Marshalled List of Amendments

Monday 01 November 2021

21 OCTOBER 2021

Item 8: Order Paper 125/17-22 – Monday 1 November 2021

Motion: A Ring-fenced Skills Fund for Northern Ireland

Proposed:

That this Assembly believes investing in the skills and talent of our workforce is integral to the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic; stresses the need to better equip those with low, or no, qualifications in order to tackle unemployment, inactivity and disadvantage in every corner of Northern Ireland; endorses the Department for the Economy’s draft Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland: Skills for a 10x Economy, including plans to rebalance graduate and postgraduate qualifications towards STEM subjects and jobs of the future; highlights the potential benefits for growth sectors and levels of inward investment; supports the creation of a Skills Council for Northern Ireland to ensure businesses, education and trade unions have a strong voice; notes that delivering on the Skills Strategy will require the support of all Ministers as well as significant investment; and calls on the Minister of Finance to make available the necessary funding for a ring-fenced Skills Fund in Northern Ireland.

[Mrs Diane Dodds]

[Mr Robin Newton]

The Speaker has selected the following Amendment for debate:

Amendment 1

Leave out all after the first ‘Northern Ireland;’ and insert:

‘notes the Department for the Economy's draft Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland: Skills for a 10x Economy, including plans to rebalance graduate and postgraduate qualifications towards STEM subjects and jobs of the future; highlights the potential benefits for growth sectors and levels of inward investment; supports the creation of a Skills Council for Northern Ireland to ensure businesses, education and trade unions have a strong voice; further notes that delivering on the Skills Strategy will require consultation with and the support of all Ministers as well as significant investment in the absence of  European Union funding lost as a result of Brexit; and calls on the Minister for the Economy  to include a ring-fenced Skills Fund as an element of the Department’s Economic Recovery Action Plan; and further calls on the Executive to prioritise skills development as part of the new three-year budget cycle.’

[Mr John O’Dowd]

[Dr Caoimhe Archibald]

[Miss Aisling Reilly]

[Ms Jemma Dolan]