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.
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…
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…
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…
I beg to move 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…
I thank the Members for moving the motion and the amendment. There has been a remarkable degree of unanimity in the views across the Chamber. The support for the motion and the amendment augurs well. I detected from almost all the contributions the need to, properly and publicly, value apprenticeships and the…
The Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 That the Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay (Consequential Amendments to Subordinate Legislation) (No.2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 be approved.
I thank the Member for bringing forward the Adjournment topic this afternoon. It is very timely, given the movement that we have just had in getting the scheme up and running. I thank all the Members who contributed to the discussion. In my address, I will answer some of the points that were raised, and, at the end, I…
We do not anticipate underspend because, to be quite honest and probably taking the same view as you, I do not think that there was enough money in the pot to begin with. It was decided and developed before the Executive were back, and there is a ceiling of £100,000 in compensation for businesses that lost stock and…
I am very pleased to be able to sponsor that event next Tuesday, and I invite any Members who wish to do so to come along to come to the Long Gallery, where the trade unions will present a policy paper on that area. I think that it is very important. We have the responsibility here for legislation on how people work,…
I have always followed the principle — I think that it is a good one and a beneficial one — of co-design, particularly for the people who are being impacted on by any particular policy area or legislation. Last week, we had a meeting where the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and a number of trade unions were…
I have had a conversation with Minister Harris already, and some work had already been done on making sure that there is more synchronicity between how exam results work so that we can ensure that people have greater access across the island to whatever university or college is their choice. Much more work can be done…
The £30 million is very welcome. It is to be shared between Enterprise Ireland and the enterprise agencies here, and it will be worked through InterTradeIreland. There are enormous opportunities. There are very high numbers of business start-ups here, which is very beneficial, and a very strong entrepreneurial streak…
The colleges are underutilised. Over the past number of years, we have had quite a significant investment in that estate. We have a very good offering when it comes to the colleges and the courses that they provide. In the current circumstances, they are not fully utilised. I want to work with the colleges to make…
I set out a vision last week of what I see as being the economic challenges here and of where areas of growth need to occur. We have stubbornly low levels of productivity and very high levels of economic inactivity. I am sure that pockets of the Member's constituency suffer from that, as do many others. We have a…
The Open Championship is due to be held in 2025 in Portrush. The experience of holding a recent Open Championship there outlines what I said previously. It brought enormous positivity, visitor numbers, exposure and viewing figures from around the world and led to an increase in golf tourism as a consequence. The…
There is a real opportunity here for all sports fans, not just soccer fans, to get the Euros here. We had discussions earlier about the impact of the North West 200 and golfing tournaments, all of which bring a very positive news story. They also bring very significant international attention to the place, and I have…
There are things that we can control and things that we may not be able to control. Where I can control policy and investment, and the actions of Invest NI in that regard, I will attempt to achieve the objective of regional balance, particularly for the north-west. We will, of course, try to take advantage of whatever…
On many occasions since I came into office, including last week when I made a statement to the Assembly, I have outlined my ambition for regional balance, particularly for the north-west. A decision on an investment zone is a matter for the British Government, but we want to ensure that what we do through policy here…
The Member is correct to say that it is a matter for the Government in London, but I am happy to engage with them and raise any particular issues. Part of the rationale for introducing a ban on onshore exploration is that we need to move away from fossil fuels and that they do not contribute to our carbon reduction…
The Department is undertaking a review of that policy area. A consultation on new onshore petroleum licensing policy is currently live and will close on 12 April. My intention, which was also the proposed position set out in that consultation, is to introduce a legislative ban on all forms of onshore petroleum…
Yes, I do, increasingly. In my previous role in the Department of Finance, we had responsibility for civil servants. There were efforts there to ensure that we gave opportunities for people to come forward, particularly people who, perhaps, would not ordinarily have ended up working in some parts of the public…
Yes, I do. I have had that conversation briefly with the Minister of Education. The traditional pathways, basically through schools, were either into vocational work or universities. They are much broader and more varied now, and there is much more opportunity for people to follow high-level apprenticeships. We need…
Primary responsibility for that will be with the Health Department. My Department has a general responsibility for skills, education and training, particularly in relation to apprenticeships. That scheme shows that, where there is collaboration between Departments, it can have a positive outcome. Albeit that is small…