Conor Murphy says regional balance for Derry will be priority as he outlines economic vision

However, Economy Committee Vice-Chair Gary Middleton has spoken of ‘frustration’ in Derry over what he described as ‘delays’ to the projects.

SDLP economy spokesperson Sinéad McLaughlin, meanwhile, claimed the ‘economic vision’ he outlined in the Assembly on Monday fell ‘far short of what is required to transform communities across the North’.

Speaking in the Assembly Mr. Murphy said: “A number of areas suffer from economic disadvantage. The north-west, in particular, has long had a low level of employment despite its huge potential for growth.

"We can create a more regionally balanced economy by setting local economic targets and funding local economic strategies that are designed in partnership with councils and local enterprise agencies and are based on local strengths and potential; offering greater financial incentives for inward investors and indigenous companies that are expanding to locate in areas that are underdeveloped; developing industries with a strong sub-regional presence, such as tourism, hospitality and manufacturing; building the portfolio of land and property for business development in disadvantaged areas; and driving forward the delivery of projects that improve regional balance, such as the expansion of the Magee campus and city and growth deal projects.”

Mr. Murphy announced the appointment of four experts to hold the new Executive to account on four key economic policy objectives: good jobs, regional balance, productivity and net zero climate targets.

Dr. Conor Patterson from the Newry and Mourne Co-operative and Enterprise Agency will be a ‘critical friend’ on regional balance, he said.

DUP MLA Gary Middleton pressed Mr. Murphy on the City Deal projects.

"There is a lot of frustration, particularly in my council area of Foyle, at the delay in getting those projects over the line. What can the Minister do to progress the city and growth deals as fast as possible?” he asked.

The minister said he was concerned that ‘some of the momentum had gone out’ of some of the City Deal projects.

"I had the opportunity to visit Derry and speak to people involved in that at the chamber of commerce and at Magee, which is one of the central projects to the growth deal.

"I am concerned that some of the momentum has gone out of that. There is a necessity, when public money is involved and projects are put forward, to have due diligence to make sure that they work, but we also need momentum.

"The longer it takes to get the growth deals done, the more the cost goes up: as we have seen with all capital projects, for every year that they are delayed, the cost goes up,” he stated.

The minister said it was important that due diligence was followed when large sums of public money are involved but not in ‘a way that effectively strangles the projects’.

"We need to get them moving. There are big opportunities. I was impressed with the level of enthusiasm and the sense of opportunity that there is in Derry.

"I want the Department to be an enabler for that, and that means that Invest NI will have a much more proactive role with the council, the chamber, business partners and other community and voluntary sector partners in Derry and the north-west,” he stated.

Mr. Murphy said investment from Dublin is also required.

"There are strong linkages, particularly in the education sector, between Magee and Letterkenny. I have spoken to Minister [Simon, southern higher education minister] Harris about that, and we intend to jointly visit the area to continue to promote that,” he stated.

Sinn Féin MLA Ciara Ferguson spoke of the importance of City of Derry Airport and asked him if he would promote the resurrection of a flight to Dublin.

“As we are a small island, connectivity is crucial to our economy. Having supported City of Derry Airport's public service obligation (PSO) route to Heathrow, will the Minister look at the Derry to Dublin route, as was promised under 'New Decade, New Approach'?” she asked.

Mr. Murphy said: “I was pleased to be up there with the Infrastructure Minister [John O’Dowd] last week and to provide support to City of Derry Airport.

"That connector to Heathrow — one of the busiest airports in the world — is critical to the airport.

"Also critical to it, as I have said many times, is the connection with Dublin and the potential to grow the business of the airport through that connection.

"I am pleased, now that the Executive and this institution are up and functioning, that the North/South Ministerial Council will also be functioning,” he said.

Ms. McLaughlin said the Executive needed to enforce targets through legislation.

"We in the north-west have seen many visions and have been promised prioritisation, but, unfortunately, we never get to the delivery point.

"Many countries across Europe put the provision of regional balance in legislation. Do you agree that we need to tackle regional, economic and social imbalance through legislation? Will you commit to such legislation?” she asked.

Mr. Murphy said he was not averse to legislation but was working in the context of a de facto ‘three-year mandate’ due to the Stormont hiatus.

“The choice is that either I get on with reorientating Invest NI — the delivery mechanism for this is Invest NI, which has not had this orientation in its past — try to get more regional work done with the partners in those areas who have told us how they want things to work and get that going now or I go out and start to consult on legislation, which would probably take, in a best-case scenario, a year to 18 months to get in place. I am not averse to legislating, and, if legislation is required in the future, I would be happy to do that,” he said.