HC Deb 21 January 1993 vol 217 cc485-6
3. Ms. Hoey

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to improve travel links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Atkins

Over the period 1989–93 almost £180 million will have been spent on improvements to Northern Ireland's ports, airports, railway and roads systems, with the primary objective of improving Northern Ireland's transport links with the rest of the United Kingdom and the continent. The Northern Ireland transportation operational programme, which is administered by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, is contributing £120 million towards these works by way of grant from the European regional development fund.

Ms. Hoey

The Minister will agree that it is becoming increasingly difficult for people in Northern Ireland to travel to the rest of the United Kingdom because of the expense involved and the lack of sea crossings. Most people have to travel by air. Does the Minister agree that it is nonsense that I should pay £198 return to go to Belfast with British Airways while, on the same day, someone else pays £196 return to travel to Boston with Virgin Atlantic Airways and Richard Branson? Might not it be a good idea to call in Richard Branson to sit round a table with British Airways and British Midland to work out a cheaper fare to Belfast, so that people can travel more easily to and from the rest of the United Kingdom?

Mr. Atkins

I have considerable sympathy with the hon. Lady's remarks in the context of air fares both regional and international—a matter with which I had something to do when I was a Minister with responsibility for transport in Great Britain. It is a difficult problem because to reduce fares one needs the agreement of other countries as well as the country from which one wishes to fly. I do not entirely agree with the hon. Lady that transportation between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has deteriorated—indeed, the SeaCat service from Belfast to Stranraer is now so popular that the company has announced that it will be introducing another such service in the spring to meet the demand. That is a sign that not all links are quite as difficult as the hon. Lady suggests.