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.
Thank you, Minister, for your answer. ABO Energy is a major European renewables company with headquarters in my constituency of Lagan Valley. It has £1·1 billion of investment to come here but cannot realise it, half because of constraints on the grid. That is not just an energy problem; it is a problem for our…
Ensuring that electricity grid capacity does not act as a barrier to economic investment is a priority for me and my Department. Through the grid development monitoring group, my Department brings together key stakeholders to drive progress on strategic transmission and distribution projects and to identify barriers…
I thank the Member for her question. As I said, it is about making sure that we are meeting the needs of all learners. We will continue to engage with the Education Minister. I think that we share the aspiration that what we teach young people, in school or further or higher education, meets the needs of the economy…
I thank the Member for his question. In the type of qualifications that young people obtain, the subjects that they study and ensuring that a range of pathways is available, it is important that the curriculum, as it develops, recognises the value not only of academic pathways but of technical and vocational pathways,…
Minister, I appreciate that you have already answered this question in part, but how will curriculum 2028 affect learners going into further education?
I thank the Member for her question. I have engaged directly with the Education Minister on the legislation, and my officials have engaged with their colleagues. As I said, I support the principle. I want young people to stay in education or training, but, as the Member said, it has to be the right pathway for the…
Minister, my question relates to the proposed legislation, which would mean young people staying in employment, education and training until the age of 18. That will require the right pathways and opportunities being available to all those young people. Are you confident that the infrastructure is in place?
I thank the Member for his question. My officials will continue to engage with Department of Education officials on that wider piece of work. Although we have not been involved directly in developing the proposals, I and my Department have a focus on ensuring that we have the skills that meet the needs of the economy…
I thank the Minister for that answer. A lot of concerns are being raised about the distinct shift in the draft curriculum framework from a curriculum that is focused on skills to one that is very much focused on a knowledge-rich approach. Given your responsibilities around the skills agenda, how will you continue to…
With your permission, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I will answer questions 2 and 9 together. I have engaged with the Minister of Education on a range of issues relating to learner pathways, curriculum reform and participation in education and training. While officials from my Department and the Department of…
Thank you, a Phriomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I have been fairly generous in not pushing back at Members in relation to who has responsibility for these particular areas, because I very much recognise the cross-cutting impact that planning and waste water infrastructure have on the local economy. I assure the Member…
Minister, planning red tape is one of the biggest obstacles to growing our local economy. Devolving planning powers to councils in 2015 moved us from having one set of policies governing planning to having 11 localised plans. Any reform of planning must ensure a return to one set of Northern Ireland-wide policies. Has…
I thank the Member for his question. I am not sure that there is a dataset that captures what he set out. When businesses and investors make decisions, they make them based on a range of measures, so, of course, Invest will interrogate the various issues that any investor identifies, and it will have a record of that.…
Minister, can you tell us whether Invest NI records every investment opportunity that is lost owing to planning delays or waste water constraints? If it does not, how can your Department claim to understand and measure the true economic cost of those failures?
I thank the Member for his question. As I said, the Executive as a whole have a focus on the need to invest in our waste water infrastructure. We do consider it a constraint to building houses, to which he referred, and to economic development. We are therefore focused on that. I support the Infrastructure Minister's…
Minister, the Construction Employers Federation (CEF) has recently stated that over 6,000 homes cannot currently be built in Northern Ireland. The Wastewater Infrastructure Group (WIG) reports that, if constraints continue, Northern Ireland's economy, based on GVA, will be a quarter of a billion pounds smaller over…
I thank the Member for her question. She has corresponded with me previously on issues to do with the waste water infrastructure in Newtownards. As an Executive, we are collectively focused on the issue and are working with NI Water. The Infrastructure Minister has lead responsibility for that and has been trying to…
Newtownards is the largest town in my constituency of Strangford and has the most economic impact in the area. It is in a closed capture area, however. What action is the Minister for the Economy's Department taking to support businesses that have been negatively affected by waste water infrastructure, where that has…
Earlier this year, I met the Minister for Infrastructure and NI Water, and we are meeting again tomorrow to discuss water and waste water infrastructure and NI Water's proposals to address issues that constrain economic development here. Together, working with industry, we are exploring ways in which we can apply…
The most basic duty of any Government is to agree a Budget. Any serious Government will also need to set a tax rate, but thankfully, in Northern Ireland, we are spared the Northern Ireland Executive's having fiscal powers at their fingertips and the devastation that that would cause to people here. The Executive…
The Budget is such an important issue. Matthew O'Toole is the Chair of the Finance Committee, and we all work very well at Committee together. He very much knows the detail of what is going on, but, obviously, in the Chamber, he has a role to play, and he is in character, making angry attacks upon others. That is…
I thank the Member for giving way. At the Business Committee meeting last week, we proposed that the Tree Protection Bill be debated next Monday, but his party colleague said, "No, we have a non-binding motion slot". Which is it? Do you prefer non-binding motions or legislation?
It is a basic responsibility of any credible Government to have a Budget. It is disappointing that one has not been agreed. There have been too many years of stop-start Government and single-year settlements, and we badly need a multi-year Budget. We are still the only Administration that is underfunded. Wales and…
I am genuinely intrigued. This question is for any Executive party MLA: do you genuinely think that the official Opposition should just sit here and say, "That's grand" about a Government not setting a Budget? I genuinely want the answer to that question.