§ Mr. Frank Maguireasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to what extent the £400 million aid, which is at present being paid to Northern Ireland, is affected by the financial support of the Harland and Wolff shipyards.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesFinancial support is given to Northern Ireland to fill the gap between approved public expenditure and the share of United Kingdom taxes attributable to Northern Ireland plus other Northern Ireland revenues. To the extent that extra financial support for Harland and Wolff Ltd. is not offset by savings in other public expenditure in Northern Ireland, the total financial aid will be increased. However, since expenditure on Harland and Wolff Ltd. is only one of many changes being made in a review of public expenditure programmes throughout the United Kingdom, the extent of any such increase cannot be quantified. As the Government have made clear, there will have to be some compensating savings in Northern Ireland.