of our tourist attractions and landscapes across the North and across the island generally. There will be a significant push to make sure that we maximise the benefit across the board.”
“I am sure that the First Minister and deputy First Minister will be involved in promoting it to make sure that it is the best tournament possible, but I am happy to work with all Executive colleagues to make sure that we get maximum benefit out of it.”
“Up in Royal Portrush Golf Club, the Minister of Finance and I met the local chamber of commerce and got a briefing on the tournament, how it is being organised and all the spin-offs that, it is hoped, will be achieved from it. Of course, our agencies are fully engaged in ensuring that it is as beneficial as it can be, not just in the coverage that it gets and the visitors that it attracts but in the spin-off to the local community from the supply chain and other opportunities that there might be. We will continue to engage on that. <BR /> <BR />All the Executive members are excited about the prospect of the Open coming here next year.”
“It is something that we will want to look at in the time ahead.”
“Tourism NI has a responsibility for the certification of a range of tourism properties, including potential overnight stay properties. Beyond those, there is a proliferation of things like Airbnbs and other places that offer more casual stays. I know that that is impacting, because it has been raised with me in relation to the availability of homes for people in areas like the north coast. Tourism NI, along with the Department, is looking at the legislation that governs how it approaches the issue to see whether it can be reviewed and expanded into other areas in order to have some impact. At present, there is no ability to cap provision in any sector, so we intend to look at the issue. It has been raised with us increasingly in regard to the potential impact not just on other tourism providers but on home availability.”
“I wrote to the Minister in the previous Government in Britain who was responsible for that and have consistently made clear my concerns about it. I concur with the sector and the industry's view that it will be potentially very damaging to us. I wrote to the Minister in the previous Administration in London, and, after the change in government, I wrote to the new Minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra, seeking an urgent meeting on the matter. I am pleased to say that she responded to me last week and has agreed to meet me when I am in London next month. I intend to raise the matter directly with her.”
“Part of our objective is to stretch the season so that we do get not the ghost town effect over the winter but more investment in businesses and, therefore, more attractions for people to visit over the winter months.”
“That is why some of the work is about engaging with supply chains. That boosts not only the businesses in the town but the local economy and prosperity, which will have a longer effect. If people who live in the area benefit from such tournaments by supplying to and working with them, that prosperity is reflected in the footfall in local towns and shops. <BR /> <BR />Through Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland, part of our focus is to extend the season so that it is not linked simply to seaside towns in the summer season. Obviously, tournaments such as the Open bring a significant additional boost to whatever summer season activity there might be on the north coast.”
“Tourism NI, on behalf of my Department, is committed to working with key partners to deliver even more benefits from the Open in 2025 than were generated in 2019. The previous event brought more than £100 million of combined economic and media benefit for the North, delivering huge global broadcast reach and PR coverage. Tourism NI is working closely with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, and both are on various multi-agency planning groups. The local business and community group, chaired by the council, is working with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) and its suppliers on opportunities for jobs, training and volunteering for the local community, as well as on overall supply chain benefits. Work with partners is under way to deliver a local and international promotional campaign.”
“The Infrastructure Minister and all Ministers are aware in a general sense that we need to ensure that there is sufficient water and sewerage infrastructure to allow all the significant projects to which we are committed to go ahead. Department for Infrastructure officials will meet the task force in the near future, so the specific issues relating to the expansion of Magee can be put directly to them then.”
“I am concerned about anything that impacts on something that benefits and grows the economy. The resolution of such concerns lies with DAERA or the Department for Infrastructure, and I advise the Member to take up those concerns with them. However, from an economic perspective, we want to see all our industries continue to grow. We want to make sure that there are no barriers or obstacles put in the way of that. If, potentially, damage is being done to one of our industries, I share his concerns.”
“Yes. The two organisations are engaged at that strategic level to make sure that we understand where Invest NI's development priorities are and that Northern Ireland Water's capital programmes reflect that it understands the economic priorities. It is important that the two organisations talk. The Member will be aware from his constituency, as I am from mine, that, if people are ready and willing to invest in the various business parks and land that Invest NI owns, we must ensure that the necessary infrastructure is there to support them. To grow our economy, it is important that we have resources for NI Water but also that there is alignment and understanding between the organisations developing the economy and the infrastructure.”
“Everyone in the Executive is conscious of the issue, and I have heard a number of Ministers say that it is the one allocation of capital that we all support. We recognise that we need the waste water infrastructure for all our plans. If we do not have the proper facilities to allow development, all the Executive's plans and associated capital builds will run into difficulties. Yes, we support it. The Finance Minister is leading the charge to find more funding to address the legacy of a decade of underinvestment. Other Ministers will fully support addressing the issue, because we know that it has the potential to upend plans across every Department.”
