§ Mr. Peter Robinsonasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the total cost of the Northern Ireland Development Agency in each year since its inception; how many new businesses and how many
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Funds available to NIDA since inception £000s 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 (i) Public Dividend Capital 3,678 1,906 15,508 5,128 6,725 (ii) Loans Advanced 1,425 3,749 724 439 323 (iii) Repayment of Loan Capital and Interest to DOC by NIDA (5,573*) (1,247*) (605*) (976*) (716*) (iv) Contributions to NIDA's administrative expenses 328 408 537 427 750 (v) Contribution to NIDA in respect of Northern Ireland Finance Corporation (NIFC) cases 5,028 8 — — — (vi) Loans made under Direction from DOC 2,200 250 185 — — (vii) Grants made under Direction from DOC 144 377.5 83 229 39 * Includes some repayments of loans issued to NIFC and taken over by NIDA.
Year Provision of Grants and Loans to Industry Admin. Total £000s £000s £000s 1971–72 — — †165 1972–73 506 94 605 1973–74 1,357 756 1,513 1974–75 1,811 264 2,075 1975–76 1,566 374 1,940 1976–77 2,069 466 2,535 1977–78 2,758 510 3,268 1978–79 *3,984 607 4,591 1979–80 *4,944 784 5,728 1980–81 *4,707 859 5,566 * Includes guarantee payments. † No detailed breakdown available. For administrative convenience, LEDU divides Northern Ireland into four separate areas. The numbers of projects assisted jobs promoted by the unit in each of these areas is as follows:
new jobs have been promoted in each year; and how many projects have failed in this period, with a loss of how many potential jobs.
§ Mr. Adam ButlerThe funds provided to the Northern Ireland Development Agency since its inception in 1976 are given in the table below. Details of the investment made by NIDA and of the performance of companies in which the agency has invested are published in its annual reports and accounts which are available in the Library of the House.
It is not practicable to say how many new jobs were promoted through the Agency's activities in each year as its investments are normally complementary to a package of industrial development assistance provided by the Department of Commerce Northern Ireland or the Local Enterprise Development Unit.