§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what are the detailed arrangements for publishing information about financial assistance to industry in Northern Ireland.
§ Mr. Giles ShawInformation relating to financial assistance to industry in Northern Ireland will be published on a quarterly basis in "British Business".
Payments by the Department of Commerce for Northern Ireland of standard capital grant to individual companies in excess of £25,000 in respect of expenditure incurred on or after 1 October 1980, will be listed, together with the recipient's name and location.
Commitments entered into on or after 1 October by the Department of Commerce to provide selective financial assistance to individual companies, will also be published, subject to a lower limit of £5,000, in the quarter following the first payment of grant under such commitments. Details to be published will include the recipient's name and location, industrial sector, the total amount of assistance committed, and an indication of the types of assistance involved. Cases will be categorised, as in Great Britain, into category A (employment creating) and category B (employment safeguarding—that is, modernisation and re-equipment projects).
Details of selective financial assistance offered by the Local Enterprise Development Unit (LEDU) to firms employing less than 50 people, will be published in a separate table in "British Business", but on the same basis as the information provided by the Department of Commerce.