Debate contribution: Skills Gaps between Young People and Businesses

Debate contribution by Ms Cheryl Brownlee on 30 September 2025.

MLA

Ms Cheryl Brownlee

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist 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 5142947

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I am delighted to speak on the motion. Whilst I am not a member of the Committee for the Economy, the Public Accounts Committee discussed the issue and had an inquiry. It was extremely interesting. Recently, we got the memoranda of reply (MOR), which was also very interesting. Obviously, we really want to build a thriving society in Northern Ireland. Addressing the skills gap for our young people and businesses is, of course, at the heart of that. We have had significant investment into Northern Ireland. Despite that, opportunities continue to be missed. The skills gap remains wide and, in many cases, is not closing. As part of the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into skills, we heard very powerful and concerning evidence from the Youth Assembly. One of the things that really stuck out for me was the fact that the young people did not know what skills the Northern Ireland economy needs, and that the careers advice that they receive, whilst it is clearly well intentioned, is inconsistent across the region. Whilst some schools offer really good careers advice, we saw that others really lack the capacity and resources to do that. That will have a massive impact on the economy further down the line, and especially on those young people. We also discovered that there is a clear mismatch between supply and demand, with many young people applying for courses that are already oversaturated whilst the critical skills areas, where jobs are waiting, remain short of applicants. Another really clear takeaway struck me. After the discussion with the Youth Assembly, we sat down as a Committee and talked. We could not clearly define the skills that Northern Ireland needs to thrive. That was a real wake-up call for us all. Regardless of how many strategies that we have or action plans that we write, the simple question is this: how do we communicate what skills are needed to build our future here and for Northern Ireland to thrive? I have been a huge advocate of the Skill Up programme. I took part in the women in leadership course. I was provided with professional coaching. I would not have been able to access that otherwise. I was shocked at what courses are available, the level of those courses and the fact that they are all free and accessible for everyone. I am aware of that and tell everyone whom I speak to how amazing it is, but how do we get the message out? I have seen billboards and social media advertisements, but how do we target it so that everybody has access to that incredible resource that Northern Ireland offers? I am really pleased that special educational needs and disabilities were mentioned at the start of the debate. One of the figures that we looked at in the Committee's work was the number of young people with SEN who are not in education, employment or training, which is almost five times higher than the figure for the general population. Too often, the voice of those young people is forgotten in debates like this. I am really glad that, today, it has not been forgotten and that we are talking about them. There is enormous talent within that community. Children with autism have incredible strengths in pattern recognition, attention to detail, logical reasoning and other skills for which many employers are crying out. Those are skills that employers need. I have looked at companies, such as Microsoft and JPMorganChase in America, that have built autism-at-work programmes, not just because it is the right thing to do but because they have seen employees with autism outperforming their peers. We should lead on that and tap into that incredible talent, and give businesses the tools and confidence to do the same. It is also about a mindset shift: it is not an add-on or an addition but an incredible skill that we already have in Northern Ireland. The Committee also recommended that the Department establish a data-sharing agreement, and we have discussed data today. We really need to get a grip on that. It is not just about what we are discussing in the motion; we need quality data across everything that we are discussing, and we need a timetable and transparency as we move forward. We have discussed the figure of 19,000 young people who are not in education, employment or training. That is not just a societal problem but a crisis. I will finish with this: I was given the opportunity of an internship, and I think that it is absolutely critical that we support our young people with internships and apprenticeships and that we value every single skill that is available and that we help them to ensure that Northern Ireland continues to lead the way.

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

Assessment

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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.

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