Motion no: 22
It is now well established that Derry and the North West region has for too long been starved of the resources, investment and the political will necessary to repair the impact of a century of under-development.
Among the many adverse effects of the chronic lack of investment are the highest rates of child poverty and average wage levels that are £3,000 to £5,000 less than the average wage across the North.
Many of the private sector job opportunities that do exist are low paid with poor working conditions, forcing our young educated talent to leave in search of a decent future.
While the recent commitments on tackling regional disparity are to be welcomed, they are long on aspiration and very short on delivery commitment. Therefore conference calls on the NI Committee to work with ICTU across the island to:
Campaign and lobby the Stormont Executive and the Dublin government to develop a comprehensive, fully funded regional development plan for the North West of the island to include:
· expansion of Magee to 15,000 students by 2030;
· incentives to attract students to Derry until 2030, including reduced cost of accommodation;
· an urgent programme of mass social and affordable house-building in response to chronic housing scarcity in Derry and the North West where the housing crisis is exacerbated by defective cement blocks;
· improved public transport links into the city from across the North, in particular a half-hourly train service to Belfast, such as that enjoyed by Cullybackey or Ballymena, and the urgent prioritisation of proposals contained in the All Ireland Strategic Rail Review to extend and develop the North West rail network.
