Debate contribution: Job Creation: Ambitious Targets
Debate contribution by Mr Stewart Dickson on .
- MLA
- Mr Stewart Dickson
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 19 March 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Job Creation: Ambitious Targets
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4279753
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Absolutely. The Member has just repeated the words that I said. Other work is needed, however, to grapple with the systemic issues that continue to cast a shadow over our potential. The economic inactivity to which Members have referred, particularly among the long-term sick and those with disabilities, remains stubbornly high, providing a key opportunity for organisations such as the many social enterprises that operate and deliver across Northern Ireland. I hope that this mandate will give the Minister the opportunity to make more legislative provision to support our social enterprises. Productivity continues to lag, and the ongoing brain drain has been detrimental to our skills economy, as young people continue to leave to seek better opportunities elsewhere, attending universities in the rest of the United Kingdom or Ireland or, indeed, emigrating with their qualifications. It is important that we endeavour to create a more balanced, productive economy that is in step with the demands of decarbonisation and our increasing difficulties with the environment, that is ready to face the challenges and opportunities that climate change offers and that will deliver for each person, for us all and for the world of work. Achieving that will require us to go back to basics. Look at the cost of division in our education system: if we could invest that money in our education system to deliver for our young people and spend it on a more focused education system that delivers for all, not only would we give people the best chance in education but we would have a much better qualified workforce that would be attractive to business in Northern Ireland. Delivering reform of the Assembly will provide that assurance to business. To deliver more and better jobs across the spectrum, we need to ensure that there is no hierarchy of qualification but rather that qualifications meet the needs of business and people and that we do not put all our eggs in one basket. We must consider the vast range of qualifications equally. Be it an NVQ, a primary degree, a diploma-to-apprenticeship pathway or a PhD, we need to deliver for everyone. More than that, let us not forget our unique position post Brexit. With our dual market access in the UK and the EU, we are perfectly poised to drive growth, attract investment and create jobs. We need stability in this institution to achieve that and to give us a more appropriately qualified workforce that is ready to meet the demands of both markets. As we look to the future of our economy and job creation, we need to set targets that are not just ambitious but SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound — and that reflect our unique position in the UK and the EU. Those targets must be underpinned by planning and adequate resources. There is no point in bringing in that which is good today but will not be here tomorrow. Rather, it is about providing opportunities that will be valuable and adaptable to our citizens not just today but down the line. With that in mind, I call on the Minister for the Economy to go beyond the usual metrics and instead let us devise a strategy that is resilient, that builds on our strengths and that creates lasting benefits in order to build jobs for all in Northern Ireland.
557 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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