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I thank the Member, and I welcome that. I have noted both of those points. It is about how we strengthen that to ensure that there is an impetus on the South to do that as well. I agree with what is there, but we can enhance that and create a stronger framework. My worry is that border communities such as ours may not…
The cross-border point is in the Bill in two places. It is about the collection of data. Clause 1(3)(e) refers to: "provisions requiring Northern Ireland departments to recognise and consider cross-border economic data in policies, strategies and plans so as to reduce regional disparities". I have also referred to it…
Totally. I thank the Member for the intervention. The biggest evidence base for that is the fact that people in Derry and other regions across the North are seeing the change, talking about it and feeling it. The fact that the biggest R&D development last year was in Derry, at Seagate, shows that change. The change is…
I thank the Member for taking an intervention. I very much identify with much of what he has said. I recall saying to the former Economy Minister Diane Dodds that it felt like Groundhog Day because every time that I spoke about Mid Ulster, I talked about its having the highest number of VAT-rated businesses outside…
I invite the Member, rather than speaking in semantics, to put on record and evidence the claims that he is going to make. The Bill sponsor did a good job of articulating how it is about the entire region, but the Member seems to have spent his entire contribution trying to make a Sinn Féin party political broadcast,…
I thank the Member for her intervention. As she said, we are on a trajectory and moving in the right direction. There is more change to come, but, as we have all agreed, huge change in Invest was needed. That change has started to happen. I recently met the new regional manager of Invest in Derry, whose vision I am…
I thank the Member for taking an intervention. I appreciate that we are on the same page when we talk about regional balance and our city and region. We have a long way to go in relation to Invest NI. I contest that figure of 59% concerning regional balance outside the city. Invest NI counted the number of…
Thank you. It is not just the Department for the Economy but all Departments — AERA, Infrastructure, Communities and all the others — that should be involved in it. Sinn Féin specifically took on the Department for the Economy to bring tangible and real change to people's lives and undo the economic legacy of 100…
I thank the Member for bringing the Bill to the House, because it targets a lot of the regional balance commitments on which my party and her party agree and that other parties in the House have brought forward as well. I agree with the overarching argument that regional balance needs to be central, not an…
I beg to move Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am delighted to move the Second Stage of my Regional Balance Bill. I will begin by thanking some of the people who have helped to get me to this point. Introducing a Member's Bill is not something that any Member does alone, and I have been incredibly fortunate to have had…
On behalf of the Committee for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, I wish to request an extension to the Committee Stage of the Fisheries, Aquaculture and Water Environment Bill to 5 February 2027, as agreed by the Committee at its meeting on 2 July 2026. The Committee received a pre-introductory briefing from…
I thank all Members for their contributions to this constructive debate, particularly the Chair of the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee. I am very grateful to the Committee for its constructive scrutiny of the legislation. It has been supported ably by Janice and the rest of the team on the…
Will the Member accept that the key function of the Bill is to give discretionary powers to councils to intervene? By councils intervening, there will be an opportunity for them to get money on to their rates base, so we need to take a long-term approach.
I, too, welcome the fact that this legislation has made its way to Final Stage. For too long, people have watched buildings deteriorate, sites become neglected and once proud parts of our towns slowly go into decline. People then reasonably ask why nothing can be done about it. The sense of frustration in our…
I welcome the Bill's Final Stage. I do not sit on the Committee, so I have not had as much opportunity as some other Members to listen to stakeholders, but, from the outside, I have engaged on the Bill with stakeholders in my constituency. It is very much welcomed by people in our local communities. I am glad that…
I thank the Member for giving way. It is important to say that there cannot be one rule for the Government and another for private property owners. The Member will, I hope, agree with me that a significant number of public buildings in the estates of Health, Education and other Departments are lying empty and in a…
I welcome the Final Stage of the Bill. As many Members have said in the debate, we face an unprecedented high street crisis across Northern Ireland with a quarter of non-domestic units lying vacant, leading to what some have termed "industrial levels" of dereliction, so I particularly welcome the Minister's Bill now…
Does the Member understand and appreciate that, if the owner of a property restores that building and brings it back into use, the Bill will have a potential long-term benefit for that individual? It is about taking the long-term view for property owners.
I welcome the Bill, and the SDLP will support it at Final Stage today. There is no doubt that councils need stronger powers to deal with dilapidated buildings and neglected sites. We all know the buildings that I am talking about; they are very prominent in all our constituencies. They have sat empty for years, with…
She keeps talking. If you do not listen, you will not learn. If you were to read the judgement, you would see exactly what the hold-up is and that it is an Executive strategy. All that she has done is continually interrupt me, because she has no defence. Her party has been found out. It cannot deliver, and not only…