Member's statement: Manufacturing Strategy and Action Plan
Member's statement by Mr David Honeyford on .
- MLA
- Mr David Honeyford
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 15 September 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Manufacturing Strategy and Action Plan
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5099142
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Today, I welcome the investment in 1,000 new jobs. That good news shows the value of investing in our people. Three years ago, funding went into college training programmes. The weekend's announcement proves that supporting skills and backing our young people delivers real opportunities. That is why it is essential that, moving forward, Northern Ireland have a joined-up approach, such as that taken by Skillnet Ireland in the South, in order to build a pipeline of talent linking business with education and our colleges to build opportunities and attract global investment. I have just left a meeting with Seagate, during which we talked about exactly the same thing. Last week, I spoke at the Northern Ireland Manufacturing and Supply Chain Conference and Exhibition at the Eikon exhibition centre, at which industry leaders showcased the latest technology and innovation. They were really clear that they need to hear more than words from the Assembly. I again call on the Minister for the Economy to bring forward a manufacturing strategy and, crucially, an action plan to go along with it. Other regions are racing ahead. Germany has its Industrie 4.0 strategy, Singapore has its advanced manufacturing 2030 vision and the Republic updates its strategy every five years. Only last week, it launched a new action plan to deliver on that. Meanwhile, we risk falling behind here, and that means missed investment, weaker productivity and lost opportunity. We need a strategy and delivery plan that provide a strong skills pipeline for apprenticeships and reskilling; a Skillnet Ireland-type body in Northern Ireland that supports SMEs to adopt digital and industry technologies; regional investment zones such as at the Maze and Blaris, which are in my area; plug-and-play industrial parks; and net zero manufacturing to keep firms competitive. We have the talent, the ambition and the entrepreneurs here. We have 19,000 young people who are not in education, employment or training. We need to identify how we can address that issue. We need government leadership and a manufacturing strategy and action plan that deliver on growth and bring in skills and jobs for the next generation. It is about providing good jobs, achieving regional balance, having stronger exports and putting money back in people's pockets. It is also about creating hope and securing our place in a modern economy.
384 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.02 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.93).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.02 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.01 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.02 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.93 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.02 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-related subject | 0.98 |
| Education structures, integration and community division | 0.02 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.