A new survey of business leaders should be a wake-up call to all in the House but particularly to the Department for the Economy and the Department for Infrastructure. The message from business that was released last week is stark and clear. Eighty-two per cent of businesses say that Stormont's current policy and lack of decision-making is constraining growth; 74% believe that economic growth is deprioritised in decision-making; just 1% of business leaders rate as "strong" the follow-up from policy announcement to real-world delivery; and 58% have delayed investment. Our biggest economic challenge is no longer lack of opportunity; it is absolutely the lack of delivery. Whatever the constitutional future that people want in this place, this region has to work. The Executive are failing to provide certainty and follow-up on their commitments. My colleague Andrew Muir having had his green growth strategy blocked for over a year is just one example.

Not every challenge is within Stormont's control — I acknowledge that — but what we can control and need to control is the creation of the platform that drives growth. Energy is a prime example, just like other areas of our economy. Investors are asking not for miracles but for certainty: a master plan, a clear policy road map and clear timelines and a stable legislative framework that gives private investors the confidence to invest in our future. That investment will not happen to its full potential without that plan and that certainty from the Department for the Economy. Two and a half years into the term of this Executive, much of that remains missing. The same applies to waste water infrastructure and planning reform, with delays continuing to block growth and investment. We should do much more to collaborate North/South, as we do east-west, to improve people's lives.

The void of delivery is becoming an economic risk in its own right. We do not lack the talent, the ambition or the opportunity. The challenge that we have is not in identifying what needs to be done; the challenge is in having a political system that is willing to make it function and make decisions. The challenge is in delivering actions at the pace that our economy and our businesses require. The gap between ambition and action is costing us in investment, jobs and growth, and that needs to change right now. Alliance will support anyone who comes forward with opportunities, but, unfortunately, we have not seen very many of those, and there is little that we can support. Our economy needs action, and it needs it now.