§ 10. Mr. Roweasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the Labour Relations Agency report on the experience of foreign industrial investors in Northern Ireland.
§ Dr. BoysonI welcome the Labour Relations Agency's report, which confirms that ouside investors in Northern Ireland consider that the labour force is co-operative, productive, of a high quality and compares favourably with that in other locations.
§ Mr. RoweGiven that admirable result, will my hon. Friend tell the House what steps are being taken to make the maximum use of this information to boost the economy of Northern Ireland?
§ Dr. BoysonThat report, which came out in December, was basically in answer to the MORI report of 1982, which said that outside investors considered Northern Ireland unproductive and dangerous. The December report indicates quite clearly that all the 29 outside firms that invested in Northern Ireland consider that their plants there are at least as viable and productive as plants anywhere in the world. I trust that all the people from the IDB who are selling Northern Ireland around the world will have their cases full of that report and will deposit copies on the seats of every tube train on which they travel.
§ Mr. BellWill the Minister confirm that there has been a cut of £500,000 in the cleaning bill for Belfast schools, colleges, hospitals and libraries, and that that cut will result in a substantial number of redundancies in the Province? Will he further confirm that there is to be another cut of £1 million in the same services, and that that will again add to the number of unemployed people in Northern Ireland?
§ Dr. BoysonI do not have with me the details of the matters mentioned by the hon. Gentleman, but I shall write to him about them. If he looks at the overall budget, he will see that the capital budget in Northern Ireland is up. In education, it is up on the minor works side from £36 million to £40 million. That should mean employment in the construction industry.