Debate contribution: Regional Balance Bill: Second Stage
Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on .
- MLA
- Ms Sinéad McLaughlin
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 8 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Regional Balance Bill: Second Stage
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5674419
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I totally agree with you. In the development of the Bill, I consulted widely, including with economists across the border. I brought one of them to the Committee to give evidence — John Daly, from the Northern and Western Regional Assembly.
We worked with the Nevin Economic Research Institute, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and multiple agencies and think tanks across the border, because Northern Ireland is very small but so is Ireland. We operate in an all-island economy. That is not a political statement; it is just an economic reality. We have to sweat the assets that we have in this space and that we have jurisdiction over. I have made provisions that I would like to see developed. I mention "functional" economic areas and "agglomeration economies" in the explanatory notes. We have a framework that already operates effectively. Having spoken to Diana, I know that the north-west strategic growth partnership has memoranda of understanding between chambers of commerce in the city and in Letterkenny, and that can be replicated in Enniskillen and across the border. Those are the kinds of relationships that we need to build, because this is about growing wealth in our regions and providing better-paid jobs and opportunities for everyone. That is explicit in the Bill and can be developed further. I am under no illusions: what we see before us today is not what we will see at Final Stage. I hope that everybody has the intention to fight to make it better and improve it. That would make me extremely happy.
260 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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