Marshalled List of Amendments
28 February 2025
Item 4: Order Paper 87/22-27 – Tuesday 4 March 2025
Motion: Job Creation and Cross-Border Co-operation in the North West
Proposed:
That this Assembly recognises the significant economic opportunities available in the North West in areas such as health and life sciences, renewable energy, regulated manufacturing and fintech; notes the significant potential benefits of dual market access for each of these sectors; further notes the potential of a Derry-Letterkenny economic corridor as a key driver of regional growth; calls on the Minister for the Economy to work with Executive colleagues and counterparts in the Irish Government to develop an economic task force for the North West City Region, ensuring coordinated investment, infrastructure improvements, skills development and sectoral growth initiatives on both sides of the border; and further calls on the Minister to work with Invest NI, InterTradeIreland, the North West Tertiary Education Cluster and the Industrial Development Agency Ireland to produce, by September 2025, a joint strategy to attract inward investment, support local enterprise partnerships, and fully utilise the opportunities presented by dual market access.
Leader of the Opposition
Amendment
Leave out all after ‘fintech;’ and insert:
‘notes that the Department for the Economy has been unable to present evidence of any significant benefits of dual market access for each of these sectors to date; further notes the potential of the Londonderry and Strabane City Region City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund as a key driver of regional growth; calls on the Minister for the Economy to work with Executive colleagues and, where appropriate, counterparts in the Irish Government to coordinate investment, infrastructure improvements, skills development and sectoral growth initiatives for the North West City Region; and further calls on the Minister to work with Invest NI, InterTradeIreland and the North West Tertiary Education Cluster to produce plans to grow the skills, research and innovation capacity of the North West City Region, support local enterprise partnerships, and fully utilise the opportunities presented by cross-border trade.’
[Mr Phillip Brett]
[Mr Gary Middleton]
[Mr Jonathan Buckley]
Motion: Establishing a Dedicated Treatment and Recovery Centre in the North West
Proposed:
That this Assembly recognises the growing crisis of substance misuse and addiction in the North West; notes that the North West experiences some of the highest rates of drug and alcohol dependency in Northern Ireland; acknowledges the significant economic and social cost of untreated addiction, including its impact on healthcare, policing, and the economy; calls on the Minister of Health to prioritise the delivery of a fully funded, purpose-built addiction treatment and recovery centre in the North West; and further calls on the Minister to work with Executive colleagues and counterparts in the Irish Government to integrate addiction treatment into a wider regional strategy for mental health, housing, and employment support to ensure long-term recovery and rehabilitation.
Leader of the Opposition
Amendment 1
Leave out all after ‘Northern Ireland;' and insert:
‘recognises that areas with greater levels of deprivation, like some of those in the North West, have a disproportionate number of people exposed to adverse childhood experiences and that that is associated with higher rates of excessive alcohol consumption and drug use in adulthood; acknowledges the significant economic and social cost of untreated addiction, including its impact on healthcare, policing, and the economy; calls on the Minister of Health to prioritise the delivery of a fully funded, purpose-built addition treatment and recovery centre in the North West; and further calls on the Minister to work with Executive colleagues and counterparts in the Irish Government to integrate a harm reduction approach and addiction treatment into a wider trauma-informed regional strategy for mental health, housing, and employment support to ensure long-term recovery and rehabilitation.’
[Mr Danny Donnelly]
[Miss Nuala McAllister]
[Mr Stewart Dickson]
[Ms Paula Bradshaw]
Amendment 2 (Mutually exclusive to Amendment 1)
Leave out all after ‘economy;' and insert:
‘notes the importance of early intervention models; calls on the Minister of Health to prioritise the delivery of a fully funded, purpose-built addiction treatment and recovery centre in the North West as part of a regionally sustainable network of services; and further calls on the Minister to work with Executive colleagues and, where appropriate, counterparts in the Irish Government to integrate addiction treatment and early intervention into a wider regional strategy for mental health, housing, and employment support to ensure long-term prevention, recovery and rehabilitation from addiction.’
[Mrs Diane Dodds]
[Mr Alan Robinson]
[Mr Gary Middleton]
Motion: North West Transport
Proposed:
That this Assembly acknowledges the North West Transport Plan 2035 (NWTP) as a long-overdue step towards addressing the region’s infrastructure needs; recognises that inadequate transport infrastructure has long acted as a barrier to economic growth, investment, and connectivity in the North West; further acknowledges that the illegal waste site at Mobuoy has severely impacted progress on the A6 road upgrade, delaying improvements to a key transport corridor, while also posing serious environmental and public health risks; expresses concern that the North West continues to lag behind other regions in terms of strategic infrastructure investment; calls on the Minister for Infrastructure to accelerate the publication and implementation of a fully funded NWTP that facilitates an integrated, all-island transport network, including the expansion of all-island rail; and further calls on the Minister to work with the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to expedite the remediation of the illegal waste site at Mobuoy, to enable the progression of the A6 road upgrade.
Leader of the Opposition
Amendment
Leave out all after ‘fully funded NWTP' and insert:
‘, to ensure that the development of a new overarching Transport Strategy takes account of need in the North West, and to pursue effective cross-border cooperation in relation to the transport network, including the expansion of all-island rail; and further calls on the Minister to work with the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to expedite the remediation of the illegal waste site at Mobuoy, to enable the progression of the A6 road upgrade.’
[Mrs Deborah Erskine]
[Mr Gary Middleton]
[Mr Stephen Dunne]
[Mr Keith Buchanan]
