Debate contribution: Supply Resolution for the Northern Ireland Spring Supplementary Estimates 2023-24 and Supply Resolution for the Northern Ireland Estimates: Vote On Account 2024-25

Debate contribution by Mr David Honeyford on 9 April 2024.

MLA

Mr David Honeyford

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

9 April 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

Supply Resolution for the Northern Ireland Spring Supplementary Estimates 2023-24 and Supply Resolution for the Northern Ireland Estimates: Vote On Account 2024-25

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4481936

Read the official Assembly record

Text

As the Alliance Party spokesperson on the economy, I will raise a couple of things that are not only important now but essential for future years. I will mention a couple of stats. Innovation levels among Northern Ireland businesses are the lowest across these islands. In the UK, we are twelfth out of 12 regions. Other stats indicate that, unfortunately, we are not seeing the growth in higher and further education enrolment that our economy needs. While it is welcome that we are seeing a little growth in apprenticeships, figures from 2020-22 are likely to be skewed by COVID. Our economy has not been a net contributor to the UK Treasury since the 1930s but has been in deficit annually since the 1960s, so it is heavily reliant on the public sector. That is completely unsustainable, and the resulting squeeze has been brought into sharp focus by the UK Treasury's below-need funding of Northern Ireland's spending. We cannot afford to view the economy any longer as a side issue. Our economy is central to creating the future that we all want. Our economic success is also central to funding, reforming and improving our public services. I want to focus on growth, opportunities and some challenges. I have said this before, and I will keep repeating it: we should not lose sight of the fact that it is our business community that creates employment and apprenticeships and brings money into our economy to grow our GDP. It is essential that we work in here to create the conditions for business and that we work in partnership to provide the skilled and trained workforce to give our business community in every sector the best platform so that they can grow. Alliance absolutely supports the unique position of access to both the GB and EU trade markets. I have said before that it is one thing for us to understand that opportunity but another for the world market to know about it. It is another thing to invest in what is required to exploit the opportunity. That will cost money, and it will not happen without vision and investment. It needs to be set alongside supporting and encouraging our indigenous businesses to realise the potential that that market access can bring for them, including encouraging greater collaboration, partnership and economic trade across this island as well as the rest of the EU. Significant investment is needed to realise growth, but, when we look at the figures, we see that the Department's resource DEL was about £130 million lower in 2022-23 compared with the three-year draft Budget that the Department of Finance prepared in 2022. There were significant challenges for our economy last year, and those continue into this year: the loss of £30 million in EU funding for programmes; the energy transition, which urgently needs investment if we are to reach net zero targets; the reform of Invest NI and funding for a new direction, which needs prioritisation; and the need for adequate funding of higher and further education, skills and all-age apprenticeships. I welcome the pay award for teachers in our schools, but our FE college lecturers need to see an agreeable pay award that rewards and values them fully. The Minister for the Economy and the Minister of Finance need to deliver for our lecturers as soon as possible. It cannot be left to the side. If we are to build a skilled workforce, we need the best qualified experts to teach and train the next generation in our colleges. Our further education colleges can no longer be viewed and valued as second class or the back-up option. That starts with how we pay and treat our staff and lecturers. Developing FE colleges into technical universities is something that I will continue to raise. As a minimum, the reform of FE needs to be adequately funded. We cannot continually ask for more but pay and invest less. It is really important that, moving forward, the Department for the Economy has an adequate budget allocation that enables it to make all those reforms and pay staff appropriately. We cannot afford to miss the opportunity that we have for a short time. We have a window of opportunity to transform and grow our economy. It is important to stress that the growth of our economy is not a single-Department issue. That growth includes not only DAERA but the Department for Infrastructure and the Department for Communities. My colleague Eóin Tennyson already made the point about reform. The Alliance Party looks forward with hope and to seeing better. Now is the time to draw the line and to end the cycle of collapse so that we can build the economy, see financial growth and create new jobs and the opportunities that all our people deserve.

801 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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