A new report by Pivotal looks at the headline impacts of Covid on the Northern Ireland economy, including the distributional impact on different groups. It then sets out the economic challenges that existed pre-Covid (eg low skills, low paid jobs, productivity, infrastructure). In considering how to mitigate the Covid economic impact, the report says that the Northern Ireland Executive must be ambitious and long-term in addressing these long-standing weaknesses also. The reports concludes with the following set of policy considerations:
- An ambitious economic vision for Northern Ireland – investment in skills, infrastructure, climate change and inclusive growth
- Developing a sustainable future – investment in broadband, reducing carbon emissions, re-imagining towns and cities
- Skills development as a catalyst for productivity – addressing historical skills shortages, plus an urgent strategy for re-training those seeking jobs after Covid
- Educational recovery plan – a strategy to ‘level up’ the educational loss experienced by some children during lockdown
You can read the report here .