All of Mr Conor Murphy’s imported questions, contributions and motions in this mandate, newest first, including those assessed as not qualifying, uncertain or not yet analysed.
There are too many people at them. I agree: it is unfortunate that, when budgets become tightly squeezed, often the first thing to suffer is the arts. Not only are the arts necessary for the enrichment of our lives, but the events are an economic generator in a lot of areas. It is a challenge. The funding is,…
One would like to be in a position to support all events, but the big challenge with supporting any event is the finance available. That means that, when you get down to decision-making, you need evidence to support it and you need money available to spend on the event. That means that events such as that festival and…
Tourism NI has provided significant financial support to the Stendhal Festival in recent years, amounting to £58,000 for the past five years in which the festival has taken place. Data in relation to the performance of events supported under the national tourism event sponsorship scheme is provided by event organisers…
Getting to the point at which that can be calculated involves entering a discussion on what might be an acceptable outcome regarding tariffs and the funding that might be available to us from Treasury. We have to get to the first base, which is that the Executive have to take a decision and signal an intent. That is…
Yes, the delay in taking a decision delays everything. It also acts to frustrate the view of the Court of Appeal, which was that this thing should move on at pace, that people should get certainty in relation to tariffs and that the Executive should give some certainty in relation to the future of the scheme. It is…
It is frustrating that the future of RHI is still undecided. It is a problem that I inherited and one that should have been dealt with long ago. A permanent solution, as raised in last year's Court of Appeal judgment, is necessary for all legitimate participants in the scheme and for the taxpayer. Delay risks further…
It is, if you like, an approach to business succession that is not well illuminated here. It is not well known. It is growing. A week or two ago, I attended a conference, which was the third in a series of conferences over three days — in Newry, Cookstown, I think, and then Belfast — at which there was significant…
Employee ownership has the potential to increase productivity and create fairer workplaces. However, currently, the North has only a limited number of employee-ownership businesses, and I would like to see that increase. I have directed my Department to undertake research on employee ownership. That will include an…
I have already said on a number of occasions that it will and should include such a ban. Exploitative situations for all workers should be tackled wherever we can do that. As I said in response to a previous question, if there is one thing that we can do here, it is to tackle inequalities and injustices, and we should…
Yes. As I say, I hope, next week, to announce a consultation on the full range of issues that will be in the good jobs Bill. My intention is to come to the Chamber to do that next week. That will include a range of matters. The consultation document will go out. Of course, people can respond and, if they think that it…
I plan to consult on proposals to bring forward an employment rights Bill to protect and enhance workers' rights. As well as supporting the commitments in 'New Decade, New Approach', the new legislation will help deliver on the good jobs objective in my economic plan. Payment of the real living wage is a key element…
I agree with you that there is a dearth of provision. That has not happened recently but has been going on for many years. It is an inequality, and, if we are to do anything in our job in this institution and the job of those of us who hold ministerial positions, it should be to try to tackle inequalities and…
I had the pleasure of meeting Alma White last week in my office here. Yes, it will be a question of collaborating with other Departments. With that post-19 cohort, there is a significant responsibility for the Department for the Economy, but that will require us to have a joined-up approach with the Department of…
My Department has a range of provision for young people with special educational needs that is delivered through further education colleges, universities and across our vocational training provision. There are significant gaps in provision, however, and they have been worsened by the loss of the European social fund.…
Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I welcome the opportunity to speak in the debate and thank Members for their contributions. Tourism provides employment for 70,000 people here, 70% of whom work outside Belfast. That highlights the importance and the potential of tourism to the local economy, with…
I thank the Members who tabled the motion, and I welcome the opportunity to speak to it. I assure the proposer of the motion that the detail that he has outlined will be responded to with detail and that it is not merely rhetoric that I am deploying on this issue. A number of Members contributed to the debate, and I…
Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Member for securing the Adjournment debate, and I thank all those who contributed, particularly the representatives from the constituency. They spoke with passion about East Antrim and the tourism offering there. I have, on several occasions, stayed in…
Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Members for bringing the motion to the Floor. It is an important issue, and I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on it. I am moving quickly to deliver on the economic plans that I set up when I took office. The plans have our energy ambitions at…
The draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 That the draft Working Time (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024 be approved.
The draft Insolvency (Monetary Limits) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024 That the draft Insolvency (Monetary Limits) (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2024 be approved.
We have had several reports from different groups, and we have had a lot of engagement on the matter. Our big challenge is trying to find the resource from the Department to match the ambition that exists, but there have been examples of good practice. For instance, the manufacturing sector in the mid-Ulster cluster…
As we have said many times here, the issue of skills is huge. The big attraction, particularly for foreign investors, is our people and their skills. The biggest challenge that we currently have is how to do that. There is a range of engagement across a lot of sectors by, for example, the Skills Council and the…
A meeting of that group took place a few weeks ago when my colleague Deirdre Hargey was at the helm of the Department for the Economy. It was important to come together to see the opportunities that the credit union has to support our economic plans to support regional balance, create good jobs, increase productivity…