SDLP Foyle MLA Sinead McLaughlin
Ms McLaughlin has long campaigned on bringing jobs and investment to the city.
The legislation would set binding legal obligations on the Department for the Economy to address the regional imbalances in the economy with a particular focus on the North West.
The Bill would also mandate government departments and Invest Northern Ireland to adopt time-bound and measurable targets to improve regional economic balance, reform Invest NI and expand higher education in the North West.
Launching her public consultation on the proposal, the Foyle MLA said: “Since becoming an MLA, I have made clear that my first priority is to change the way government works to bring jobs and investment to Derry and communities across the North that have been left behind.
“We have made progress, notably with the review of Invest NI which I helped to secure, and which revealed the scale of failure in the organisation, including in the sub-regional context.
“However, our economy remains much too unequal and the prospects of far too many people are still determined by their postcode.
“The effects of these geographic imbalances are particularly clear in Derry and the North West, which has been starved of jobs and investment for decades and still tops the league tables for poor economic performance.
“We have so much potential in this part of the world including through our unique trading advantage into both the UK and EU markets but for too long, the ambition of our government has not matched the ambition of our people for this place.
“I am convinced that we need to fundamentally change the way Stormont works if the economy is going to be made to work for everyone.
“That is why I am proud to bring forward this public consultation on my proposed legislation.
“If adopted, this law will finally place binding legal requirements on all government departments to deal with this pressing challenge, including by expanding higher education here in the North West.
“It will also make key changes to Invest NI and critically, it will underpin those changes in law so that a future Minister for the Economy and the Executive cannot reverse the progress that this legislation will make.
“For too many years, Stormont has turned a blind eye to the imbalances in our economy.
“It is long past time that our government stepped up to the mark to improve the balance of investment and opportunity across the North through ambitious legislation and I would encourage anyone with an interest in this issue to fill out our consultation and have your say.”
The Regional Jobs and Investment Bill consultation can be found here: https://www.sdlp.ie/regional-jobs-bill
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