Debate contribution: North/South Ministerial Council: Trade and Business Development

Debate contribution by Miss Deirdre Hargey on 20 May 2024.

MLA

Miss Deirdre Hargey

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

20 May 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

North/South Ministerial Council: Trade and Business Development

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4490570

Read the official Assembly record

Text

With your permission, Mr Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement in compliance with section 52 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 regarding a meeting of the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in trade and business development sectoral format. The meeting was held in Armagh on 26 April 2024. Junior Minister Pam Cameron MLA and former Economy Minister Conor Murphy MLA represented the Executive. The Irish Government were represented by Peter Burke TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. This statement has been agreed with Minister Cameron, and I make it on behalf of us both. The Council welcomed the overall achievements of InterTradeIreland from 2021 to date and commended the valuable contribution that it has made through its trade and development programmes for small and medium-sized companies trading across the border and in both jurisdictions. Ministers recognised the positive impact of the innovation and technology programmes administered by InterTradeIreland and its support for building relationships between companies and researchers. The Council noted InterTradeIreland’s research priorities for 2024: a study of the business support ecosystem across the island; research into the changing nature of trade on the island; offshore wind and hydrogen energy; cross-border service trade; artificial intelligence; and access to funding. Ministers welcomed the work of InterTradeIreland, alongside Enterprise Ireland and Invest NI, in developing a cross-border enterprise cooperation scheme, which was recently awarded €30 million in Shared Island funding. The Council approved the InterTradeIreland business plans and budgets/grants for 2022, 2023 and 2024, which have been completed in accordance with agreed guidance issued by the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and have been agreed by sponsor Departments and Finance Ministers. Ministers approved the InterTradeIreland 2023-25 corporate plan, which has been completed in accordance with agreed guidance issued by both Departments and has been agreed by sponsor Departments and Finance Ministers. The Council noted InterTradeIreland’s annual reports and accounts for 2020 and 2021, which have been certified by the Comptroller and Auditor General and laid before the Assembly and both Houses of the Oireachtas, and the annual report and accounts for 2022, which will be laid shortly. The North/South Ministerial Council approved the recommended increase in InterTradeIreland’s staffing complement from 42 to 65 to assist it in meeting the increased demand for its services. Ministers noted the position in relation to the Horizon 2020 programme and the progress and current position of North/South collaboration in relation to the Horizon Europe programme and welcomed the opportunities available following the UK’s association with the programme. The Council noted the achievements and current position of the US-Ireland research and development partnership, noting that it has now provided over $100 million in funding to researchers collaborating on 55 projects in the three jurisdictions. The North/South Ministerial Council noted recent achievements of the InterTradeIreland synergy programme, which includes the synergy flagship project, the fintech corridor. The Council noted the focus on sustainability as a cross-cutting theme in a number of InterTradeIreland’s programmes and its plans for upcoming research in offshore wind and hydrogen energy. Ministers agreed that officials and InterTradeIreland will continue to engage to identify opportunities to address climate change and loss of biodiversity from both the policy and operational perspectives. The Council agreed to hold its next trade and business development meeting in sectoral format in autumn 2024. I commend the statement to the Assembly and welcome engagement with Members.

Good work has taken place on looking at the opportunities that dual market access presents. InterTradeIreland and Invest NI continue to work together to look at those opportunities and, importantly, at how we can profile them and alert people to them. A series of engagement events will be held over the next period in order to do that. That sits with the economic vision that Conor Murphy, as the then Minister, outlined in the Assembly a number of weeks ago. The Member will know that part of it involves addressing the regional imbalance that there has been for a long time. Part of the work will look at subregional economic development plans and ensure that all the networks and arm's-length bodies (ALBs) feed into those development plans and work with each of the localities, particularly through engagement with local councils, the local private sector and social enterprises in each council area. As the Member knows, in the north-west, that work is complemented by the task force that Minister Murphy set up recently.

We look to explore and take advantage of North/South and east-west relationships. That is important in the time ahead, particularly when we look at the climate challenges, in line with the climate legislation that was passed in the previous mandate, to ensure that we reach net zero. There will be ongoing engagement through arm's-length bodies such as Invest NI. I will continue to take any opportunities that I have as Minister to have direct engagement with Ministers in Westminster and Dublin and to ensure that we look through the lens of North/South link-up and cooperation but, importantly, through the east-west lens as well.

The UK formally associated to Horizon Europe on 4 December 2023 at the EU-UK Specialised Committee on Participation in Union Programmes (SCPUP). Scientists and businesses from here have been able to participate in Horizon Europe since the start of the programme in January 2021 through the UK guarantee scheme. Delays to formalising an association, however, have had a considerable impact on investment in science and research and on all potential all-island economic cooperation. InterTradeIreland is committed to and focused on building cross-border momentum and boosting participation, and it is looking to seize the opportunities that are available through the Horizon Europe programme. Although there are delays, we are hopeful that, by working collaboratively and collectively, we can start to pick up the pace of implementation of programmes.

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

Assessment

Not qualifying

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 10:20 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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