UU’s Magee Campus in Derry
Foyle MLA Sinéad McLaughlin had proposed an amendment to a DUP motion on skills, to insert that the Assembly “supports the commitment in New Decade, New Approach for a regionally balanced economy, with a regionally balanced skills base, including through the expansion of Magee campus to 10,000 students by the end of the next mandate”.
But the amendment was not selected for debate.
Said Mrs McLaughlin said: “I am very disappointed that the Assembly will not get the chance to debate the proposal for Magee to be expanded to 10,000 students.
“If that motion had been selected it would have become evident which parties support Derry having a full-sized university campus and which parties do not.
“The SDLP is totally committed to Derry having a full-sized university campus.
“That commitment is evident from the amendment that I put forward on behalf of the SDLP and from the insistence of party leader Colum Eastwood for the commitment to be in the New Decade New Approach agreement.
“It is significant that the DUP motion and SF amendment contain no such support for university provision in Derry.”
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]
Amendment 1
Insert after ‘pandemic;’:
“supports the commitment in New Decade, New Approach for a regionally balanced economy, with a regionally balanced skills base, including through the expansion of Magee campus to 10,000 students by the end of the next mandate;’’
[Ms Sinéad McLaughlin]
[Mr Mark Durkan]
[Mr Daniel McCrossan]
Amendment 2
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]
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