Forum to assess if businesses stay open won’t be a talking shop, insists minister
A STORMONT minister has rejected claims a new forum to assess whether businesses should remain open during the coronavirus emergency will be a “talking shop”.
The forum is being convened in an effort to end controversy over certain manufacturing companies that are still in production in Northern Ireland.
Chaired by the Labour Relations Agency, it will bring together leading business organisations, trade unions, the Public Health Agency, the police and health and safety inspectors.
It will be established by Economy Minister Diane Dodds.
While Stormont has published lists of businesses in the retail and service sector considered essential during the crisis, ministers in the coalition executive remain at odds over whether some manufacturers should still be running.
Sinn Fein has been vocal in calling for all workplaces not engaged in frontline work to shut.
The DUP has emphasised the role appropriate social distancing measures can play in enabling some companies to continue to operate.
Sinn Fein Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said the forum would have an important role in assessing what work was essential and what was not.
“I don’t think it’s a case of a talking shop,” she told the BBC Sunday Politics show.
“I mean I think it is important that we engage all of those (representatives).”
DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots called on the government to provide support to manufacturing businesses that currently do not qualify for the package that sees the state covering 80% of the salaries of temporarily furloughed staff.