Jobs (Hansard, 14 March 1991)

§ 9. Mr. McGrady
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what action the Government intend to take to safeguard jobs in the first decade of the single European market.

§ Mr. Needham
The Government are taking a whole range of actions to ensure that Northern Ireland derives economic benefit from the single European market. Industry has responded well to those actions and must continue to exploit the many opportunities that are available.

§ Mr. McGrady
Is the Under-Secretary aware of a report from Cambridge Economic Consultants, which says that, in its opinion, in the first 10 years of the single European market, 40,000 jobs will be lost in Northern Ireland? Does the hon. Gentleman subscribe to that view, especially as the European Commission has found that the industries 1091 that are endemic in Northern Ireland will be those that will bear most of the brunt? Does he agree that there should be a renewed and reinvigorated drive to obtain inward investment for Northern Ireland as a substitute for the potential job losses post-1991?

§ Mr. Needham
No, I do not agree with that report. As I said earlier, the Northern Ireland economy is dealing with the downturn very much better than it has dealt with any previous downturn. As the hon. Gentleman knows, it is also dealing with it very much better than any other region. We are attracting investment from a whole range of companies and countries precisely because they know that, by coming to Northern Ireland, they will be able to compete in the European market. The Northern Ireland economy in the 1990s has a rosy future, provided that we raise the level of our marketing, training and productivity. That is exactly what we will do.

§ Mr. Tim Smith
Instead of talking about safeguarding existing jobs in the Province, should not we be a little more positive and talk about the creation of new jobs? Will not the single European market offer good new opportunities for Northern Ireland as an attractive place for investment from outside the Community?

§ Mr. Needham
I thank my hon. Friend. I am being, and have always been, positive about the Northern Ireland economy. We are attracting very large numbers of new jobs from a large number of countries and a large number of companies. By getting those new jobs, the training, productivity and marketing right, the Northern Ireland economy is, for the first time, showing the way to the rest of the country.

§ Mr. Stott
Perhaps the Minister might reflect that, just before the advent of the single European market, the seasonally adjusted figures for unemployment in Northern Ireland are understated by roughly 50,000 as a result of the way in which the Government currently calculate the statistics. Does he accept that the true level of unemployment now stands at 20 per cent? Does he regard that as an achievement of 12 years of Conservative rule, given the fact that, in 1979, unemployment in Northern Ireland was 11.3 per cent?

§ Mr. Needham
I do not accept the hon. Gentleman's figures. Unemployment in Northern Ireland at the moment is 13.5 per cent. It is lower this year than it was a year ago, whereas in the rest of the country it was 5.7 per cent., and it is now 7 per cent. The Northern Ireland economy is, I repeat, showing a faster rate of increase than at any time since 1921. I have yet to hear from the hon. Member for Wigan (Mr. Stott) what on earth he would do to the economy of Northern Ireland.