§ 12. Mr. Nicholas Brownasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on his monitoring of the auxiliary oiler replenishment vessel contract at Harland and Wolff.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Peter Viggers)Construction work on the auxiliary oiler replenishment vessel is scheduled to commence later this year. Harland and Wolff's performance and costs in building this ship will be subject to a stringent system of financial and performance controls which will be monitored by independent consultants.
§ Mr. BrownAs the Northern Ireland Office is not impartial in this matter will the Minister name the independent consultants that his Department is using to monitor the contract and tell the House what arrangements are being made for independent scrutiny of that contract?
§ Mr. ViggersThe consultants are Touche Ross management consultants. The hon. Gentleman inquired about the availability of the report. The terms of reference given to the consultants extend beyond the specific question of AOR monitoring and it is not appropriate to release what is effectively a commercially confidential contract. However, I can confirm that Harland and Wolff's performance and costs in builiding AOR will be monitored strictly in accordance with the terms of the Secretary of State's announcement on 24 April 1986.