HC Deb 19 May 2003 vol 405 cc591-2W
Mrs. Iris Robinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many jobs in the manufacturing industry in Northern Ireland have been lost since April 1998. [113501]

Mr. Pearson

There have been 23,979 redundancies in Northern Ireland confirmed to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment since the signing of the Belfast Agreement. Of these 18,077 (75 per cent.) were in the manufacturing industry. However, overall employment levels in Northern Ireland have risen by an estimated 68,000 over the same period.

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