“I have engaged with the Minister for Infrastructure. He is committed to working with Executive colleagues to ensure that an appropriate investment is made. I am acutely aware of the constraints that infrastructure imposes on our economic resilience and capacity for growth. The reality is that this is a symptom of the systematic underfunding of the block grant over the past decade that the Executive now have to address. Despite those pressures, this year, the Minister for Infrastructure has allocated 40% of his Department’s total budget — almost half a billion pounds — to NI Water. Senior staff from Invest NI have had regular engagement with NI Water to understand the challenges and see how strategic investments can be aligned to benefit the economy.”
“It will more likely be redeployment, but it is not simply about putting people into offices, because that, in itself, will achieve nothing. This will be about changing the mindset regarding regional presence. The focus of the people who go there will be on working with the people in the area to articulate the local economic need; it will not be on representing Invest NI's views to the area. It is also about the organisation and how its headquarters will recalibrate what it does and how it does it. Teams in Invest's headquarters will work on the issue of regional balance; the responsibility for that will not simply be farmed out to local offices to let them carry it. There will be more staff and a different approach from the organisation itself.”
“It is about strengthening the local economic voice, allowing areas to articulate their needs and trying to ensure that whatever money Departments spend in an area is spent in the knowledge that it is being invested in priorities that the local community has identified. In that way, we will get a much more efficient spend and a spend that will have much more consequence in lifting areas, particularly areas that have been deprived for too long.”
“In support of good jobs, we will legislate on employment rights. We have already been working through that, and the consultation closed yesterday. We want to make sure that the jobs that we have work well for the people who are in them and that we end the unfortunate exploitation practices in relation to jobs. <BR /> <BR />We want to see economic growth across the region, but we also have to recognise the persistent problem in that, to date, that growth has been imbalanced. That has been due to a range of historical factors, infrastructure factors and investment decisions. We have to take measures to address that. We also recognise that, in urban areas, there are imbalances and areas of deprivation that need support. They should continue to be supported. This is not a single answer to all those issues.”
“My Department will then provide support and, given our broad commitment in the Programme for Government, invite other Departments to look at what support we can give to make happen the things that people have identified as key issues in their area.”
“This is not simply about local councils. Councils have an economic development responsibility. One of the difficulties is that some councils have been much more active in that space than others, so we want Invest and our Departments to make sure that we support people to build that capacity for them. It will be about partnerships. If people decide what their economic priorities are — it could be the acquisition of land for further business development — we will work with them and see ways of supporting them. Invest will have a land strategy to make sure that it has more land available across the region for economic growth, because that has not been the case to date. It is about the partnership deciding what the priorities are.”
“Councils are made up of elected councillors and, obviously, that dictates the balance of power across the council area. I am not sure that we will get too prescriptive: we want to see genuine partnerships that tackle the issues relating to the areas' economic priorities. There is a danger in trying to decide everything and micromanaging this rather than trying to give a steer in a genuine partnership approach across the priorities that we have set. That will be one of the measurements used in respect of how we allocate resources. Regional balance is one of the priorities, and I assume that that means within councils. We have set priorities, and, in that framework, I anticipate that we will get the best and fairest outcome for the people who live in whatever area the partnership is responsible for.”
“Whether they have a physical presence outside Belfast, they have a presence through their support for and engagement with the regional colleges and other skills providers. We need to see that working seamlessly.”
“Clearly, Ulster University has a regional presence with the Magee campus and the Coleraine campus. We also have a strong network of regional colleges that have close links with our universities. We want to see community providers, regional colleges and universities, including the Open University, which I had the opportunity to meet yesterday, working seamlessly together to provide skills and educational opportunities. That will be key, because, whether through a regional balance approach or in general terms, our big challenge in growing the economy is in people and skills. We have priorities, but that is the overarching challenge for all of us. We need to make sure that our skills, our educational facilities, our further and higher educational facilities and our Open University work in tandem to deliver support across the entire region.”
“I am not being prescriptive; it is for each area to decide its priorities. Of course, as I said, Belfast will be involved. My suggestion is that people focus on areas of greatest economic need in Belfast and the surrounding urban areas, but that will be a matter for them. I sincerely hope that they do so.”
“The Member is out of Downpatrick too long. He has forgotten his roots. <BR /> <BR />Belfast will continue to be the economic driver for the region; there is no doubt about that. The priorities will be a matter for partnerships to decide. We will not impose an economic plan on an area. Too often, Departments headquartered in Stormont and elsewhere have developed policies that have been delivered down to people. The new strategic approach is about reversing that. It is about local areas having some resource and having their capacity built so that they can decide their own economic priorities. If people think that the priority for an area is to have transport connections to Belfast, we will be glad to hear it, and I am sure that we and DFI will be prepared to engage with them.”
“We injected new momentum into the city and growth deals, and we want to see that continue in order to deliver the really good projects that they have in prospect.”
“The Minister of Finance leads the charge on that work along with the First Minister and the deputy First Minister. The pause is completely unacceptable. The decision was not only badly taken but badly communicated. I am glad that the decision on the Belfast region city deal and the Derry city deal was reversed quite quickly, but we need to see a quick reversal of the decision to pause the Causeway Coast and Glens growth deal and the Mid South West growth deal. It is not just about the public money from the Executive and from the Government in London that will go into the deals but about the confidence that business partners will have to stay with the deals. The sooner the decision is reversed, the sooner we can continue the momentum that we began to create when the Executive came back into office in February.”
