§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what has been the average cost per job in Short Bros. and Harland and Wolff by year for the period for which data is available; and what will be the average cost per job to transfer these companies into the private sector over keeping them in the public domain.
§ Mr. ViggersGovernment support for Harland and Wolff and Short Bros. takes various forms, some of which cannot be quantified in cost per job terms.
However, based on the external funding requirement (loans and Government grants) for both companies the average cost per job figures in each of the last five years has been:
Harland and Wolff Short Bros. £ £ 1983–84 7,286 3,000 1984–85 7,360 1,000 1985–86 7,494 4,100 1986–87 13,063 5,500 1987–88 14,342 16,300 Transferring both companies to the private sector will result in a decrease and not an increase in the level of future Government support to Harland and Wolff and Short Bros.
It is anticipated that there will be a cost to Government on a one-off basis in transferring each company to the private sector; thereafter each company will be regarded as eligible for Government support in line with other private sector companies in Northern Ireland.