Debate contribution: Skills Gaps between Young People and Businesses

Debate contribution by Ms Sinéad McLaughlin on 30 September 2025.

MLA

Ms Sinéad McLaughlin

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

30 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Skills Gaps between Young People and Businesses

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5142920

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Member for proposing the motion, and I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue, which goes to the heart of Northern Ireland's economic future: how do we equip our young people with the skills that they need to succeed in a changing economy? We should begin by recognising that, in recent years, investment has delivered important job creation in Northern Ireland. That is welcome, but, if we are also honest, it is not enough. Too many opportunities are still being missed; too many people are left behind; and too often investment is not regionally balanced. If we are serious about delivering not only prosperity but social justice and reconciliation, every community in Northern Ireland must share in the benefits of growth. Opportunity cannot be confined to the few, and investment cannot be concentrated in one corner of our region. Invest NI has an important role to play in securing investment for the North, but it must also be accountable for delivering it to all our regions. That is why the resignation of Kieran Kennedy from its board should concern all of us. He has made it clear that he felt that the north-west was being discriminated against and that the organisation was not committed to achieving regional balance. Our higher education institutions are central to that mission. Across the island, in Derry, Belfast, Coleraine, Jordanstown, Donegal and Galway, our university colleges are not just centres of learning but economic engines, hubs of research and innovation and drivers of social progress. However, they are under enormous strain, and they are being asked to do more with less. The Department for the Economy too often skirts round its responsibilities, and the crisis of funding is real. That cannot and must not be solved by raising tuition fees and shifting the burden to our students. The SDLP led the charge against those proposals, and we continue to oppose them. Instead, the Minister must bring forward a sustainable funding model that supports our universities, protects access and allows our young people to thrive. The ongoing review of higher education is critical and must be used to set out a bold vision, not to manage decline. Yet, as we debate this, 19,000 of our young people in Northern Ireland are not in education, employment or training. That is 19,000 lives and futures. It is not just a statistic; it is a moral and social failure of this place. We need urgent action to expand apprenticeships, strengthen pathways into further education and break down the barriers that stop so many of our young people reaching their potential. Alongside that, we urgently need progress on the careers portal, which is being designed to link education, skills and employment. It must be delivered as soon as possible so that young people can see clear pathways from study to work and so that employers can have the confidence that their skill needs will be met. That is why the expansion of Magee university to 10,000 students remains a priority for us. It is not simply about numbers; it is about transforming the economy and society of the north-west. It is about saying that young people's future does not have to be elsewhere but can be built at home.

Every day in my constituency and throughout Northern Ireland I see businesses and higher education working together. In my city, Alchemy Technology Services is creating meaningful careers that power economic and social recovery. Allstate's future innovators competition has given 3,500 young people in Derry and Strabane a chance to build vital digital skills. That is exactly the collaboration that we need. We must also be clear, however, that individual businesses cannot do it alone. That is where government must step up. The SDLP agrees with the Member who moved the motion that the best way forward is to establish a talent development agency. Mr Honeyford highlighted the work of Skillnet Ireland, and I agree with him. It is an exemplar organisation that steers and supports skills training programmes in partnership with the education sector and industry. Skillnet has a really good record of improving competitiveness, productivity and innovation in Irish businesses. Our amendment:

"calls on the Minister for the Economy to work with her counterparts in the Irish Government"

and with higher education institutions "across the island of Ireland" to create:

"an all-island talent development agency".

That could be Skillnet Ireland; we are not prescriptive about it. It is important that that happen, because the challenges that we face as an economy do not stop at the border. Skills gaps and business needs do not stop at the border. We already have economic corridors that need to be unlocked. It is time that we created educational corridors too. In the north-west, there is no reason why Ulster University at Magee and Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in Donegal cannot work hand in hand to develop the skills of the future workforce; in fact, they do, and they do it effectively.

No, but your motion refers to creating:

"a talent development agency, similar to Skillnet Ireland",

but we are saying that we need:

"an all-island talent development agency".

That could be Skillnet, because it is there, it is an exemplar, and it delivers best practice. There are other talent agencies throughout Europe that do really good work and work across jurisdictions in order to meet the needs of businesses in those countries. That kind of cooperation is not really a luxury or even an aspiration; it is a necessity. Our businesses are crying out for workers. Our hospitality sector is struggling. Brexit has made recruitment even harder, particularly for the skilled labour workforce. If we fail to invest in our people through, for example, apprenticeships, further education, higher education and cross-border collaboration, we will continue to hold ourselves back. The truth is that the island of Ireland has extraordinary potential, but, too often, we choose to neglect the opportunities that lie right here at our back door and across the border. That has been a fatal mistake and one that we can no longer afford to make. By creating an all-island talent development agency — you can call it "Skillnet Ireland" if you want — we can ensure that skills development is aligned with what businesses need and give our young people the best chance of building a career here at home. We can send a clear message that regional balance and cross-border partnerships are not optional extras but essential elements of our future success. I urge colleagues to support our amendment and to see it as an enhancement of the substantive motion. Let us commit not just to more investment and more apprenticeships and to funding our universities properly but to doing those things in a way that works across the island, supports every region and ensures that no young person is left behind. Now is not the time to fail the 19,000 young people who are waiting for us to act. It is time to unlock the full potential of Magee campus, to protect our universities and colleges and to ensure that investment is fair and regionally balanced. It is time to deliver a careers portal and to seize the opportunities presented by an all-island approach to skills, education and the economy. That is the vision that the SDLP offers through the amendment.

1,227 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:16 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.

Challenge this classification