January 15, 2025

Action required on dual market access and skills to maximise economic potential over rest of decade, says Honeyford.

Alliance Economy spokesperson David Honeyford has said that there needs to be an emphasis from the Economy Minister on maximising the potential of dual market access and better skills alignment to capitalise on economic opportunities over the rest of the decade.

Economy David Honeyford

It comes after an Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report on modelling the all-island economy was launched today (15 Jan).

The Lagan Valley MLA has said: “This report demonstrates that it is long past time for the Economy Minister to get on with selling dual market access, which should be much more prominent in Invest NI's marketing of Northern Ireland as a location both for start-ups and investment.

“We should be clear, however, that dual market access is not a silver bullet. We also need much better alignment between education and the skills that businesses need.

“The Department for Infrastructure also has a hugely significant role to play. Delays in planning and infrastructure may be one of the biggest issues holding us up in terms of creating the facilities businesses need to invest and grow. We need to move much faster, notably on wastewater treatment and management.

“It is welcome that Northern Ireland is currently performing better than rest of UK and the modelling shows this is likely to continue in the short term. However, we need to see more innovation, research and development to be truly globally competitive over more sectors in the long-term, and this must be the focus of the Economy Minister going forward."

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