HC Deb 16 June 1994 vol 244 cc746-7
10. Mr. Foulkes

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Commission of the European Union on surface links between Northern Ireland and south-west Scotland.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Tim Smith)

Apart from the correspondence on the electricity interconnector, there have been no discussions.

Mr. Foulkes

The Minister will be pleased to hear that I do not intend to ask about the electricity interconnector but about the decision by the Commission to include Stranraer and Larne in the trans-European network, which I hope that he will join me in welcoming. Has he seen the report in the Glasgow Herald suggesting that the Secretary of State for Scotland is resisting a European Union plan for multi-million pound improvements to the rail link from Stranraer through my constituency to the channel tunnel? Will he meet the Secretary of State for Scotland and try to persuade him to stop treating citizens of Northern Ireland and south-west Scotland as second-class citizens in Europe?

Mr. Smith

I very much welcome the decision to which the hon. Gentleman refers to include the route in the trans-European network. Of course, the railway is important to traffic from Northern Ireland and I will certainly have a word with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Mr. Gallie

Is my hon. Friend aware of the contract recently signed between Ayr hospital and health authorities in Antrim and Larne, which will bring mutual advantage to my constituents and to those of hon. Members representing Larne and Antrim? Does my hon. Friend approve of such links, and does he acknowledge that improved surface links between Stranraer and Lame will bring much further advantage?

Mr. Smith

I am grateful to hon. Friend for drawing my attention to the benefits of that arrangement.

Mr. Clifford Forsythe

If European funding becomes available, will the Minister bear in mind the new industries that he has welcomed to parts of Antrim which are close to Lane? We need not only facilities at the harbour, but facilities leading to the ports so that the traffic can travel that way. I join my colleagues in Scotland in supporting that development.

Mr. Smith

I welcome the inward investment projects to which the hon. Gentleman referred and I recognise the importance of access to Larne port. We hope to upgrade part of the road in 1997–98.