“<BR /> <BR />To grow prosperity, we also have to tackle economic inactivity and skills. A significant focus for the Department, Invest NI and, I hope, some of the partnerships that will be set up will be to try to get opportunities for young people and others to upskill while they are in jobs and to make sure that we have more prosperous, better jobs and more regional balance in our economic prosperity. <BR /> <BR />Invest NI will be recalibrated in the sense that it will not just be about FDI, although that will retain some importance. It is not about preventing anyone from setting up a business here. There is the ability to incentivise and encourage people to go to other areas, but it is not about preventing people from setting up in an area if that is what they choose.”
“I concur with the Member's view about the sterling work that Invest NI's people have done over many years. Nonetheless, there were criticisms of the overall approach that we needed to address. We are on a very clear and good pathway with the new team that heads up Invest NI and the staff who are turning to the particular project and direction of travel. <BR /> <BR />It is not all about FDI. FDI is important, as the Member said, but the failing of Invest NI and, in many ways, perhaps, all of us over the years is that we measured it by how many jobs were brought in. We are not in that space now. FDI will continue to be important, but so will business start-ups and the growth of our businesses by those who come to invest here and, perhaps more importantly, by our indigenous businesses. The measurement of success will now be broader.”
“It is also about ensuring that the structure, as outlined, works according to the plan and that the funding that we want to allocate is delivered according to the plan.”
“Yes. In the first instance, part of it is about recalibrating what the Department does. The Department has not persistently engaged at a local level. Invest NI has been engaged but not to the level or extent that it should have been, and that is why it was criticised in the report. However, the Department also needs to be on the ground more in dealing with councils. We will work closely. There will be a number of workshops with councils about how the partnerships will operate. It is not just a matter of keeping an eye on things; some councils need economic development capacity building. Other councils are very good at it, but some lag further behind. It is about supporting councils by capacity building so that they have a strong economic voice in the area.”
“It will be financed from within the Department. We have to find the money, and money is tight, but it is about prioritising what we do. If the priority in the Programme for Government is about growing our economy in a regionally balanced way, we have to allocate our money according to the priority. We will find the money, and I hope that, over time, we may be able to develop more money and put more support into the approach, because it will yield benefits. Not having a sense of balanced economic growth has been a stubbornly persistent problem for decades. Yes, we will find the money in the first instance, but, if others are prepared to contribute, we will welcome that as well.”
“This is an opportunity for councillors and other partners in the Belfast area to try to work on those areas and to look at levels of economic inactivity, skills and educational opportunities and at a general approach that leads to a stronger community and to more prosperity in those communities.”
“Yes. Aside from this plan, I am engaged with the Department for Communities and the Department of Finance on a community wealth plan. We are doing joint work in that area on a couple of pilot schemes that, I hope, will demonstrate real value and will be able to be spread out to other areas. I met Belfast City Council's chief executive and group leaders. It is not my job to dictate what they do, but I suggested that, if there is additional support in the area that we have developed, Belfast may want to look at areas of deprivation and at trying to bring them all up. As she will know well from being a citizen of the city, some areas are doing very well and others very much feel left behind.”
“We are conscious that there are other structures in councils, and that is why we have not been prescriptive. Councils may look to merge those structures to have labour market plus economic development. That is a matter for dialogue over the next period, when we will do some intense workshops with councils in order to work through it. All councils are included. The amount of funding that may be delivered will be measured by level of need, and that formula will be worked through in the time ahead, but all councils are included.”
“That is the commitment of the entire Executive in the draft Programme for Government. I therefore expect that to be followed through, as we will want to follow through all the commitments that we make in the Programme for Government.”
“Significant work on regional balance has been undertaken to good effect in the South. That involved things like a land strategy to make sure that, if people wanted to start or grow businesses, they could do so in their areas, rather than have to relocate to larger, urban areas. There are good examples from other parts of the world and close at hand, south of the border. <BR /> <BR />Our intention over the next three years is to put in a sum of money that we will identify to allow the programme to get started and to work. It is a commitment in the Programme for Government, and I therefore assume that whoever takes over the Economy Department after I have left will continue with the programme. It is an Executive priority to grow the economy in a regionally balanced way.”
“Yes. Enterprise agencies have been doing sterling work, often on a shoestring budget, on start-ups and supporting local entrepreneurs. We have a very strong entrepreneurial flair right across the region. Invest NI will now have not only FDI targets but targets for start-up and business growth, which will make more collaboration possible in the space where the enterprise agencies work while trying to ensure that what they do gains more priority in that space. Enterprise agencies have a very strong presence in a lot of areas, and I imagine that they will want to be part of those discussions. They have a significant contribution to make given their significant knowledge of local businesses and of the potential of local start-ups, which will be one of the targets.”