The Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association (NIIRTA) has urged the Executive to appoint a Junior Minister for Skills and Entrepreneurship to support the Minister for the Economy. NIIRTA made the recommendation in a meeting today with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Assembly Economy Committee to discuss the business organisation’s Programme for Government, The Plan.
NIIRTA Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said:
“In our 97 point Programme for Government, we outlined the need for the appointment of a Junior Minister for Entrepreneurship and Skills to give priority to these key policy areas and give support to the Economy Minister as his workload will dramatically increase in dealing with the aftermath of Brexit”
“Unless we have the right skills set in place then the impact of Corporation Tax reduction will be lessened if Foreign Direct Investors have the pipeline of skills they need. Likewise we need to focus on creating the next generation of entrepreneurs, particularly in our local retail sector”
“The Executive urgently needs a clear plan in place to deal with Brexit and show real leadership that our local business community needs to ensure stability and growth in these uncertain times”
“As Retail is the largest sector of our economy, we want to see the Minister for the Economy establish a new Retail Strategy to grow our sector to ensure it is a leader in the new future private sector-led economy”
