Every imported question, contribution and motion, with its classification. Unflagged, uncertain and not-yet-analysed records are all included so the analysis can be checked independently.
Social value in procurement was introduced when I was Finance Minister, and, obviously, the responsibility for and interest in increasing the percentage of social value in procurement will now fall to the current Finance Minister. There is no doubt, from the reports that we receive, that that has significantly…
Minister, will you confirm or advise whether, when you look at that report, social value in procurement will feature in the new action plan for the sector?
I am pleased to say that the design group is up and running. The social enterprise awards were held last Friday night, but I missed them due to my travels. However, it was a very successful event. When I came into office, we tried to focus on increasing the support that the Department gives to Social Enterprise NI and…
Yes. We need to ensure that no barriers are placed in the way of tourism. It is a very important industry for our island, perhaps much more than it is for Britain. The Government need to recognise the particular circumstances that we have: we are the entry point for most of our international visitors; the importance…
I thank the Minister for his answer. Given the fact that Fermanagh and South Tyrone depends heavily on tourism, those statistics are quite encouraging. Does the Minister agree that those successes underline the need for the British Government to withdraw their ETA scheme?
The stats, which NISRA released just this morning, run from March 2023 to March 2024. They reference that 5·4 million overnight trips were taken, with a £1·2 billion spend. Some 52% of those were for holidays, 37% were to visit friends and 7% were for business purposes, although people would have perhaps imagined that…
Yes, and one of the engagements that we will have is on that. As I said in response to an earlier question, Go Succeed has been a very effective programme. The concern over recent months is that there has been a kind of cliff-edge movement in funding. As part of the Budget, it was announced that there would be a…
I thank the Minister for his answer. Does the Minister agree that the Go Succeed programme is very effective in supporting small businesses and that its budget should be maintained under the Shared Prosperity Fund?
All of the interests of my Department will be discussed. As I said in response to the question about the ETA scheme, we will meet Ministers about that issue and about energy and trade. I think that I have five meetings set up over the course of the day with Ministers in Whitehall. We have had many engagements, mostly…
In the first instance, the Member might find that, if it is a planning issue, it is between Infrastructure and the airport. However, I am content to work with other Ministers. I repeatedly and continuously work and have conversations with other Ministers about what we are doing collectively in that area. When it comes…
I thank the Minister for his answer. Minister, will you commit to working with the airport to resolve the restriction on wind generation? The planning is there, but the airport is the bottleneck.
I am not suggesting that I am aware of that specific issue, but, as I said in response to an earlier question, I am aware that, if we want to meet our targets on net zero — there is a range of areas where we are moving simultaneously, such as wind, biomethane, hydrogen and geothermal — we need all Departments to act…
The whole purpose of the review of Invest NI — Invest NI being the delivery mechanism for the Department's policies — was to measure the outcomes. There was a significant critique of Invest NI's focus, its relationship with the Department and the misalignment of policy objectives between the Department and Invest NI,…
Thank you, Minister, for your answer. How does your Department measure the economic impact of policies that specifically target rural areas, and how often are those assessments carried out?
There is a range of measures. The recently launched regional balance strategy means that the emphasis in support has to shift from being largely Belfast-based and go out to rural economies and regions, including to the north-west and border areas, to make sure that there is support there. Earlier, I answered questions…
If the Member has information to supply, I will be happy to follow it up with the airport authorities. I am not sure. In relation to similar questions that I have heard, it is generally about flights coming from the United States that go through those airports, so I am not aware. We have no direct connection from the…
I thank the Minister. I appreciate that you may not have the information, but what have you and your officials done to get it? There can be no passing of the buck, given that airports fall under your remit. What have you and your Department done to get information about what is on those planes? There is serious public…
We do not have that information, to be honest. We are charged with supporting the development of economic routes along with the airports. We do not gather information on that.
I have met all the organisations that you have mentioned several times in the past six or nine months. If they want to meet as a collective, as you suggest, I invite them to write to me, and I will arrange to meet them as a collective as soon as we can. I have to correct the sense that it is difficult to secure a…
Thank you, Minister, for your answer. The pressures of costs and inflation have not gone away, and businesses are really struggling. Many business organisations have said that it is sometimes difficult to meet the Minister. Will you commit to meeting representatives of small businesses, such as the Federation of Small…
Invest NI runs a number of programmes to support businesses. Support for small businesses in particular comes through a number of measures that relate to other Departments, including rates relief. There was no specific bid from the Department, because this was returned money that would have been spent in this…
Representatives from EOS IT Solutions were on that visit. It is a very successful and growing company in the Banbridge area. We had the opportunity to visit one of its client companies, Meta, in the Singapore office. We were hugely impressed not just by the work that EOS IT Solutions has been carrying out and the…
I thank the Minister for his answer. I understand that representatives from EOS IT Solutions were on the Singapore trade mission last week. Will the Minister say more about that company?
I recognise the importance of trade missions and their contribution to the delivery of my economic plans. In September, I travelled to the US and Canada with 12 innovative technology companies, receiving universally positive feedback. I met business leaders and politicians to strengthen transatlantic relationships and…
As I said in response to an earlier question, the Magee expansion is not just a commitment in the New Decade, New Approach agreement by all the parties and both Governments; it is now a priority in the Programme for Government. Given the clear message in the interim report that the Magee expansion requires the…