The Minister's vision also talks about transforming and reorganising Invest NI into new regional structures. That is dedicated to home-grown small to medium-sized businesses and start-up companies. Once implemented, those forums will enable Invest NI to operate regional offices across the North that will work on an inclusive basis, in partnership with councils, the business community, trade unions and local enterprise agencies. That model will be a game changer. It will decentralise Invest NI and provide greater focus on investor visits, job assistance and job creation being delivered more equally across the North.
I will not dispute the relevance of any of the industries in the 10X vision — that has been covered in detail — but I will say that, when I speak to people and business owners in my community, they are quick to point out that the 10X strategy never focused on construction, tourism or social enterprise. All those sectors have huge job opportunities, labour shortages and skills progression. I think that we will see a lot more of that in the future, which would be a positive development. The Minister's vision goes beyond that to create an economy that will benefit workers, families and businesses of all sizes and in all sectors.
]]>One issue has been our relatively low productivity levels. Employers continue to want to hire more staff to grow and to invest but struggle to get people with the right skills. We have seen that the North has lower productivity levels than, for example, Britain and that successive DUP Economy Ministers have failed to get to grips with that, despite holding that portfolio for a number of years.
Improving access to skills will be key to narrowing the productivity gap further in the coming years. The Minister has already indicated his intention to improve the opportunities for people to upskill and reskill through a range of programmes, including all-age apprenticeships, which will be a game changer for skills and will mean that workers, in later life in particular, can earn as they learn and can reskill and upskill without having to pay for their apprenticeship learning.
Notably, the productivity gap has closed slightly in recent months. However, productivity remains, on average, 11% below the rate in Britain and, according to a recent study, almost 40% below the rate in the South. I trust that the Economy Minister's vision and the policies that will stem from it will close the gap further. That means utilising dual-market access to grow domestic exports and attract highly productive FDI. It means developing all-Ireland clusters in high-productivity sectors that are key to driving economic progress and productivity.
As my colleague Mr McGuigan said, Sinn Féin will vote for the motion and the amendment, outlining the need to promote regional balance and to tackle the regional and rural inequalities that have, for so long, kept our economy from being inclusive. If I were an investor and I was sitting here, I would want to hear the positives and the benefits coming from Derry, the north-west region and regions across the North. I am proud to be from Derry. I am proud to call that place home. It is a fantastic place in which to live, work and build a life.
I concur with the comments made by my colleague Mr Middleton. We need to start talking up areas such as Derry. We need to start making sure that areas across the North are spoken about positively in this place and that we talk up the place, its positivity and its people.
]]>We have to work together to do everything in our power to ensure that our young people see a future here at home, and we can begin to do that today by agreeing to strengthen workers' rights for young people and to commit to their enjoying, whatever path they decide to follow in life, fair pay and good working conditions at home. Imagine the potential that we would have as an economy, as a people and as an island, if, instead of the next generation of teachers going to Doha, of healthcare workers going to Australia or of tradespeople going to America, they could stay at home. We could have their innovation and creativity helping our island to achieve its full potential. Fair pay and good working conditions are not just desirable but absolutely essential for retaining our talented young people. Imagine being an even bigger powerhouse with young, bright minds teaching in schools, providing quality care for patients in hospitals, contributing to our communities, innovating in our industries and being trailblazers for positive and progressive change. By working together in the Chamber to create new and exciting opportunities, good working conditions and fair pay, we are investing in our next generation and helping to build a brighter, better and stronger future for our island.
It is a win-win: our talented youth gets the chance to thrive, and our island gets the enormous benefit of everything that their skills and passion bring. We can make the island that we call "home" the place where dreams can come true, where careers can flourish and where the future of every young person has endless possibilities. Together, we have the power to deliver that real change and to create a future where young people have the best possible opportunities to prosper at home, and that will be a game changer for everyone in our society.
