§ 22. Mr. McMasterasked the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, in view of the redundancies forecast in the next few months in the Northern Ireland shipbuilding and aircraft industries, what action he has taken, or plans to take, to minimise the hardship caused by these redundancies.
§ Mr. William RodgersPrimary responsibility for action on any redundancies lies with the Northern Ireland Government, but in operating our distribution of industry policy, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is continuing to give Northern Ireland equal priority with the most needy development districts. We shall consider further action to assist Shorts, when we have our consultants' report on diversification, in a few weeks' time.