§ Mr. Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland why the Department of Commerce declines to disclose the amount of public money provided in standard assistance to individual companies.
§ Mr. Moyle,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 21st July 1976; Vol. 915, c. 501],circulated the following:
There are two main reasons for this long-established policy—first, to avoid damage to a firm's commercial interests, without it having any remedy at law; second, so that applicants for assistance should not be inhibited from making a full disclosure of their position to the Department of Commerce, as is necessary for the proper administration of schemes of assistance. Following changes in practice made by the Department of Industry, the police is currently under review.