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Mr Conor Murphy: Assembly records
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.
Electricity interconnectors are an important tool in delivering the energy strategy and Climate Change Act targets. They act to improve the security of electricity supplies and allow us to export and import electricity when our system requires it. The Kilroot-Scotland project will also require a licence approval from…
Significant planning is already ongoing. I met the chamber of commerce in Portrush golf club, and we received a presentation from the organisers about some of the things that are going on. We also had an opportunity at the Irish Open in County Down over the course of the summer to discuss improvements to the…
I am sure that if the Member keeps telling himself that he has led that charge, he at least will believe it, but I am not sure that many others will. The conversation about the benefits of the use of tourism brands on this side of the border predates his involvement in politics by some time. Of course, that…
I met Seema Malhotra MP, who is the Home Office Minister for Migration and Citizenship, on 13 November regarding the ETA scheme and to press for solutions to protect our tourism industry. Of course, our tourism industry has been voicing very serious concerns about the scheme. It is vital that we have seamless…
I am sure that the Member is as familiar as I am, certainly anecdotally, with the fact that the volume of traffic that came from South to North on the island in the COVID period was probably unprecedented. Recent statistics that NISRA published indicate that that volume increased significantly and has continued to…
Numerous tourism statistics are published on the NISRA, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland websites. They range from trends in performance figures, tourism satellite accounts showing the sector's economic impact and consumer industry sentiment analysis to attraction and accommodation statistics, overseas…
Social value in procurement was introduced when I was Finance Minister, and, obviously, the responsibility for and interest in increasing the percentage of social value in procurement will now fall to the current Finance Minister. There is no doubt, from the reports that we receive, that that has significantly…
I am pleased to say that the design group is up and running. The social enterprise awards were held last Friday night, but I missed them due to my travels. However, it was a very successful event. When I came into office, we tried to focus on increasing the support that the Department gives to Social Enterprise NI and…
Yes. We need to ensure that no barriers are placed in the way of tourism. It is a very important industry for our island, perhaps much more than it is for Britain. The Government need to recognise the particular circumstances that we have: we are the entry point for most of our international visitors; the importance…
The stats, which NISRA released just this morning, run from March 2023 to March 2024. They reference that 5·4 million overnight trips were taken, with a £1·2 billion spend. Some 52% of those were for holidays, 37% were to visit friends and 7% were for business purposes, although people would have perhaps imagined that…
Yes, and one of the engagements that we will have is on that. As I said in response to an earlier question, Go Succeed has been a very effective programme. The concern over recent months is that there has been a kind of cliff-edge movement in funding. As part of the Budget, it was announced that there would be a…
All of the interests of my Department will be discussed. As I said in response to the question about the ETA scheme, we will meet Ministers about that issue and about energy and trade. I think that I have five meetings set up over the course of the day with Ministers in Whitehall. We have had many engagements, mostly…
In the first instance, the Member might find that, if it is a planning issue, it is between Infrastructure and the airport. However, I am content to work with other Ministers. I repeatedly and continuously work and have conversations with other Ministers about what we are doing collectively in that area. When it comes…
I am not suggesting that I am aware of that specific issue, but, as I said in response to an earlier question, I am aware that, if we want to meet our targets on net zero — there is a range of areas where we are moving simultaneously, such as wind, biomethane, hydrogen and geothermal — we need all Departments to act…
The whole purpose of the review of Invest NI — Invest NI being the delivery mechanism for the Department's policies — was to measure the outcomes. There was a significant critique of Invest NI's focus, its relationship with the Department and the misalignment of policy objectives between the Department and Invest NI,…
There is a range of measures. The recently launched regional balance strategy means that the emphasis in support has to shift from being largely Belfast-based and go out to rural economies and regions, including to the north-west and border areas, to make sure that there is support there. Earlier, I answered questions…
If the Member has information to supply, I will be happy to follow it up with the airport authorities. I am not sure. In relation to similar questions that I have heard, it is generally about flights coming from the United States that go through those airports, so I am not aware. We have no direct connection from the…
We do not have that information, to be honest. We are charged with supporting the development of economic routes along with the airports. We do not gather information on that.
I have met all the organisations that you have mentioned several times in the past six or nine months. If they want to meet as a collective, as you suggest, I invite them to write to me, and I will arrange to meet them as a collective as soon as we can. I have to correct the sense that it is difficult to secure a…
Invest NI runs a number of programmes to support businesses. Support for small businesses in particular comes through a number of measures that relate to other Departments, including rates relief. There was no specific bid from the Department, because this was returned money that would have been spent in this…
Representatives from EOS IT Solutions were on that visit. It is a very successful and growing company in the Banbridge area. We had the opportunity to visit one of its client companies, Meta, in the Singapore office. We were hugely impressed not just by the work that EOS IT Solutions has been carrying out and the…
I recognise the importance of trade missions and their contribution to the delivery of my economic plans. In September, I travelled to the US and Canada with 12 innovative technology companies, receiving universally positive feedback. I met business leaders and politicians to strengthen transatlantic relationships and…
As I said in response to an earlier question, the Magee expansion is not just a commitment in the New Decade, New Approach agreement by all the parties and both Governments; it is now a priority in the Programme for Government. Given the clear message in the interim report that the Magee expansion requires the…
The Magee expansion task force's interim report outlined a series of asks for the key stakeholders, including Departments, Ulster University, Derry City and Strabane District Council and others. The task force is progressing to address those asks and engaging with stakeholders to secure their commitment and action in…
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…