]]>The second key theme, which has already been touched on by colleagues, is careers advice. That is essential. What the Chair suggested regarding a link-up between the Education and the Economy Committees will be vital for us to do that. We suggested that in our party response to the 10X strategy. I would like to see that being reviewed and implemented, because there is consensus across the Chamber and our Committee that it needs to be addressed. There has been far too much focus on academic routes and on achieving university places. I would like to see a careers advice service that is professional, personalised and sustained throughout a young person's education.
The third point that I want to touch on is about nursing apprentices. My colleague Philip McGuigan touched on the fact that there were 1,700 vacancies in December past in nursing. Both Minister Murphy and Deirdre Hargey, when she was Minister, introduced 45 public-sector apprenticeships during the last mandate. That was welcome, and it is an approach that we need to adopt in this mandate. There is now a clear pathway now for us to recruit nurses, but the barrier arises in retaining nurses. There is no point in us recruiting nurses if we are not going to pay them properly and make sure that they have fair conditions and a reason to stay. I want to continue working with all the Economy Committee members on that. We have identified where the gaps and barriers are, but the key will be working collegially to ensure that they are addressed.
I welcome the motion and support it and the amendment.
]]>My party's number-one priority in the debate is to make apprenticeships accessible to all. On that, I want to touch on three key themes: North/South relations, careers guidance and nursing. A key issue that has been brought up in my constituency — I know that colleagues in other border constituencies have had it raised with them as well — is around the fact that, if someone is studying, for example, at the North West Regional College and is taking on an apprenticeship, they have to do that in the same jurisdiction. That locks out a lot of people who live in border constituencies. It comes back to that piece on regional balance and ensuring that those apprenticeships are accessible to all. It works both ways; it locks people out on both sides of the border. I know that the Minister has been cognisant of that. We need to look at it as a Committee. Hopefully, we can work on that in the time ahead.
]]>We have heard from classroom assistants that many are leaving the job because their wages do not reflect the demands of the job and the responsibilities that they have. Of the classroom assistants whom we spoke to, over 20% had a part-time job just to try to make ends meet. That is not acceptable for people who are the backbone of our schools and who play such a vital role in our children's education.
It is imperative that conditions and contracts are looked at, and I implore the Education Minister to do that immediately. We are seeing each and every year that classroom assistants are leaving the profession because the wages do not keep up with what they are doing and their conditions mean that they are not treated fairly. It is not acceptable for anyone to find out in August whether they have a job in September. That touches on the broader piece around special educational needs and the provisions that we need to put in place for our children.
Classroom assistants are having their contracts changed and moved from 27 hours down to maybe 10 or 15 hours. That would not be acceptable in any other workplace. We would not be sitting here in the Assembly accepting that. We need to give the matter the proper priority that it deserves and look at that immediately. Where their conditions are concerned, we want classroom assistants to be treated properly in their school and by the Education Authority and the Department of Education. I am looking forward to working with the Minister of Education and the Education Committee to do that.
]]>It is important that we see that continuing, and a Minister is now in place who is committed to increasing connectivity, committed to improving public transport and committed to investment and increasing opportunity for Derry and the north-west. We all have to welcome that as a positive step.
]]>Secondly, I want to touch on the Union connectivity review. I have to say that, contrary to what other Members have said today, I was disappointed by that. I was disappointed to see that the west was neglected in it, and that really reinforced the two-tier system that we have at the minute, which is rail east of the Bann being strengthened and rail west of the Bann continuing to be ignored. I expected to see phase 3 of the Derry to Belfast line on that, and I expected to see greater detail.
That really emphasises the third point for me, which is about having local Ministers in place, people who understand rail here, get the geography of this place and really want to change that for the better. It is good for us to have a Minister in place, but it is better for us to have a Sinn Féin Minister in place, because, particularly for Derry and the north-west, a Sinn Féin Infrastructure Minister means delivery. When we look to 2016, we see Chris Hazzard, whose day-1 priority was to get the A6 built. That has now happened. John O'Dowd has made it clear that his day-1 priority is to get the A5 built, and I really welcome the fact that we have seen great progress on that this week, with continued funding — it has been increased — and continued commitment from the Irish Government.
]]>