PROCEEDINGS OF THE SUB-GROUP TO CONSIDER THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES FACING NORTHERN IRELAND

Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 17 August 2006 in Room 135, Parliament Buildings at 10.00am.

In the Chair: Naomi Long

Present: Leslie Cree
John Dallat
George Dawson
Kieran McCarthy
Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP
Barry McElduff
Mitchel McLaughlin
David McNarry
Sean Neeson
David Simpson

In Attendance: Alan Patterson (Principal Clerk)
Roisin Donnelly (Assistant Clerk)
Trevor Allen (Clerical Supervisor)
Paul Stitt (Clerical Supervisor)

The meeting commenced at 10.00am in closed session.

1. Apologies

Esmond Birnie (Mr Cree attended the meeting as UUP representative in place of Mr Birnie).

David Ford (Mr McCarthy attended part of the meeting as Alliance representative in place of Mr Ford).

Michelle Gildernew MP (Mr McElduff attended the meeting as SF representative in place of Ms Gildernew).

Ian Paisley Jnr (Mr Simpson attended the meeting as DUP representative in place of Mr Paisley).

Margaret Ritchie (Mr Dallat attended the meeting as SDLP representative in place of Ms Ritchie).

Peter Weir (Mr Dawson attended the meeting as DUP representative in place of Mr Weir).

2. Draft Minutes of Meetings on 15 August 2006

These were agreed for publication on the Assembly’s website.

3. Matters Arising

Members noted a memo to the Preparation for Government Committee and the response received, confirming approval for the sub-group to take evidence from the Minister, Maria Eagle MP after the 25 August report deadline.

Members noted a letter to the Minister, David Hanson requesting further information regarding the terms of reference and membership of the working group he is to establish on industrial de-rating.

4. Written Evidence

Members noted written submissions from the following:

Association of Northern Ireland Colleges; and
Northern Ireland Manufacturing Focus Group.

Members also noted information requested from the Department for Social Development on disability benefits.

5. Additional Information Received from Witnesses

Members noted the additional information, requested at recent evidence sessions, received from the following organisations:

Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment;

Economic Research Institute NI; and

Department of Education.

6. Presentations outlining party positions

The meeting continued in open session at 10.10am.

Mr McElduff joined the meeting at 10.10am.

Dr McDonnell joined the meeting at 10.13am.

A representative from each of the parties presented a summary paper outlining party positions in relation to the terms of reference set for the sub-group.

Mr Neeson left the meeting at 11.45am.

7. Findings of the Sub-group

The meeting continued in closed session at 11.46am.

Members considered a paper detailing the findings of the sub-group to date, and containing draft recommendations. It was agreed that this paper (subject to amendments agreed at the meeting) would form the basis for the preparation of the first draft of the sub-group’s report.

It was agreed to make a recommendation to the Preparation for Government Committee that the sub-group continue its work beyond the 25 August report deadline with new terms of reference.

8. Any Other Business

Members noted the information regarding the 11 th Annual Northern Ireland Economic Conference to be held on 4 October.

9. Next Meeting

The next meeting of the sub-group was arranged for Tuesday 22 August 2006 at 10.00am.

It was agreed that the sub-group meetings scheduled to consider the draft report would be held in closed session and that an official report of the proceedings would not be published.

The meeting adjourned at 1.00pm.